If you want to participate in a White House live chat about health care reform, you can. Join White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett next Monday. All the details are listed below in a White House press release:

WASHINGTON – In a continuing effort to provide communities with the latest information on health care reform, on Monday, November 2, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett is scheduled to participate in a live online chat session to discuss the importance of needed changes in our health care system for traditionally underserved communities throughout the country.

Jodi Rave

 

Individuals can participate in the live chat by submitting their questions online here or by joining the chat Live Monday at White House.gov or through Facebook.com/WhiteHouse. 

 WHO:             White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett

 WHAT:          Live White House Online Chat on Health Care Reform

 WHEN:          Monday, November 2 at 3:30 p.m.  ET

 WHERE:        White House.gov or Facebook.com/WhiteHouse

 

For the latest information on health care reform, including reports on specifically impacted communities, please visit www.healthreform.gov.

# #

 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]

Jodi Rave 

Lower Brule Chairman Mike Jandreau/Fox News photo

Here’s a Fox network story/video on Indian Health Care.

The content within the video is true, as I’ve seen and heard hundreds of similar stories about the Indian Health Service through friends and family and a decade of news reporting in Indian Country. The story here on Fox is not an exaggeration. On the other hand, the Fox video works hard to convince people that if the federal government has a hand in health care, everyone would suffer the same as the Natives in the video.

I sincerely doubt the tragedy of health care in Indian Country would ever be allowed to happen to the rest of the country. Congress has short-changed Indian health care because they could. Native people make up only about 1 percent of the U.S. population. We have had few people to stand up and advocate on our behalf. As the health care reform debate continues, I hope more media outlets and grassroots organizers bring more attention to the IHS policy of “life or limb,” meaning you’re likely to get medical help if you are likely to die or need a limb amputated.

Jodi Rave

Read the rest of the blog post here.

This is the first blog or video of Teehee I’ve seen since President Barack Obama announced on June 15, 2009 that she would be his Native policy advisor.

Jodi Rave