Gearing up to stop the Trans-Pacific Partnership

President Obama proposed some intriguing and positive programs in the State of the Union speech--public preschool, a hike in the minimum wage, and measures to prevent gun violence. In a country where policy is democratically determined by representatives who truly act on behalf of the common good and the wishes of their constituents, those kind of ideas could really go somewhere.

Unfortunately, it would be irresponsibly optimistic to think that new laws on public safety will be determined out of reach of the gun lobby, or we'll see anything close to a national living wage when big-box retail, fast food, and other low-wage employers remain politically powerful.

That's why it was very disappointing to hear Obama call for a renewed push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. We've written a lot about TPP and the damage it could do to local and national sovereignty and laws that protect workers' rights, the environment, public health, and jobs. That's why on either side of the Pacific, citizens' groups of all kinds are opposed to instituting this compact.

It takes some work to mine profit out of universal background checks and preschools, but TPP is one thing that multinationals can get behind in a big way. And they will. Why not? They already have a much better idea of what's in the agreement, thanks to access to the negotiating process that even members of Congress lack.

We need to stop TPP and one way to start is to get our communities informed about what's wrong with so-called "free trade." Please take a look at this latest edition of Populist Dialogues, featuring Arthur Stamoulis of the Citizens Trade Campaign, and consider sharing it with friends online and with your local community access cable station.

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Blockade and balloons protest secretive TPP negotiations in Virginia

From Op-Ed News:
Two people were detained this morning after a tense stand off with police while blockading international trade negotiators from entering the Lansdowne Resort, site of the secretive Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations takingplace this week. Other activists greeted the arriving international negotiators with a 75-foot high banner suspended by weather balloons shaped like giant buttocks that read "Free Trade My Ass: Flush the TPP."

A rapidly growing movement is organizing to oppose the unprecedented lack of transparency surrounding the Obama Administrations handling of the TPP discussions. While 600 corporate lobbyists have been allowed access to and input on the draft texts from the beginning of negotiations three years ago, the public and even members of US Congress have not been allowed to see what is being proposed on their behalf.

"People need to know that the Trans Pacific Partnership is being negotiated in secret to hide the content. The TPP will redefine the terms of trade in ways that give corporations power over nations, makes them unaccountable and threatens the health of people and the future of the planet," said Baltimore native Dr. Margaret Flowers, co-director of ItsOurEconomy.us, as she dangled by a climbing harness 20 feet above the pavement and dozens of agitated police officers and sheriff's deputes. Flowers is a medical doctor and said she was moved to take action in particular because she is concerned about the likelihood that the TPP would increase drug prices by expanding corporate patent rights.

Police responded aggressively at first to the blockade, threatening to taze the metal poles suspending Flowers and to pepper spray the mother of three into compliance. Confused trade negotiators abandoned cars and attempted to walktowards the hotel complex. Stymied by how to safely remove her and open the roadway, police representatives eventually agreed to release Flowers if she lowered herself on her own accord.

Laurel Sutherlin of Rainforest Action Network, one of the organizations supporting this week's demonstrations, said "The TPP is called a 'trade agreement,' but in actuality it is a long-dreamed-of template for implementing a binding system of global corporate governance. It is outrageous that civil disobedience like this is necessary to ensure the public's voice is included in these discussions. The stakes are just too high for the world's environment as well as for farmers, workers and internet freedom for these decisions to be made behind closed doors."

Today's actions follow a colorful rally on Sunday at the same location that was  endorsed by dozens of regional and national environmental, labor and social justice organizations . Members of this diverse coalition, upset by the TPP's complete lack of transparency, have orchestrated a series of demonstrations throughout the week of negotiations.

In 2008, candidate Obama promised that as president he would renegotiate NAFTA with Canada and Mexico with new terms favorable to the United States. Now his administration is negotiating one of the largest corporate trade agreements in history, that would outsource jobs, lower wages and undermine environmental, consumer and labor laws.

Many predict the Trans-Pacific Partnership would do even more harm to U.S. employment than NAFTA. The TPP is being negotiated in secret by the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. It contains an  unusual provision, a docking agreement, which allows  other countries to join. This October, Canada and Mexico are expected join the TPP. Later, Japan and China will likely join but it will almost certainly not stop there. The TPP could set the standard for worldwide trade--a major reshuffling of our social contract with almost no public participation.

photo courtesy Rainforest Action Network

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Tuesday, October 4: A national call-in to Congress may be our last chance to make our voices heard on FTAs

Right after we sent this out to our email list, we learned that all three FTAs have been sent to Congress. It's time to call now!

Tell your representative and senators that you’ve had enough of "free trade" deals. Now is the time to say “NO” to the Colombia, Panama and South Korea FTAs. Call 1-800-718-1008 today!

• Don’t give corporations more power to attack US federal and state labor, health and environmental laws. Technical Barriers to Trade clauses are undemocratic and favor corporate profits over people and nature. All three FTAs contain investor protection clauses that allow corporations to sue to overturn democratically-enacted laws.

• With 25 million Americans searching for full-time jobs, we can’t afford trade agreements that off-shore jobs, out-source services and manufacturing, and hurt workers and working families. We need jobs here at home.

There's a lot wrong with these FTAs:

• The South Korea FTA is the biggest deal since NAFTA and will displace an estimated 159,000 jobs. In every state, manufacturing, high tech, and green sector jobs will be at risk. The South Korea FTA allows goods to be protected as "Made in South Korea,” even if most of the manufacturing takes place in other countries, for instance, sweatshops in Burma or North Korea—countries notorious for their human rights abuses.

• Colombia is the trade unionist murder capitol of the world, including 55 murdered in 2010. In 2011, 22 have been killed to date, despite promises from the Colombian government to stop these killings.

• Panama has become a haven for foreign tax evaders and money-laundering, but the Panama FTA would make it tougher for the US government to investigate and prosecute those who hide their money there. Don't we need these lost tax dollars to support job creation and to rebuild our failing infrastructure?

Don't believe the hype coming from big business lobbyists like the US Chamber of Commerce, or from Congress members ready to vote for the corporations who fund their campaigns rather than the people of their districts or states.

These agreements won't create jobs or rebuild the economy—but they will benefit the well-off and well-connected few at the expense of communities, democracy and working people here and overseas.

We need fair trade policies that promote workplace rights and safety and build sustainable local economies. The first step toward those goals is to stop these bad deals now. Make the calls and speak out. And thanks for all you do for democracy!

In Alliance,
Nancy Price, David e. Delk, Ruth Caplan and Barbara Clancy

Need contact info?

See this page for Senate contact information, and this page for House members. A phone call carries much more weight than an on-line comment, so we ask you to please take a few minutes on Tuesday, October 4 – National Call-In Day and contact these offices directly. Let us know what response you receive! Email afd@thealliancefordemocracy, or call 781-894-1179.

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Action Alert: Get investor rights clauses out of US trade pacts

We urge you to ask President Obama to stand by his campaign pledge to remove investor rights clauses from U.S. trade pacts--negotiations for a new one, the Transpacific Partnership, will get underway in San Francisco later this month. Please visit Public Citizen's site for background and to sign on to the call.

Background:
In 2008, the government of El Salvador lawfully denied mining permits to Pacific Rim Mining Company for a massive gold mine in a rural watershed area 40 miles south of San Salvador. To process the expected haul of gold and silver, mining operations would have used an estimated 22 million liters of water and 950 tons of cyanide, and the threat to water resources, agriculture and health spurred resistance to the plan across the nation. Even Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes has said, "It's very simple: my government will not authorize any extractive mining project."

But now Pacific Rim has gone to the World Bank, and in a closed-door hearing that started last week, the corporation will claim some $77 million in damages against El Salvador based on the controversial CAFTA investor rights rules. Under these rules, a private company can sue governments based on loss of future expected profits. It's the first time the investor rights clause has been used in an environmental protection case, but it won't be the last as multinational extractive industries go after a growing movement in the Global South for environmental justice, sustainability and rights of nature.

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Single payer advocate weighs in on today's White House health care outline

From Ben Day, executive director of Mass-Care, a state coalition working to bring single payer health care to Massachusetts. AfD's North Bridge chapter is a member of the coalition.

At 10AM today, the White House released the outlines of Presiden't Obama's health reform proposal "incorporating and improving on ideas from the House and the Senate, along with some new ones," in anticipation of a summit this Thursday with Congressional Republicans.

Many supporters of comprehensive health reform had hoped that the President and the Democratic leadership would turn to the "reconciliation process" - a way of passing certain types of provisions through the budget that does not allow filibusters on the Senate - to pass a more robust health reform bill than the sad beast that had emerged in the Senate even prior to the election of Senator Scott Brown in January. The Senate bill offered virtually no cost relief for households, taxpayers, and businesses facing spiraling health costs, and attempted to pay for subsidized care for low-income people through a tax on workers' benefits. Polls following the January 25 election show clearly that Massachusetts voters strongly oppose this approach to health reform, particularly in a state facing the highest premiums in the nation, but that - perhaps not intuitively - they felt that Congress was not going far enough on health reform, not that they were going too far.

The President's proposal, which you can read more about at whitehouse.gov, unfortunately does not address these concerns, and by and large adopts the Senate bill's approach to health reform. Here are the details as far as we can tell at this early date:

1. The President's proposal drops the public option, making no mention it.

2. The proposal adopts the Senate's approach to financing, relying on an 'excise tax' on workers benefits instead of taxing high-income taxpayers, as the House bill did. It delays implementation of the excise tax until 2018 and lifts the premium threshold slightly, but like the Senate bill it links the tax to general inflation - not medical inflation - virtually guaranteeing that a larger and larger percentage of workers' benefits will face steep taxes, and will likely have their co-pays and deductibles hiked to avoid the tax threshold.

3. The proposal follows the Senate in not imposing an employer pay-or-play tax, which would require businesses to cover their employees or face a fine.

4. The proposal is closer to the Senate in imposing a fine on individuals who do not purchase health insurance of $695 per year OR a percentage of their income, whichever is higher.

5. The proposal does follow the House in closing the Medicare 'donut hole' for seniors, but not fully until 2020, when the hole would be covered at 25% coinsurance.

6. The proposal sticks with both House and Senate proposals to outlaw 'recissions' (insurance companies retroactively canceling coverage of sick patients), extending dependent coverage, and starting in 2014 disallowing exclusion based on pre-existing conditions, as well as lifetime or annual caps on benefits.

7. The proposal includes a concept new to national health reform of establishing a 'Health Insurance Rate Authority,' which would provide oversight of insurance plans' proposed premium increases, and potentially have the power to block premium hikes if they were considered unfair. This is clearly an attempt to replace the public option with something else that promises to control costs. There are states that currently and in the past have implemented what's called 'prior approval' for premium increases in the individual and small group markets (people or small businesses buying insurance on their own) - there is very little evidence about whether this is effective. It has the potential to prevent price gouging by insurers if it's implemented aggressively, which would be a good thing, but not much promise of controlling the underlying drivers of health care costs, which is that we waste too much money on overhead, overuse certain goods and procedures, and that the cost of individual procedures is much higher than it should be.

8. There is no mention in the initial documentation put out by the White House of where the President's plan stands on some key "wedge issues" such as women's access to reproductive health services, or how immigrants - both documented and undocumented - would be affected.

All in all, we are disappointed that the fundamental problems with the Senate reform bill - that there is little promise of effective cost control, and it pays for reform on the backs of working people - are being replicated in the President's proposal. This seems likely to lead to further voter backlash and alienation from workers and workers' organizations.

Mass-Care will continue fighting for fundamental reform that addresses the root causes of the health care crisis we all face, and we are looking forward in particular to advancing the Campaign for Health Care Justice in the coming year. We will keep you informed as we learn more about national health reform efforts.

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Four senators defend public option health care, but Medicare for All is still on the people's table

Four Democratic senators have asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to push for a public option through reconciliation, which would require a simple majority of 51 votes. An additional five senators had signed on by today, and a letter from 119 House Democrats has also gone to Reid supporting this proposal.

The senators, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, cited lower costs, public support, the need for competition from an entity outside the insurance industry--which is exempt from anti-trust regulation--and precedents for using reconciliation to pass legislation as reasons for proceeding with the process to put a public option in the health care reform bill. The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) were all enacted under reconciliation.

Interestingly, both Bennet and Gillibrand are newcomers to the Senate and facing competitive re-election campaigns. Rather than move toward a 'non-partisan' center, they're taking a leadership stand on the health care issue, banking that the chagrin that sent Republican Scott Brown to the Senate in January is directed at the weaker Senate bill, and not the idea of a public option.

While some groups are encouraging constituent calls to senators to get more support for a public option through reconciliation, single payer proponents are still pushing for a more comprehensive fix to the nation's health care crisis.

On February 25th, the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care will be holding a "Sidewalk Summit for Improved Medicare for All" outside the Blair House in Washington, DC before the Democrats and Republicans have their session. If you are able to be in Washington, DC meet them at 9 AM at the White House. Specific meet up details will be announced as the event gets closer, and we'll post them here.

You can also organize an event in your area, or distribute these talking points from Healthcare Now! Your own "sidewalk summit" can feature presenters speaking briefly on the political, or personal, struggle to get decent and affordable care. Healthcare-Now suggests videotaping your event, and holding it at an appropriate federal building or other landmark. They can also help with talking points, press lists, and publicity. For more info, email info@healthcare-now.org.

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Alert: Money trumps the human right to health and the public interest

Over many months, we've learned about the huge amounts the health care [sic] industry spent lobbying Congress and influencing the 2008 Congressional elections. Now, Brad Jacobson documents that candidate Obama was also heavily funded by the same interests. In "Obama Received $20 Million from Health Care Industry in 2008 Campaign" he reports that Obama "received almost three times the amount given to McCain" including $11.7m from health professionals, $1.4m from health services and HMOs, $3.3m from hospitals and nursing homes, and $2.1m from pharmaceutical and health product companies. The health insurance industry donated $712,317 as well.

As Jacobson writes, such contributions must account for the fact that candidate Obama advocated for universal health care and criticized mandated health insurance, while President Obama excluded single-payer advocates from White House healthcare summits and has strongly endorsed mandates.

ACT NOW - Don't hesitate
House members returned to Congress on January 12. Call your Representative to say you want the ERISA waiver, originally proposed in an amendment to the House Bill by Rep. Kucinich, included in the House/Senate negotiations on the final bill.

ERISA, the federal law that oversees employee benefit plans, including health insurance, can be used to challenge state-level singlepayer programs.

An ERISA waiver will allow state singlepayer healthcare legislation now underway specifically in California, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and elsewhere to move forward without a federal challenge at the behest of the for-profit insurance industry.

Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121, or online Congressional directory here.

Thank you for taking action today!

Nancy, Peter, David, Rick, Barbara, Ruth W., Ruth C., and Lou
Alliance for Democracy's Committee for Single Payer Health Care

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Inspiration for your letter to Congress

Dan Isaacson of Boca Raton, Florida, plans to fax this letter to President Obama and fifty members of Congress today. Thanks to Floridians for Health Care for passing this on. Short and sweet--be inspired--speak out!

Dear President Obama and Congresspeople,

Shortly, you will have a decision to make on health care legislation.

How many Americans will your decision kill in the next 12 months?

“Research released this week in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with the lack of health insurance. If a person is uninsured, "it means you're at mortal risk," said one of the authors, Dr. David Himmelstein, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.” (from CNN)

How many Americans will remain uninsured by your decision? How many Americans will your decision place one illness away from death because they have no health insurance?

The proposed legislation in Congress will still leave many millions uninsured. If millions are left uninsured, whatever legislation you end up passing, you have failed the American people. I, for one, will take note of your vote and act accordingly at the next election cycle.

Sincerely,
Dan Isaacson

p.s. A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman, of the next generation. Which are you?

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Last best push for single payer? Do your bit!

Some time in the next two weeks there will be a House floor vote on single payer health care. This is our last, best chance to push for real universal, equitable coverage--"everybody in, nobody out."

Please join with hundreds of thousands of Americans--doctors, nurses and health care professionals, union members and municipal employees and managers, elected officials and regular citizens, in this push to make the strongest case possible for single payer health care. We need to reach every legislator, Republican and Democrat, to get the broadest support possible both for the Weiner Amendment, on single payer health care, and the Kucinich Amendment to HR 3200, which would allow states to establish their own single payer systems if a national bill fails.

Even if your Representative is a co-sponsor of HR 676 (check here) make the call to let him or her know you expect support for these vital reforms.

In the last year we've seen, heard, and shared stories of coverage denied and delayed by insurance companies, and learned about the immense tolls taken in lives and family security, all in the name of industry profit. It's time for us to demand that our legislators put the public's health before private wealth.

Please call your representative today, and urge him or her to support the Weiner Amendment for single-payer health care, and the Kucinich Amendment, to remove legal impediments to state single payer programs. You can call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224–3121, or look up your representative's direct line here and here.

And please call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-0100; Majority Leader Steny Hoyer at (202) 225-3130, and key committee chair Henry Waxman at (202) 225-3976, to ensure their continued support for the Kucinich amendment.

Corporate lobbyists are making their case every day for lukewarm reforms that benefit private insurers and for-profit health care and pharmaceutial interests. They have the money, but we have the voices, and the votes. Make your voice heard now!

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Math meets the calendar, and the right is way off

We are not partisan--both sides feed at the same trough--but here's some faulty thinking popularly associated with one side of the aisle. It always helps your argument to get the math and the dates straight. Hat tip to Colonel Colin J. N. Chauret, USAF Ret., of Texas:

RE: Republican's "Tea Party March"
Reference this weekend's Washington DC "Tea Party March" by Republicans concerned with Obama's deficit spending. What a short memory they have. The 8 years George W. Bush was in office equates to only 3.4% of our nation's history of 232 years, while his deficit spending of $4.9 trillion equates to 46.2% of the total debt when he left office of $10.6 trillion. Where were the Republican's marches then? And, this does not include the $712 billion of TARP money, bank bailout money, Bush signed into legislation the last few days in office, which is now showing up in Obama's deficit spending.

(All numbers can be verified by going to "US National Debt History to the Penny" on the Internet)

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Thousands join White House call-in for faith-based health care reform

More than 140,000 callers joined a conference call last night with Melody Barnes, White House domestic policy adviser, President Obama, and religious leaders last for a faith-based discussion of health care reform. For the thousands who could not get on the call, and for those who missed it, a recording is posted here. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/40mins4health (the recording may start on two players on the website; if it does, simply pause the second player.)

The call was sponsored by PICO, a national, non-partisan network of faith-based community organizations. Participants included pastors and worshipers from seven PICO affiliates giving testimony about the sometimes fatal delays in care they face as a result of the costs and limitations that drive health care industry profits.

Melody Barnes took questions from participants on health rationing fears, the cost of reform, federal funding of abortion, and affordability of coverage under an individual mandate, followed by representatives of congregations reporting on how their churches are educating and organizing for reform. President Obama portrayed the debate as its taking place among voters as a battle between hope and fear, something that was true of other groundbreaking government reform initiatives.

Participants were asked to take action over the next "forty days" to make sure that Congress reconvenes ready to pass comprehensive health care reform. Check faithforhealth.org for calls to action between now and the end of the recess. The call closed with remarks from the president on the moral imperative for health care reform, which he portrayed as a battle between hope and fear.

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Christian Science Monitor: The Missing Piece of the Health Care Debate

What is keeping single payer health care out of the ongoing debate in Washington? Advocates, is civil disobedience the only way to get the single payer message out to the public?

by David R. Francis. Posted at the Christian Science Monitor, July 1

If no one is paying any attention, create a fuss.

Maybe that explains why 13 doctors and nurses got arrested last month when they disrupted a Senate hearing. Their protest: The committee wasn’t considering a single-payer solution to fix America’s healthcare system.

In fact, as healthcare reform works its way through Congress, the idea of a government-paid national health-insurance system hasn’t gotten very far in the Washington debate.

Perhaps it’s too politically radioactive. Or too difficult to pass. For whatever reason, neither the most Democratic Congress in decades nor the most liberal president since Jimmy Carter have opted for a sweeping national health-insurance system, as exists in Europe and Canada, where private insurers disappear and government pays the tab.

“There are countries where a single-payer system works pretty well,” President Obama, a onetime single-payer supporter, told the American Medical Association June 15. “But I believe … that it’s important for our reform efforts to build on our traditions here in the United States.”

That stance leaves single-payer advocates in a political quandary.

“We haven’t yet applied enough pressure to get done what has to be done,” says David Himmelstein, cofounder of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP). Maybe, he added, “we will have to give strong consideration to civil disobedience.”

Why are single-payer advocates so passionate? For one thing, many of them see medical healthcare as a civil right for all Americans.

Call up the Internet home page of Rep. John Conyers (D) of Michigan and immediately, without further clicking, a video shows the congressman talking on the House floor about one of “the biggest challenges of the 21st century” – healthcare reform. His bill would provide national health insurance to every person with no deductibles or copayments for medical treatment. Uncle Sam – via citizens – would pay the bill.

Prospects for his bill in Congress don’t appear strong, although 80 House members have signed on to his bill and 59 percent of physicians back national health insurance, according to a new poll.

Public support has also grown over the years. In 1979, 40 percent of Americans thought the federal government should provide national insurance; last month, 72 percent supported the idea, according to CBS News/New York Times polls.

“Things have gone very well for us,” says Quentin Young, PHNP’s national coordinator. “There has been a new surge of support in the last few months.”

Economic stress may explain some of that shift. In 2007, even before the recession, medical bills were the cause for more than 60 percent of bankruptcies, a new Harvard study finds. More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance, but it wasn’t enough, Dr. Young points out.

Reformers of every stripe figure that today’s system is unsustainable in the long run. The Congressional Budget Office projects national healthcare costs to rise from today’s 18 percent of gross domestic product, the total output of goods and services in the nation, to more than 30 percent in 2030 and 50 percent by 2080. That assumes modest cost-cutting measures are imposed. Without them, healthcare costs would consume nearly the entire economy by 2080, an impossibility.

Compromise reforms under consideration in Congress are economically “not feasible,” Dr. Himmelstein says, “The likelihood we can afford what they are offering is nil.”

So he figures a single-payer plan is essential. Just cutting the system’s bureaucratic overhead from today’s 31 percent of total expenditures to Canada’s level (1 percent) would save nearly $400 billion annually, more than enough to cover the 48 million now uninsured, he argues.

So why hasn’t Congress moved toward a single-payer system? The financial and political clout of health industries, charges Himmelstein.

And who was the top recipient of their largess in the 2008 election cycle? Mr. Obama.

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Five actions for single payer

The Alliance mission is to "end corporate rule." Together AfD members, friends and allies are building a 1-million-or-more national movement to break the corporate for-profit health industry stranglehold on Congress.

Take action now. We can win!
A majority of the American people and a majority of doctors, nurses, health professionals and labor want single-payer.

Make you voice heard. Please circulate this message widely to your family, friends and email list.

Not one pro-single payer speaker was invited to speak before the Senate Finance Committee's recent roundtables on health care. But the committee heard from representatives of the Business Roundtable, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the AARP, the Heritage Foundation, the drug industry (The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association), and the high tech medical equipment industry (Advanced Medical Technology Association), among others.

The only voices for the single payer majority so far have been protesters, including the Baucus 8--advocates and doctors who stood up for us at the May 5 roundtable and were arrested by Capitol police (see the video here.) And this morning, as Senate Finance Committee chair Max Baucus opened today's roundtable on health care financing, about 25 nurses in hospital scrubs stood in silent protest, before filing out to applause from several attendees. Five more protestors stood during the roundtable to speak for single payer, and were taken away by police.

Tomorrow, Wednesday , May 13, is a National Lobby Day for Single-Payer, with a rally from 12:00 - 2:00 pm in Upper Senate Park, near the Union Metro Stop, Washington, D.C. But wherever you are, we must keep up the pressure for single payer!

Here are five actions you can take to make sure "everybody's in, nobody's out" of our healthcare system:

1. H.R. 676, Rep. Conyer's Single-Payer bill now has 75 cosponsors, but we need 218 votes in the House to pass H.R. 676. (see a list of cosponsors here). If your Representative is not a cosponsor call his/her office at 202-224-3121.
2. Send a fax supporting single payer to the President and top Congress and Committee members at www.1payer.net/campaigns/fax.html
3. Leave your comment to show strong support of single-payer reform bills HR 676 and S 703 at the comments page of www.healthreform.gov.
4. Write/call/email your Governor, state and Congressional representatives. Find contacts at www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
5. PLAN NOW: May 30 is a National Day of Action to show solidarity with demonstrations at the AHIP-American Health Insurance Plans National Convention in SanDiego, CA.

May 30 National Day of Action
Check this site to see if your town/city has an event planned. If not, plan one and post it to the calendar by emailing info@healthcare-now.org. Call your local press - let them know the "what, when and where." Videotape events, post them online, and don't forget to tell us about your action at afd@thealliancefordemocracy.org.

Your event can be large or small with local allies and friends. Contact the AfD office at 781-894-1179 or afd@thealliancefordemocracy.org for copies of "Truths and Myths about Single Payer", or download here. Have sign-up sheets and forward names to your Congress members.

Some ideas:

* Table at a Farmer's Market in support of HR 676 and Senate Bill 703
* Hold a vigil at a district office of your member of the state legislature or of Congress. Dress in black to honor the 22,000 who die every year from lack of health insurance.
* Hold a rally - create political theater to "Put Healthcare on the Table." Get attention! - wear a hospital gown and "foam butt" (to see what we mean, here's some photos) and hold signs saying "I Demand Full Coverage." Order "foam butt" here.
* Hold a Single-Payer Truth Hearing.

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"It's about guts!"

Sen. Bernie Sanders says single payer has the people's support; Ed Schultz on MSNBC's The Ed Show agrees, but Bernie says don't forget the power of industry money--we need a strong grassroots movement for health care if we're going to see anything like what we need. Good talk, and a nice break in the single payer media blackout.



You can send Ed a thumbs-up in the comment box on his MSNBC site, here.

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Mike Farrell PSA for single payer

Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care steering committee member Clark Newhall, physician and lawyer from Salt lake City, has launched the first of five public service announcements starring actor and activist Mike Farrell (best known as BJ Hunnicutt on "M*A*S*H). The link below allows you to access to this terrific PSA and also links you to Clark’s great single-payer action website tools. Share with friends!

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10,000 march on Wall Street

Led by long-time civil rights activist Rev. James Lawson, as well as veterans, military family members, and peace activists, more than 10,000 marched on Wall Street Saturday, April 4, to demand an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an economic stimulus plan directed at people in need. The march and peace fair that followed were organized by United for Peace with Justice and its coalition groups.

Lawson spoke on behalf of the 90 million Americans living in poverty, toward whom economic policies must be directed if this country intends a real recovery. He emphasized the connection between peace abroad and justice here; "I say if we want peace to blossom, we must eradicate poverty, racism, sexism, violence, and greed in the U.S. Peace cannot come by crying peace. Peace can only begin to emerge when justice does.'

The marchers passed the Federal Reserve building, surrounded the New York Stock Exchange, and ended in Battery Park for a Peace and Justice Fair. Photos by UFPJ Steering Committee member, Mike Hearington are here.

You can donate to United for Peace here. They have several actions planned; you can read more on their website.

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Dates and locations for next three health care summits

The final three regional health care summits are scheduled for Des Moines, Iowa, on March 23, Greensboro, North Carolina on March 31, and Los Angeles on April 6.

Healthcare-Now! is organizing rallies at each of the three events. This page on their website has the details and will be updated as dates draw closer.

The Des Moines forum starts at 10 a.m. at the Polk County Convention Complex. Dr. Ron Lind, of Physicians for a National Health Program, will be speaking at a 9 a.m. press conference and rally outside the complex.

The goal of the demonstrations are to show the overwhelming support that single payer health care enjoys among the public and health care professionals, and to ensure that the single payer option is given its due as Congress and the Obama administration move forward with policy development.

Single-payer advocates have been invited to attend these forums, although getting in the door and getting your program on the table is not the same thing! So the need for public support for single payer is as strong as ever.

One last note: If you live near one of the regional forums, you can submit a question and ask to attend at www.healthreform.gov.

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A video retrospective: Obama on Single Payer

The following three clips were posted on Commondreams.org yesterday, as part of a call to include single payer advocates in the health care summit that took place today at the White House.

As you may know, thanks to a flood of phone calls and emails from people across the country, the White House did send 11th-hour invitations to Dr. Oliver Fein, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, and Rep. John Conyers, whose bill, HR 676, would create a single-payer system here in the US, similar to systems enjoyed by healthier, longer-living, and less economically-pinched people of all ages and backgrounds elsewhere in the industrialized world.

Thanks to all who called--action does get results! Now we need to keep the pressure on and give President Obama and Congress a mandate to institute a plan that saves lives and money.

In 2003, Barack Obama addressed an audience of AFL-CIO members and spoke firmly about the health care problems of Americans. "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health-care plan," he said to applause. "I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care, cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody."

Here's the clip:

During the 2008 Presidential campaign Obama was confronted with this same issue and responded with the following qualification of his stance on a single payer, universal system:



And when subsequently interviewed on the Today Show, he reiterated this qualification:



So we must ask, on the eve of the Health Care Summit in Washington, why has Obama - now President of the United States - not only fallen silent on the single payer solution, but actively blocked participation for those who would advocate for a solution he once lauded as ideal?

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White Coats at the White House, Thursday, March 5

UPDATE, March 5: Thanks to your calls and emails, the White House invited Rep. John Conyers and Dr. Oliver Fein, president of Physicians for a National Health Plan! So no need to demonstrate, at least today!

We've asked our D.C. area members to join this demo tomorrow, with their white coats, scrubs & stethoscopes, if appropriate!

White Coats to The White House
Thursday, March 5, 12 to 1 p.m., Lafayette Park, Washington, D.C.

President Obama is holding a Healthcare Summit on Thursday, March 5th, which is expected to draw more than 120 individuals, including representatives from Americas Health Insurance Plans, the largest group of private health insurance lobbyists--but no advocates for single payer healthcare, the plan favored by a majority of Americans.

Please join Physicians for a National Health Program and other members of the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, the National Single Payer Alliance, for a demonstration at Lafayette Square, in front of the White House, Thursday, March 5th from noon to 1:00 pm. For more information contact Danielle Alexander, (202) 662-0614, danielle@pnhp.org

If you're not able to attend, please spread the word among friends, family and neighbors!

"It appears that despite the fact that a majority of Americans and American physicians support a single payer -- an improved Medicare for All -- as the best solution to our nation's health care crisis, they will have no voice at this Thursday's summit," said Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program.

Single payer - which would create a health care system based on public financing of privately delivered care much like that seen in other industrialized nations - is the health reform with support from 60% of the American public (Gallup Poll, 2007) and the majority of American physicians (Annals of Internal Medicine, 2008). Single payer would usher improved health and affordable health care to all Americans.

Single payer national health care is the only model proven to lead us out of a seemingly perpetual health care crisis. "In years past, President Obama endorsed single payer as the best solution to the crisis," Young said. "Today it appears that this option will not even get a hearing at the summit. We believe this exclusion compromises, profoundly, the possibility of a popular, effective solution to our No. 1 domestic problem. This is a colossal blunder."

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Call the White House and tell President Obama to make room at the table for Single Payer!

UPDATE, March 5: Thanks to your calls and emails, the White House invited Rep. John Conyers and Dr. Oliver Fein, president of Physicians for a National Health Plan. Keep in the loop--we'll need to speak out again and again to build a movement for health care policy that cures people, not ailing corporations.

This Thursday, March 5, the White House will host a summit on how to reform the health care system.

The 120 invited guests include lobbyists for various interest groups, including the private-for-profit insurance industry (AHIP), some members of Congress including Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus who has already ruled single payer "off the table," and various others concerned with health care.

No single payer advocates have been invited to attend.

Please urge President Obama to fulfill his promise for transparency and openness in government. Call The White House (202) 456-1414 or (202) 456-1111 before the start of the summit on Thursday. Tell the president to listen to experts on single payer health care--the system favored by both a majority of Americans and a majority of physicians.

Let's get a place at the table for Single Payer!

Please forward this email widely, and ask your friends and family to forward it as well! We need a groundswell of support for real change on health care!

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