Year in Review: Divided We Fail in 2007

Divided We Fail marks its first anniversary this week as the initiative continues to press candidates and elected officials to make access to quality, affordable health care and long-term financial security top issues in the national political debate.

Divided We Fail, launched nationally in January 2007, has worked to engage the American people, elected officials and the business community to find broad-based, bi-partisan solutions to the most compelling domestic issues facing the nation: health care and the long-term financial security of Americans.

Divided We Fail will continue to secure pledges from members of Congress and the presidential candidates in support of the effort. To date, a total of 218 Members of Congress have expressed support. Of the Presidential candidates, the following have either signed the pledge or sent a letter of support: Clinton, Edwards, Gravel, Huckabee, McCain (sent letter of support) and Obama. (Three additional candidates who have since dropped out of the race - Biden, Dodd, and Richardson – also signed the pledge.)

Highlights from 2007

December 2007: Divided We Fail sends AARP members in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and Florida who identified themselves as likely caucus and primary voters "In Their Own Words," a side-by-side look at the presidential candidates' positions on affordable health care.

December 2007: Underscoring the group's commitment to bipartisanship, Divided We Fail announces the endorsement of the centrist organization, the Republican Main Street Partnership.

November 2007: Divided We Fail brings private and financial sectors, unions and consumer interest groups together to discuss the plausibility and effectiveness of hybrid pension plans.

October 2007: The leaders of AARP, Business Roundtable and SEIU speak at the White House Fellows Annual Meeting.

August 2007: Divided We Fail signs a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking him to suspend regulatory actions that would penalize employers that provided workers affected by a cash balance conversion with certain favorable protections and to seek regulatory solutions to this issue.

July 2007: The Divided We Fail leaders lead a Capitol Hill rally with over 2,000 people fanning out across the Hill to meet with their members of Congress about the Divided We Fail pledge.

June 2007: Divided We Fail endorses the "Wired for Health Care Quality Act," introduced by Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Michael B. Enzi (R-WY), a bill which would spur adoption of a nationwide interoperable health information technology (HIT) system.

June 2007: Divided We Fail endorses the "Medicare Quality Enhancement Act," introduced by Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Hillary Clinton (D-NY), which would provide Medicare enrollment, claims, and survey and assessment data to private organizations to develop reports that measure health care quality for public use.

June 2007: Divided We Fail leaders travel to New Hampshire for the kickoff of Divided We Fail in the Granite State.

June 2007: Divided We Fail hosts a pension conference geared toward identifying pension models that can work for individuals and business.

April 2007: The leaders begin a series of joint meetings with Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle.

January 2007: Divided We Fail launches at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

In 2008, members and representatives of Divided We Fail will ramp up outreach to Congressional leaders, opinion leaders, and the American public, including appearances for top level speeches at economic clubs nationwide; as well as continued – and increased – activity in key battleground states.