How Can We Know If They Don´t Show?
Long-term financial security and access to quality health care are issues central to the American dream, and critical to Iowans´ voting decisions.
That´s why AARP and Iowa businesses have joined together for a candidate forum in Sioux City on October 25. Through this national broadcast, all Iowa caucus-goers and American voters can learn where the Republican presidential candidates stand on these issues.
But we need your help. John McCain and Mike Huckabee will be there. Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani say they don´t know.
Call toll-free 1-888-578-7775 and tell Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani that you want them to participate in this important forum on health care and financial security.
Millions of Voices for Change
Millions of Americans are faced with difficult decisions concerning their health care and financial security every day. Here are just two stories we´ve heard recently.
Live Each Day on the Edge
"I am 52-year-old with no known ailments only some minor joint pain... although, that could change with a blink of an eye and turn into something serious. At the present, I have no health care insurance as a safety net. My job does not provide care for my division. Therefore, we live each day on the edge, risk takers I should say the least. One serious ailment will wipe out my savings not to mention my Social Security. Meanwhile, staying healthy is somewhat of a challenge. Help is coming, I can feel it in my bones...or is that arthritis trying to rear its ugly head?"
Brenda C.
Baltimore, MD
Two Kids, Hepatitis C, No Insurance
"My husband and I have been self employed for the past 13 years. For the first nine years, I paid for private health care. With the cost going up every year, I had to finally cancel the coverage when it reached over $800 a month. I have two children and all of us have been without health insurance now for about four years.
I still have unpaid bills from my daughter´s lengthy hospital stay a few years ago while we still had insurance. The insurance only covered 80%, so my portion still added up to thousands of dollars.
I cannot get insurance for my husband even if we wanted to since he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C several years ago. The cost of private health care is simply unreachable for us at this point. God forbid if something were to happen to any of us. I guess we would just have to file bankruptcy."
Donna T.
Richmond, VA
Are you concerned about the cost of health care? Or worried about financial security in your retirement? We´d like to encourage you, your friends, family members, neighbors and coworkers to visit www.dividedwefail.org/share to share how these issues are impacting you and your families.
Learn More About the Issues
Working After 50: Worry-free or Worrisome?
The world of work is changing. More and more people are working into their so-called retirement years. Some want to work because they need the money. Others work for the health benefits. Many wish to embark on new career paths.
We all know people who have said good-bye to high-stress jobs to follow a passion — engineers joining the Peace Corps, or physicians opening up restaurants, for example. And we have seen former executives run concession stands in our national parks, just to enjoy the scenery. At long last, they are grabbing the opportunity to do what they always wanted, to find their bliss.
For others who are less financially secure, work is a necessity. Perhaps they didn't save enough for retirement or maybe their investments soured. Some people encounter a cascade of bad luck that leaves them no choice but to keep working. More - http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/work_after_50.html
Share Your Thoughts
We'd like to hear from you - http://blog.aarp.org/dividedwefail/2007/09/an_once_of_prevention_is_worth.html. Tell us if you're still working and why — out of necessity or to keep yourself engaged? Does your employer have an age-friendly work environment or have you faced barriers in retaining your job or finding a new one?
Members of Congress Sign the Pledge
Divided We Fail is asking Members of Congress, our nation's leaders, to commit to working in a bipartisan way to provide Americans with actions and answers on health and lifetime financial security. So far, 133 Members have either signed the Divided We Fail congressional pledge or written a letter of approval supporting the Divided We Fail platform.
Find out - http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/congressional_pledge.html if your legislators have supported Divided We Fail.
Taking a Stand in Your Communities
Pssst…know any college students?
We´re bringing the Divided We Fail message to Facebook (http://www.facebook.com), an innovative networking website. While you may not be familiar with it, your college-aged children or grandchildren certainly are! Either way, we´d like you to pair up and help get the word out about our efforts to demand actions and answers from political candidates on pressing healthcare and financial security issues. It´s fast and easy.
Here´s what to do:
1) Ask your child, grandchild, or niece or nephew to join the Divided We Fail group on Facebook… just share this link with them ( http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2234073633) - they won´t need instructions…trust us, they know how!
2) Ask them to go to “The Wall’ area on the Divided We Fail group and leave us a message saying “my grandmother asked me to join’ or “my uncle asked me to join’ or so forth.
3) If you have your own Facebook profile, then join the Divided We Fail group yourself. If you don´t have a profile and would like one, ask your college-aged relative to help you set up a Facebook profile of your very own.
We´re raising the voices of millions of Americans who believe that health care and lifetime financial security are the most pressing domestic issues facing our nation…and an intergenerational issue. It´s time to get involved because it´s all of our futures!
Candidates Take Notice of Red Shirts in Florida
Presidential hopefuls are already flocking to the battleground state of Florida to campaign for votes. Democratic candidates converged in Miami on September 9 for the Univision debate, while the Republican candidates Mitt Romney, Rudy Guilani and Fred Thompson all have made stops.
Everywhere the candidates go, they find Divided We Fail Champions for Change in their red shirts. And candidates are taking notice. At recent events for Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney, Champions for Change volunteers had the opportunity to ask the candidates questions about health and financial security. More - http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/candidates_taking_notice_of_red_shirts_at_their_ev.html.
Michigan Moves 2008 Presidential Primary to January 15
Michigan recently jumped to the head of the presidential primary lineup, setting a January 15, 2008 primary election that could become a key battleground state for the Republican and Democratic nominations. The primary date change also means presidential candidates from both parties will, if they haven't already, be adding Michigan to their roster of campaign stops. And Divided We Fail volunteers will be there to reinforce the importance affordable health care and lifetime financial security in the 2008 election. More - http://www.aarp.org/issues/dividedwefail/michigan_moves_2008_presidential_primary_to_januar.html.
Divided We Fail. Together We Can Do Anything.
AARP
601 E Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20049