[Peace-discuss] DI story quotes Congressional candidate David Green on shutdown

[Robert Naiman]

http://www.dailyillini.com/news/local/article_e0ce7326-3614-11e3-898f-0019bb30f31a.html

[Picture at link.]

Government shutdown focus of local protest

By Eleanor Black | Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 12:00
am

Not even the threat of rain could stop members of the Champaign-Urbana
community from meeting outside of Rep. Rodney Davis’ Champaign office to
ask him for his vote in reopening the government.

As the government shutdown entered its third week, MoveOn, a progressive
public policy advocacy group, organized protests at more than 50
congressional offices across the nation. About 30 members of the community
attended the protest for the 13th district, which was organized by Robert
Naiman, policy director at Just Foreign Policy.

“We want Rep. Davis to disassociate himself from the extreme Republican
right wing that has shut down the government in order to try and take
health insurance away from millions of Americans who are getting it through
the Affordable Care Act,” Naiman said. “We want him to vote to raise the
debt ceiling without attaching these hostage-taking demands on health care,
social security and Medicare.”

Many other attendees at the event also voiced their support for the ACA,
including Jim Duffett, executive director at Campaign for Better Healthcare.

“We believe that health care is not a privilege, but a right. We’ve been
pushing for affordable, accessible guaranteed health care for everyone for
nearly 25 years,” he said. “Obamacare gets us extremely close, and it has
already been operating.”

He added that the ACA would help hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans, who
would previously have been unable to receive health insurance.

“For any party, Democrat or Republican, whether you don’t like a certain
bill and you want to use it as extortion for shutting down the government
and causing this country to default ... is appalling,” Duffett said.

Davis released a statement on Oct. 1 condemning the shutdown, adding that
Congressional leaders and President Barack Obama must negotiate in order to
reopen the government.

“Like most of those I represent, I remain opposed to Obamacare, but a
government shutdown is absolutely unacceptable,” said Davis in the press
release.

In addition to voicing his support for the ACA, David Green, a social
policy analyst at the University’s Center for Prevention Research and
Development and 13th District Democratic Congressional candidate, went to
the protest to push for the reopening of the government.

“I came to this protest because the immediate need is to get the government
funding again, get people back to work, get people the services they need
and oppose the extortionist tactics of the Tea Party and the Republican
leadership in Congress,” he said.

Green is asking for Rep. Davis and Congress to work for “genuinely
people-driven social programs in this country,” which he believes Davis has
not done.

Similar to Green, Gov. Quinn criticized the government shutdown at a press
conference held in Urbana on Monday.

“I asked every elected official in Illinois, I’ve written letters to
Boehner, the Speaker of the House. I’ve written letters to our
Congressional members of the House,” he said. “We’re in a very serious
emergency and we have to reopen the government right away.”

-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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