'The West Wing' actor boosts Dems cause

WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- Actor Martin Sheen, who portrayed the fictional U.S. President Josiah Bartlett on TV's "The West Wing," has made a video for the Democrats.

In the video, released by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Sheen asks Americans to speak out against Republican proposals on Medicare.

"It's time to speak out. Tell Republicans in Congress that Americans worked their whole lives and kept their commitments. We expect Republicans to do the same," Sheen said in the short video on the DCCC's Web site.

"Tell them to keep their hands off Medicare and tell them in our America, the cynics and fearmongers, the ones who break a sacred promise simply to reward the wealthy, don't get the final word."

The issue of Medicare reform will be taken up in the House this week. Republicans have proposed changing Medicare so that the government subsidizes purchases of private health insurance rather than paying medical bills directly, CNN said Monday.