David Gill will be online this evening. He's happy to respond to as many comments and questions as possible.
I'd like to give you an update this evening on David Gill, MD. As many of you know, David is running for Congress in the 15th CD in illinois.
Here's a link to his campaign web site:
http://www.davidgillforcongress.com/
David is poised to take back this seat from the Republican in November, that's why I'm hoping you'll give him and his family some love and support this evening.
As you'll read, his wife Polly is enduring an intense medical ordeal, but David presses on with her love and support firmly in hand.
You may also know about the Progressive Patriots Fund. Here is a link to the web site:
http://www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/
The Fund is run by Senator Russ Feingold, and is dedicated to promoting a progressive reform agenda and supporting candidates across the country.
The Fund is currently holding a vote, whichever candidate recieves the most votes by midnight on August 23 will recieve a $5,000 contribution from the Progressive Patriots Fund.
David is in second place among twelve Congressional candidates.
Of course, we want all of these great candidates to win in November, but if David Gill's candidacy resonates with you the way it does with me, then could you go the Progressive Patriots Web site, register and cast a vote for David?
If you have any doubt how badly we need David Gill to win this election, then take a look at Tim Johnson Watch Blogspot. Mr. Johnson is the corrupt and in-bed-with-Tom-DeLay Republican incumbent who must be sent into retirement.
http://timjohnsonwatch.blogspot.com/
Let me now tell you what David has been doing since my last diary about him.
He actually asked me not to include the next bit of information about his wife unless I felt it was really necessary. I do think it's necessary, because it tells you so much about the remarkable Gill family.
I'm not doing so to garner sympathy for David or Polly, but to let you know the sacrifices being made by this American family on behalf of our country and our future. But desperate times bring forth heroes, people like David and Polly Gill.
David mentioned his family crisis almost in passing.
Dear Eve-- I'm great.... finally got my ill wife home this week, after
a LOOOONG 32-day hospital stay! So the world is looking a bit rosier
to me these days!
Of course I asked him about his wife. This is from the next email he sent me.
Regarding my wife, Polly.... I don't push the story, but I don't
try to keep it secret
........ she was diagnosed with colon cancer in late April of this
year.... she also has some liver metastases.... it has been a
tremendous ordeal-- she had her colon surgery on 4/28/06, and started
chemotherapy in June..... but then fell very ill on 7/15, with sepsis
secondary to large abdominal abscess..... underwent further surgery,
and when she grew even sicker post-operatively on 8/2, was airlifted
from Bloomington, IL down to Barnes in St. Louis...... she has since
stabilized/improved, and we finally got her home this past Wednesday
evening (8/16)...... still quite weak, and still with many battles
ahead (hopefully!), including more chemo, partial liver removal, etc,
but there's still hope for a complete recovery....
...... Polly's illness has made my already chaotic life almost
surreal in terms of busy-ness, but thanks to the terrific staff and
volunteers who have joined "Friends of DG" over the past almost 4
years, the campaign has persisted and grown stronger over the past
several months.... I continue to campaign at Polly's insistence-- she
fully recognizes that the House may well wind up 218-217 after the
November election, and that 218th Dem seat might well be Illinois
15.... and the need for a Democratic-majority House is so overwhelming,
given the negative impact that an unfettered Bush has on the 6 billion
people on this planet, and generations to follow.... simply put, Polly
wouldn't let me give up campaigning with so much at stake.
Thanks,
David
Need I say anything more? But I will.
He brought me up-to-date on the campaign. He began by telling me what would happen day he is sworn into office and Democrats are in the majority.
On the day I'm sworn into office, I intend to have a press
conference in which I challenge/encourage Democratic leadership to join
John Conyers and myself in pushing H.R. 676 through the newly Dem.
majority House....... From the Emergency Room to the hospital Board
Room, I've been immersed in American health care for nearly a
quarter-century, and once I secure a seat in Washington, I intend to
use my experience as a physician to at long last bring affordable and
quality healthcare to every American.
May I remind you that HR676 is also known as The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act.
Under HR 676, Medicare would be extended and improved so that all individuals residing in the United States would receive high quality and affordable health care services. They would get a national health insurance card and receive all medically necessary services by the physicians of their choice, with no restrictions on what providers they could visits. The United States National Health Insurance Act also includes primary care, dental, mental health, prescription drugs, and long term care
HAD ENOUGH? Seems that voters in the 15th CD are ready to take back our country.
Each day, out on the campaign trail, I listen to voters express
their disgust with our current "leadership." This disgust is
registered by all kinds of people: young, old, rich, poor, left of
center, right of center.
Almost universally, they've come to understand the folly of our
foray into Iraq. They praise my steadfast opposition to this war, and
they deeply resent the lies they were fed to justify this foolishness.
Nearly all of them are angry about $3 gas. And every one of them
understands that we'll never see improvement in our Energy &
Environmental policies until we have a change in leadership. One man
at a parade in Atwood, IL yesterday said to me, as I shook his hand:
"I know you can't fix $3 gas overnight. But at the least, you won't
get into bed with Big Oil the way Tim Johnson does, will you?" I
assured him that I'll never be a lackey for Big Oil or any other group,
and explained that he could easily find out "who's in bed with who" by
checking out the fundraising pages at www.fec.gov.
HAD ENOUGH? Sick of insurance company bean counters denying you lifesaving medication, urgent tests and necessary medical procedures?
Do you want the corruption-riddled Medicare D relegated to the dust bin of history, and replaced with meaningful and authentic prescription drug coverage?
During each of my shifts in the E.R., I bear witness to the
irresponsibly dangerous nature of Medicare Part D. Nearly all the
senior citizens I see throw up their hands in frustration; the only
ones who don't do so are those who have fallen in to the "Donut Hole"--
they're too sick to raise their hands or their voices.
And the E.R. grows more full by the day, as the patients stream in
with important, though non-emergent, problems... they simply have
nowhere else to turn, unable to find a doc who will accept "Self Pay"
or Public Aid patients. And so, in our insane "system" designed by
career politicians with no background in health care, we wind up
providing the most expensive care in the E.R. to these non-emergencies,
and WE ALL PAY FOR IT.
HAD ENOUGH? Stem cell research?
The idea that a moron jackass like George Bush and the extremist, lunatic fringe in the Republican Party are making immense decisions to deny the American people the benefits of the most potentially important medical research in generations, is beyond belief. But they are.
Large numbers of voters tell me of their anger over Tim Johnson's
support of the president's stance on embryonic stem cell research....
rather than helping millions of precious human beings, Bush & Johnson
want to continue with a system that has tossed 400,000 embryos into the
wastebasket over the last several years. Even many of the most
stalwart "pro-life" voters have come to recognize the idiocy of the
Bush/Johnson position on this topic.
Despite the difficult situation he and his family are dealing with, David is optimistic and feels the sweet winds of change blowing through the 15th CD in illinois.
I'm more confident with each passing day that we'll prevail in a
big way this November. Near the end of that parade yesterday, an
elderly couple told me: "We've never voted for anyone other than a
Republican in our entire lives... but we've been reading about you, Dr.
Gill, and you're not like the rest of those politicians... we don't
care what party you belong to-- you'll have our votes this November."
And ever modest, this is what David wrote in response to my email expressing my admiration at his and Polly's strength.
I'm not sure how heroic we are, but we do have a passion for making this a better world!
Please, can we help David? We need him in Congress. Our lives depend on it.
http://www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/