CNN iReport

God Bless America & Health Care Reform Thank you Mr. President - Our Dream Continues Of a united country where the color of a man's skin or his worth will have nothing to do with the care he receives.

Health care expenditures in this country are currently 18 percent of GDP and without this change, it would have kept rising astronomically, spiraling out of control until it accounted for nearly one-third of our total output by 2040. Today about 46 million Americans lack health insurance coverage. This number would have risen to 72 million over the next three decades.
Please understand the importance of this moment ,the historical value and the difference it is going to make in the lives of millions of Americans . I stand today proud to be an America and I am prouder yet that the policymakers did not become confused by behavioral biases or distracted by one-off examples.

They put the American Public first and today we are better of than we were yesterday.

In memory of Ted Kennedy and Martin Luther King

Thank you – Thank you Mr President

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Martin Luther King

Dear Mr. President,


I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family’s health will never again depend on the amount of a family’s wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes, we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.


In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America’s behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.


At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.


And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.

With deep respect and abiding affection,

[Ted]

And here is the lone Republican who stood up and voted for you the People - Rep. Joseph Cao (R-LA

Democratics who voted against Health Care Reform

1. Rep. John Adler (NJ)2. Rep. Jason Altmire (PA)3. Rep. Brian Baird (WA)4. Rep. John Barrow (GA)5. Rep. John Boccieri (OH)6. Rep. Dan Boren (OK)7. Rep. Rick Boucher (VA)8. Rep. Allen Boyd (FL)9. Rep. Bobby Bright (AL)10. Rep. Ben Chandler (KT)11. Rep. Travis Childers (MS)12. Rep. Artur Davis (AL)13. Rep. Lincoln Davis (TN)14. Rep. Chet Edwards (TX)15. Rep. Bart Gordon (TN)16. Rep. Parker Griffith (AL)17. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)18. Rep. Tim Holden (PA)19. Rep. Larry Kissell (NC)20. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (FL)21. Rep. Frank Kratovil (MD)22. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH)23. Rep. Jim Marshall (GA)24. Rep. Betsy Markey (CO)25. Rep. Eric Massa (NY)26. Rep. Jim Matheson(UT)27. Rep. Mike McIntyre (NC)28. Rep. Michael McMahon (NY)29. Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA)30. Rep. Walt Minnick (ID)31. Rep. Scott Murphy (NY)32. Rep. Glenn Nye (VA)33. Rep. Collin Peterson (MN)34. Rep. Mike Ross (AR)35. Rep. Heath Shuler (NC)36. Rep. Ike Skelton (MO)37. Rep. John Tanner (TN)38. Rep. Gene Taylor (MS)39. Rep. Harry Teague (NM)