Healthcare

A coalition of consumer, labor and business groups exhorted President Obama to "send a clear signal" by including healthcare reform funding in his first budget request to Congress.

The chief executives of the AARP, the Business Roundtable, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) -- which together make up the Divided We Fail coalition -- wrote Obama Friday to reemphasize their support for comprehensive health reform this year.

"Because of our belief that bipartisan healthcare reform is critical to a strong economy, personal financial security and long-term fiscal stability, we are writing to urge you to make health reform legislation a top priority this year," reads the letter, signed by AARP CEO Bill Novelli, Roundtable President John Castellani, SEIU President Andy Stern and NFIB President and CEO Dan Danner.

"We ask you to send a clear signal on the importance of healthcare reform by including in your budget submission policies that would moderate cost growth and reinvest savings into providing the tools necessary to support a modernized healthcare delivery system that provides access to quality, affordable coverage for all Americans," the letter says.

-Jeffrey Young

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said that the healthcare reform plan put out by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) this week represents "a giant step" toward getting all Americans insured.

Baucus's plan, released Tuesday, seeks to increase coverage for Americans by expanding Medicare and Medicaid and require companies to provide healthcare benefits to employees.

See Sweeney's full statement below:

Today

Talk show host Montel Williams rolled up in a dark SUV with large, imposing bodyguards Wednesday morning to the Denver Aquarium for a Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America reception.

Williams, the national spokesman for the group, urged the organization to stop being shy about their accomplishments. "I'm trying really hard to step up to the plate and change your reputation," he told a crowd that included D.C. pollster Frank Luntz and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown (D). "You are not the devil, but you guys have to do that yourselves."

Williams praised the group for their efforts in providing drugs to people. He spoke of his own suffering with multiple sclerosis and having to inject himself with a needle three times daily in addition to taking a host of medicines and vitamins.

At one point Williams grew emotional, saying that his doctor told him he

The draft of the Republican platform includes a constitutional amendment that would give legal protection to the unborn, disappointing pro-choice Republicans.

The draft also states that there is "a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy," reports LifeNews.com.

The Republican Majority for Choice, which supports abortion rights within the GOP, called the platform draft's language "extreme" and said the party missed a "huge opportunity" to unify its members.

Americans United for Change has long opposed many of President Bush's policies, but this year it's found a new way to say it--with a 28-ton bus.

The group today launched its Bush Legacy Bus, a rolling museum dedicated to the "worst policy failures" of the Bush administration. The bus will travel the country for the next five months, stopping in 150 cities and bearing a simple message: that Bush's policies have wreaked havoc on America.

The bus features interactive exhibits on the Iraq war, the economy, and healthcare. A screen displays images of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, with captions that criticize the government's response. A chart entitled "not just Bush's war" traces Iraq war support to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). The floor shows a timeline of events in the Bush presidency. Read more...