Thank you for your interest in hosting a Divided We Fail House Party!

Transcription

1 Thank you for your interest in hosting a Divided We Fail House Party! Although Amerians onsistently rate health and finanial seurity as their top domesti onerns, many of the nation s leaders have given very little attention to them. While foreign poliy is highly important to the Amerian publi, we also need a national dialogue on affordable, quality health are and long-term finanial seurity for our generation and for future ones. It's time we ensure health and long-term finanial seurity for all. That's why AARP, Business Roundtable, the Servie Employees International Union and the National Federation of Independent Business, are leading Divided We Fail, an initiative to give voie to millions of Amerians who are tired of letting Washington gridlok stand in the way of affordable, quality health are and long-term finanial seurity the most pressing domesti issues faing our nation. Common sense solutions are needed, and everyone individuals, businesses and government has a role and a responsibility in ensuring health and finanial seurity for all. We hope you ll not only take this opportunity to disuss where the andidates stand, but also host a house party with family and friends. We ve assembled a number of resoures for your event: a Hosting Guide with tips to make your event run smoothly the Divided We Fail Platform if desired, you an make opies to hand out to your guests a Disussion Guide for after the forum the Divided We Fail Pledge you an make one or more opies depending on the number of guests you antiipate We ve also inluded a feedbak form. We hope you ll let us know how your event went, and if you had your guests sign pledges, mail them bak to us. All hosts who return their feedbak forms will reeive a small gift as thanks for your partiipation. We ouldn t do it without you! Go to to learn more.

2 Holding a Divided We Fail House Party Thank you for hosting a Divided We Fail house party. Your partiipation is ritial in our efforts to raise the voies of millions of Amerians who believe that we must stand up, speak out, and demand ation from our andidates on the issues of health are and lifetime finanial seurity. The following are helpful hints for you to onsider as you hold your event. Before the event Selet a site for your event. It ould be your home, a room at your hurh or loal library, wherever you an have a small group of people ome together to wath the forum and disuss the issues. Set the start time of your event minutes before you plan to begin to be sure every one you have invited has a hane to meet eah other and get omfortable. Refreshments are not neessary, but at your disretion. If attendees might not know one another, onsider having name tags available for everyone to wear and onsider having introdutions. Hand out any Divided We Fail materials you have (e.g., pledge ards, flyers) and let your guests know you are asking them to voie their support and get involved. During the event If there are more than 12 people in your group, you may wish break into smaller groups for disussion. Remind everyone that this is a disussion and there are no right or wrong opinions. Use the enlosed disussion questions or raise your own. Enourage attendees to also ask questions. When the disussion naturally ends, give everyone a hane for a final omment before thanking them for oming. Be sure to give everyone time to fill out a pledge ard or story form, if appropriate. Enourage your guests to visit dividedwefail.org to share their opinions about what they heard at the forum on our viewer omment page. After your event We want to hear about your event. If you reeived a feedbak form, please follow the diretions. Otherwise, please visit and tell us how it went. We look forward to hearing from you. Share your photos. If you have a Flikr aount, post your event pitures online and tag them Divided We Fail.

3 Disussion Guide Remind everyone that this is a disussion and there are no right or wrong opinions. Use these disussion questions or raise your own. Be sure to enourage attendees to also ask questions! 1) Why is the health are system so bureaurati and ompliated? 2) Why is Ameria s savings rate so low that people an t prepare for retirement? 3) Are vital programs like Soial Seurity and Mediare fixable? If so, why aren t they being fixed? 4) Are you aware that Soial Seurity isn t designed to make up all of your retirement inome? 5) Have you thought about what your health are osts might be in retirement? 6) Have you done the alulations to see how muh you should be saving for your retirement? If not, why not? 7) How important is aess to quality health are to you? Are you onerned about that aess in the future? 8) Have you begun to take steps, suh as diet and exerise hanges, to prevent health are issues later in life? 9) Are you onerned about the ost of presription drugs? 10) Have you onsidered ontinuing to work after retirement?

4 Feedbak Form Thank you for hosting a Divided We Fail event! We greatly appreiate your partiipation, as efforts like yours are ritial in our efforts to raise the voies of millions of Amerians who believe that we must stand up, speak out, and demand ation from our andidates on the issues of health are and lifetime finanial seurity. Name: Phone: Address: Date of event: Type of event: Please tell us about your event in the box below:

5 Join Divided We Fail Sign the Petition Today Dear 2008 Presidential Candidates: I believe that health and finanial seurity are the most pressing domesti hallenges faing Ameria. Before I vote for anyone, I insist on a lear plan of ation to: 3 Make quality health are affordable, 3 Help families save more of their own money, 3 Strengthen Soial Seurity for future generations, and 3 End partisan bikering and Washington gridlok. Ameria awaits your vision for hange and ommitment to lead. FIRST NAME LAST NAME STREET ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP Please keep in touh with me by about AARP ativities, events, and member benefits. AARP respets your privay. AARP will not trade, sell, or exhange your ontat information (street or address) with any outside orporations, organizations, or individuals. Please return ompleted petition to: AARP Divided We Fail, 601 E Street, NW, #S11-315, Washington, DC