This is how change is made.
A week ago today, we were in Albany presenting thousands of your petitions to New York Congressman Scott Murphy, who hadn’t yet decided how he was going to vote on health care reform.
This evening, Rep. Murphy and all but two other New York Democrats voted “yes” – and the House of Representatives passed health care reform. You helped make it happen.
Over 12,000 of you signed the petition to New York Representatives, and thousands more made calls and attended rallies. Together, we used the unique position of the Working Families Party to make clear to these Congressmembers that voting “no” would have real consequences — and that voting “yes” was the right thing to do.*
We succeeded. This bill doesn’t have everything we wanted. But it is one of the most significant pieces of legislation passed by Congress in decades. 32 million uninsured Americans will now have access to health coverage; insurance companies can no longer deny care to the people who need it most; and we’ll finally begin to bring runaway costs under control.
This is a moment to savor, but it’s not the end. We believe that affordable access to quality health care is a human right, and we won’t stop until every American has it.
If you like the work we’re doing to expand health care, create good jobs, improve education and hold New York’s elected leaders accountable, can you chip in $25 or whatever you can afford to help us keep it going? Just go here:
http://www.workingfamiliesparty.org/take-action/contribute
From all of us at the Working Families Party who are awed at what we’ve achieved together – thank you!
Bob Master and Sam Williams, WFP Co-Chairs
Dan Cantor, WFP Executive Director
*P.S. Check out the press coverage of the WFP’s role in the health care campaign:
Politico: “New York third party issues health care threat”
Daily Kos: “Can New York’s Working Families Party impact the 2010 elections?”
