Ted Kennedy's Passing

Last night a man who over the years has meant a great deal to me Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy died last night. As a lifelong Democrat whose father once said that there are only two races in the world the people who have to work for money and the people who have money work for them, I have been a livelong follower of Senator Ted Kennedy, who has been a champion of working men and women all of his political life. From his support of civil rights and great society programs in the 1960's to his support of health care, a living wage and the presidency of Barrack Obama, Senator Kennedy has been my champion.
When I worked in Washington at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Youth Policy Institute, I had the opportunity to meet many of the Kennedy family including Senator Kennedy and I was impressed by his patience and ability to listen to the young people who worked at Youth Policy listening to our ideas and giving respect and credence to them.
The best tribute that I can give to Senator Kennedy is to support the issue that he has spent most of his political career working on Health Care.
Chris Matthews said this morning on NBC's Today Show that now that Senator Kennedy is gone that President Obama must be the quarterback. I do not think that the president was ever the quarter back, for what I know of football, he was the coach and he gave the ball to Congress to play it out.
So I am saying to members of Congress regardless of your politics pass health care reform for Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a tireless fighter for the uplifting of working and poor people. Work out the details with subsequent bills but get something passed this fall. Do it for Senator Kennedy, do it for the American people.