Medicare For All

The Case of Demetrius Gibbs: Why Americans need High Quality and Affordable Universal Health Care

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Demetrius Gibbs attempted to live the American Dream and lead a good life. College educated with a white-collar profession, Mr. Gibbs found he had kidney disease while undergoing a free checkup provided for by his employer-provided health insurance. Both of his kidneys were not functioning. Because of health reasons, no familial or voluntary kidney donors … Read more

Medicare-for-all to get a hearing before the House Budget Committee today

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The Washington Post reports, Single-payer health care gets a second Captiol Hill hearing today. Medicare-for-all is poised for another big day on Capitol Hill, as the House Budget Committee convenes this morning to examine the intricacies and challenges of any U.S. transition to a unified health-care system run by the government. As in a similar … Read more

Medicare For All gets first hearing in the House

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For the first time in more than a decade, the House of Representatives held a hearing on legislation to enact a single-payer model of health care in the United States. Joan McCarter at Daily Kos reports, First Medicare for All hearing in the House confirms ‘Health care is a right for all’: [The hearing was … Read more

Ann Kirkpatrick Says Economic Growth, Healthcare, Gun Safety Will Win Back Tucson’s CD2 Seat

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Ann kirkpatrick at the March 24 March For OUr Lives against gun violence.
Ann Kirkpatrick (2nd from left) at the March For Our Lives against gun violence.

(Updated story from April 17, 2018). In an exclusive Blog for Arizona interview, Democratic Congressional candidate Ann Kirkpatrick identified the big issues to win back the seat in Tucson’s CD2: the economy, healthcare, gun safety and immigration reform.

The district is rated as “leaning Democratic” and was carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016, who beat Donald Trump in CD2 by 4.9%. Many Democrats (and Republican opponents) see her as the front-runner to win the August 28 primary with a field of at least seven other Democrats.

Total donations of $ 1,755,795

She advanced her lead by raising a total of $1.75 million in donations with $836,927 cash on hand as of June 30. Read Kirkpatrick & Heinz Lead in CD2 Congress Fundraising, Marquez-Peterson Catching Up.

Fundraising is a key measure of a candidate’s strength because it pays for staff, office space, phone lines, computers, travel, events, and campaign materials. A candidate with low fundraising is not a serious candidate.

A Congress member for CD1 in northern Arizona from 2013 to 2017, Kirkpatrick has 48 key endorsements: including Emily’s list, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and 23 labor unions (including AFSCME, Air Line Pilots Association, and American Postal Workers Union and unions for Iron workers, Boilermakers, Teamsters, and Operating Engineers.)

Growing the economy

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Democratic Candidates for Tucson’s CD2 Congressional Seat Renew their Demand for Gun Safety

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Democratic candidates for Congress in CD2:
Democratic candidates for Congress in CD2: Yahya Yuksel, Billy Kovacs, Ann Kirkpatrick, Mary Matiella, Bruce Wheeler, Barbara Sherry and Matt Heinz.

On the day when a teenage shooter killed 10 and injured 10 at a Texas school, all seven of the CD2 Congressional candidates renewed their demand for gun safety legislation.

The candidate forum took place on Friday, May 18, for the residents at an active-living retirement community in Tucson. The candidates are Yahya Yuksel, Billy Kovacs, Ann Kirkpatrick, Mary Matiella, Bruce Wheeler, Barbara Sherry and Matt Heinz.

Mary Matiella

“My heart is broken over the shooting in Santa Fe, Texas. That is horrible. One more time we are just beyond ourselves with the pain we feel.”

“I have a cousin who was murdered in her home in front of her children. The most vulnerable are the children in schools. Women in the US are 15 times more likely to be killed by a gun than in other developed countries. We have to do something big. All we want is sensible gun legislation. We’re not trying to take on the Second Amendment. We should keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers. Why would you not do that?”

Ann Kirkpatrick

“Just today my heart was broken one more time because 10 families are not going to have their children home for dinner because of a school shooting today. I was a law clerk for Judge John Roll when he was shot and Gabby was injured. It was something I’ll never, ever get over. Enough is enough.”

“Preventing gun violence has nothing to do with the Second Amendment. It says people in the US have a right to bear arms and to have a well-regulated militia. What we have is a completely unregulated system, that we need to have regulated to keep our children and victims of domestic violence safe, and to keep terrorists from getting guns in our country.”

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