NH INSIDER

Legislation will create more jobs and strengthen economy

Organizing for America (OFA)-New Hampshire Director Tim Arsenault today released the following statement on President Obama’s signing of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, a bill that will fuel job growth and strengthen the economy by encouraging businesses to hire new workers and invest in their companies and communities:

“President Obama’s signing of the bipartisan HIRE Act, a bill that will help create more jobs and strengthen our nation’s economy, is another critical part of the President’s plan to turn our economy around.  While there is still more work to do, Granite Staters and all Americans should be proud of the progress President Obama and Congress have made in bringing our economy back from the brink of collapse.

“Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, our economy is growing again and we are no longer on the verge of a depression.  But those economic statistics are cold comfort to the millions of Americans still looking for work.  That is why President Obama and Congress have been working tirelessly to encourage job creation in our nation’s private sector, the engine of our economy. 

“The HIRE Act signed today is just one of several job-creating measures that President Obama has championed to help get Americans back to work.  The tax breaks and other provisions this bill provides to businesses will help encourage the creation of new jobs.  Right now Americans need jobs, and this bill will go a long way in accomplishing that goal.  I want to thank President Obama and Congress for their bold and decisive actions to address our nation’s struggling economy.”

The HIRE Act:

1.      Forgives payroll taxes on new employees hired by businesses by the end of the year in cases where the employee has been out of work for at least the past two months.

2.      Allowing small businesses to write off investments in equipment this year.

3.      Reform municipal bonds in a way that encourages investments in schools and clean energy.

4.      Maintain investments in construction projects throughout the spring and summer.

The ‘Final March for Reform’ for many is an Intensely Personal Campaign

Organizing for America (OFA)-New Hampshire Director Tim Arsenault today released the following statement highlighting the personal health care story of New Hampshire resident Scott Baetz:

“Often lost in the debate over health care reform is the intensely personal nature of it. People across America are going without preventive care and treatment, and they are suffering simply because of the cost of care. Reform that makes insurance more secure and affordable can no longer be stalled for political gain. 

“This week, the President told the story of an Ohio woman named Natoma Canfield, a cancer survivor who recently wrote to the President. She is self-employed and had sought out insurance in the individual market, but year after year her premiums rose until she no longer could afford coverage. Two weeks later, she was diagnosed with leukemia and now not only has to worry about whether she’ll survive, but about how she can pay for it when she does.

“Unfortunately, the most remarkable part about Natoma’s story is that it is not rare. Our current health care system is working better for the insurance industry than for Granite Staters like Scott Baetz who is a small business owner from Windham who has watched his health care expenses nearly triple in the last three years.  Scott used to be able to offer his employees top health insurance coverage, but now can only afford plans with extremely high deductibles. Scott, like too many small business owners worries that he may not be able to afford health insurance for his employees.

“In the final days before Congress considers health insurance reform, it will be stories like Scott Baetz’s or of a sick friend or family member that drives OFA supporters in their tireless efforts to pick up the phone to make just one more page of calls or to pen a letter to their local newspaper.”

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Organizing for America (OFA) is a grassroots project of the Democratic National Committee. OFA's network of volunteers and staff is actively working in all 50 states to promote the President's proposals to strengthen America's middle class by creating jobs, passing health insurance reform, building a clean energy economy, improving education, and reining in the excesses of Wall Street. OFA last week launched its “Final March for Reform” in an unprecedented national push to pass comprehensive health insurance reform that expands access to quality, affordable care.



Tim Arsenault, State Director of Organizing for America (OFA)-New Hampshire issued the following statement regarding the organization’s launch of the ‘Final March to Reform’:

“Today, OFA supporters in New Hampshire join health reform advocates from around the country in launching a sustained push to help pass health insurance reform.

“We already know what will happen if we don’t pass health reform. Insurance companies will continue their abusive practices—arbitrarily hiking our premium rates by as much as 39 percent, denying coverage to people with ‘pre-existing conditions,’ and dropping our coverage if we get sick. Meanwhile, the President’s proposals would return control over our health care choices to American families and businesses, create four million jobs over the next ten years, and reduce our budget deficit by $100 billion in the first decade.

“Granite Staters have made clear time and again in the past year we cannot afford to accept the status quo. It’s time to pass health insurance reform now.”

Evidence Mounting that Status Quo Works Well for Insurance Companies While Americans, Businesses Pay the Price

Organizing for America (OFA)-New Hampshire Director Tim Arsenault released the following statement today regarding American families paying the price for insurance companies’ unfair practices:

“Mounting evidence supports what President Obama has been saying for months – under the status quo, insurance companies are profiting while American families and businesses are left footing the bill. In fact, as the President stressed in his remarks in Pennsylvania today, insurers know they can afford to price people out of health insurance because there is so little competition, they actually will make more money simply by raising premiums on their existing customers. Even worse, these companies will continue these practices as long as they can get away with it.

“Granite Staters’ health should not be at the mercy of whatever tactics insurance companies employ to maximize their profits. Since last year alone, far too many Americans have already paid the price as insurance companies have logged record profits.  And the evidence continues to pile up: Every year, insurers drop more people’s coverage when they’re sick and need it most. Every year they deny more people coverage because of pre-existing conditions. We cannot allow rates to keep skyrocketing or these abuses to continue.

“Today, OFA volunteers join Granite Staters in sending a message to insurance company CEOs: Our health should not be dependent on insurer profits. The time is now for comprehensive health insurance reform.”