We Promise, This will not stand

The House narrowly passed the travesty that is the Trumpublican “health” plan today, but Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) vows to fight! Standing alongside Bernie Sanders and our allies in the U.S. Senate, we will turn back this horrible assault on our healthcare. Are you with Bernie? Are you with us? The Senate is on recess now, so your Senators are back in your state. Contact Mike Fox to help organize a rally at your Senator’s office. Please stay tuned! We’re working on an advocacy tool you can use to greet the Senators when they get back to D.C.

The Trump / Ryan “health” bill is nothing but a tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, that will cut the lifeline for millions of people set to lose their health coverage. Millions of seniors will pay more to access care; some will likely die without needed care. Now, our focus shifts to the Senate. We all deserve better than this. Healthcare is a human right and must be treated as such. A strong majority of Americans support publicly funded guaranteed healthcare for all, as outlined in Rep. John Conyers’ Expanded & Improved Medicare For All Act (H.R. 676).

PDA has been working for H.R. 676 since our founding 2004. Last month, we held rallies with our allies, delivered letters to House members, and sent a team to the Hill making sure that Congress knew exactly where we stand. We told them it was not enough to vote “no” on the Ryan bill; they needed to co-sponsor H.R. 676. Now, we have 108 cosponsors, and companion legislation in the Senate coming soon. Also, California PDA and allies are making historic progress in their state. So all is not bleak.

Before the vote this morning on Trumpublican care, I called Rep. John Conyers’ office. As I sobbed through my remarks to a kind staff member named Eric, I thought back to the day in 2007 when I testified to the House Judiciary on medical debt and bankruptcy. For the past decade, those who know me and who know PDA know we have worked alongside Mr. Conyers and others to achieve healthcare justice.

Contact Mike Fox to help organize a rally at your Senator’s office. Please find out where they may be speaking, and make plans to greet them. Please bring some signs advocating for healthcare and invite some friends to join you and video yourself as you tell your Senators you expect them to vote on healthcare as if our lives depended on it, because they do. Report back to us. Remind your Senators and everyone you know that TrumpCare is just a fat cat tax cut for the few, and a death sentence for the rest of us. Expanded and improved Medicare for all is the only solution.

We would appreciate support for our work. Supplies of our signs and stickers are dwindling as more and more people join in sharing the messages, “Healthcare NOT Warfare” and “Justice or Bust.” We need you more now than ever. Thanks so much.

In solidarity,

Donna Smith, PDA Executive Director
For Mike H, Judy, Mike F, Janis, Dan, Deb, and Amos–your PDA National Team

P.S. To help find or launch a PDA Chapter near you, please contact PDA Field Coordinator Dan O’Neal.