Fifteen months ago, the world was changed when we elected Barack Obama as our next President. After eight years of the Bush administration, there were many problems to tackle – the biggest recession since the Great Depression, signs of worsening climate change, huge numbers of people losing their homes to foreclosure, wars raging in several countries, jobs lost in record numbers, institutional violations of civil rights, and much, much more. After stabilizing the financial sector, our President decided to take on health care reform – a problem so complex and far-reaching, it impacted most of the other problems.
Spring and summer of 2009 brought out the crocuses and the crazies, the tanners and the tea-partiers, the petunia-fertilizers and the Palin-followers. In Colorado alone, there were hundreds of town halls, protests, rallies, meetings, marches, seminars, conferences and house parties on the subject of health reform. Joe-the-not-very-convincing-Plumber and Sarah Palin visited our great state to warn us of the evils of MSNBC and the threat of the "great left-wing conspiracy".
But more convincing were the people we heard from who weren’t famous – the mothers, fathers, grandparents, sisters, and brothers who told us the stories of what life was like for them, being only one illness away from losing their homes and their jobs. People told us stories that wrenched our hearts, hit us in the pits of our stomachs, and made us cry.
Colorado’s Democratic delegation: Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, and Congresspersons Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette, Jared Polis, Betsy Markey, and John Salazar, were asked to pass the most sweeping and far-reaching legislation in forty-five years. In a state that had consistently voted Republican for many years prior to 2008, and with Fox News propaganda warning the world of impending doom under socialism and Obama-care, they must have been more than a little intimidated by the enormity of their task.
Millions of emails, thousands of phone calls, hundreds of office visits and truckloads of letters later, they stood up together in unison for what is right. They stood up for little Thomas Wilkes, whose family almost lost all they had saved to pay for Thomas’ hemophilia treatments. They stood up for the family of Zumante Lucero, a little boy who died when he did not get the asthma treatment he desperately needed. They stood up for Amy, a woman who took her own life when she was diagnosed with a chronic medical condition, knowing she had no insurance and could not pay for the treatment she needed. They stood up for 800,000 Coloradans whose lives would become significantly better if they could afford health care or health care insurance.
These seven members of Congress have been cursed, yelled at, threatened, screamed at, chewed out, and verbally attacked for that stand. All of them were told everyday their vote for health reform legislation would cost them their re-elections. More than one has received death threats, in the last week alone.
These seven people are HEROES.
Because of their courage, someone’s mother will not go to bed at night in pain because she couldn’t be seen in the emergency room unless her fever was 103 or higher. Because of them, someone’s father will no longer have to choose between keeping his small home and paying for his heart medicine. Because of them, someone’s sister will not have a baby without prenatal care because she had no insurance. Because of them, someone’s brother will live fifteen years longer because he is now able to afford his diabetes supplies. Because of them, someone will not have to choose between sending their kids to college, and getting radiation and chemotherapy.
Mark Udall, Michael Bennet, Ed Perlmutter, Diana DeGette, John Salazar, Jared Polis and Betsy Markey – seven ordinary human beings with extraordinary courage. They deserve our gratitude, our appreciation and our support.
If you are in a position to express your appreciation in the form of a contribution to their re-election, please do. If you are not, I urge you to call, write a letter, or thank them by telephone. Their contact information is below. They need us to stand with them, like they stood for us.
And to all of you who helped these five heroes reach their courageous decision, my deep, heartfelt, "Thank-you".
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Contact information:
Congresswoman Betsy Markey
123 N. College Ave., Suite 220
Ft. Collins, CO 80524
p. 970.221.7110
f. 970.221.7240
To donate to campaign or volunteer: www.markeyforcongress.com
Congressman John Salazar
609 Main Street, #6
Alamosa, CO 81101
719-587-5105
719-587-5137 (fax)
To donate to campaign or volunteer: www.salazarforcongress.com
Congresswoman Diana DeGette
600 Grant Street
Suite 202
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303) 844-4988
Fax: (303) 844-4996
To donate to campaign or volunteer: www.degette.com