IOWA - Obama for America announced today the launch of Nurses for Obama in Iowa, a campaign initiative designed to mobilize nurses across the country.

As we approach the two-year anniversary of President Obama's landmark health reform, Obama for America is engaging our supporters to talk about how health reform has already changed lives for the better. On today's call, National Press Secretary Ben LaBolt and local Iowa nurse Mary Burke, emphasized how the Affordable Care Act has affected Iowans since 2009. The statements below were prepared for delivery by Ben LaBolt and Mary Burke.

"Approximately 2 Million Iowans are now protected against the worst insurance company abuses, like denying health care to the sick, excessive premium increases, and lifetime caps on the amount of care a patient can receive, said National Press Secretary Ben LaBolt. "Soon, insurance companies won't be able to charge women higher premiums just because of their gender.

"This is just the beginning. As the reforms continue to phase in over the coming months, so will more of its benefits, said LaBolt. "New reforms will lower costs even further and raise the quality of care.  Seniors will see their Medicare coverage continue to improve, and they'll see the doughnut hole completely close so they can afford the medicine they need."

A significant part of that effort will be Nurses for Obama, a program that will mobilize nurses across the country and provide resources and effective ways they can be advocates for health care reform in their communities. Because nurses are on the frontlines of our health care system, they are involved in every step of the way from prevention to patient care and have seen firsthand how health care reform has already benefited their patients.

"I saw insurance companies tell my patients and my family members that they'd have to wait weeks before getting treated, or that they wouldn't cover anything at all, said Mary Burke, a local nurse in Iowa. "But thanks to President Obama's health insurance reforms, all that's starting to change. Now my patients won't have to worry about not getting insurance because of a preexisting condition. They won't have to worry about going over some insurance company's arbitrary cap on how much care they can get."

For additional information about Nurses for Obama, please visit www.barackobama.com/nurses. Also be sure to check out the campaign's new online tool highlighting health reform's benefits.

• Lennie Jarratt, 31st State Senate District (Homeschool Parent)
• Sen. Sam McCann, 50th State Senate District (Incumbent/Homeschool Parent)
• Mark Minor, 59th State Senate District
• Garrett Peck, 49th State Senate District

House:

• Liandro "Li" Arellano, Jr., 90th State Representative District
• Jonathan Wallace, 72nd State Representative District (Homeschooler)

These endorsements are for the 2012 Primary Election only and are based on candidate responses to the ILHPAC legislative questionnaire. In some cases, the candidates are either home educators or were home educated. All of these candidates have contested Primary Elections, and there is a clear and demonstrable difference between these candidates and their opponents in their support for homeschool freedom.

"Just because a candidate is not endorsed does not mean he or she is not pro-homeschooling," added Mercadante. "We invite you to visit IllinoisHomeschoolFreedom.com to see if your candidate has completed our legislative questionnaire."

The Illinois Homeschool PAC is the only Illinois political action committee that is singularly focused on protecting the rights of Illinois home educators.

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Democrat's Budget rewards politicians who raised taxes

Rock Island... Last January, Democrat Governor Pat Quinn and Representative Pat Verschoore pushed through a 67% increase in the state's income tax, now they feel they deserve a pay raise.  Based upon the budget introduced by Governor Quinn, legislators and the Governor himself would receive thousands in new pay raises and that is out-of-line and out-of-touch according to Jonathan Wallace, Republican candidate for State Representative.

"Raising taxes to pay for politician's lofty salaries is unacceptable and tone deaf to the issues facing working families," Wallace stated.  "Illinois faces nearly $9 billion in unpaid bills, a number that could grow to over $20 billion in a few short years and yet the Democrat budget is prepared to spend thousands on pay raises for legislators and even the Governor."

Further examination of the Governor's proposal has uncovered pay increases for the State's constitutional officers and legislators, including the Governor's own salary.  Under the proposal Governor Quinn would see his salary jump by $1,600 to $179,100.  In all, the proposal includes over $250,000 in pay increases for these elected officials, which is nearly $1 million dollars higher than it was in FY2011.  

The Governor's proposal stands in direct contrast to Wallace's plan to cut the salary of all Illinois House Representatives by 25%.

"I signed a 'Contract with the 72nd',  in which I pledged to take a 25% salary cut and author legislation requiring other legislators to do the same. The average family in Illinois paid over $1,000 more in taxes last year, but the Governor and legislators would use that tax money to provide themselves with pay raises," Wallace added.  "While the Governor talks about shared sacrifice, it seems the only people sacrificing are those paying for the politicians pay raises."

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