Below is an e-mail action alert that went out Thursday. If you want to be the first to hear about upcoming actions and events, sign up for CCAG Action Alerts here.
On Friday January 23, Senator Chris Dodd is coming to East Hartford because he wants to hear first hand from the people of Connecticut about their views and ideas for reforming our nation's health care system.
Will you join us at Goodwin College to tell Senator Dodd what a solution to the health care crisis should look like?
Representative John Larson will also be joining the discussion and hearing your voices on Friday. Both he and Senator Dodd will carry your words and ideas back with them to Congress. This is your chance to influence two of our nation's leaders as they work on health care reform.
Friday's event will focus on health care coverage and access, and it is the first in a series of town hall meetings that Senator Dodd will host across the state. Below are the names of people who will be joining Senator Dodd at Goodwin College this Friday:
Representative John Larson
Kevin Lembo, Connecticut’s Healthcare Advocate
Judy Stein, Executive Director, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc.
Sharon Langer, Senior Policy Fellow, Connecticut Voices for Children
David R. Fusco, President, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut
Juan Figueroa, President, Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut
Lauren Reinmann, high school senior who volunteers on behalf of underinsured and uninsured Connecticut residents
EVENT DETAILS:
Date: Friday January 23, 2009 Time: 8:30 AM Place: Goodwin College (River Campus), 1 Riverside Drive, Hartford, CT (if using a GPS navigator or an online mapping service, use 233 Riverside Drive) [Directions from Google Maps][Directions from Goodwin College]
Below is a preview of some of the items that will be on the silent auction block at our Chris Donovan, This is Your Life! special event on December 4th. If you have not already, you can reserve yourself a place at this event online, by clicking here. Full details about the event are here.
CCAG Executive Director Tom Swan originally posted the message below on MyLeftNutmeg.com
On November 4th voters will be given a choice as to whether we should hold a Constitutional Convention to propose amendments to the state Constitution.
The Connecticut Citizen Action Group (CCAG) urges a no vote on the question. As one of the organizations that has lead the fights to open up our political process (Direct Primaries, Campaign Finance and Ethics reforms) we believe a convention would be a waste of taxpayers' money and could be corrupted by the same special interests that our new campaign finance reform laws are designed to protect us from.
Proponents of a convention either do not understand the process or are deliberately trying to mislead the public by saying that the vote on November 4th is about initiative and referendum. If the vote passes it is then up to the legislature to determine the process for selecting delegates to the convention. This will likely be done through a costly special election and primaries. The convention is then convened, which will result in additional costs to the state. The delegates may or may not propose amendments to the constitution, which would be subject to a future popular vote. There is no guarantee that what the proponents of the convention are arguing this vote is about will be included these proposals.
It is plausible that many of the proponents of a convention would mask their real motivation due to the unpopularity of some of their ultimate goals. Connecticut does not want to ban a woman's right to choose or to allow discrimination against same sex couples. Advocates of these and other radical positions realize that they cannot win enough legislative races to accomplish their goals so they are trying to push a convention to create a new avenue for their fight. Their gambit will have significant costs for the state at a time we are facing a huge deficit. I am confident their stealth agenda will ultimately be rejected.
There is a high likelihood that the delegate selection process will be driven by lobbying and other big money interest. It is not surprising that special interests are looking for new ways to exert influence as Connecticut embarks on the first election cycle under our public financing system. The new system has been a smashing success with over 75% of candidates voluntarily participating. It has been praised across the country and will result in a state government more accountable to voters not special interests.
Opening up new mechanisms for the corrupting influence of special interest money is not what Connecticut needs in this post-Rowland era. CCAG is urging people not to be conned about the Constitutional Convention and to vote no.
A Message from Ned Lamont about Million Doors for Peace
Join us this Saturday, September 20th! Details below.
It has been five and a half years since the start of the Iraq War. Over the course of that time, millions of Americans have taken to the streets to protest this abhorrent war, holding marches and rallies all across this country and in its capital city.
But what about the majority of Americans who favor peace but cannot join us at a traditional rally in Washington D.C.? That is why it is time we turned the notion of an anti-war protest on its head, and instead of packing a million people into the National Mall, we knock on a million doors.
On Saturday, September 20 we intend to do just that.
Knocking on a million doors is easier than it sounds. All it takes is 25,000 people across the country to get out and knock on 40 doors each. So we are going to do a fair share of those million doors in Connecticut. Here is how you can get involved:
Training, materials, and refreshments will be provided;
If you need more information, call John Murphy at 860-995-3389.
Chances are that one of these three locations is a reasonable distance from where you live, but for those of you who want to knock doors close to home, you're in luck! After signing up on the Million Doors for Peace website, you will be sent a list of voters to contact near your home.
So this Saturday, September 20th, join us in person at one of the three locations above, or join us in solidarity by door-knocking in your neighborhood. Let's knock on a million doors for peace.
Congressman Chris Murphy chats with attendees at a CCAG BBQ in June
Support progressive change at a Carribbean BBQ!
George Jepsen welcomes you into his home for a Caribbean BBQ fundraiser! Featuring his "famous" Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Cuban pulled pork, we will gather with friends, neighbors, and allies to support the Connecticut Citizen Action Group.
Invited Guests: Congressman Christopher Murphy, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Majority Leader Chris Donovan , Rep. Jason Bartlett, Rep. Joe Taborsak, Dave Stevenson, Jim Himes, John Hartwell, Ned Lamont
Hosts: Joe DaSilva Jr., Ted Feng, Karen Schuessler, Lynn Taborsak, Stacey Zimmerman, Nancy Benedict, Bill Bloss, Sylvia Cruz, Lynn Dallas, Steve Derby, Susan Goldman, John Harmon, Luwannia Johnson, Steve Karp, Bernie McKinnon, Sal Liccione, Darryl McMiller, Max Medina.
The Dallas Morning News (via the NOW! blog) is reporting that John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis and Health Care Adviser to the McCain campaign, wants the next president to issue an executive order to reclassify the uninsured -- as insured! Can it really be that simple?
"So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.
CCAG joined with Citizens for Economic Opportunity and others united under the Health Care for America Now! (HCAN!) banner in Hartford Thursday to ask Gov. Rell one simple question: "Whose side are you on?"
Before delivering our message to the Governor's office, our group -- fifty strong -- started out by following the money from Union Station to the offices of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA). CBIA purports to represent the best interests of small businesses in Connecticut, but what they really represent are their own interests as a seller of insurance. A small business owner from Milford joined us yesterday to tell CBIA that they do not speak for him on the issue of health care.
The health care system is broken. We are paying more and getting less. It's as if the only thing rising faster than our insurance premiums are insurance company profits!
Insurance companies are profit-seeking entities and the less care they pay for, the more profit they make. Their business model requires them to regularly deny care...their profits depend on it. That's SICK!
Insurance companies decide what treatments are covered, and the good judgment of physicians must take a back seat to insurance company bureaucracy and one-size-fits-all policy. That's SICK!
Insurance companies make coverage difficult or impossible to get when we actually need it. If an expensive health care catastrophe arises, premiums skyrocket, making necessary insurance coverage impossible to afford. Insurance companies can cheerfully take our money when we're healthy and then drop us when we're not. That's SICK!
And so we the undersigned call upon the Connecticut General Assembly and Governor Rell to address the aforementioned problems with the health care system in the 2009 session and to pursue a solution that is aligned with our shared health care ideals below. We believe that Connecticut should take the lead and show the rest of the nation how to ensure quality, affordable health care for all.
UNIVERSAL
covers us all
CONTINUOUS
stays with you from job to job and in between
AFFORDABLE
for our families and our businesses
SUSTAINABLE
for our state's economy
HIGH QUALITY
supports good health
We want to put the health of people before insurance company profits, and believe that the best way to do that is by pursuing a health care solution in line with the values listed above. We call on Governor Rell and the General Assembly to begin fixing our broken health care system in the 2009 session.
By filling out the form below, you are adding your signature to the above petition and letting us know how you would most like to be involved in the fight to fix our broken health care system.
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