By Kevin Freking
WASHINGTON (AP) --Harry and Louise are back for an encore..
A series of political ads starring the fictional couple back in 1994 helped sour the public’s view of President Clinton’s plan for universal health coverage.
Now, the two are back asking the presidential contenders to make health care their top domestic priority.
The latest Harry and Louise ads, starring the same actors as the earlier ads, will run during the Democratic and Republican Party conventions. While the kitchen table scene will look familiar, the concerns they raise will differ. Previously, Louise spoke of rationing–“you know, long waits for health care and some services not even available.”
This time, she complains that someone the couple knows has cancer but no health insurance.
Harry, shaking his head in sympathy, complains “too many people are falling through the cracks.”
Louise concludes: “Whoever the next president is, health care should be at the top of his agenda, bring everyone to the table and make it happen.”
The groups sponsoring the new ad include one group that aggressively fought the Clinton efforts back in 1994–the National Federation of Independent Business. There’s also a major supporter of the Clinton plan–the advocacy group Families USA. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and trade groups for hospitals are also sponsors.
Health insurers paid for the previous Harry and Louise ads.
In some respects, the ad shows a shifting political landscape for overhauling the nation’s health care system. Business groups and consumer groups are working together to stress that changes have to be made to deal with rising costs and the growing number of uninsured. Yet, the coalitions could prove fragile once candidates get beyond their campaign blueprints.
For example, the NFIB’s principles for health care reform include less state regulation of individual and small group health in surance. States often mandate that insurers cover certain screenings, such as mammograms, or diseases, such as diabetes. But NFIB says mandates for treatment for other, non-life threatening conditions can make insurance unaffordable for small business owners and their workers. Families USA, however, views such requirements as a necessary consumer protection.
The latest Harry and Louise ads talk of bringing everyone to the table is also a reference to the Clinton effort. The Clinton plan was unveiled after months of behind-the-scenes meetings by a task force that Hillary Rodham Clinton led. This time, the interest groups are calling for a chance to have more of a say before the official unveiling.
The organizations would not put a specific price tag on the ad buy, describing it as at least a $1 million effort. The groups said the ads would run during the Sunday news shows as well as during cable news programming on CNN, FOX and MSNBC, as well as on Comedy Central. The ads also will air on local stations in Denver and St. Paul, Minn., during the conventions.
On the Net:
- National Federation of Independent Business: http://www.nfib.org
- Families USA: http://www.familiesusa.org
- American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network: http://www.acscan.org
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More