Arizona: Ann Kirkpatrick

by David Safier

Thanks and congratulations are due to our AZ Democratic delegation to the U.S. House. All of them voted Yes on the health care bill -- Raul Grijalva, Gabriel Giffords, Ann Kirkpatrick, Harry Mitchell and Ed Pastor.

Keep up the good work (he said hopefully).

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Over the weekend, Obama administration spokespersons including Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and President Obama himself, appeared to signal a a retreat on the public option.

There was gnashing of teeth and loud wailing from the base of the Democratic Party. The netroots went into action immediately to remind the President that he campaigned on the public option for health care reform.

On Saturday, the Arizona Democratic Party at its Summer meeting in Flagstaff, Arizona unanimously adopted a resolution in support of the public option. Healthcare-Final (2).doc The resolution was intended for Reps. Harry Mitchell and Ann Kirkpatrick who have not yet defined their positions.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Who has endorsed President Obama's effort to reform health care insurance? Doctor associations, including the AMA (a surprising first), nurses associations, several business organizations and large employers (including Wal-Mart), and yes, even insurance-related organizations like AARP.

Who stands opposed to health care insurance reform? The health insurance monopolies (American Medical Association confirms health monopoly fears) who are getting fabulously wealthy off the broken system of health care insurance they designed. That's the benefit of monopolistic control. They are the middle-men, the paper pushers, the arbiters of whether you even qualify for health care insurance (pre-existing condition exclusions), the choice of doctors you are permitted to see (the provider must be a member of their preferred provider group), what procedures or treatments your doctor is permitted to provide you (including preventive health care and end of life care), and when your medical care becomes too expensive (an arbitrary lifetime maximum benefit), terminate your policy to protect their bottom-line profitability.

Taking a page from Barack Obama, John McCain and other pols who have used social media to broadcast their intentions, state Rep. Bill Konopnicki, R-Cyberspace, tells us via Twitter that he is thinking of giving U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick a run for her congressional seat next year.
Konopnicki toyed with the idea of a congressional run last year, when the seat held by Rick Renzi was up for grabs. Ultimately, he decided against it, citing the amount of money needed to run in the sprawling first congressional district and the apparent short supply of support from the GOP.
Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, went ...

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