Run, Barack, Run!

As many of you may know, I'm a huge Barack Obama fan. I've known Barack since he was first elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996, and I'm impressed by what he has accomplished in his relatively short political career. I'm also proud to call him my friend.

Not only does Senator Obama do a wonderful job representing the people of Illinois, in just a few short years he has proven himself to be an incredibly inspirational national leader. From his memorable and unifying speech at the Democratic National Convention to his new book The Audacity of Hope, Barack has shown that he has the best interests of all Americans at heart.

That is why I want to see Barack run for President in 2008. I believe that he is the right man to lead our country at a time of such turmoil around the globe, bringing Americans together at a time in our nation's history when we need unity more than ever.

Barack has said publicly that he is considering a run, and part of his consideration will doubtlessly include measuring the level of his support from Democrats across the country.  So let's show him how strong that support is.

Click here to sign Senator Durbin's online petition to Senator Barack Obama -- urge him to enter the 2008 Presidential race today!

The best is yet to come.  And, America, we offer you our best, as we nominate Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 This is a moment about which I will tell my grandchildren, so they can tell theirs.

 I want them to know I had the unique, historic honor of seconding the nomination of a great American leader, my treasured friend, Nancy Pelosi to become the first woman in the United States to become Speaker of the House of Representatives.  And, think of it, when she takes that gavel, she will become the most powerful woman in the world.

 January 4th will be a great day for our Caucus, a great day for Democrats, but more importantly, it will be a great day for the single mom, off to her job as a waitress, struggling to care for her child on $5.15 an hour; it will be a day of hope for the frail old woman who learned her life-saving medicine is not covered by her Part D plan.

 The mother who kisses her beloved son goodbye as he heads to Iraq will be praying that Speaker Pelosi succeeds in leading us in a new direction; the women and children in refugee camps suffering from poverty and violence, and the millions dying of AIDS – if they knew, would rejoice that a mother and grandmother who cares about them has arrived on the world stage.

 For the majority of Americans who said, for the first time ever, that they believe their children will be worse off than they are, we say ‘NO, the best is yet to come.’  And America, we offer you our best, as we nominate Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House of Representatives.

• She helped lead the battle to prevent the Bush Social Security privatization plan,
• She was a founding member of the Out of Iraq Caucus
• She challenged the Republicans' big oil agenda and worked for lower energy prices
• She Introduced a real plan to give seniors RX drugs and opposed the  Bush Part D disaster
• She traveled to Africa to raise awareness about the Crisis in Darfur

More patients fall into a hole in drug benefit
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Seniors and disabled people who have chronic health problems are increasingly entering a gap in Medicare's prescription-drug coverage and finding that they could have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket. That's already creating a political issue for the fall elections.

An estimated 3.4 million people will have drug expenses that push them into the coverage gap, when they must pay the full cost of prescriptions. The gap, which Congress calls the "doughnut hole," begins when drug expenses total $2,250, including the amount paid by insurance. It continues until a beneficiary has spent $3,600, an amount that will increase in future years.

David Madison, 67, of Lakewood, Colo., was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May and fell into the coverage gap this month. One prescription eats up 20% of his $34,000 annual income. "I really don't know where the money's going to come from," he told a Democratic Senate panel last week.

Democrats, aiming to capitalize on the coverage gap, calculate that Medicare beneficiaries with average drug costs will reach it Sept. 22. Their "Doughnut Hole Day" is six weeks before fall elections, when control of Congress is at stake.

"People with diabetes, heart conditions, hypertension and mental disorders may all be hitting the doughnut hole starting now and heading into the election season," says Lindsey Spindle of Avalere Health, a consulting firm.

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Rep. Jan Schakowsky and Rep. Rahm Emanuel are leading a drive to pressure House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert to cancel Wednesday's address to Congress by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because he condemned Israeli attacks on Lebanon -- putting him at odds with U.S. policy.


Emanuel and Schakowsky, both Illinois Democrats with party leadership positions, were circulating a letter Monday among colleagues stating "with mounting evidence that the Iraqi leadership's goals are not in the best interests of the United States -- nor the Middle East -- Prime Minister Maliki's address is inappropriate.

"We are unaware of any prior instance where a world leader who actively worked against the interests of the United States was afforded such an honor.''

The visit of al-Maliki comes as violence in Israel and Lebanon, triggered by Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in Israel, has overshadowed the ongoing bloodshed in Iraq and made a complex situation even more complicated.

The Bush White House, in standing with Israel, is not calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah for two reasons: It would leave Hezbollah with missiles to launch another day and Hezbollah would continue to undermine the fragile government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Schakowsky and Emanuel drafted their letter after the New York Times ran a story last week quoting al-Maliki stating that "we call on the world to take quick stands to stop the Israeli aggression."

The protests of Schakowsky and Emanuel to Hastert, an Illinois Republican, come in a larger Mideast context -- growing concern about Iranian threats and the U.S. support of a fledgling Iraqi government, supported by the Bush White House, that is anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic.

Last week Schakowsky, along with Rep. Dan Burton, an Indiana Republican, circulated among their colleagues a letter to Bush asking him to denounce Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani after he accused Jews of masterminding killings in Iraq carried out by Sunni or Shiite insurgents.

A July 13 Associated Press story quoted al-Mashhadani stating "These acts are not the work of Iraqis. I am sure that he who does this is a Jew and the son of a Jew."

The remarks are false and contemptible.

President Bush meets with al-Maliki today in the Oval Office, followed by a news conference.

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