In America, No One Should Go without Health Care

This Labor Day, America is not working the way it should for working people.

Housing foreclosures are rising, but wages are not.  We’re losing good jobs and gaining household debt.  Health care costs are pushing people to the edge, and now 47 million Americans have no health care coverage.  Our bridges and roads and schools are crumbling.  So are working families’ pensions.  Working people have been robbed of their freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life.  Our nation’s middle class is shrinking, and the future is in doubt for our children and grandchildren.

Today, on the two-year anniversary of Katrina, we are reminded of all that has been lost in America.  We are reminded of the unprecedented indifference shown to working families by the current occupant of the White House.

Today, the AFL-CIO is announcing our response to one of the things most wrong with America.  We are beginning a sustained drive to put the full force of 10 million union members and 3 million union retirees behind winning high quality health care for every person in our nation by 2009.

Health care is the top domestic issue for our members and all Americans, and the AFL-CIO is making the 2008 elections a mandate on fixing our broken system.  We will hold candidates at every level responsible for supporting comprehensive, progressive national health care reform.  And we will elect a president and a Congress prepared to turn their campaign promises into reality.

In America, no one should go without health care.  Nobody should have to live in fear of an accident or illness or an unexpected medical bill.  Nobody should have to go deep into debt or declare bankruptcy to pay for a life-saving operation — especially when drug and insurance company CEOs are pocketing tens of millions of dollars a year.  No company should have to shut its doors because it can’t compete with businesses here at home that shirk health care obligations or with businesses in other countries that have public health care systems.

And let me add:  No child should go without a polio shot or a pre-school exam because George Bush threatens to veto the funding for a children’s health program.

We can solve our health care problem in a uniquely American way.

We need to create a new system that builds on what’s best about American health care — the right to choose your own doctors, and keep the best quality care where it exists — while drawing from what works in other countries.

We must lower employer costs while, in turn, asking all employers to pay their fair share, along with government and individuals.  We need to step up government’s involvement in making sure that retirees aren’t the victims when corporations struggle with legacy costs, including finding early retirement solutions.

We must work to correct health care disparities.

And we must have government aggressively involved in the equation, curbing greed and ensuring there are efficient options available to all.

We’re not endorsing a single piece of legislation or a particular candidate’s plan at this time — instead, our campaign will make sure voters across the country have all the information they need to understand the choices and evaluate where candidates stand on health care.

We are going to build an army of one million union activists — an Emergency Response Team who will organize for change and be able to stand their ground against the inevitable onslaught of “Harry and Louise