If we don't change millions of American families are just one medical emergency or one layoff away from financial disaster and bankruptcy.

We're in an emergency situation. The United States has become an absolutely terrifying country and I would hope that I could participate in some way in stopping the horror and the brutality.

I get so frustrated when people tell me it's unrealistic to create an eight-month emergency savings fund or have money saved for a home down payment or pay off their $5 000 credit card balance.

Moreover health center services save money and lives by treating diseases before they become chronic conditions require hospital care or require a trip to the emergency room.

Emergency health care for illegal aliens along the southwestern border is already costing area hospitals $200 million a year with perhaps another $100 million in extended care costs.

Most illegals are without health insurance and when these workers need emergency healthcare the American taxpayer gets stuck with the bill.

In addition California spends nearly $1 billion a year in Medi-Cal services for an average of 780 000 illegal immigrants a month over and above emergency health services.

Community health centers do a great deal with limited resources. They provide critical medical care services to many who would otherwise have no other place to go or would end up in an emergency room.

Look if you have somebody who doesn't have health insurance who doesn't have a doctor or dentist and in order to deal with their cold or flu or dental problem they go to an emergency room - in general that visit will cost ten times more than walking into a community health center.

I am not against all forms of high-tech medicine. Drugs and surgeries have a secure place in the treatment of serious health conditions. But modern American medicine treats almost every health condition as if it were an emergency.