In a new video released today, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine takes to task insurance companies and the Republicans who defend them even in the face ofjaw-dropping premium increases and discriminatory practices that deny care to those who need it the most. As Kaine notes, while the President and Democrats are pursuing reform that ends the worst practices of insurance companies, reduces costs for families and businesses large and small and extends coverage to 31 million uninsured Americans – insurance companies are pouring millions into efforts to derail reform and preserve their record profits. What’s worse - Republicans are standing with them in an effort to block reform.

Yesterday, the nation’s largest insurers kicked-off a meeting at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, DC to plot how they will attempt to thwart the President’s proposed health insurance reforms. Also yesterday, a leading economist praised the President’s reforms, noting that they draw broadly from Republican and Democratic ideas for controlling costs and represent “the most significant action on medical spending ever proposed in the United States.” If insurance companies were truly committed to reducing costs for their consumers, they would embrace these reforms. Instead, they are spending millions on lobbyists and misleading ad campaigns aimed at spreading fear and killing the President’s proposed reforms. Why? Because the insurance companies know that the President’s reforms put consumers back in control of their health care by placing long over-due restrictions on insurance companies’ ability to impose ad hoc rate hikes and drop patients when they get sick.

And, while Democrats and the President are standing up for the American people, Republicans are promising to campaign to repeal reform after it becomes law. As Chairman Kaine says in his video, “if Republican leaders want to campaign on the belief that there is nothing wrong with the way insurance companies currently do business, then that’s a fight we’re ready to have.”

As Chairman Kaine states in the video, the President’s reforms put an end to insurance company practices that put their profits over Americans’ care. The final march for reform has begun and Republicans must decide who they will march with – the American people or the insurance providers.

Good morning.

President Barack Obama gestures during a meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in the Oval Office, Feb. 16, 2010. Photo by Pete Souza.

Last week we learned that the express strategy of the Republican party is to use “fear” to stoke opposition to President Obama’s agenda for change. And as we approach the finish line on health insurance reform, we are seeing Republicans try to implement that strategy now more than ever.

Sensing change on the horizon, the insurance industry and their allies in the Republican party will say and do anything to protect their profits and political contributions. This shouldn’t be a surprise from the party that, instead of bringing you news ideas meant to help, brought you refrains of “death panels” and “government takeover” meant to scare.

On the campaign we fought smears by exposing misleading attacks quickly and forcefully and making sure people got the truth from their friends. We can use the same approach to defeat Republican “fear” tactics now. So, today we launched our “Fight the Fear” effort, and we need your help in aiding us to keep track of Republican “fear tactics.

As DNC Executive Director Jen O'Malley Dillon wrote in an email to supporters:

We'll count on volunteers like you all around the country to let us know at FightFear@DNC.org when Republican candidates or groups:

-- Air misleading ads or offer false claims intended to poison the political debate,

-- Incite fear of President Obama and Democratic leaders in an attempt to stir up their base, or

-- Align themselves with the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party.

We'll read the responses and call out the most egregious examples to continually expose the GOP's fear tactics. And we'll hit back hard with the truth in ads and by organizing against the Republican candidates involved.

Together, we'll fight back and prove that Republican scare tactics are no match for our collective grassroots strength.

We’ve already heard from folks about a new Republican fear tactic hitting the airwaves in many communities across the country this week. The national Republican Party launched a new television ad this week featuring embattled RNC Chairman Michael Steele. The ad attempts to stoke fear that health insurance reform is a ‘massive government expansion’ that ‘threatens our freedom.’

There’s nothing in ensuring that every American has access to affordable, stable health insurance that represents a government takeover or that threatens anyone’s freedom. It’s a lie being perpetrated by Michael Steele and the national Republican Party meant to scare people and protect insurance companies, plain and simple. And we’re not going to let them get away with it. Here are the facts, and they’re not scary at all.

Health Insurance Reform Will Not Create a Government Takeover of Health Care

Politifact: “Obama Health Plan Does Not Call For Government-Run Health Care.” “Obama health plan does not call for government-run health care.” [Politifact, 3/5/09]

Factcheck.org: "President Obama Hasn’t Proposed A Government-Run [Health Care] Plan And, In Fact, Has Rejected The Idea." FactCheck.org: "President Obama hasn’t proposed a government-run [health care] plan and, in fact, has rejected the idea." [FactCheck.org, 5/6/09]

Factcheck.org: President Obama Hasn’t Proposed Government-Run Health Care. FactCheck.org: "We’ve written before about conservatives claiming that Congress, or Obama, or Washington, or Democrats in general want the U.S. to have a Canadian-style, government-run health care system. The truth of the matter is that the president has repeatedly said he doesn’t." [FactCheck.org, 8/10/09]

AMA President-Elect Reassured: Physicians And Patients Don’t Need To Fear The Rise Of A Monolithic Health System With No Choice From President Obama. The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that “American Medical Association president-elect Dr. James Rohack told Mississippi doctors Friday…Physicians and patients don't need to fear the rise of a monolithic health system with no choice, because it's not something the American people would accept, Rohack said. The president didn't advocate a single-payer system for the United States at the meeting, Rohack said. Obama said he believes in access to health care for all with a system that is a mix of public and private sources with patients still able to see the physicians of their choice.” [Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 5/30/09]

Last week, DNC Executive Director Jen O'Malley Dillon sent an email asking supporters to help fight the RNC's scare tactics -- including Republicans' plan to run a campaign capitalizing on 'fear' of President Obama.

Today, the DNC is launching a new campaign to fight the GOP's fear-mongering, which will only intensify as the November election approaches. The new campaign asks volunteers around the country to speak up when they see misleading information or tactics that use fear to try and stir up their base.

Read today's email from Jen O'Malley Dillon thanking those who chipped in last week and announcing "Fight the Fear:"

I'm writing to thank you again for chipping in last week. With your help, we're going on offense against Republican fear-mongering and their outrageous depictions of President Obama and Democratic leaders.

It's working: The Washington Post, Associated Press, New York Times, and media outlets around the country have all run stories on the GOP's despicable fundraising strategy.

Republicans are back-peddling, scrambling to disassociate themselves from the presentation, even while following its prescriptions. And a conservative donor even called the plan "indefensible and destructive" and publicly announced that he'll no longer give to the RNC.

But as the November election approaches, we know that their scare tactics will intensify. So today, we're launching a new campaign, powered by your donation, called "Fight the Fear" -- and I wanted you to be the first to know.

We'll count on volunteers like you all around the country to let us know at FightFear@DNC.org when Republican candidates or groups:

-- Air misleading ads or offer false claims intended to poison the political debate,

-- Incite fear of President Obama and Democratic leaders in an attempt to stir up their base, or

-- Align themselves with the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party.

We'll read the responses and call out the most egregious examples to continually expose the GOP's fear tactics. And we'll hit back hard with the truth in ads and by organizing against the Republican candidates involved.

Together, we'll fight back and prove that Republican scare tactics are no match for our collective grassroots strength.

Thanks for being a part of it,

Jen

Jen O'Malley Dillon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

This March, we recognize Women’s History Month.

From DNC Chairman Tim Kaine:

“Women’s History Month is an opportunity for our nation to reflect on and recognize the important role of women in our society. From the Seneca Falls Convention, to the 19th Amendment guaranteeing equal suffrage, to inspiring the Montgomery Bus Boycott, to Title IX, American women have a rich history of breaking down barriers.

“Democrats are proud that in the last year President Obama and the Democratic Congress have taken important steps on behalf of American women. Last summer President Obama nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, making her the third woman and the first Latina to serve in the nation’s highest court. Seven women (Hillary Rodham Clinton, Lisa Jackson, Janet Napolitano, Susan Rice, Christina Romer, Kathleen Sebelius, and Hilda Solis) currently serve in President Obama’s cabinet. President Obama pledged during the Presidential campaign that he would ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and he kept that promise. The first major piece of legislation President Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which legally entitles women to equal pay for equal work.

“But we have much more work to do. Women have a great deal at stake with the President’s health insurance reform bill – women are often charged higher premiums than men and are denied coverage because of so-called pre-existing conditions like c-sections or domestic violence. Democrats are committed to passing comprehensive health reform legislation that will once and for all end gender discrimination in our health insurance system.”

DNC Women’s Caucus Chairwoman Mame Reiley:

“During March we reflect on the great strides women have made in our march towards equality, and we recommit ourselves to the work we have left ahead of us. Trail blazers like Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Rosa Parks and Shirley Chisholm laid the groundwork that has allowed today’s women to work in the professions of our choosing, pursue economic security, and seek elective office at all levels.

We have made great progress since we gained the right to vote in 1920 – women currently hold 76 seats in the House and 17 U.S. Senators are female. However, even though 53 percent of the electorate in 2008 was female, our elected bodies still do not reflect the composition of America. During Women’s History Month, let us remind ourselves of the progress we have made as we pledge to continue the work that our sisters began over 150 years ago."

Good morning.

President Barack Obama reads a letter he received from Natoma Canfield of Medina, Ohio, during a meeting with insurance company executives hosted by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, March 4, 2010. Photo by Pete Souza.

To commemorate yesterday's 45th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” DNC vice chair for voter registration and participation Donna Brazile published an op-ed on CNN on the progress made on voting rights as well as the struggles that continue up to today:

On Sunday we commemorate the courage and sacrifice of 600 men and women who dared 45 years ago to take the first steps in a 54-mile march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital, Montgomery, for the right to vote. That day, Sunday, March 7, 1965, would come to be known as "Bloody Sunday."

As these unarmed civil rights patriots attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where fewer than one percent of eligible black voters were allowed to register, they were gassed and beaten with billy clubs by state and local police, some on horseback, ordered to break up the demonstration.

Captured by television cameras and broadcast nationwide, the suffering of these nonviolent activists, 50 of whom required hospitalization, awoke the nation's consciousness to the importance of voting rights and the entire civil rights movement.

Within 10 days, President Johnson would send a bill to Congress, the National Voting Rights Act of 1965, that would outlaw the discriminatory Jim Crow-era practices that had long worked to disenfranchise African-Americans and other minorities across the United States.

Brazile then goes on to detail some of the current fights in states across the country:

Last month, voting rights advocates filed suit against Virginia state election officials, following the advocates' investigation of rejected voter registration applications in 2008 from students at historically African-American Norfolk State University and the state officials' subsequent refusal to make certain voter registration records publicly available.

While Virginia was rejecting minority voter registrations in 2008, Colorado was purging voters from its registration rolls. Earlier this year, Colorado settled a lawsuit brought by Mi Familia Vota and other voting rights advocates. As a result of the Colorado suit, usage of lists of purged voters was stayed and the approximately 31,000 voters illegally removed from the registration lists were permitted to cast provisional ballots in the 2008 presidential election.

Forty-five years after Bloody Sunday, another march is under way, but it aims to turn back the clock on voting rights. Last month, the South Carolina state Senate passed legislation to require voters to show a photo ID before casting a ballot -- a measure that disproportionately excludes low-income, minority, elderly, and student voters, all of whom are less likely than majority voters to have ready access to a government-issued photo ID.

Brazile closes by highlighting several ways to improve our voting system, making sure every eligible voter has the right to have their vote counted:

We should start by modernizing the voter registration system by making it more automated and keeping eligible voters on the rolls permanently. We should take voting out of the artificial confines created by a limited and literal "Election Day" by providing for universal early voting.

To live up to our constitutional mandate to continue to form a more perfect union -- and to truly honor the brave men and women who marched and were beaten and bloodied, and especially those who were murdered defending their right to vote -- we have the duty to ensure that every eligible voter has an equal and meaningful opportunity to cast a ballot and have it counted.

Read the full op-ed on CNN.

Good morning.

President Barack Obama signs the Travel Promotion Act in the Oval Office, March 4, 2010. Photo by Lawrence Jackson.

Forty five years ago today, 600 peaceful civil rights marchers attempted to walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. They didn't get far before they were beaten, gassed, and whipped. Their courage changed the perception of the civil rights movement permanently, and lead to passage of the Voting Rights Act to put a stop to efforts to keep minorities from voting.

The Democratic Party continues the fight for voting rights year-round. As we know too well, these struggles are not a thing of the past: Minority voters in particular still encounter obstacles at every step of the voting process, from registration to casting a ballot. Practices such as photo identification laws that respond to the made-up problem of voter fraud disproportionately exclude low-income and minority voters.

We are making definite progress -- but we won't stop working to promote a system of elections that is accessible, open, and fair in upcoming elections and beyond -- and ensure that every vote lawfully cast is counted.

You can read the statement from DNC Chairman Tim Kaine commemorating today's anniversary of Bloody Sunday below:

“This weekend marks the 45th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, where some 600 civil rights marchers attempted to walk from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. They had only made it about six blocks, to the Edmund Pettus Bridge, when the marchers were met with tear gas and beaten by state and local officers with clubs. Horrific images from that day broadcast on television left an indelible mark on the American people. Later that year, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, putting an end to poll taxes, literacy tests, and other efforts to keep minorities from voting.

“We have certainly come a long way since Selma. Last year, more than four decades after Bloody Sunday, our first African American President, Barack Obama, was sworn into office. For many, his Presidency represents the achievement of Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream. But as we acknowledge how far we have come, we cannot allow ourselves to think our work is over to breaking down barriers for all Americans.

“Even today, decades after Jim Crow laws were struck down and four years after the Voting Rights Act was renewed, too many Americans still face discrimination at the polls and people are treated unfairly because of who they are or what they believe. That is why the President and the Democrats at all levels of government are committed to ensuring that every eligible American is able to cast a vote and have their vote counted. And it’s why the President and the Justice Department are making fighting discrimination a priority. President Obama’s signing of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is named in part for James Byrd, who was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas because of the color of his skin, was just one step in the right direction.

“But there is more work to do. As we remember the brave men and women who marched 45 years ago, let us renew our commitment to ensuring that all Americans – regardless of race, color and creed – are able to live free from fear or discrimination and able to achieve the American Dream.”

Hello Weekend.

President Barack Obama goes over papers while on the phone in the Oval Office, Feb. 12, 2010. Photo by Pete Souza.