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AFL-CIO GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN: "MCCAIN REVEALED"

05/10/2008 Nationwide Door-to-Door Canvass to 200,000 Union Members and Families

On May 8th, The AFL-CIO announced plans for a major new push to expose Sen. John McCain's economic record and disastrous health care proposals, which includes a massive door-to-door canvass to 200,000 union swing voters in 22 battleground states over the next two weekends.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka and Executive VP Arlene Holt Baker will join 6,200 union volunteers going door-door in 125 locations nationwide on May 10 and May 17 to discuss McCain's record on key issues including health care, job creation, trade policy and retirement security. The effort is part of the AFL-CIO “McCain Revealed” campaign, the nation’s largest mobilization to educate voters on McCain’s economic positions and urge McCain to shift course.

“Sen. McCain’s economic path would lead to disaster for America's working families,” AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. “He wants to tax health care benefits and supports unfair trade policies that send family-supporting jobs overseas. It's time for McCain to tune out the corporate and insurance industry lobbyists who hold sway in his campaign and start listening to the real concerns of working people.”

Volunteers will focus on McCain’s health care proposals when visiting union voters at the door, highlighting his intent to tax employer-based health care, which would elevate costs and drastically reduce coverage. McCain’s plan also would push workers into the private market to fight big insurance companies on their own.

“McCain’s plan will create a new tax on working families by making employer-provided health benefits part of taxable income,” the AFL-CIO canvass literature states. “Don’t let McCain undermine your health care.”

HEALTH CARE FOR MICHIGAN CAMPAIGN

05/10/2008 So what exactly IS the Health Care for Michigan Campaign?

Frequently Asked Questions:
This is a campaign to reform health care so people that currently have health insurance will not lose their coverage and people that don't have health insurance will be able to get it. We need to bring down the high cost of health insurance so business that provide health coverage will continue to do so and be able to compete against global companies that do not provide health care because their home country does.

The key question is, are you worried about losing your health insurance? You are not alone if you are. We all know people who either don't have health insurance or have lost their insurance from being laid-off or know longer could afford it. Michigan spends a lot on health care, about $6,000 per-person per-year and yet:

Health care costs continue to rise every year. Each year more residents lose their health insurance because they can’t afford it. Each year more businesses drop health coverage for their employees because the business cannot remain competitive and pay high health insurance costs.
More than one million Michigan citizens have no health insurance at all. Hundreds of thousands more are “under-insured,” meaning they lack enough health coverage to pay for serious illness or injury.
Hospital emergency rooms are being overwhelmed with patients who cannot get routine and preventative medical care because they cannot afford it. Hospitals provide care and then pass the cost onto those that have insurance which is one of the reasons why premiuns keep going up every year.

This causes needless worry, pain and suffering to Michigan families. It is wrecking our state’s economy; businesses that provide health insurance for their employees, like the auto companies, are competing with businesses from nations where health costs are much lower.

We know what the future will bring if we do nothing; higher costs, more uninsured, and a weaker state economy. We need to take action!

We need to control health care costs and provide health care coverage to every Michigan citizen! Our strategy is to amend the State Constitution that will establish health care as a critical state concern. This will put pressure on the State Legislature to take action. Our proposal says:

"The State Legislature shall pass laws to make sure that every Michigan resident has affordable and comprehensive health care coverage through a fair and cost effective financing system. The legislature is required to pass a plan that, through public or private measures, controls health care costs and provides for medically necessary preventive, primary, acute and chronic health care needs."

We need to collect a 475,000 signatures to get this amendment on the November 2008 ballot. You can help two ways:

Collect signatures. Go to the Get Involved page and give us your name, or go to the Get Petition page to print or download the petition.

Donate money. Go to the Donate page and make a contribution on-line or mail a check payable to “Health Care For Michigan”.

We need health care reform to protect our health care insurancefor ourselves and families. To do this we need your help and support! Please join us is this incredibly important campaign!

Contact:
Health Care For Michigan
28342 Dartmouth, Madison Heights, MI 48071
734-812-0664