Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Elizabeth
Happy birthday to you....and many more :-)
From everyone here at Daily Kos, we would want to wish the happiest birthday ever! You are a national treasure Elizabeth and we all look forward to the day we will be able to call you our First Lady.
This being Elizabeth's birthday..it could not have come at a better time to remind us to stop for just a moment and think... this being the day Elizabeth Edwards was born. A real American patriot...that has put country before self time after time. At a time in our nation's history when all we have to do is look towards Washington DC and the greed and corruption that resides within our government to realize what a true gift Elizabeth and John Edwards will be to the American people. All they want to do is serve their country by helping people who are not in a position to help themselves. Both John and Elizabeth could go on about their lives, living in comfort and focusing only on themselves but instead have chosen a different path. Time and time again both have spoken out against injustice when no one else would and for that we are so thankful.
John and Elizabeth Edwards (credits to crappyjazz for the video)
Elizabeth Edwards' energy is an inspiration
When Elizabeth Edwards stormed the Bay Area in a flurry of energetic appearances on behalf of the John Edwards campaign, perhaps the message she sent most loud and clear had nothing to do with her husband's presidential aspirations. The subtext was: "Yes, this is what a cancer patient looks like."
Those who attended a recent fundraiser for the Edwards campaign in Mountain View, where Elizabeth made a solo appearance, were struck by her vitality despite the breast cancer that has metastasized to her bones. Even though she dispensed with the issue of her health right at the beginning of her speech, many of those who attended went to be inspired by her determination to keep on fighting.
Patients invited
Amanda Hawes, whose San Jose law firm, Alexander Hawes, represents people who have been exposed to toxic chemicals, invited some cancer patients to the private event. She said they wanted to talk to Elizabeth Edwards about issues you rarely hear discussed right after a campaign speech. "One woman I brought wanted to ask her how she manages her chemo treatments while traveling," Hawes told me.
It may be that Edwards will do more for raising awareness about where we are with breast cancer treatments and research than all the pink-ribbon campaigns of the past 20 years. Barbara Brenner, a survivor of breast cancer and head of the advocacy group Breast Cancer Action in San Francisco, said that Edwards has become the new face of the disease.
By PAM BERNS
The Sunday New York Times had an article on presidential candidate John Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth. I’m so impressed with her attitude, optimism and grace under circumstances that would overwhelm most of us. The inoperable cancer she has would alone disable many of us, less run a family, a political campaign and manage chemotherapy. The article said that she is actively engaged in all decisions, small and major, including the one to hire Joe Trippi, the man who was responsible for raising so much money for Howard Dean in the last presidential election. Last week Elizabeth Edwards called into the television show Hardball when she heard Ann Coulter’s hateful slurs against her family. Coulter was cruelly referring to the death of Edwards’ oldest son in a car crash at the age of 16. If Chris Matthews, the host of Hardball, continues to give Coulter an audience to spew hateful rhetoric, he will lose his core audience—people who turn his show on to watch intelligent discussions of important issues of the day, not to listen to verbal garbage.
And this from the Edwards web site on wishing Elizabeth a happy birthday
Today we're wishing Elizabeth Edwards a very happy birthday! She's one amazing lady, and we are so proud to work alongside her on this journey.
If you'd like to send along some birthday wishes you can e-mail them directly to Elizabeth, you can use this contact form, or you can leave them in the comments!
In wrapping up, I guess I better include a little campaign news just to keep it legal :-)
I know this was posted yesterday but I think it's worth revisiting again today...
"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."-John Edwards
Edwards Calls For Minimum Wage Increase As Part Of Plan To Build One America
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – As part of his agenda to build One America where every person has the chance to work hard and get ahead, Senator John Edwards today will call for a raise in the minimum wage. At appearances at the National Education Association's Annual Meeting and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now's Candidates Forum, Edwards will call for gradually increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 and ensuring that it continues to rise so minimum-wage workers will share in our nation's prosperity.
"Raising the minimum wage is one of the most important steps we can take to lift working families out of poverty and into the middle class," said Edwards. "No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty. If a job takes you away from your family every single day — or for many low-wage workers all through the night — it had better pay you enough to support them. As president, I will raise the minimum wage and put our economy back on the side of working families."
The national minimum wage now fails to keep working families out of poverty. In May, President Bush signed the first increase in the minimum wage in nearly a decade. The wage will increase from $5.15 to $5.85 on July 24 and to $7.25 in two years. While the upcoming increase will give a much-needed raise to millions of families, it is far from enough. The higher minimum wage came after nearly a decade of delay and still remains inadequate as a tool to fight poverty, reward work and reduce inequality. Even at $7.25 an hour, the real value of the minimum wage will be more than $1 below half the average wage, a historic benchmark. The $7.25 wage is only about 40 percent of the average wage.
Edwards believes we need to raise the minimum wage to strengthen the middle class and strengthen our economy. Raising the minimum wage gives millions of workers more buying power and allows them to support their families with less government aid and contribute to the economy. By raising the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 and then indexing it so that it automatically rises each year along with average wages, Edwards believes we can lift up working families and build an America that rewards work instead of wealth.
Edwards has long fought to raise the minimum wage, traveling across the country during the past few years to help pass minimum wage ballot initiatives in six states in 2006. Edwards' call to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2012 is just one part of his plan to build an America where every person has the same chances to succeed that he has had. He has also laid out detailed plans to guarantee universal health care, strengthen unions, and crack down on predatory lending.
Here are some highlights of upcoming events John and Elizabeth will be attending
July 5
1:00 p.m. ET
Crowne Plaza Cleveland City Centre Hotel
777 St. Clair Avenue, NE
Cleveland, OH 44114
July 10, 2007 - 9:30 a.m.
Elizabeth Edwards officially opens the South Carolina for Edwards headquarters in Columbia.
1634 Taylor Street
Columbia SC 29201
Call 803-251-0168 for more information
House Party with Elizabeth in NH
July 10, 2007 - 1:45 p.m.
Home of Beth Salzman
11 Pebble Beach Road
Bedford, NH
Call 603-606-3601 for more information
House Party with Elizabeth in NH
July 10, 2007 - 3:45 p.m.
Home of Representative Christine Hamm
14 South Road
Hopkinton, NH
Call 603-606-3601 for more information
