Join our friends at Choice USA for a National Call-In Day TODAY to support comprehensive sex education!
It is wide-spread knowledge that abstinence-only sex education has not proven to be effective in preventing sexually-transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies. There has even been a highly conclusive congressional study showing that it has grievously failed our society as a substitute for sex education. However, leaders of our nation still insist on using our money to fund wishful thinking instead of facts, thereby cheating young adults of comprehensive sex education and putting their health and future at risk.
In a little-known subplot of the health care reform discussion, ineffective abstinence education just might get a big boost, thanks to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Sen. Hatch proposed an amendment to the Senate Finance Committee health care proposal to give $50 million in funding to abstinence-only programs. The amendment just squeaked by (with 12 out of 23 votes) to rear its disingenuous head in the committee’s final bill.
Concerned citizens living in areas where abstinence-only programs are currently taught could turn to more successful strategies of sex education, once government funding expires in the coming years. But now, if Hatch’s amendment makes it to the reform bill that reaches President’s Obama’s desk, we can all look forward to incomprehensive sex education that could result in another decade of increasing rates of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
Responsible legislators must block this bogus amendment from getting through Congress. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), who supports comprehensive, effective sex education, is in the small group that is compiling the Senate’s final health care reform bill, and it is imperative that he eliminate Hatch’s agenda from their plan. We owe it to our nation’s youth, and to all those who have suffered from disease and unwanted pregnancy because they were never given realistic tools to prevent it.
Join Choice USA NOW for a National Call-In Day to support comprehensive sex education!
*This blog was written by Carly Groff, Advocacy Intern
“I’m very concerned about health care in our nation. I’m worried that once I’m out of the safety net of my parents’ [health insurance plan], I won’t be able to keep up with my health expenses. My name is Joe, I’m 19 and I’m voting for health care.” – Joe, October 2008.
“Both of my parents are social workers, so [universal health care] is dinner table conversation for us. They will come home and talk about all of these people who are not insured, who don’t have health care, and who are sitting [at home] wondering how they are going to pay for their medication. It just affects so many people. I don’t think people even realize how many people are out there that really need help. I’m Kaitlyn, I’m 18 years old and I’m voting for universal health care.” – Kaitlyn, 18, October 2008
“My mom went into the hospital complaining of back pains, two days later she had a stroke. My family was [told] that the only providers that could help were either out-of- state or out- of- network. My mom died a year later. My name is Shauna Harris and I’m voting for health care reform.” – Shauna Harris, October 2008
Joe, Kaitlyn, and Shauna are young voters who shared their reason for voting during the Campus Progress Action “I’m Voting For” project in 2008.
These are the words of young voters from across the country spoken just weeks before they, and thousands like them, hit the polls in record numbers to usher in change for the 2008 presidential election. The demand for health care reform was the motivation for casting their votes and now, one year later, it is time to deliver that change.
October has proved to be a step in the right direction, with health care reform legislation making its way through the fifth and final Congressional committee in charge of writing a reform bill. However, there is a long road ahead and we, as young adults impacted by the health care crisis and motivated by the hope of universal health care, have to keep up the pressure and ensure that our legislators deliver on what we voted for.
Tuesday, October 20th, millions of people across the country will be doing exactly that. There will be events, rallies and a national call-in day to generate thousands of calls to Congress with the message that now is the “time to deliver” on health care reform.
This effort will be spearheaded by Organizing for America and other large groups across the country including the Health Care for America NOW coalition, AARP, The American Cancer Society, and FamiliesUSA.
On Wednesday, October 21st, Rock the Vote will be engaging young Americans on the issue of health care reform through an online forum with Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.
Finally on Thursday, October 22nd, there will be a large protest outside of the America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) conference in Washington, D.C. AHIP represents America’s health insurers and hundreds of reform supporters are going to be there to protest their bad practices like denying care.
There are so many things we can do as young Americans in support of health care reform, and we will have to keep up the pressure until a bold piece of legislation lands on our President’s desk, but this week holds many opportunities to take a step further than casting our vote last year. So get out and take part in some of these actions and remind Congress and President Obama why you voted and that you’d like to see change delivered now.
All the excitement and buzz right now is centered around the CBO score of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill, which was released yesterday from the Congressional Budget Office. This score analyzes the Committee’s legislation and let’s us all know how much reform is going to cost, how many people it will insure and how much revenue it will bring in.
The media and many Congress members are ecstatic about the low number of $829 billion the CBO scored for the cost of this reform package. It seems the Committee’s goal was to meet President Obama’s key requests for financing health care reform, which were to not add “one dime” to the budget deficit and to keep the cost below $900 billion. Well, Mission Accomplished. However, no one is talking about the fact that the bill will still leave 25 million people uninsured- so of course it is cheap!
25 million people falling through the cracks of what is supposed to be an overhaul of our health insurance system in order to ensure coverage for all Americans is just unacceptable.
25 million people is roughly equivalent to the population of Iowa, Arkansas, Nevada, Maine, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Connecticut and Louisiana combined.
These nine states just happen to be home to eight Senators, and the Senate Majority Leader, that have played a big part in the creation (or opposition) to this bill. Shall all all those responsible for watering this bill down so thoroughly as to leave the equivalent of their entire home state uninsured really get credit for receiving such a “great” CBO score?
Compared to the HELP bill, the Senate Finance Committee’s bill took longer to complete, it still has not been voted out of committee (vote expected next week at this point), costs more and insures less people. The HELP bill, which is the version of health care reform that the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee created, includes a public option, the Senate Finance bill does not. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions.
The next step is for Senate Finance Committee members to review the CBO score before voting the bill out of their committee next week. Then Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will sit behind closed doors with just a few select Senators (most likely Senator Dodd from the HELP committee and Senator Baucus from the Senate Finance Committee) to combine the two versions of health care reform legislation in the Senate. This is where the public option still has a chance. This is where Congress still has a chance to leave no one behind and ensure affordable coverage for all.
You’re always warning me about going into debt. Well, my generation spends nothing in comparison to the health care system’s wasteful spending. Americans spend $2.3 trillion on health care now and costs are rising. I support President Obama’s plan for health care reform and I hope you do too! Love, ___
Health care is a vital topic of discussion right now, yet the voice of our generation is not being heard. Everyone seems to think that our parents and grandparents are the only ones who care about reform and are the only ones who have a stake in this debate. They are worried about Medicare and the cost of health care reform, but their support for Obama’s plan for reform is lower than ours – maybe they are afraid of change?
Young people are worried about losing coverage after we graduate or change jobs, others about being able to afford insurance while paying down our student debt. Point blank- our generation makes up the largest group of uninsured and has a lot to lose if Congress fails to pass reform.
Campus Progress has launched a fun Health Care E-Card initiative to leverage the voice of young people in the health care debate and to engage our family members in the discussion for reform. The goal of the campaign is to show that, despite what some in the media and the public sphere may be saying, young people do care about health care and deserve a voice in the fight for reform.
Hey Mom- just wanted you to know that I support President Obama’s plan for health care reform because it will provide coverage for the uninsured and ensure security and stability for the rest of us. Yes, I do care about health care reform and yes, I did just use the one-hit wonder from my childhood, “Ice Ice Baby,” to let you know that! Love, ___
The campaign, which allows young people to send e-cards – in English or Spanish – to their parents, friends and family, stresses that our current health care system is failing young people, and urges support for the President’s plan to reform our system and ensure that everyone has access to comprehensive health care coverage.
Take this opportunity to add your voice to the health care debate, and bridge that generational gap by expressing your health care concerns to your grandparents and parents. Send an E-Card nowto spark a health care discussion with your family members and show them that young people do care about health care!
Campus Progress is working with partners like the US Students Association and the PIRGs to mobilize students across the country for the Raising Pell Week of Action, October 6th – 8th.
Students are taking action to ensure that their Senators support President Obama’s plan to stop funding government subsidies to banks, and instead increase the Federal Pell Grant.
Students, faculty, and staff at University of California system schools engaged in a massive walk out today to counter massive budget cuts to higher education, a 45% tuition hike, pay cuts and mandatory furloughs, and more.
On their first day back to work after an eventful summer, Senators were greeted by 40 climate activists eager to demonstrate what clean energy jobs look like. Smack in the middle of the Hart Senate Office building the 40 activists built miniature windmills and made mechanical noises until interrupted by the Capitol Police. At that point, a 50 ft banner dropped demanding that the Senators “Get to Work” for “Green Jobs Now”. This protest was organized by a coalition of climate organizations including the Energy Action Coalition, Avaaz.org, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Campus Progress.
“As the Senate reconvenes today, too many Americans are out of work and getting sick from our current dirty energy systems. We must act now,” said Pete Griffin, Campaign Director for Energy Action Coalition. “This historic youth movement fighting for jobs and clean energy is getting larger every day and the action, or inaction, of the Senators walking through those doors today will influence how young people mobilize next year as 36 of them make bids for reelection.”
Mirroring the upsurge in climate organizing happening throughout the nation, this action launched a new season of inside-the-beltway activity around climate legislation. The Senate is set to discuss a climate bill around the end of the month and they can be sure to be greeted by young people in hard hats demanding that they stick to the science and keep the world’s most vulnerable nations in mind.
“We can’t wait any longer,” said Kim Huynh with the Avaaz Climate Action Factory. “The world’s leading climate scientists have said we have only a few years to act, and meaningful action is going to require global participation. World leaders are meeting in Denmark in December to craft an international climate-change agreement, and the outcome hinges on whether the U.S. Senate will pass climate legislation this fall.”
Getting a climate bill passed before Copenhagen is possibly our last chance to prove to the international community that we are serious about tackling the climate crisis, but it can’t just be any bill. The proposal that passed the house this spring falls short of what scientists are saying is necessary and don’t do enough to invest in clean energy jobs and innovation. We still have time to improve on it in the Senate, but it will take many more voices from constituents throughout the nation demanding an end to the nigthmarish climate crisis and more investments in clean energy jobs.
Our two banner droppers were detained by the Capitol police. One of the banner droppers who was arrested could use your help to pay for he legal fees, would you help a fellow climate organizer out? Please donate to support this amazing volunteer
AFL-CIO released a report yesterday outlining the depressing statistics of young workers and their lack of income and benefits. The report reveals the true weight of the burden this generation is shouldering in today’s economy. With the current health care debate, young workers are once again proven to be affected most by our health coverage crisis. Some statistics that those in Congress should be listening to instead of comparing the current reform plan to Nazism are:
Young people are the least likely of any age group to have health care coverage.
Contrary to popular thought, young people are not uninsured because they consider themselves invincible. Just the opposite—As shown in the graph above, 48% of young workers that are uninsured don’t have health insurance because they can’t afford it, 31% are uninsured because their employer does not offer coverage, and only 10% choose not to purchase coverage.
Even those with insurance are more likely to worry about having health care costs they can’t afford.
Only 55 percent of low-income young workers have health insurance.
Women are even less likely than men to have coverage, as are workers of color relative to white workers.
Young, working and uninsured is not the state this generation should find be finding themselves in. Let’s make sure Congress hears our voice when they return from the August mayhem – find rallies in your area to attend with Health Care for America Now & let’s make sure they Get it Done!
Senators are coming back to Washington D.C. on September 8th, what do you think they’ll do? Will they pass bold healthcare reform to help Americans get the care that they need? Will they pass a bold climate bill to lift the threat of the climate crisis and create millions of green jobs? The answer to these questions is entirely dependent on whether we all get loud and organized in demanding that the progressive priorities young people voted for in November are fulfilled. Here are a couple of things you can do on climate and healthcare to remind your Senators that just because they are back in the beltway they are still accountable to the youth vote:
Get It Done Healthcare Actions
Young people’s voices have been thuroughly ignored in the healthcare debate. Now that the summer is almost over, it’s time to remind our representatives that we are the least insured segment of the population and that we need healthcare reform.
On Sept. 8th the Senate will return from Summer Recess and release its version of a clean energy jobs bill. This is our chance to welcome back our Senators and tell them to “Get to Work!” Let’s create some clean energy jobs on the Hill!
Join this creative demonstration on Capitol Hill to show the Senate what clean energy jobs look like. We need dozens of people to form a “clean energy assembly line”, wear costumes and green hard hats, deliver props to Senators, and have fun! Will you join us?
Yes, your Senator is leaving your state, but you still have access to their local offices. Take a field trip over there dressed up in nurse outfits or wearing arm slings and demand healthcare reform.
Hosta PowerShift Campaign Kick-off Event
In the coming weeks the Power Shift movement will begin to take new life. Innovative new actions, state-wide rallies and the introduction of new online and mobile tools are all in the works, but we need your leadership to make it happen. That’s why we are inviting you to start using a groundbreaking new organizing tool we are unveiling today to help you create a local Campaign Kick-off Event.
Just because the summer is almost over doesn’t mean that we will stop pushing for progressive change. Now is the time to take action in your community!
It seems the media is finally starting to take note of the fact that young people have been missing from the health care debate thus far. Is it because of a lack of interest or concern from young people? Maybe for some. Or is it because Obama and Congress have failed to recognize the importance of engaging young people on the issue of health care reform? Or because the media has chosen to focus on the drama of the conservative town hall mobs instead of the young supporters that are getting out there to fight for reform, just like they fought to get their President elected?
In this AP article by Beth Fouhy, the observation that young people are AWOL from the health care debate is a disturbing assessment:
Heather Smith, executive director of the youth-oriented group Rock the Vote, said that the heated arguments that have dominated the debate recently — from the future of Medicare to “death panels” to claims of rationing — have seemed far removed from the lives of young people, whose health-insurance worries primarily center on the cost and availability of coverage.
Lake, the Democratic pollster, said the lack of involvement by young people in the health care push may hint at a bigger concern for the White House: Some so-called Obama “surge” voters, who voted for the first time in 2008 and are largely younger and nonwhite, may not be as motivated to get involved in his signature causes, including health care.
“They say, ‘I’m taking a break from politics, I’m uninformed about the system, I’m sick of Washington, I’m not going to help these people.’ It’s interesting that he hasn’t countered that disengagement,” Lake said.
Don’t get stamped as AWOL. Take Action Now for health care reform and show Congress, President Obama, and the public that young voters are still here and ready to fight for change.
Funding our Future is a campaign to pass a progressive federal budget for 2010 and ensure that our nation.s key economic choices invest in our education, spark reform of our health care system, and address climate change through cap and trade and clean energy investments. Click here for more info.
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Join our friends at Choice USA for a National Call-In Day TODAY to support comprehensive sex education!
All the excitement and buzz right now is centered around the 
On their first day back to work after an eventful summer, Senators were greeted by 40 climate activists eager to demonstrate what clean energy jobs look like. Smack in the middle of the Hart Senate Office building the 40 activists built miniature windmills and made mechanical noises until interrupted by the Capitol Police. At that point, a 50 ft banner dropped demanding that the Senators “Get to Work” for “Green Jobs Now”. This protest was organized by a coalition of climate organizations including the Energy Action Coalition, 
“We can’t wait any longer,” said Kim Huynh with the Avaaz Climate Action Factory. “The world’s leading climate scientists have said we have only a few years to act, and meaningful action is going to require global participation. World leaders are meeting in Denmark in December to craft an international climate-change agreement, and the outcome hinges on whether the U.S. Senate will pass climate legislation this fall.” 
AFL-CIO released a report
It seems the media is finally starting to take note of the fact that young people have been missing from the health care debate thus far. Is it because of a lack of interest or concern from young people? Maybe for some. Or is it because Obama and Congress have failed to recognize the importance of engaging young people on the issue of health care reform? Or because the media has chosen to focus on the drama of the conservative town hall mobs instead of the