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Published by The Berkshire Eagle.

The $115 million in cuts to the state's landmark health care program made by its overseers at the Connector Authority are painful but unavoidable. A victim of the poor economy, and ironically of its own success in helping victims of that economy, the program's difficulties testify to the problems inherent in our nation's health care system, problems that Washington must address on a larger scale.

The 12 percent cut in Commonwealth Care is a product of budget cuts reflecting the economic crisis and increased enrollment in the program, primarily because residents laid off from their jobs and deprived of their employer-based health insurance joined the state program in droves. [more]

Published by The Janesville Gazette.

An organization working for a national health care system plans two events in Janesville on Tuesday.

Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare opposes the Obama administration and congressional leaders’ plans for a public/private health insurance system.

Paullete Garin, who ran for but lost the Democratic nomination for the 1st District congressional seat in 2008, is Wisconsin coordinator for the group. She has been holding sessions around the state to discuss what is called a single-payer healthcare system.  [more]

Sign the Healthcare NOT Warfare petition!

Published by the Democrat and Chronicle.

On any sunny day, the Rochester Public Market draws crowds looking for fresh fruits and vegetables or just an excuse to enjoy some outdoor fun.

As visitors strolled into the market on Saturday, they were greeted with a different sight: about 20 members of Rochester for HR 676, a group that supports Medicare health coverage for everyone, along with members of the Progressive Democrats of America's Genesee Valley chapter, collecting signatures and informing the public about HR 676, a bill introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich.  [more]

Published by Pacific Progressive.

Cypress residents met on a Saturday morning to learn how they can advocate for the healthcare changes that can improve their healthcare and help businesses compete in the world economy. The event was organized by Rose Ann Howard, the local Organizing for America (OFA) coordinator http://www.barackobama.com/index.php.

Dr. Bill Honigman, a local emergency room physician, was the keynote speaker. Dr. Honigman is a state coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) . He spoke about the need for reform that will put more money into patient care and less money into overhead. At one point, he pulled out a prop dollar bill and tore off a third, held up the torn section and said, "One third of every dollar goes to overhead, advertising, and doesn't get used for patients. If we get that number down to single digits, even 5%, there is already enough money in the system to pay for education and preventive care."  [more]

Watch the video.

President Obama wants healthcare reform legislation on his desk this fall!

Unfortunately, healthcare reformers within the Democratic Party say that single-payer healthcare is "off the table." They advocate instead a proposed "public option" that promises many benefits and lower cost. As a result, the debate between advocates of single-payer healthcare (S-P) and the yet-to-be- defined “public option” (PO) has reached the boiling point.

What is the public option? How does it compare to the single-payer solution?  [more]

Responding to a budget preparation request I made recently, Santa Monica's Director of Finance has calculated that universal single-payer healthcare would save the City six million dollars a year in employee health-benefitcosts.

Disclosure:  I'm a long-time advocate of universal single-payer healthcare, who led the City Council to endorse both the California and federal single-payer bills currently under consideration.  Then, two weeks ago, struggling with a Santa Monica budget short on revenues and long on rising costs, I asked Finance Director Carol Swindell to calculate possible savings to city government if single-payer were enacted in California. [more]

Take Action: Tell Congress "Support Transparent Climate Policy"

Under the leadership of PDA and with considerable support from allies in the AFL-CIO, MassCare, UFPJ and other progressive groups, PDA MA succeeded in adding a "Green Amendment" to the Massachusetts Democratic Party Platform on June 6.  That amendment sets a specific goal for carbon emissions, at a maximum of 350 ppm.  This is a new idea, even for veteran environmentalists.

Massachusetts is a state well known for its leadership on the climate-change front.  Its leaders, including Congressman Markey, are working on new federal energy legislation—the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.  And of course, under the leadership of Governor Deval Patrick, the state is part of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program for 10 northeastern states, as well as the exemplary 2008 Global Warming Solutions Act.  That game-changing legislation set a reduction goal of 80% by 2050.  [more]

Published by Mayfirst.org.

Democrats for Change, a coalition of moderate, progressive, and revolutionary democrats inspired by Obama's campaign, shocked the political establishment in New Jersey's recent primary election winning twenty-five out of fifty-six Democratic Party committee seats against New Brunswick's entrenched Daleyesque political machine. [more]

Published by Beaver County Blue.

This paper was presented by Randy Shannon at the "The Economic Crisis, the Changing Working Class, and Praxis" Workshop Sponsored by the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy & Socialism at the Working Class Studies Association June 2009 National Conference held at the University of Pittsburgh.

Beaver County, Pennsylvania is a densely populated rural industrial county that was at the heart of the US steel industry and is now part of the Ohio River valley rust belt. It is traditionally a swing county in the Pittsburgh region of a key electoral state. With young workers seeking jobs elsewhere, the aging population has been trending away from the Democratic Party since Reagan. In 2008 the area was a national focus for the Change to Win Federation and the AFL-CIO’s Campaign 2008 election strategy.  [more]

Working with PDA Director Tim Carpenter, a strong core team of PDA MA volunteers and an ever expanding set of progressive allies in the state, most notably MassCare and the MA AFL-CIO, PDA MA succeeded in passing a single-payer healthcare and an environmental amendment to the platform of the Massachusetts State Democratic Party. 

There was widespread dissatisfaction with the state party apparatus, which had advertised an open, grass roots process for writing a new state party platform. Instead, they produced a document that reflected their big tent philosophy, which removed all of the specific language that was the backbone of the previous document. After barely surviving a vote to throw out the whole platform, the leadership took up amendments that restored specific language from the earlier document. Amendments needed 250 verified signatures for consideration. An energetic team of PDA volunteers worked Friday evening and Saturday morning to collect the signatures.  [more]

Published by Topanga Messenger.

On Friday, May 15, 2009, the Topanga Peace Alliance (TPA) and the Progressive Democrats of the Santa Monica Mountains (PDSMM) co-sponsored an educational forum on Senate Bill 810, the California Universal Health Care Act, re-introduced this year by State Senator Mark Leno (D).

Pleased with the turnout of an estimated 150 people, Julie Levine, President of the TPA, said the turnout for this event was significant, both in terms of numbers and the new people reached. "We reached out to people we knew who had questions or concerns about universal single-payer coverage. Our efforts were to reach beyond the choir and help build an awareness that the decisions being made now will affect our future healthcare and quality of life," said Levine.   [more]

Thursday morning, while members of the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) waited in the San Diego Convention Center to hear Jeb Bush and Dr. Howard Dean address the convention, 150 activists demonstrated outside chanting: “Healthcare YES, Insurance Companies NO” and “Single-Payer Now.”  



With nothing more than an agreement, two weeks earlier, that this convention of for-profit insurance companies’ accountants and plan administrators should not go unnoticed by single-payer healthcare activists, Progressive Democrats of America, California Nurses Association (CNA), Physicians for National Health Program, Single-Payer Now, California Teachers Association, along with support from more than ten other groups, put together an ad hoc rally plan.  

[more]

On Saturday, May 30th, Healthcare-Now of Maryland, Maryland Physicians for a National Health Program (MD PNHP), and partner groups with the Maryland Coalition for Health Security sponsored an extraordinary Baltimore Town Hall Meeting on Single Payer.

It was an unusual Town Hall because the ninety-seven people present--at 9:30 a.m. on a beautiful Saturday morning--exemplified the growing and increasingly diverse number of Americans who are in favor of single-payer healthcare.  The event was part of the May 30 National Day of Action organized by HealthCare-NOW! and was one of fifty single-payer actions taking place around the country.

Conspicuous by their absence were two local Congress members, Rep. John Sarbanes (D) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D).  [more]

Published by Making Peace Blog.

On Saturday afternoon, May 30, I went down to City Hall to attend the rally sponsored by Healthcare for All Texans. I heard that mayor-elect, Lee Leffingwell and councilmember, Mike Martinez spoke just before I arrived, and it's encouraging that they support a Single-Payer plan. Several other speakers were health care professionals who support a Single-Payer system based on their work experience.
I was disappointed that the rally wasn't mentioned in yesterday's Ausin American-Statesman. Although Single Payer plans are successful elsewhere in the world, US insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies are exerting their influence to deny consideration of HR 676/S703.

The main refrain from speakers at the rally: universal health care is a universal right. There were a few people who stood along Cesar Chavez St. with opposing messages. One man's sign read, "Health care is NOT a right." Some rally attendees engaged these folks in discussion to try to figure out what they meant by that. A friend of mine who talked with them said that they didn't mean that people who are sick should not be cared for, but they didn't think others should have to pay for it. But on the question of who would pay, they weren't clear. They mentioned they were tea-partiers on April 15, when, as covered in this blog, I and others offered a different message at the post office that evening: money for health care could easily be found in the war budget. It's a matter of priorities.  [more]

Nearing 40 in number, enthusiastic single-payer activists stood on a busy corner in Kent this afternoon, holding signs with messages such as "Pass HR 676," "Healthcare does not equal health insurance," and "Healthcare NOT Warfare" while chanting "Insurance companies kill! Support this bill!" and "What's the fix? 676!"

Passersby's responses were positive, giving thumbs up and honking to requests of "Honk for Healthcare!"

A clothesline of 14 t-shirts hung between two trees with signs explaining that fourteen Ohioans die every week due to lack of health insurance. One sign read “Save lives-fight for Medicare For All-HR 676"

Organized by healthcare activist extraordinaire Drew Smith and PDA's PDC Steering Committee member and newly elected SPAN Region 6 Coordinator Debbie Silverstein, this rally and demonstration were part of the May 30th National Single-Payer Healthcare Day of Action.  [more]

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