President Barack Obama held a health care reform town hall at Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale campus on July 1-- questions were submitted online and from the live audience. Change that Works Virginia team member Sheila Collier--who has been hard at work in the Fairfax area garnering support for the President's health care reform initiative--was granted the honor of asking the last question of the town hall. President Obama was pleased with her question and voiced his health care reform tenets, including his desire for a public option.

You can watch the entire town hall at the White House youtube channel here:

President Barack Obama held a health care reform town hall at Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale campus on July 1-- questions were submitted online and from the live audience. Change that Works Virginia team member Sheila Collier--who has been hard at work in the Fairfax area garnering support for the President's health care reform initiative--was granted the honor of asking the last question of the town hall. President Obama was pleased with her question and voiced his health care reform tenets, including his desire for a public option.

You can watch the entire town hall at the White House youtube channel here:

President Obama is hosting an online discussion this Wednesday, at 1:15 p.m. EDT, on health care reform. He's soliciting questions from people via Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Below is the President's video introduction to this week's online discussion:

If you're on Twitter, ask a question with this hashtag #WHHCQ. Facebook users can ask questions here. Two hundred and thirty-six (236) YouTube video questions have already been submitted--many of which deal directly with the public health insurance option. Below are a few of our favorites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1TNyspiNaU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH0zcK8T39Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfl7mDMpruw

Submit your own question via YouTube here.

At the Costa Mesa town hall meeting this week, the main item on President Obama's agenda was selling his $787 billion stimulus package and other large-scale proposals on the way on education, health care reform, housing and energy. Obama addressed a crowd of more than 1,000 people in a relatively upbeat fashion, as he promised "brighter days ahead" and the expectation that the administration can create or save 396,000 jobs in the state of California over the next two years.

President Obama also introduced the launch of a new website: www.MakingHomeAffordable.gov, to help borrowers determine whether they're eligible for the administration's housing plan (an estimated 7 to 8 million homeowners are), and to help them calculate how much money the plan could save them on their monthly payments. The plan is designed to help homeowners save money by refinancing or modifying their mortgages.

During the Q&A session of the Orange County town hall, Obama reiterated a theme of looking out for working people and creating an economy where prosperity is once again broadly shared--an economy that's good for everybody, not just the few at the top. "If the middle class is doing well, working people are doing well, then everybody's doing well," the president said.

One of the audience's questions came from the president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, Bob Balgenorth, who referenced the Bush administration's failure to enforce wage and hour conditions for workers and other workers' rights protections. "What can your administration do to make sure that people get the wages that they're entitled to in this terrible economic downturn?" asked Balgenworth.

In his response, Obama reiterated his support for making it easier for workers to form unions to restore balance and improve millions of Americans' economic standing:

We think it is important that unions have the opportunity to organize themselves.

[...] The business press says that's anti-business. And whenever I hear that I'm always reminded of what Henry Ford said when he first started building the Model T -- and he was paying his workers really well. And somebody asked him, they said, why are you paying your workers so well? He said, well, if I don't pay them well, they won't be able to buy a car.

Think about that...part of the problem with our economy and the way it was growing was that wages and incomes for ordinary working families were flat for the entire decade. Now, I don't need to tell you this because you've experienced it in your own lives. You've just barely kept up with inflation while people at the very top...were seeing all the benefits.

So when I say that we should make it easier for unions to organize and observe Davis-Bacon, all I'm trying to do is to restore some balance to our economy so that middle-class families who are working hard, going to their jobs every day, doing the right thing by their kids -- they should be able to save, buy a home, go on a vacation once in a while. You know, they should be able to save for retirement, send their kids to college. That's not too much to ask for. That's the American dream. And the only way we get there is if we have bottom up economic growth instead of top down economic growth.

Tonight, at 9pm ET/8pm CT, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress about his budget priorities and draw a blueprint for the year ahead.

The address--which will be roughly one hour in length--is intended to explain his economic policies and argue that legislative revisions on health care, education and energy are crucial to lifting the economy. It will represent the most in-depth indication yet of Obama's priorities this year so far--and mark the start of a hugely important budget process in Congress.

President Obama has made many historic speeches since he first launched his bid for the presidency. But, for health care, none have had the significance of the one he'll deliver tonight. The funds that are ultimately designated for health care reform in the federal budget will greatly influence our ability to achieve meaningful reform this year.

Tonight, millions of our friends, neighbors, and relatives will be watching the president's speech. They're going to hear him make a strong case for why we need to push for immediate health care reform. But it's up to us to show them how.

Tell your friends about the work we've done and invite them to join us: action.seiu.org/ourweek

I hope you'll watch the president's address tonight at 9pm ET - and ask your friends to do the same. Every American has a role to play in fixing our country's broken health care system.

* Click here for a list of where you can watch Obama's address online live tonight

Yesterday, we told you about Rush Limbaugh's rant against the measures to improve health IT in the Economic Recovery Act. Normally, Rush goes largely unnoticed by most of the general public. But his irresponsible comments about health IT have hit a nerve with the health care community.

In the last 12 hours, newspapers have received more than 2,000 letters from caregivers across the country. Their messages - largely based on professional experience in the health care industry - debunk Rush's scare tactics and clear the air about the benefits of health IT.

We thought we'd let the experts on this issue - health care professionals - speak for themselves:

As a nurse and caregiver, I take the quality and affordability of patient care seriously. The Economic Recovery Act gives health care providers the resources to invest in new technology and update existing health IT. This will save both patients and hospitals money by making delivery of care faster and more efficient. It will reduce time caregivers spend on paperwork so they can spend more time with patients. Most importantly, these resources will improve patient safety by helping to catch and eliminate medical errors. The pundits who are opposed to this Act are spreading unfounded fear. Let's bring healthcare to the 21st century...it's about time!!! - Mary Ann, MI

I am a registered nurse working in Savannah for over 35 years. [My hospital] is using many of the IT heath care solutions that President Obama is referring to in his stimulus package. Every minute we don't have to spend writing things in a paper chart are minutes we can be by our patient's bedside. This would save money in clerical bookkeeping and wasted caregiver hours, as well as lawsuits for harmful errors. Every nurse I know would rather be with their patients than keeping records already recorded somewhere else. - Linda, FL

I am an APRN in Connecticut. I didn't educate myself to this level to push a pen at the nursing desk. I want to be at the bedside to deliver care. - Patrick, CT

Yesterday, health care advocates nationwide celebrated a major victory for our movement. President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) into law. President Obama characterized the bill as a "down payment" on winning quality, affordable health care for all Americans, not just our children:

"[This] bill is only a first step. The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American. And it is just one component of a much broader effort to finally bring our health care system into the twenty-first century. That's where the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that is now before Congress comes in.

"Think about this - if Congress passes this recovery plan, in just one month, we'll have done more to modernize our health care system than we've done in the past decade."

• Continues coverage through 2013 for 7 million lower income children.
  
• Expands coverage for another 4.1 million uninsured children.
  
• Requires states to offer a dental benefit.
  
• Allows states to offer SCHIP dental coverage to children whose private medical insurance does not cover dentist visits.
  
• Allows states to extend SCHIP and Medicaid to newly arrived legal immigrant children and pregnant women.

Sen. Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination today for Secretary of Health and Human Services. In a statement released by the White House, Sen. Daschle stated:

"If 30 years of exposure to the challenges inherent in our system has taught me anything, it has taught me that this work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction. Right now, I am not that leader."

Through our Change that Works campaign, SEIU has mobilized a significant amount of resources and staff to win health care reform. The future Health and Human Services Secretary will no doubt be a partner in that mission. As a longtime advocate for health care reform, Sen. Daschle was an extraordinary pick to head this agency, but his resignation today only reminds us that to win health care for all, we will need the full force of a national grassroots movement. Real change comes from many people, working from the ground up; not one politician at the top.

Sen. Daschle's resignation may seem like an important political moment to those in Washington, but for most Americans, it's just a blip on the radar. What matters to them is whether they can afford to see the doctor or buy their children the medicine they need. With each one percent drop in employment, 1.1 million more people lose their insurance.

If the battle over children's health insurance taught us anything, it is that we can never take our focus off the finish line. If you haven't already, sign up to be a part of SEIU's Change that Works campaign: http://action.seiu.org/page/s/healthcareforall

Last week's reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program was touted by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers as an important first step to fix health care. It was our first glimpse of what happens when both parties come together around improving access to quality care.

This was also our first opportunity to show the strength of the movement we're building and to test our ability to mobilize quickly online around important legislation. In short, the results were impressive.

Here are a few statistics about the work you did in support of the Children's Health Insurance Program:

· Online activists made 1,023 calls to members of Congress leading up the votes in the House and Senate. That equated to 4,500 minutes on the phone with 259 different lawmakers.

· Sixteen of the House Republicans we contacted ended up voting in favor of the bill; and 6 of those Representatives had previously been opposed to or undecided on the legislation.

· Online activists also contacted eight of the nine Senate Republicans who voted in favor of the bill.

· After the legislation passed both the House and the Senate, over 1,120 of you sent letters to President Obama through SEIU.org - thanking him for his support of this legislation and letting him know we're going to lead the way on health care for all Americans.

· Our movement is still growing, too. Over 650 of you sent letters to your friends after you contacted President Obama, inviting them to do the same.

WASHINGTON, DC - "Today, Congress took a first and important step to rebuilding the American Dream," said SEIU International Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger as Senators from both parties worked together to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). "Leaders of both parties worked hard to craft this bipartisan bill. It delivers peace of mind for more hard-working parents that the health of their kids will not keep them from affording to put a roof over their family's head.

"We applaud the Senate for strengthening the children's health insurance program and ensuring no child must wait for care. Congress' job is just beginning. We urge Congress to include key health care provisions in its economic recovery package. Let these measures be the start of a broader effort to finally fix our broken health care system."

SEIU, the nation's largest union of health care workers, is helping its 2 million members and community leaders contact their members of Congress. In addition to comprehensive health care reform, members are continuing to talk to their elected officials about the need to pass a large economic recovery package that invests in state and local government to preserve essential services and invests in infrastructure and human services to save and create jobs.

"Our economy is in serious trouble and if we wait to pass health care reform or President Obama's 'American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan' things will only get worse. Congress cannot stop now, they must move forward on delivering help and hope to working Americans and local communities. Only by building a new economy and health care system can we build a new American Dream."

With 2 million members in Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, SEIU is the fastest-growing union in the Americas. Focused on uniting workers in healthcare, public services and property services, SEIU members are winning better wages, healthcare and more secure jobs for our communities, while uniting their strength with their counterparts around the world to help ensure that workers--not just corporations and CEOs--benefit from today's global economy.

Tonight, after three days of debate on a series of amendments to the bill, the Senate passed the bipartisan Children's Health Insurance Program.

When President Obama signs this bill into law, it will mark day one of changing America's broken health care system. Day one of working together, across the aisle, to implement changes that will have long-lasting effects on the health and well-being of our nation. Day one of shifting focus toward solving the health care crisis--once and for all.

This program will ensure that millions of children, many of whose parents have lost their employer-provided health care coverage through layoffs and cutbacks, will be able to receive doctor check-ups, dentist visits, and preventive care.

But it's also an important day for all of us who've joined together in support of fixing health care. It's evident today that we're building a real, grassroots movement. SEIU's online activists alone banked more than 1,000 calls to Congress in support of the reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program. We called 87 senators - many of them multiple times. Reports even came back from our callers that receptionists seemed "flustered," and "puzzled" by the number of calls they were receiving.

We also learned a lot about what to expect as we continue our movement. Activists like Rose in Indiana discovered that senate offices who opposed us were reluctant to be forthcoming about it on the phone. Rather than discuss the issue directly, they claimed to have no knowledge of the bill.

That didn't stop us, though; and we sent a signal loud and clear: we're paying attention, and we expect results.

We don't have time to waste. It's clear that if we don't find solutions to our ailing health care system, the financial burden placed on Americans will continue to grow.

You can tell President Obama that children's health is just the first step in our movement to fix health care - click here to send him a letter.

Just as we didn't let our setbacks stop us from improving access to health care for kids, we can't let our early victories stop us from winning health care for everyone. Senator Olympia Snowe called this bill "a critical first step towards greater health reform." More than ever, we're ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work - and we expect Congress to do the same.

I don't often get emotional when I watch C-SPAN, but I just saw something I've been waiting to see for two years. The U.S. House of Representatives, after receiving hundreds of your phone calls, passed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.

This is huge - but it's only the first step.

It's the first step in undoing the disastrous policies that have defined eight years of the Bush presidency. Back in 2007, despite broad support from both Democrats and Republicans, President Bush vetoed the Children's Health Insurance Plan - denying coverage for the 4 million kids whose families can't afford health care. This time, when the bill makes its way to the White House, President Obama will be holding the pen.

It's also the first step toward economic recovery. The cost of health care is skyrocketing - outpaced only by the number of families slipping into bankruptcy. The end result is more than 47 million Americans who can't afford basic health care - including more than 8 million children. We can't rebuild our economy without making quality, affordable health care a part of the foundation.

Above all, it's the first step toward fixing our broken health care system. To really get the economy back on track, we must guarantee health care for ALL Americans. Reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program is a great place to start; but we won't stop until every American has quality, reliable health care that they can afford.

Passing the House is also, literally, only the first step toward putting this bill into law. Next it heads to the Senate where, if it passes, it will be sent to the President for a signature.

We've only come this far because of your support. In less than 24 hours, hundreds of activists contacted their Representatives in support of this bill. Thanks to your calls, we've sent a strong message in support of children's health to our Congress - and we've let them know they'll be hearing from us again as we continue our movement to fix health care.

Keep checking back to SEIU.org as this bill moves to the Senate. We need to show them the same intensity we showed with our calls to the House.

USA Today dove head first today into the increasingly crowded pool of newspapers who are taking a stand for fixing our nation's broken health care system.

The paper examines one key piece of Obama's health care proposal--offering a public plan that would compete with private insurers to provide the best services and benefits at a competitive cost to consumers. The editorial staff of USA Today expertly unravels the conservative arguments against a public option, exposing the contradiction between "a public health plan will never be able to compete with private insurance plans," and "a government plan will be so strong that it will destroy private health insurance."

The paper writes, "[Obama's] plan is a compelling idea for the simple reason that it tests the notion that private health insurance plans operate more efficiently than government." My guess is that some insurers doubt the strength of their own plans. Too many people have experienced what has become part-and-parcel of our broken health care system: denial of coverage, unpaid claims, and confusing bureaucracy.

Foreword: For the second consecutive year, SEIU is participating in the Labor Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place this week in Posnan, Poland. Marrianne McMullen, SEIU's representative to U.S. Labor Delegation, blogs about their work and her experiences (below).

By now, the labor delegates staying together at the remote hotel had settled into a routine. It was 8 a.m. so we were gathering for the odd but ample complimentary breakfast buffet. We were fewer today, moving into the last two days of the negotiations. By 8:25 we were hustling out the door to catch the 8:30 U.N. bus to the conference site - an enormous complex of buildings connected by tent-like, heated hallways.

If today is like all other days, we will be in meetings, observing negotiations, and attending panel discussions until about 8 p.m. We'll then go into the downtown for a late dinner, and get back to our hotels between 11 pm and midnight. It's a schedule that is as unsustainable as fossil fuels.

Green Recovery

The Blue Green Alliance press conference is the highest priority for a few of us this morning. This unique group formed initially by the United Steelworkers and the Sierra Club has recently grown to include the National Resources Defense Council, the Communications Workers of America and SEIU.

Together, the Alliance represents more than 6 million people, and its goal is nothing less than to transform the U.S. economy through global warming solutions.
This expansion of the Blue Green Alliance was announced at the press conference, and details of this unique grouping of unlikely U.S. allies were discussed with the international press. Joining the member groups was Kit Batten of the Center for American Progress, one of the authors of "Green Recovery: A program to create good jobs and start building a low-carbon economy."

"If we invest $100 billion into six green strategies, we project it will create 2 million jobs," said Batten. The six strategies she described were retrofitting buildings, building a "smart" power grid, expanding mass transit, and investment in the renewable energy sources of wind, solar and advanced biofuels.

She and others on the panel described a growing level of political support for a "green recovery." Stimulating demand for wind turbines, other renewable energy equipment, and materials for retrofitting could be the fastest way to revitalize U.S. steel, manufacturing and construction industries. [Full PDF of report here].

A national strategy

Bob Baugh of the AFL-CIO said at several meetings that the United States has been "a country without a clue; a country without a strategy. And we are in need of one."

Similar observations echoed through other discussions. At one side event on jobs in alternative energy, Kaveh Zahedi, of the United Nations Environment Program, said some existing government strategy is bad for both the environment and jobs.
"Governments throughout the world currently give $300 billion per year in government subsidies toward carbon-based fuels," he said. (And that number doesn't include what they spend to protect and defend those fossil fuels.) "If those subsidies were switched to renewable resources, there would be an explosion of jobs," said Zahedi.

"Five hundred million people will join the workforce in the next 10 years," he added. "They shouldn't be doing work that threatens their future and the planet's future."

Future is now

For some working people, the climate-compromised future is now. Angela Lomosi of Nigeria was one of the labor delegates from Africa. She said that climate change is already affecting what land farmers can cultivate on her continent.

"We already have displacement due to climate change," she told the labor delegates at their daily meeting. "With the rains and flooding, farmers can't farm and they are moving their families. And the price of food is soaring. Corn--a staple of our diet-- is now $2 a package, and that's for people who make $1 a day."

It has become clear to those attending the conference that the urgency for effective action on climate change is not reflected in progress at these U.N. negotiations. Before these talks, Poznan was seen as a crucial stepping stone to next year's negotiations in Copenhagen, where the Kyoto protocols will be replaced. Now it's seen as having been more of a rest stop.

But at the very least, we have made progress on our goal as a labor delegation: to make sure the concerns of working people are addressed as part of the final negotiations.

Phillip Pearson of the ITUC referred to the comprehensive "Assembly Document #2008-16" and said, "when you get home, download this document and do a word search for ITUC and labor, and you'll find that we've made major progress in the state of play of this segment of civil society in these negotiations."

U.S. union commitment

And the U.S. delegation has clarified its collective commitment: From the Steelworkers' commitment to clean energy-related manufacturing; to the transportation workers' advocacy for major expansion in public transit; to the farmworkers attention to agriculture and migration impacts; to public employee unions' commitment to public monitoring and accountability for emissions; to SEIU's commitment to green building maintenance and protection of public health.

Each union's potential contribution to addressing climate change added up to a collectively powerful role that labor has to play in this movement. If we needed one more reason why working people, and the planet, need a strong labor movement, we saw it in Pozna.

SEIU President Andy Stern weighed in this morning on the National Journal's health care experts blog. He talked about cutting through the argument between two extremes that has halted progress on health care reform and finding a middle ground solution that addresses the crisis head-on:

Fixing health care means offering choice and flexibility as part of any solution. Too often, Americans are presented with false options: either a government-run system funded by high taxes or a deregulated private market that puts profits ahead of patient care. Neither extreme would get the job done.

Andy's comment comes on the heels of major developments in our movement to fix health care. Last month, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) released a call to action and a comprehensive plan to immediately solve the health care crisis. Last week, Tom Daschle - the leader of President-elect Obama's health care transition team - issued a similar plea for Americans to take ownership of the movement to fix health care.

Read Andy's entire response here and, if you haven't already, join our movement to fix health care.

Every year, the Gallup Poll releases their Honesty and Ethics survey of various professions. This year's results are in, and for the seventh year in a row, nurses are ranked number one on the list.

A whopping 84% percent of Americans say that nurses' "honesty and ethical standards are either 'high' or 'very high."

It's a reminder of how our ideas should be valued as we work with our new president to find solutions to our nation's health care crisis.