http://www.markudall.com/blog en Copyright 2011 2011-05-05T17:14:51+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/save_medicare/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/save_medicare/#When:16:14:51Z For over 45 years, Medicare has guaranteed access to quality affordable healthcare for America's senior citizens. Medicare has wide bipartisan support from Coloradans and people across the nation. A recent poll found that 92% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans, 75% of independents, and even 70% of the Tea Party are opposed to making cuts to this essential program. (1) Despite this overwhelming support, House Republicans, led by Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI), passed a bill that would end Medicare as we know it. After months of attacking the health care reform bill for improving Medicare, their partisan budget plan phases out Medicare in favor of a privatization scheme that benefits the big insurance companies and forces seniors to pay more for life-saving medicine and treatments. Click here to find out how much more you will have to pay under the Republican "Coupons for Care" plan and then forward this email to your friends! The Republican plan falls well short of what Medicare currently provides for seniors and it would cost the government more to do it. Even worse, if health care costs continue to grow faster than inflation, seniors will see their coverage decline under the Republican plan. For many seniors on fixed incomes, that will mean dipping into their retirement savings and forgoing other necessities to make up the difference. That's not acceptable. Click here to find out how much more you will have to pay under the Republican "Coupons for Care" plan and then forward this email to your friends! Like my colleagues, I agree we have to tackle our long-term debt problem before it squelches the innovation and investment needed to grow our economy and ensure our national security. But we don't need to get rid of Medicare to do it. It is wrong to ask for that kind of sacrifice from seniors and middle class Americans, especially when we continue to give huge tax breaks to millionaires and allow tax loopholes for multinational corporations that are making record-breaking profits while shipping American jobs overseas. Click here to find out how much more you will have to pay under the Republican "Coupons for Care" plan and then forward this email to your friends! If we are serious about debt and deficit reduction, all reform proposals have to be on the table. That's why I pushed for the creation of the bipartisan deficit commission, which took a hard look at defense spending, the tax code, and made recommendations to shore up Medicare and Social Security to ensure they are solvent for seniors and young people alike. Those are the common-sense Colorado values that should be guiding our budget debate, not a risky scheme that would hurt our seniors. Sincerely, Mark Udall U.S. Senator [1] McClatchy-Marist Poll: Best way to fight deficits; http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/18/112386/poll-best-way-to-fight-deficits.html; April 18, 2011   2011-05-05T16:14:51+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/government_shutdown_is_reckless_and_irresponsible/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/government_shutdown_is_reckless_and_irresponsible/#When:16:11:17Z As I'm sure you've heard, in one day the Federal Government will shut down unless Democrats and Republicans can come together and find a compromise on our national budget. A shutdown could drastically reduce the vital services we depend on. It would send 53,000 Coloradans home without pay, stop the IRS from processing tax refunds, force our soldiers to work without pay, drastically reduce veterans' services and close our national parks. We can't let this happen. I'm leading a group of 16 senators to broker a bipartisan compromise to avoid this crisis. Sign our letter to John Boehner and tell him to come back to the negotiating table! We all can agree addressing our long-term debt must be a priority. To that end, we've made significant progress and the compromise we've proposed to avoid shutdown cuts tens of billions of dollars from the federal budget. But some of my colleagues will not support any compromise unless it contains policy "riders" to restrict the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to keep our air clean and deprive millions of women of the vital services that Planned Parenthood health centers provide. At a time when our sole focus should be on creating jobs and re-igniting the American innovative spirit, it is nothing short of reckless to shutdown government over partisan ideology. I'm leading a group of 16 senators to broker a bipartisan compromise to avoid this crisis. Sign our letter to John Boehner and tell him to come back to the negotiating table! A complete shutdown will jeopardize economic recovery, strain investor confidence, and pull the rug out from under millions of working families struggling to make ends meet. Market analysts have noted that if a shutdown continued for longer than a few days, we could lose as much as 0.2% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product every week until the government got up and running again. I'm leading a group of 16 senators to broker a bipartisan compromise to avoid this crisis. Sign our letter to John Boehner and tell him to come back to the negotiating table! This is unacceptable after all the work we've done to stabilize and grow the economy the last few years. I'll continue to try to bring my colleagues together and build consensus around a compromise that keeps faith with our needs to grow the economy, create jobs, and be responsible with how we invest taxpayer dollars. Sincerely, Mark Udall U.S. Senator   2011-05-05T16:11:17+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/stop_republicans_from_repealing_healthcare_reform/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/stop_republicans_from_repealing_healthcare_reform/#When:16:09:57Z One year ago, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, giving Coloradans the freedom and flexibility to choose the right insurance for their families, businesses and employees. Instead of celebrating the fact that over half a million Colorado seniors are receiving help to pay for their prescription drugs, or that insurance companies can't deny care to children with pre-existing conditions, or that small businesses are getting tax breaks to cover their employees, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are renewing their call to fully repeal health insurance reform. So I'd like to give my Republican colleagues an anniversary present. The traditional gift for a one-year anniversary is paper, and I'd like to give them a lot of it. Sign my petition to Mitch McConnell and John Boehner and tell them to stop their push for repeal! At least some of my "generosity" towards my colleagues is fueled by the fact that, as I've traveled the state, I've seen first hand how the new law is helping Coloradans. From families who can now afford insurance for their kids with pre-existing conditions to the small business owner getting tax breaks to provide coverage, this law is helping protect us all from being one accident or illness away from financial ruin. We're also expanding coverage to rural communities through an initiative I'm personally very proud of: the Rural Physician Pipeline Act. By providing incentives to new doctors interested in practicing medicine in rural communities we are helping almost a tenth of our state's citizens get access to quality affordable health care. Help Mitch McConnell and John Bohener "celebrate" the one-year anniversary of health insurance reform. Sign my petition and tell them to stop their push for repeal! Here in Colorado, we know how to stand together and get things done. At the state capitol, Republican and Democratic legislators are working side by side to implement a key component of reform: a health insurance exchange. In this competitive market, people can easily compare prices and options before they buy insurance. I like to think of it as a Craigslist for coverage. This free-market approach will encourage competition and make insurance more affordable for families and businesses alike. And it's that kind of collaborative approach that helps Westerners do what we've always done: come together and persevere in tough times. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell should feel free to take notes. At least they'll have plenty of paper. Happy Anniversary, Mark Udall U.S. Senator 2011-05-05T16:09:57+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/stop_the_anti-environment_attack/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/stop_the_anti-environment_attack/#When:16:03:18Z The anti-environment wing of the Republican Party is trying to destroy the Environmental Protection Agency. It's step one in letting their biggest supporters completely disregard environmental protections -- no matter what the cost. I know that statement sounds too scary to be true, and I wish it were. But with Newt Gingrich and a number of members of Congress calling for just that, we have to take it seriously. And we have to fight back. Join nearly 10,000 of our fellow Americans who care about clean air and clean water and have already signed my petition to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee building support to vote NO on anti-environment legislation. Sign the petition today—before I deliver it this Monday! Bit by bit, the new extremist majority in the House and their allies in the Senate have been introducing legislation to chip away at environmental protections. Every move they take against the EPA is an effort to delegitimize it and eventually eliminate it—to prevent the EPA from keeping our air and water clean and regulating the gases that cause climate change. All this despite the fact that recent polling shows 69% of Americans support the EPA enacting tougher regulations on airborne pollution.[1] Americans knows that our greatest future economic successes will come from a clean energy revolution, creating millions of new jobs in industries we haven’t even begun to build. Failing to innovate now—and sacrificing our health while the big polluters win—is exactly the kind of backward-looking stance we don’t need at this critical juncture for our country. We have a real chance to stop these latest attacks in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. But to do it, we need to make sure the committee hears us. Can you help? Sign my petition to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee urging them to vote NO on anti-environment legislation. Sign the petition today—before I deliver it this Monday! Thank you for your help—and thank you for standing up for sensible environmental protections! Sincerely, Mark Udall   U.S. Senator [1] "American Lung Association Bipartisan Poll Shows Strong Public Support for Lifesaving Clean Air Act: Voters trust EPA to protect public health, oppose Congressional interference"; http://www.LungUSA.org; February 16, 2011 2011-05-05T16:03:18+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/environment_under_attack/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/environment_under_attack/#When:16:01:42Z In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out an inspiring vision: a vision of our economy rejuvenated by a clean energy revolution, our country freed from the dangerous addiction to foreign oil, and our world and environment in better shape than we found it -- ready to be passed on to a new generation. Sadly, some of my colleagues in Congress don't like President Obama's vision. Last week, anti-environment legislators introduced bills to restrict the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon—legislation that flies in the face of directives from the U.S. Supreme Court and threatens our progress toward a clean energy future. I need your help to make sure they don't pass. I'll be delivering a petition to the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Senator Barbara Boxer, at the end of the month, and we need it to be a strong statement of opposition to these bills. Can you help? Click here to sign my petition to the committee members—and tell them to vote NO on anti-environment legislation! The bills—one brought forth by Senator James Inhofe and Representative Fred Upton, the other by Senator John Barrasso—have one goal: making sure the EPA doesn't have the means to regulate the pollution that is being pumped into the atmosphere. They claim it's about jobs, but what they're really doing is allowing big polluters and their lobbyists to write their own rules, keep polluting the air we breathe, and keep failing to innovate for the future. Short version: We need to stop this legislation in its tracks. Click here to sign my petition to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee—and tell them to vote NO on anti-environment legislation! This is a fight we can win. Both of these bills will be coming up for a hearing in front of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and there will be tremendous pressure on committee members from well-funded anti-environment interests to give them a free pass. But with your help, we can show the committee that Americans all over the country support a sensible policy that allows the EPA to do its job and protect our citizens from dangerous greenhouse gases, and doesn't reward dirty industries that would rather lobby Congress than look to the future. Click here to sign my petition to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee—and tell them to vote NO on anti-environment legislation! Thank you for joining me in this fight. I will be sure to follow up with you throughout this Congress as we work both to move sensible environmental policies forward and defend against attacks on the progress we've made. Sincerely, Mark Udall U.S. Senator P.S. Once you've signed the petition, don't forget to forward this message on to your family and friends who care about our nation's clean energy future!   2011-05-05T16:01:42+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/fix_the_fillibuster/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/fix_the_fillibuster/#When:15:56:39Z I've been in the Senate for two years, and while I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish, I've developed a keen frustration with one thing in particular: the filibuster. Don't get me wrong: I have a deep respect for the Senate, and I also realize that the winds of political fortune change. But the simple fact is that, in recent years, the filibuster has been used to bring the people's business to a halt in order to score political points—and I can't stand by and let that happen. That's why I've introduced a proposal that will change how the filibuster works, forcing any senators who want to hold up the business of the Senate to show up and own their obstruction—instead of making empty threats while keeping our country from moving forward. This week, the Senate is poised to change its governing rules, and it's our best chance to fix the filibuster. Sign my petition to change the rules to require only three-fifths of Senators present and voting—instead of 60 votes—to end a filibuster! We must protect the rights of the minority, but our current system goes too far. I have seen bills that would create jobs and bills that fund supplies for our troops held up for days and weeks while I've worked day and night to help collect the 60 votes needed for cloture. Meanwhile, the current rules allow the filibustering minority to not even bother to show up. They could be out for a haircut, dinner, or even out of town. There's a word for that: wrong. My proposal changes that and forces the minority to show up and own their filibuster by changing the vote requirement for cloture to three-fifths of senators present and voting. If 100 senators are present, 60 votes are required. If 90 senators are present, 54 votes are required, and so on. Sign my petition to change the rules to require only three-fifths of Senators present and voting—instead of 60 votes—to end a filibuster! My proposal is a commonsense way to protect the minority's rights while allowing us to get on with our job to make America work for the constituents who sent us to Washington. It's a job I take seriously, and it's a job I can do better with this rule change in place. Thank you for continuing to stand with me as we move into what is sure to be a more difficult Congress. I will need you now more than ever, but if we can get this change done, it will be one huge step toward getting work done for the American people. Happy New Year, Mark Udall U.S. Senator P.S. After you've signed my petition, please forward this message to five friends. We have as few as 47 hours before the Senate adopts the rules that will govern how it operates for the next two years.   2011-05-05T15:56:39+00:00 http://www.markudall.com/content/page/thank_you/ http://www.markudall.com/content/page/thank_you/#When:19:13:00Z It's been a long journey, and I am humbled and thrilled that the good people of Colorado have chosen me to serve them in the U.S. Senate. As an old mountaineer, I confess to you this is the toughest climb I've ever taken, and there are so many people to thank. I want to start by thanking my wife, Maggie, and my two wonderful children -- who have stood by me throughout this hard-fought contest. I also want to acknowledge the finest campaign team in the country for making this victory possible. And last but not least, I want to thank all my grassroots supporters -- folks like you -- who made phone calls, came out to our rallies, and sent tens of thousands of campaign contributions. This victory belongs to you, too.I've always said this campaign was never about me, it's about us. It's about us standing together and facing some of the biggest challenges the United States has ever faced. It's not about advancing Republican ideas or Democratic ideas, but about advancing the best ideas and to see them through. As your senator I will stand up for every Colorado family and stand up for anybody who does right by Colorado. Now the real work begins. I look forward to working with President-elect Barack Obama and the new Congress to restore our economy, build a sustainable energy future, take care of our veterans and bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. I am ready to lead. You are ready to lead. And today, America is ready to lead, once more. Thank you for everything you have done to make this day possible. I couldn't have done it without you. Sincerely, Mark Udall 2008-11-10T19:13:00+00:00