Martin Luther King Day
By Mike Hersh, PDA Communications Director for Donna, Mike F., Judy, Dr. Bill, Janis, Dan, Deb, Kimberly, Bryan, and Amos—Your PDA National Team
Celebrate Dr. King’s Legacy
Help Enact Medicare For All
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) was founded on several key principles, among them that our society must respect and ensure the human rights to high quality healthcare, safe housing, a decent job at a living wage, nutrition, education, peace, and equality for all. In this, we take inspiration from the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
As we celebrate a national holiday in his name, a few of Dr. King’s many insightful quotes come to mind. The first, “The Arc of the Moral Universe Is Long, But It Bends Toward Justice,” honors the hard-won progress we’ve made throughout history, and predicts our ultimate triumph over injustice. Even though this struggle may take many years, our success is assured so long as we work together to bend the arc toward justice.
Sadly, the path toward progress is uneven—bent in an arc—rather than a straight, ascending line. Sometimes, as in our current times, that arc seems to bend away from justice. Still, we know setbacks are only temporary because people of good will and decency—people like you—remain determined to make things better.
Join Our “Healthcare Is A Human Right Team” Now
Pitch In Each Month To Help Enact Medicare For All
Tell your Senators and your Representative to
cosponsor Expanded, Improved Medicare for All
Who will support the struggle for progress even in these darkest of times? In the face of fear and folly, we need you to step up now! Please click here to sign up for PDA’s Phone Team to help us mobilize support for strong progressive candidates and for causes like respect for the DREAMers, the Women’s March, stopping global warming, ending wars and occupations, and more. No time to make calls? Then please click here and give whatever you can afford to help the cause.
The second quote that commands my attention these days is this one, delivered by Dr. King in a speech to the Medical Committee for Human Rights, in 1966: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” At PDA, we strongly embrace Dr. King’s condemnation of the shocking inhumanity inherent to unequal access to healthcare.
Trump and many in Congress seek to increase injustice by repealing, defunding, and sabotaging the sadly inadequate healthcare programs we have now, knowing they have nothing to enact in its place. House Speaker Ryan and other right wingers in Congress have announced their intentions to privatize Medicare. Trump backs so-called “work requirements” and other draconian changes to Medicaid—and states like Kentucky are rushing to implement such life-threatening policies.
We must turn back these destructive, heartless efforts and continue working toward a better solution: Expanded and Improved Medicare for All. Please join with PDA and our allies declaring that Healthcare as a Human Right. Click here and contribute whatever you can to help support our campaign for “Single Payer” universal healthcare, and use our action alerts to urge your Senatorsand your Representative to cosponsor Expanded and Improved Medicare for All legislation.
In solidarity,
Mike Hersh, PDA Communications Director for Donna, Mike F., Judy, Dr. Bill, Janis, Dan, Deb, Kimberly, Bryan, and Amos—Your PDA National Team
P.S. We welcome any offer to pitch in. Please sign up with our phone team to make important calls from your own home. No time to make calls? Then donate generously to our Healthcare is a Human Right Action Fund.
Have NO money. But we must have a single payer system.