A useful and detailed list of what health care reform means to Michigan. There is some great information here to share with friends and neighbors.

Cracks Down on Insurance Company Abuses

• Insurers will no longer be able to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition or drop your coverage when you get sick.
• Insurers will no longer be able to charge higher premiums based on your gender or health status.
• Michiganders have been paying more for coverage and getting less. Insurers finally will be required to spend more of our premium dollars on actual medical care and quality measures.

Ends Runaway Premiums for the Middle Class

• Uninsured Michiganders will be able to gain coverage through a competitive marketplace called an "exchange." By forcing insurance companies to compete, exchanges will drive down costs, guarantee choice, and put consumers in control.
• People with moderate incomes (for example, a family of four making up to $88,000) will get help paying their premiums.

Provides Financial Security and Stability

• All of Michigan's 1,572,000 seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare will no longer have to pay for preventive services, and many will have more help paying for prescriptions.
• Health reform will set limits on how much families will have to spend on health care out of their own pockets (on copayments, deductibles, etc.).
• Insurers will no longer be able to put yearly or lifetime limits on how much they will pay for your care if you get sick.
• Health reform will reduce the federal deficit by $138 billion in the next 10 years and will save $1.2 trillion more in the following two decades.

Expands Coverage, Saves Lives

• Young adults can stay on their parents' health plans up to the age of 26.
• Health reform will save lives. Without reform, an estimated 7,600 Michiganders would have died prematurely due to a lack of health coverage over the next decade.
• 795,000 uninsured Michiganders will gain insurance coverage by 2019.

The information above was forwarded to us by our good friend Andy Linko, of the 15th Congressional District Democratic Organization. Many thanks, Andy!

The Kaiser Family Foundation has provided a summary of the new federal health insurance reform law, excerpted and linked to below. This is an excellent fact-based resource to help you explain and defend it.

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed comprehensive health reform, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, into law. The following summary of the new law, and changes made to the law by subsequent legislation, focuses on provisions to expand coverage, control health care costs, and improve health care delivery system.

Get the summary and get the facts >>

An important overview and timeline of healthcare benefits from Congressman John Dingell:

Dear Friend,

I sat next to President Obama as he signed into law historic health insurance reform called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This legislation will slow the growth of out-of-control health costs, introduce competition into the health care marketplace to keep coverage affordable and insurers honest, protect people's choices of doctors and health plans, and ensure all Americans have access to quality, stable, affordable health care. Our families, small businesses, and seniors will feel positive effects of reform immediately and building until 2014.

Starting Right Now...

• Small Businesses will receive tax credits to help them provide health insurance for their employees. Tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums will be immediately available to firms that choose to offer coverage. (Beginning in 2014, the small business tax credit will cover up to 50% of premiums)
• The Medicare Part D "donut hole" will start to close. Medicare beneficiaries who enter the "donut hole" will receive a $250 rebate in 2010. In 2011, qualifying beneficiaries will receive a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs in the "donut hole." It will be completely closed by 2020.
• Substantial investments will be made to ensure care for patients across the country. Funding for Community Health Centers will be increased, allowing nearly double the number of patients to be treated over the next five years. Investments will also be made in training programs to increase the number of primary care doctors, nurses, and public health professionals.

In 90 Days...

• Americans who are uninsured due to a pre-existing medical condition will receive immediate access to health insurance through a temporary high-risk pool. When the new Health Insurance Exchanges go into effect, all health plans will be banned from denying coverage to anyone due to a pre-existing condition.
• Retiree health plans will qualify for a federal re-insurance program for health plans covering early retirees (age 55 to 64) to bring down costs for businesses and lower premiums.

In 6 Months...

• All health plans will be banned from excluding payment for treating a child's particular illness.
• All health plans will be required to allow young adults to remain on their parents' insurance until age 26.
• All health plans will be restricted from dropping people from coverage when they get sick.
• All health plans will be banned from placing lifetime caps on coverage.
• New health plans' use of annual limits on coverage will be restricted.
• New health plans will be required to provide preventive services to consumers free of charge.
• New health plans will be prohibited from establishing eligibility rules that discriminate in favor of higher wage employees.
• New health plans will be required to allow consumers to appeal denials of coverage through an independent appeals process.

On January 1, 2011...

• Seniors in Medicare will be able to receive preventive medical services without paying co-payments or deductibles.
• All health plans will be required to spend between 80 and 85 percent of premium dollars on medical services. If too much of an insurers' revenue goes towards profits, CEO pay, advertising, or other wasteful overhead, the insurer will be required to provide a rebate to policyholders.

In 2014...

• All Americans will have more choice in their health insurance plans. If an individual likes their current plan, he or she will be able to keep it. For those who either are not currently covered, or wanted to enroll in a new health care plan, they will be able to participate in a health insurance exchange where consumers can select from a menu of affordable, quality health care options offered by private insurers. This new marketplace will reduce costs, create competition that leads to better care for every American, and keep private insurers honest. Importantly, patients and doctors will have control over decisions about their health care, instead of insurance companies.
• Health plans will be banned from imposing higher premiums on women.
• Health plans will be restricted on the premium costs they impose on seniors.
• Health plans will be capped on the out-of-pocket expenses they impose on consumers.

This is just a sample of the positive things health reform will do for the American people. You may rest assured I will continue to work to ensure all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care. The well-being of American families and our Nation's economic future depend upon it.

Learn more at http://www.house.gov/dingell/.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION YEAR ONE

"One year ago, I took office amid two wars, an economy rocked by severe recession, a financial system on the verge of collapse, and a government deeply in debt. Experts from across the political spectrum warned that if we did not act, we might face a second depression. So we acted – immediately and aggressively. And one year later, the worst of the storm has passed."

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS, JANUARY 27, 2010

WORKING TO MOVE AMERICA FORWARD…

HISTORIC HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM
After a long, thorough and transparent process, we have passed the most historic health insurance reform legislation in history. Before now, seven presidents had tried, and seven had failed to reform our broken system. This legislation, which includes bipartisan ideas, is historic.

• This reform is the most significant piece of economic and social legislation since FDR signed the Social Security Act in the 1930s, and the largest expansion of health care since Medicare helped to transform the lives of America's seniors in the 1960s.
• The bill provides stability and security to Americans who have insurance, affordable options for those who don't, and lower costs for families, businesses and our country as a whole.
• It provides the largest middle class tax cut for health care in our history and brings greater accountability to health care by laying out common sense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.

RECOVERY ACT
President Obama inherited the worst economic crisis in a generation, and our country was teetering on the edge of a second Great Depression.

• The economy was losing nearly 800,000 jobs a month
• Banks were in crisis and our credit markets were frozen
• $10 trillion in wealth had been destroyed in the stock market

Since taking office, President Obama has been working hard to stabilize our economy, put us on the road to recovery, and rebuild a new, stronger foundation for long term growth.

President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the most sweeping economic recovery plan in American history. Because of the Recovery Act:

• Up to 2 million jobs have been funded so far – and the bill is on track to result in 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010.
• 95 percent of working families are receiving the Making Work Pay tax credit in their paychecks.
• More than 7 million low and moderate-income students will receive a 15 percent increase in their Pell Grant awards to help pay for college.
• And thousands of teachers, law enforcement officials and firefighters have been able to stay working because of the billions of dollars in Recovery Act assistance made available to state and local governments.

CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE
President Obama re-authorized and expanded health insurance for four million more low income children through the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), an action President Bush vetoed twice. Now, 11 million children are covered under SCHIP.

CREATING JOBS
President Obama signed into law the first of many bipartisan jobs bills being worked on in Congress. The measure builds on the economic progress already achieved by the Recovery Act and put more Americans back to worsek by offering small businesses tax cuts in exchange for hiring workers and funding for bond and highway programs.

CREDIT CARD REFORM
Last year, President Obama signed bipartisan comprehensive credit card reform into law – the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (CARD). This helps level the playing field by stopping unfair credit card company practices that have been confusing and unfair to American families for far too long.

TOBACCO LEGISLATION
President Obama signed into law the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which gives the FDA broad authority to regulate the manufacturing and marketing of tobacco products.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
The President signed a national service bill to create hundreds of thousands of opportunities for people to serve their communities.

STEM CELL RESEARCH
President Obama lifted a ban on federal funding of stem cell research, ensuring that scientific decisions are based on facts, not ideology.

FAIR PAY FOR WOMEN
Upon taking office, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, finally guaranteeing equal pay for equal work.

HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT
President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that extends new federal protections to people who are victims of violent crime because of their gender, sexual orientation or identity, or disability.

SONIA SOTOMAYOR
President Obama's first Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, was confirmed and seated. Justice Sotomoyor brings more federal judicial experience to the Supreme Court than any justice in 100 years. She is the Court's first Latina justice and the third woman to serve.

RESTORING OUR REPUTATION AROUND THE WORLD
President Obama has taken critical steps to strengthen our alliances and restore our reputation around the world. The Obama Administration has prohibited torture and begun the work of leaving Iraq to its people. The President has outlined a new strategy to fight al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a clear goal of goal of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al Qaeda and its extremist allies.

HISTORIC PROGRESS FOR OUR COUNTRY…

FINANCIAL REGULATORY REFORM
The President will continue to work on reforming our financial regulatory system by building on the strengths of our current regulatory structure and correcting its flaws. Reform will give regulators the tools they need to respond quickly to any future crisis, and to prevent that crisis from causing widespread harm.

REFORMING EDUCATION
President Obama is working to reform our education system, through innovative programs like "Race to the Top" and "Educate to Innovate," inspiring new teachers and giving American students the tools they need to be successful in the global economy.

BUILDING A CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
President Obama will continue to work with Congress to forge a new energy policy that will break our dependence on foreign oil, jumpstart our clean energy economy with the creation of millions of new good, green jobs and finally address the dangerous carbon pollution that causes climate change and threatens our planet. Last year, the President announced new national emissions and fuel efficiency standards for American cars and light trucks and played a crucial role in brokering the Copenhagen Accord, a critical step in addressing the climate crisis.

REPEALING DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL
The President has pledged to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and legislation is beginning the process of moving through the House and Senate. Last year, the President signed a presidential memorandum that extends key federal benefits to the same-sex partners of Foreign Service and executive branch government employees. This was just one step, but it is a critical one – and it paves the way for long-overdue progress.

Learn more at http://www.barackobama.com/.

1. Once reform is fully implemented, over 95% of Americans will have health insurance coverage , including 32 million who are currently uninsured. ²

2. Health insurance companies will no longer be allowed to deny people coverage because of preexisting conditions—or to drop coverage when people become sick. ³

3. Just like members of Congress, individuals and small businesses who can't afford to purchase insurance on their own will be able to pool together and choose from a variety of competing plans with lower premiums . ⁴

4. Reform will cut the federal budget deficit by $138 billion over the next ten years, and a whopping $1.2 trillion in the following ten years. ⁵

5. Health care will be more affordable for families and small businesses thanks to new tax credits , subsidies, and other assistance—paid for largely by taxing insurance companies, drug companies, and the very wealthiest Americans. ⁶

6. Seniors on Medicare will pay less for their prescription drugs because the legislation closes the "donut hole" gap in existing coverage. ⁷

7. By reducing health care costs for employers, reform will create or save more than 2.5 million jobs over the next decade. ⁸

8. Medicaid will be expanded to offer health insurance coverage to an additional 16 million low-income people. ⁹

9. Instead of losing coverage after they leave home or graduate from college, young adults will be able to remain on their families' insurance plans until age 26. ¹⁰

10. Community health centers would receive an additional $11 billion, doubling the number of patients who can be treated regardless of their insurance or ability to pay. ¹¹

Sources:

1. Final vote results on motion to concur in Senate amendments to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, March 21, 2010
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll165.xml

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11. "Affordable Health Care for America : Summary," House Energy and Commerce Committee, March 18, 2010
http://wwwd.house.gov/akamaidocs/energycommerce/SUMMARY.pdf

4. "Insurance Companies Prosper, Families Suffer: Our Broken Health Insurance System," U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Accessed March 22, 2010
http://healthreform.gov/reports/insuranceprospers/index.html

5. "Affordable Health Care for America : Health Insurance Reform at a Glance: Revenue Provisions," House Energy and Commerce Committee, March 18, 2010
http://wwwd.house.gov/akamaidocs/energycommerce/REVENUE.pdf

8. "New Jobs Through Better Health Care," Center for American Progress, January 8, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=87402&id=19504-2979484-x2nZWFx&t=2

9, 10. "Proposed Changes in the Final Health Care Bill," The New York Times , March 22, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=87403&id=19504-2979484-x2nZWFx&t=3

11. "Affordable Health Care for America : Health Insurance Reform at a Glance: Addressing Health and Health Care Disparities," House Energy and Commerce Committee, March 20, 2010
http://docs.house.gov/energycommerce/DISPARITIES.pdf

Many thanks to Andrew Linko, Treasurer, 15th Congressional District Democratic Organization, for pointing us to this posting at moveon.org: http://pol.moveon.org/healthcare/tenthings/.

Video Shows How Young's Decisions Have Damaged Michigan

LANSING – The Michigan Democratic Party today released a new video showing how Supreme Court Justice Bob Young has damaged Michigan with his decisions on the bench.

"Whether it's supporting drug industry immunity, protecting sexual predators and drunk drivers, or siding with insurances companies and corporations over victims 80% of the time, Bob Young's decisions have had catastrophic consequences in Michigan," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said. "Young is a near clone of former Supreme Court Justice Cliff "Sleepy" Taylor. And just like voters chose to send Taylor a wake-up call in 2008, we're confident they'll do the same to Bob Young in 2010 once they learn more about his record."

The Truth About Bob Young

See The Truth About Bob Young on Youtube.

Study Says Justices Used Power to Overrule Decisions
They Didn’t Agree With

LANSING – A Wayne State University study concludes that the Michigan Supreme Court abused its power from 1999-2008. The author of the study, Law Professor Robert Sedler, says the Court's decisions from that period lack legitimacy.

"What has happened in Michigan, pure and simple, is that a majority of the Justices on the Michigan Supreme Court have used their power to overrule prior decisions with which they disagreed," Professor Sedler said.

Some examples include making significant changes in Michigan's injury law in favor of defendants over plaintiffs and significant changes in worker's compensation law in favor of employers over workers.

"This study proves that Young and the rest of the ‘Gang of Four,' used their positions to achieve the results they wanted: ruling for corporations and insurance companies and ignoring injured workers and accident victims," Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer said. "Electing Diane Hathaway in 2008 was a big first step toward righting the wrongs of this Court, but we need to defeat Bob Young this year to protect Michigan residents from his harmful decisions."

Read the study:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1520719

Further information is available via the Michigan Democratic Party: http://michigandems.com/newsroom.php?id=238.

Wondering what the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act -- President Obama's stimulus bill -- has accomplished? Look at this:

One year ago, after tens of thousands of you shared stories and called your representatives, the President signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

And while this anniversary isn't a cause for celebration, there is reason to be optimistic. This chart makes it clear: We're on the road to recovery.

Still, we know there is a long way to go. Many Americans are still struggling, and creating jobs remains President Obama's top priority.

Click here to learn more about the President's record on the economy, what we're doing to put more Americans back to work, and get easy-to-share information you can pass on to friends and family:

http://my.barackobama.com/Recovery

Thanks for making change happen,

David Plouffe

Longtime WCDP activist Doug Kelley recently responded to a January 23, 2010 column in the NY Times by Bob Herbert where Herbert criticized Democrats for not understanding the current economic crisis.

Doug’s Letter to the Editor (as of this posting date, it has not been published by the Times):

To: Letters@NYTimes.com
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2010
Subject: Amen! to Bob Herbert's Jan. 23 column

To the Editor:

As an 80-year-old hyperactive Democrat who was there to cheer Obama's keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (thanks, John Kerry, for inviting him) and Obama's acceptance speech at the '08 Convention in Denver, and who volunteered in five states to help elect him, I'd like to offer an amen! to Bob Herbert's January 23 call for greater administration activism on behalf of both the urban and the rural poor and unemployed.

Virtually everyone gives high marks to FDR''s Civilian Conservation Corps. Why not re-create it (racially integrated this time) and thus put many thousands of the unemployed to work on environmental and infrastructure projects, including weatherization, and installing solar panels and wind turbines. U.S. wind turbine manufacturers need mass markets -- let's create them! Americans with Peace Corps experience -- there are many thousands of us, of all ages and races -- could be well-qualified staff members for such a born-again CCC.

Douglas C. Kelley, Univ. of Michigan-Flint retiree

David Plouffe, campaign manager of the 2008 Obama presidential campaign, and author of the best seller Audacity to Win, recently returned to political work. At President Obama’s request Plouffe will help with 2010 congressional and governors’ races primarily at the Democratic National Committee and in consultation with the White House.

One of Plouffe’s first public statements was published in the Washington Post on January 24th, 2010, titled: "November Doesn’t Need to be a Nightmare for Democrats".

Read it and join the conversation.

Vice-President Biden’s office has released some data showing that the Democratic supported economic stimulus, the Recovery Act (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law by President Obama on 2/17/09), has had a significant, positive impact on job creation and economic growth.

Some key facts are:

The evidence is clear – and growing by the day – that the Recovery Act is working to cushion the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and lay a new foundation for economic growth.

• According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Recovery Act is already responsible for as many as 2.4 million jobs through the end of 2009.
• Analysis by the Council of Economic Advisers also found that the Recovery Act is responsible for about 2 million jobs – a figure in line with estimates from private forecasters like IHS Global and Moody's Economy.
• Last month, we learned our economy grew 2.2 percent in the third quarter – the largest growth in two years and something many economists say is largely due to the Recovery Act .

In the eleven months since the Recovery Act was signed into law, we have:

• Cut taxes for 95 percent of working families through the Making Work Pay tax Credit – that's $37 billion in tax relief for 110 million working families in 2009.
• Made loans to nearly 40,000 small businesses through the Recovery Act, providing them with over $18 billion in much-needed capital.
• Funded over 11,500 transportation construction projects nationwide, ranging from highway construction to airport improvement projects – of which, more than 7,800 are already underway.
• Begun or accelerated work at more than 51 Superfund sites from the National Priority List.
• Started more than 2,700 construction and improvement projects at over 350 military facilities nationwide.
• Made multi-billion dollar investments in innovation, science and technology that are laying the foundation for our 21 st century economy including:
  • $2.4 billion in grants to companies and educational institutions in over 20 states to fund 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will help power the next generation of advanced vehicles.
  • $3.4 billion in grants to private companies, utilities, manufacturers and cities to fund smart energy grid projects that will support tens of thousands of jobs and benefit consumers in 49 states.
  • The first of over $7 billion in awards to bring broadband to communities where there is little or no access – a significant step forward in driving local economic development
  • More than $5 billion in grants to fund 12,000 cutting-edge medical research projects at research and educational institutions in every state across the country.
• Provided critical relief for state governments facing record budget shortfalls, including:
  • Made more than $55 billion available to help prevent cuts to Medicaid programs across the country
  • Nearly $60 billion in funding for education – a move that governors tell us is already responsible for creating and saving over 300,000 education jobs.
• But we are just getting started with the Recovery Act - the best is yet to come.
• The Recovery Act was designed to spend money gradually over time in order to sustain a true recovery – with peak spending occurring early this year.
• Signature programs that provide some of the biggest employment bang for the buck are in the pipeline. In the coming months, we will begin to put billions of dollars to work:
  • Laying the foundation for a high speed rail network here in the U.S. – a move that will not only create jobs and drive economic growth, but jump-start a critical element of our 21 st century infrastructure
  • Funding some of the most innovative and effective education programs across the country through Race to the Top competitive grant awards
  • Jump-starting some of the most innovative and worthwhile transportation construction projects across the country through competitive TIGER awards
• In fact, we expect outlays for projects overall to double in the first two quarters of this year.
• And the job impact of Recovery Act projects already underway is in many cases just beginning to be felt.
  • While the experts agree the Recovery Act is already responsible for more than 1 million jobs, 75 percent of recipients that reported on their Recovery Act spending indicated their projects are less than half complete - meaning there is even more job impact from those dollars to come.
  • We remain right on-target to create and save at least 3.5 million jobs by the end of the year.

Right now, some of the Recovery Act's most innovative and effective programs – the ones that provide some of the greatest long-term economic bang for the buck - are so vastly oversubscribed, the Administration has recently announced plans to extend or expand them.

• Just last month, the Vice President announced that the Administration will provide an additional $5 billion in 48c tax credits for renewable energy manufacturing projects because of the overwhelming demand for the initial $2.3 billion provided by the Recovery Act.
• And last week, the President announced plans to seek additional funding in his budget to expand the Race to the Top Program, which was initially funded with $4.35 billion through the Recovery Act last year.

Also, many of the President's recent job creation proposals are rooted in the early successes of the Recovery Act. He has proposed:

• Building on the tax cuts and small business assistance in the Recovery Act with a complete elimination of capital gains taxes on small business investment.
• Building on the Recovery Act's initial investment in the nation's infrastructure with additional dollars to continue modernizing our transportation and communications networks.
• Expanding some Recovery Act initiatives to promote energy efficiency and clean energy jobs which have proven particularly popular and effective.

The Recovery Act was never meant to replace dollar for dollar or job for job what we have lost – no single government program ever could.

That's why the President continues to work every day to find more ways to put people back to work and drive economic growth.

But eleven months in, experts ranging from private forecasters to governors on both sides of the aisle say the Recovery Act has helped pull us back from the brink of economic disaster and is helping lay a firm foundation for our economic recovery.

WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING:

• CBO, Congress's nonpartisan research body, said that between 800,000 and 2.4 million jobs could be attributed to the stimulus. "[Romer] also pointed to private-sector economic analyses estimating that stimulus added between 1 million and 1.6 million jobs and between 1.5 and 3.1 percentage points of GDP growth in the fourth quarter. The Congressional Budget Office attributes between 800,000 to 2.4 million jobs and 1.2 to 3.1 percentage points of economic growth to stimulus." [CNNMoney.com, 1/13/10]
• Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com says the Recovery Act is "contributing to ending the recession" and "impacting unemployment." "The stimulus is doing what it was supposed to do — it is contributing to ending the recession . . . In my view, without the stimulus, G.D.P. would still be negative and unemployment would be firmly over 11 percent. And there are a little over 1.1 million more jobs out there as of October than would have been out there without the stimulus." [ New York Times, 11/20/09]

Further information is available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/recovery.

Heritage Newspapers recently sent WCDP Chair Stu Dowty a questionnaire about county Democratic Party activities and a number of other topics, including health care reform. They posted his answers on the Saline Reporter’s website on Jan. 27th.

Special thanks to Washtenaw County Commissioner Kristin Judge who pursued the Saline Reporter to cover Democratic activities in the county after they published a lengthy interview with the Republican county chair several months ago.

Check out the questionnaire and answers. Questions are in original form as sent by the newspaper. If inclined, add a comment to the article and let the paper and its readers know what Democrats are thinking.

Photo of Stu Dowty courtesy of Anne Savage. Visit her web site, Flickr Page, and blog.