Check out the Huffington Post article on Generation H and the Fake Doctor campaign to engage young people in the health care debate. It also has some great stuff about a new poll that was just released that cites the following:

Young people 18-024 expressed the strongest desire for reform and the strongest support for a public option. According to the SurveyUSA poll, 60% of those 18-34 support Obama's plan -- including 66% of 18 to 24-year-olds and 74% of 25 to 29-year-olds -- compared to 51% overall.

Here is a little recap of our adventures this weekend. Like it? Visit our facebook group to check out all the pictures. Feel inspired? Join us for one of our RAD events coming up and YOU too can be a Fake Doctor for Real Reform. Here she is: 

If we at New Era Colorado learned anything from our weekend in Denver at Pridefest, it was clear that We the People want to see two things:

1. Parades, and…
2. Healthcare Reform.

We became keenly aware of the benefits of dressing up like a doctor. Check out our pics here. Or click here, here, here, here or…. here, to get a feel for what was going down.

The best part of the weekend? We got to dress up as sexy doctors and nurses to spread the word. This made for quite the weekend. (My personal counts: 3 ass-grabs, 1 kiss, 20+ aggressive pick-up moves. It did wonders for my self-esteem). Of course, the downside to all this fun was how many people signed up. You read that right, I am concerned because so many people were interested. Don’t get me wrong—as an organizer, I love all support for New Era Colorado. But people were quite literally flocking to the table to see how they can help change the healthcare system. Thousands of festival go-ers, people who were otherwise there to get drunk and check out attractive members of the same sex, took the time to focus on healthcare reform.

 The whole article is brought to you by our dear friend Waylon at Elephant. Check out the whole article here

Just a matter of weeks ago it seemed like the stars were aligning for our country to finally tackle the health care crisis. The health insurance companies actually came to the table and met with the White House to come up with a plan and commitment to reduce health care costs--which, in turn, would make federal health care reform more affordable.

And, then, almost like clockwork, the friendly meetings seemed to come to an end. Over the past week we've learned that major health insurance companies are preparing to launch misinformation campaigns, conservative congressional leaders are vowing to follow a playbook on how to beat health care reform, and leaders in congress are beginning to falter on the key platform of the reform package--the public health insurance option.

It's time to get our hands dirty and fight back. New Era Colorado is teaming up with our pals at the Bus Federation to launch what we're calling Generation H. We promise it won't be like any other health care campaign you've seen.

We'll let you know more details about the campaign and how you can get plugged in as it develops. And, as always, we'd love your help if you have some good ideas on how to make Generation H an engaging and fun campaign--after all, health care is no Susan Boyle. Teams of volunteers, interns, and staff are getting together regularly to strategize on the campaign. Let us know if you want to be a part of the conversation.

We might not have an opportunity like this again for a long time, so it's critical that we make our voices heard for comprehensive health care reform this year.

David Madland and Ruy Teixeira just put this report out through the Center for American Progress, "New Progressive America: The Millennial Generation." I had a feeling that New Era has been working with Millenials for a reason...

Check out the report and don't miss the interactive quiz and the super sweet interactive map links below.

"The Millennial generation, which supported Obama by a 2-to-1 ratio in 2008, has already had a large effect on American politics. That effect will only grow in future years as this generation—the largest and most diverse in U.S. history—adds 4 million eligible voters each year to America’s electorate. This generation’s agenda is therefore likely to have a large and growing impact on the nation’s agenda. That’s good news for progres- sives because Millennials’ agenda is so clearly progressive in all areas. Millennials want to end the culture wars; move America’s foreign policy toward a more cooperative and multilateral approach; rebuild a strong, positive role for government; achieve universal health care; reform and expand America’s educational system; start the transition to a clean energy economy; and much more. If progressive governance can achieve these objectives, the loyalty of this generation to the progressive cause seems assured."

-New Progressive America: The Millennial Generation, David Madland and Ruy Teixeira

Download this report from the Center for American Progress

Sweet Interactive Map: New Progressive America

Interactive Quiz: How Progressive Are You?

It's pretty easy to see that higher education in Colorado has had a bumpy ride these last few years--state funding seems to always be shrinking, faculty firings, and controversial hirings of presidents and administrative leaders (see here and here). It seems to be one thing after another. Just this week we found out that the independent faculty newspaper at CU, the Silver & Gold, is being forced to shut down due to budget cuts. All reporting at CU will now be done by the university's very own public relations department.

A bill was introduced late last week to attempt to bring a little bit more transparency to higher education in Colorado. HB-1369 outlines a simple and transparent process for hiring university presidents and chancellors. It's become the norm for these high-level hirings of public institutions to be done behind closed doors. HB-1369 will bring back some integrity to this process. The 2009 legislative session ends Tuesday, so these votes are going to come fast. Take a minute and urge your legislators to vote yes on this last bill of the season. It's an important one.

Click here to send a quick letter to your legislators urging for a yes vote on the "Transparency in Higher Education" bill!