JOIN THE VIRTUAL MARCH FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM 24FEB10

On February 17th, a group of insurance company survivors set out from Philadelphia. Their goal? To walk to Washington, DC - more than 130 miles over 8 days - in honor of Melanie Shouse, the health care activists and Obama volunteer who died of breast cancer because she didn't have affordable health care. Copy and paste this link http://melaniesmarch.com/ to go to the website for the march. Click the header on this post to participate on 24 FEB.

They're marching to get Congress to pay attention to them and to millions of others across this country who need real health care reform passed and need it now.

On February 24th they will arrive in Washington, DC. On the same day, MoveOn.org is organizing a huge "virtual march" on Washington. We're helping them out, along with dozens of our partners. We're going to call Congress, fax Congress, email Congress, and do all of the things we know how to do to support these marchers and get Congress to listen to us, not the insurance companies. Click the header to participate.

These insurance company survivors are braving icy conditions and marching miles every day to win health care reform. We need to back them up with a barrage of action when they arrive in DC.

These actions will come at a particularly good time - February 25th is President Obama's bipartisan health care summit. Congress needs to hear from us before this summit. They need to hear that we want health care reform; we want real reform, not fake reform; and we want it now.

We need your voice!

Over the last week, we've been holding dozens of rallies all over the country to send our message to Congress. Now it's time to take that message to DC.

We all need to speak up at the top of our lungs if we're going to get health reform done and get it done right. The insurance companies and their army of lobbyists are spending millions every day to defeat health care reform.2

Can you speak up with us?

We're so close to the finish line. Thanks for helping us push Congress to listen to us and do the right thing.

To your health,

Levana Layendecker
Health Care for America Now

MELANIE SHOUSE HAS DIED AND IT MAKES ME ANGRY 5 FEB 10

Melanie Shouse has died.

Melanie was a small business owner from Missouri battling stage four breast cancer, who also had to fight with insurance companies who didn't want to pay for her treatment. She didn't take that lying down -- she spoke out, she protested, she became a leader in the movement for a more just health care system. Maybe you remember the video thank-you she sent to you and other TrueMajority members last October for being part of that movement (see the video below).
The cancer took Melanie's life last week. To her family, we can only express our deepest regret and sympathy. If you'd like to send your sympathy as well, you can sign our guest book (click on the header for the link), and we'll deliver your messages to the family this weekend.
We're sorry we didn't get health care reform done sooner. Sorry that insurance coverage isn't more affordable and accessible for millions of Americans who need it. Mostly, we're sorry to lose our friend.
But Melanie would not have wanted us to stop fighting for reform. In fact, she asked that those attending her memorial service wear their activist t-shirts. So tomorrow, in lieu of flowers, let's deliver our condolences, put on a campaign t-shirt and remember why we fight and who we are fighting for.

-Matt

Matt Holland
TrueMajority / USAction