Kerry came to St Paul today to promote his Kids First campaign. It was quite a change from the last time he was here. Then there were over 50,000 people and today there were maybe 500. I did get to get up close so that was good.
He thanked folks for working on the election and said that he really appreciated the hard work and support. He then launched into his talk about how appalling it is that there are so many kids without health insurance-and that the republicans give the wealthy tax cuts while cutting Medicaid. He also took a few jabs at the republican for trying to end the filibuster and Bush on polluting the environment.
He said his plan was at the federal level all kids -upto age 21-who were at 100% of the poverty line would be covered. The states then in turn would cover kids' upto 300% of poverty level. This he said would save the states a lot of money. Again he emphasized that this could be done by rolling back the tax cuts that were given to folks making over 300K a year. He also asked for people to sign his petition on health care on his website. He then introduced Rep. Betty McCollum who will be sponsoring the Legislation in the House.
At the end of the talk he took comments from audience on their experiences. The story I found most moving was from a school nurse who said that since the state has been cutting back on medical care for kids she has seen some very disturbing things. She gave an example of a kid who broke bones in his hand during the weekend but could not afford to go to the doctor-so he waited till Monday morning to see her the school nurse.
I didnt stay too much longer because I was with my 20 month old and she was in a tearing hurry to leave, so If there were any other MN Kossacks there feel free to chime in.
I have a picture that I will post in a bit.