By Lori Parham and REPRESENTATIVE FROM 100 BLACK MEN
ORGANIZATION
As the 2008 presidential election nears, Floridians are
paying closer attention to the race with an eye towards the most pressing
concerns facing our country: health care and lifetime financial security. But
some voters don’t know where all of the candidates stand on these critical
issues.
Thanks to an exciting new effort led by business, labor and
consumer organizations and supported by key members of the community, everyone
will be able to learn more about the candidates’ positions. We have the power
to demand changes from our leaders on these two vital domestic issues.
100 Black Men of Jacksonville have endorsed/pledged their
support to AARP, Business Roundtable, the Service Employees International Union
(SEIU), and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), who
together represent millions of Americans.
Together, we are working to encourage candidates to engage in robust
debate on these two fundamental issues that impact all of our lives.
Our groups recognize the power of coming together to focus
on what all people have in common. We share a commitment to fixing health care
and ensuring lifetime financial security for all generations.
The changes needed are clear.
Skyrocketing health care costs affect almost every one of
us, every day; from those of us who can’t afford the steep price of health
insurance to families reeling from the co-payments and mounting bills when
illness strikes. Too many families can’t afford to get sick. Nearly
47 million Americans lack health-care coverage, including 3.8 million in Florida alone, according
to a recent study by the Florida Health Advisory Board. Millions more fear
they’re about to lose what little coverage they have. Americans pay far more
for health care than other developed nations, but our health outcomes are not
always the best.
The story is similar on lifetime financial security.
Many Americans have little saved for retirement. Only one in five workers is
still covered by a traditional pension, and our national safety net needs to be
strengthened to provide for future generations. While many companies have
replaced traditional pensions with 401(k) plans, only half of all workers
eligible for an employer savings program take advantage of them, and many who
have saved for retirement have a long way to go. If we don’t give
Americans effective tools to prepare for their own futures, millions of older Americans
could be forced to accept a bleak future.
African American families are particularly hard hit. A Kaiser Family Foundation study shows the
uninsured rate for African Americans is one and half times that of other
Americans. And according to a 2007 study
by Charles Schwab, fewer African American employees participate in
employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, and those who do participate contribute at a
lower rate than other employees.
It’s time for our leaders to make these two issues - which
are jeopardizing our families and our country’s economic security - their top
priority.
We cannot allow our leaders to continue to be bogged down in
partisan bickering. Washington
gridlock must not stop us from improving access to affordable, quality health
care and lifetime financial security. It’s high time we ask leaders to pledge
that they will work with other elected officials, regardless of party, to make
progress on these two issues.
These two issues are important for all Americans, and we
believe there are solutions that many from both parties can agree on. It
is critically important that we work to get the presidential candidates to
focus on proposing workable, realistic solutions that appeal to a broad range
of Americans. We are optimistic that together we can make a difference in
securing a better and stronger future for America.
The time for change is now.
Divided, we fail.
Together, we can do anything.
Dr. Lori Parham is Florida state director of AARP.