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In the June issue of the Bay View, I wrote a column entitled: We can have better health at lower cost. At the time, legislation in Congress (HR 676) had achieved a record number of co-sponsors. Finally, a majority of the Democratic Caucus. Still, far short of a majority to move it forward. No Republican supports HR 676.
In early June, a universal healthcare bill in the California legislature (SB 562), backed by enormous popular support, was heading to its first committee vote. It passed the committee and the full California Senate, but only because it didn’t include any description of funding. By June 30th, the bill had been shelved in the Assembly for the year. It will be taken up again early next year. The major concern by both Democrats and Republicans? How will we pay for it?
Fortunately, a Select Committee on Health Care Delivery Systems and Universal Coverage has been appointed by Speaker Anthony Rendon. I’m glad to see 2 of the 7 committee members are Republicans. We will need more than a few Republican votes if we are ever to achieve universal healthcare. We won’t have the support of every Democrat. http://assembly.ca.gov/healthcaredeliverysystems
I believe the Select Committee should hold many hearings throughout California between now and the time SB 562 is taken up again. It is an opportunity to look at and talk about the many successes in healthcare enjoyed by people in other countries. Taiwan did a similar process in the 1990’s. We could learn from their success in improving healthcare to everyone at a fraction of what we pay. A report could be prepared and submitted to the Assembly highlighting best practices in other countries. The report will help shape the debate on SB 562 next year.
On the Select Committee’s web page there is no mention of upcoming meeting times or agendas. If there is no agenda, we must help the committee establish one. No meeting times or places? Please join me in calling the committee members listed below. The next few months present us with an opportunity to have a robust debate about universal healthcare in California. Well publicized meetings of the Select Committee will do much to educate voters, help us to organize them and strengthen the movement for universal healthcare. Take a few moments, make a few calls and ask for the Select Committee to hold a meeting in your community this fall.
Dr. Joaquin Arambula (Chair) – Dem – Fresno – (559) 445-5532
Jim Wood (Chair) – Dem – North Coast – (707) 576-2526
Autumn Burke – Dem – Inglewood – (310) 412-6400
David Chiu – Dem – San Francisco – (415) 557-3013
Laura Friedman – Dem – Burbank – (818) 558-3043
Tom Lackey – Rep – Palmdale – (661) 267-7636
Marie Waldron – Rep – Escondido – (760) 480-7570
I’m 66. My work on this issue is personal. Average life expectancy in other countries is greater than in the U.S. People enjoy national healthcare that provides better healthcare at a much lower cost. Although I believe the issue of universal healthcare will ultimately be decided at the ballot box in California, the Select Committee can pave the way to better healthcare by holding hearings throughout the state. A report of their findings and recommendations will help the legislature craft a better bill to be put before voters.
Barry Hermanson
Green Party Candidate for Congress
barry@hermansons.com – personal
Barry@Barry4Congress.org – campaign
415-255-9494
Let me see if I have this right. Grandma becomes homeless because she lives on a fixed income and the bills get to be to much. She reaches out for help, and the agencies that are supposed to help cannot. She tries to get into a shelter, but they are full. She ends up in a doorway. Now, instead of a grandmother, she is a drug addicted mentally disabled person that is a threat to all that is good and proper. That is what most who see her in that doorway are thinking.
Do you see the problem?
Let’s replace the ugliness.
–Mike Zint
OccupyForum presents…
Monday, July 24th, 2017 from 6 – 9 pm at the Black and Brown Social Club
474 Valencia between 15th and 16th Street near 16th Street BART
Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
OccupyForum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!
Film: Our National Bird
Directed by Sonia Kennebeck
Three whistleblowers, (who all worked on the drones program, gathering intelligence and tracking targets to be killed), break the silence around the US drone war. Plagued by guilt over participating in the killing of faceless people in foreign countries, the whistleblowers speak out publicly, despite the possible consequences. National Bird offers an unparalleled glimpse into the surreal landscape of automated murder. Who are these people, who sit in windowless rooms and make life-and-death decisions based on blurry images flickering on computer screens?
Directed by Sonia Kennebeck and executive-produced by Wim Wenders, National Bird takes us to Afghanistan, where the maimed survivors of a mistaken drone strike on unarmed civilians in February 2010, which killed 23 people, describe what happened when they were attacked. The gung-ho attitude of the drone operatives is juxtaposed with raw footage of the dead bodies (some children) returning to their anguished friends and family. Kennebeck also juxtaposes Obama’s speeches about drones — in which he claims that they are able to “take out” insurgents without harming those around them — with the testimonies of those who know that this is false.
In her book, “Drone Warfare”, CODEPINK’S Medea Benjamin documents the growing menace of drone warfare, with an extensive analysis of who is producing the drones, where they are being used, who are “piloting” these unmanned planes, who are the victims and what are the legal and moral implications. Benjamin documents how the U.S. government’s use of drones to murder hundreds of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen has increased the danger to our national security, and reveals the vocal international citizen opposition that challenges the legality and morality of America’s extrajudicial execution drones before they kill here at home.
National Bird reminds us that we’re living in an electronic haze, where life and death are decided on the basis of, as often as not, caprice. Detachment and a lack of accountability are rewarded where responsibility and compassion are shunned. For many servicemen and women, time in service may be little different than a video game gone mad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8hPK7G-5bw trailer
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2013/10/case-against-drones-201310267541941623.html
https://codepink.myshopify.com/products/drone-warfare-killing-by-remote-control
Time will be allotted for discussion and announcements.
Donations to Occupy Forum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!
THIS WILL BE OUR LAST FORUM UNTIL LATE AUGUST! STAY TUNED…
Laborfest events for July are listed on Indybay.
Check Indybay for other events: https://www.indybay.org/calendar/event_week.php?day=23&month=7&year=2017&topic_id=0®ion_id=0&news_item_status_restriction=0
UPDATES:
http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/07/19/oakland-cuts-ties-with-ice/
http://www.alternet.org/trumps-police-state-vision-america-laid-out-white-house-budget-documents
(SEE Item #19 for Thursday action on Korea)
Occupy
~ San Francisco ~
Occupy San Francisco Bulletin Board
22 – ANNOUNCEMENTS
Sunday, July 23 – Thursday, July 27
Sunday, July 23
1. Sunday, 12:30pm – 2:30pm, The Bail Trap – Screening and Panel
The New Parkway
474 24th St.
Oakland
California‘s bail system is unfair and has to go. In Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail, approx 75% of people inside are there because they cannot afford bail. No one should be locked up because they can’t pay.
Come learn more about what we’re doing to change the system. The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is hosting a screening of The Bail Trap, a film about what’s really going on with the bail industry, and what we can do to stop it.
The screening will be followed by a Panel about bail reform. Panelists include Tracey and Tai Bell-Borden, whose story is featured in the film, Jack Bryson, and a representative from Brave New Films. There will be an opportunity for Q&A at the end.
Sponsor: Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Info:
2. Sunday, 1:00pm – 3:30pm, Franz Fanon in Fanon in the 21st Century: His Life and Legacy
San Francisco Main Library
100 Larkin St.
SF
Free
Frank B Wilderson, III (Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of US Antagonisms) and Lewis Gordon (What Fanon Said: A Philosophical Introduction To His Life And Thought) join moderator Justin Desmangles (Before Columbus Foundation) for a discussion of the life and legacy of Frantz Fanon in the 21st century.
Sponsor: Before Columbus Foundation
Info
3. Sunday, 3:00pm – 4:00pm, Community Feed before Occupy Oakland General Assembly
Oscar Grant Amphitheater
14th & Broadway St.
Oakland
Feed the People
Attendees of Occupy Oakland GA will gather before the GA to share food with each other and the community.
4:00pm is the GA
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/07/16/18800893.php
4. Sunday, 3:00pm – 5:00pm, Anti-Racist Storytime. Counter Islamophobia Though Stories
Natural Resources
1367 Valencia St.
SF
Free
An anti-racist storytime sponsored by SURJ SF! This month we are partnering with KitaabWorld to Counter Islamophobia Through Stories! We will be reading stories, singing, and eating a tasty snack. Most of all, we’ll be learning about the power of friendship and overcoming fear to unfamiliar.
The storytime is aimed at children between 2-8, but the entire family is welcome.
Info:
5. Sunday, 5:00pm – 6:30pm, Presentation by Elsa Rassbach & Harlod Gindra on Anti-War Movement in German & Political Situation
ILWU Local 34
801 2nd Street
SF
From Killer Drones to Gentrification: The Struggle In Germany and Internationalism
Longtime Berlin activists Elsa Rassbach and Harald Gindra will discuss from personal experience some of the key peace and justice campaigns in Germany today and will explore together with participants what can be learned for current struggles in the US.
Elsa Rassbach, a German-American filmmaker and journalist, was a member of the team that launched the PBS NOVA series and is producer-writer of “The Killing Floor” shown at this years LaborFest. A peace activist since the Vietnam War, she has led campaigns on behalf of GIs stationed in Germany who resisted the Iraq war and solidarity efforts on behalf of Palestine. In 2013 she co-founded the German Drone campaign that has inspired large protests at Ramstein Air Base and AFRICOM and played a key role in winning majority support in the German Bundestag for a historic rejection, in June 2017, of the planned acquisition of armed drones for the German military
Harald Gindra, a former German print industry worker, engineer, and an experienced grassroots local politician, was elected in 2016 to represent the Left Party in the Berlin state legislature. The Left Party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party now make up the ruling coalition in the Berlin government and have undertaken an extensive program of progressive reform in the arenas of city development, housing, and integration of refugees and minorities, with a focus on stopping rent increases and gentrification.
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/07/13/18800840.php and 415-642-8066
Monday, July 24
6. Monday, 9:00am – 12Noon, Care Not Cages: Mental Health Emergency Hearing
County Administrative Building
1221 Oak St.
Oakland
Meeting with the public health & public safety committees
Calling on all community members, healthcare providers, formerly incarcerated folks and their families to make your voices heard, and make sure that the Supervisors are implementing solutions that do NOT involve building up Santa Rita Jail.
After two years of fighting the jail expansion in Alameda County, we have finally won our hearing on alternatives to incarceration for those who suffer from mental illness.
However, the county is doing everything in their power to fast track the jail expansion without community input. There is no such thing as mental health in a jail. The first step the county needs to take in implementing alternatives is to stop expansion.
Sponsor:
Info:
7. Monday, 6:00pm – 9:00pm, OccupyForum Film: “Our National Bird”
Black and Brown Social Club
474 Valencia St. (Btw. 15th & 16th Sts.)
SF
Film is about 3 whistleblowers , who worked in the DRONES program gathering intelligence and targeting targets to be killed.) who break the silence about U.S. DRONE warfare. Plagued by guilt over participating in killings of faceless people in foreign countries the whistleblowers speakout publicly, despite the possible consequences. National Bird offers a glimpse of automated murder.
Directed by Sonia Kennebeck and executive-produced by Wim Wenders, National Bird takes us to Afghanistan, where the maimed survivors of a mistaken drone strike on unarmed civilians in February 2010, which killed 23 people, describe what happened when they were attacked.
Info from: Ruthie
8. Monday, 7:00pm – 8:30pm, Study Group: History of American Trotskyism
New Valencia Hall
747 Polk St. (@ Ellis St.)
SF
The origins of this U.S. homegrown revolutionary movement are full of lessons for today’s new wave of resistance. Study is based on history written by its principal organizer James P. Cannon.
Host: Freedom Socialist Party
Info: 415-864-1278; baFSP@earthlink.net
9. Monday, 6:45pm – 8:00pm, Protest Republican Attacks on Healthcare: Medicare for All
Kaiser Permanente Health Care
235 West MacArthur Blvd.
Oakland
Trumpcare has hardly been dead for more than a day and Republicans have already renewed their attacks on health care, this time through their proposed budget which would cut over $200 billion to mandatory spending programs including Medicare, and would give massive tax cuts to the rich. These savage attacks on working people and the poor continue, and we must continue to resist them.
In order to win the fight against these attacks we need to boldly put forward the need for a single payer system that can meet the needs of all people. We need a full mobilization in opposition to cutting Medicare and other social programs through rallies, protests, and occupations of Republican Senators’ offices.
Host: Socialist Alternative Bay Area
Info:
Tuesday, July 25
10. Tuesday, 6:00am, Occupy Beale Air Force Base – Resist Drone Warfare and Endless War (nr. Marysville)
Schedule:
6:00-8:00 am Vigil/Demo: Main Gate, East End of North Beale Rd. (Parking available)
8:30am: Debriefing and Presentation by Elsa; Location to be determined after the morning vigil.
Elsa Rassbach, American CODEPINK activist living in Berlin, Germany will join us. After the Morning Vigil and Debriefing, Elsa will give a Report on Anti-Drone Movement in Germany (See partial description of Elsa R. under #5)
3:00-5:00 pm Optional pm Vigil/Demo: Doolittle Gate, at Intersection of Doolittle & Hammonton-Smartsville Rd. (Parking Available) Toby & Fred (& Elsa?) will be doing an afternoon vigil at the Doolittle Gate, after an interim midday swim in nearby Yuba River in interim. All are welcome to join us. Please be prepared for hot weather: water, sun protection, etc
Call/email for questions and carpooling:
From Bay Area: Toby Blome: (510)-215-5974, ratherbenyckeling@comcast.net
From Grass Valley: Shirley Osgood: (941) 320-0291
11. Tuesday, 9:00am, Speak Out Against Pesticide Use
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)
Training Resource Center
375 11th Street
Oakland
Come speak out against EBMUD’s continued pesticide use!
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which supplies water to the East Bay, will be discussing changes to its pesticide use policy at its Board of Directors Sustainability and Energy Committee meeting. There is no indication that the district plans to eliminate pesticide use, or stop its destruction of eucalyptus and Monterey pine on land it manages. Please join us to demand EBMUD stop using poisons and killing trees.
Sponsor: Coalition to Defend East Bay Forests
Info: DefendEastBayForests.wordpress.com
12. Tuesday, 11:00am – 12Noon, Lifelines not Bottomlines: Uplifting Asian Immigrant Healthcare Stories
SF General Hospital
SF General Courtyard
1001 Potrero Ave.
SF
Media action to envision guaranteed California Healthcare
Sponsor: Chinese Progressive Association
13. Tuesday, 2:00pm – 4:00pm, Chop Shop Legislation at BOS
SF City Hall
1 Dr. Carleton B. Goodlett Place, Room 250
SF
The Chop Shop legislation is on the agenda for the Board of Supervisors meeting. Folks to turn out to speak out against this legislation that targets people experiencing homelessness.
Policy Analysis “Open-Air” Chop Shop Ordinance (Sheehy)
Key Elements of Legislation
This is an ordinance that would amend the Police Code to prohibit the taking apart or rebuilding of bikes, having bike parts, or selling bike parts in public spaces, and allows citations, impound fees, and the seizure of those parts.
• This piece of legislation defines a chop shop, as an open air location wherein bicycles are disassembled, stripped of identification and/or sold.
• The ordinance bans these activities when an individual has 5 or more bicycles, 3 bikes with missing parts, one frame with cut cables, or five or more bicycle components found on public property, street, sidewalk, or right of way.
• This prohibition does not apply to vendors operating under a valid business license or in cases in which the owners of the bicycles or bicycles components is present for repairs (ownership undefined).
• This prohibition does not apply to those offering items to be sold on their own property.
• Individuals in violation will get an administrative citation and may get their bike parts returned after seizure by showing proof of ownership, such as receipt, serial number, photographs or signing an affidavit.
• Ordinance allows appeal of citation and impound fees by having a hearing within 30 days with another police officer – person must file appeal, and date of hearing will be sent by mail.
Analysis of Impact:
We believe that this ordinance, if made law, will unfairly target the unhoused community – assuming that if they have bicycles or bicycle parts, there very impoverished status assumed that those parts are stolen. Unhoused people are incapable of meeting many of the exemptions from this ordinance, entirely because of the nature of their economic status. By definition, people who are homeless do not have homes in which they can legally sell their property.
This is a question of public space and who–and how–people can use it. Many avid housed and unhoused bicyclists own multiple bicycles that can be used for varying leisure and practical purposes.
Unhoused communities reside on the fringes of our society, and they must be resourceful in order to survive. It is very common for unhoused people to trade and sell skills and items
Sponsor: Coalition on Homelessness
Info:
14. Tuesday, 6:00pm – 9:00pm, Joanna Macy, Starhawk, & Ahmed Salah “Active Hope: What Must We Do Now?
Fellowship Hall
1924 Cedar @ Bonita
Berkeley
Wheelchair accessible
Suggested donation: $10 – $20 No one turned away
6:00 pm vegetarian potluck dinner
6:30 pm Program.
Wine and dessert reception following the program benefits Codepink.
This event is a benefit for Ahmed Salah, author of You Are Under Arrest for Masterminding the Egyptian Revolution, living in exile from brutal repression in Egypt, and for Codepink Women for Peace.
Ahmed will share his experiences in a non-violent revolution which succeeded but which was then undone by the CIA.
Book signing, information tables, opportunities for action and networking.
Active Hope events aim to lift us out of our silos, inaction and despair and into action to create a world of peace, love, and concern for all beings. The program will include brief presentations from social and environmental justice activists.
Sponsor: Codeping GG Chapter & BFUU Social Justice Committee
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1439665376079919/?active_tab=about
15. Tuesday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, Film Screening: “3000 Nights”
Berkeley City College
2050 Center St.
Berkeley
Wheelchair accessible
Benefit for Palestinian & Syrian refugee children
$15 – $50
Mai Masri’s award-winning film, 3000 NIGHTS!
Accused of helping a teenaged boy on the run, a newly-wed Palestinian schoolteacher gives birth to her child, in chains, in an Israeli high-security prison — where she fights to protect him and to survive herself. Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri’s film 3000 NIGHTS explores the meaning of motherhood, love, betrayal, and the solidarity of women prisoners. Masri says it is about “resilience, resistance, and above all, a film about hope.”
Selected as the Jordanian entry for Best Foreign Language Film for 2017 Oscars.
Sponsor: Middle East Children’s Alliance
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/06/28/18800494.php
Wednesday, July 26
16. Wednesday, 10:00am, Save St. Luke’s Hospital’s Skilled Nursing Facility & Sub-Acute Services Unit
SF. Board of Supervisors Public Safety & Neighborhood Service Committee
SF City Hall, Rm. 263
1 Dr. Carleton B. Goodlett Place
SF
Hearing regarding California Pacific Medical Center’s (CPMC’s) closure of St. Luke’s Skilled Nursing Facility & Sub-Acute Unit.
STOP MORE CUTS for Seniors and Other Vulnerable Populations
Sutter-CPMC is planning to close units at St. Luke’s that provide comprehensive inpatient care for adults with high needs, such as post-hospital rehabilitation and ventilator care for breathing. Ventilator-dependent patients in the St. Luke’s Sub-Acute Unit are among the most vulnerable patients in our community. Due to lack of available services in SF, they would have to be relocated to facilities outside of San Francisco, some as far away as Sacramento.
Please join us to stand up to this latest example of Sutter-CPMC’s corporate greed!
ACTION:
Click here to: Send an email to Sutter CPMC CEO Warren Browner today.
For more info and to get involved in the Coalition holding Sutter CPMC Accountable:
• Contact JWJ at solidarity [at] jwjsf.org or ( 415) 840-7420.
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/07/20/18800962.php
17. Wednesday, 5:30pm – 6:30pm, PEACE VIGIL
Montgomery & Market Sts.
On the steps facing Market St., below Feinstein’s office, directly above the Montgomery BART / MUNI station
SF
Join us at the large PEACE banner!
Themes vary each week
All are welcomed!
18. Wednesday 6:00pm – 7:00pm, Monthly Vigil for Amilcar Perez-Lopez Killed by SFPD on February 26, 2015
Folsom St. (Between 24th & 25th Streets)
SF
Gather at the site where Amilcar was murdered by SFPD. Updates on work to bring Justice for Amilcar.
Bring simple nibbles, reflections, songs to share, most importantly bring yourself
Announcement not officially posted yet on Amiclar FB site
Check for updates or changes: https://www.facebook.com/groups/353672264838421/
Thursday July 27
19. Thursday, 4:00pm – 5:00pm, Action Moon Jae In: Say No To THADD & Stop the War Games
Korean Consulate San Francisco
3500 Clay St. (@ Laurel St.) Near Muni # 1 & # 2 lines
SF
Rally at the Korean Consulate in SF as we DEMAND that new South Korean President Moon Jae In push for a peace treaty and stop deployment of the THAAD missile defense system (#stopTHAAD)!
This July 27th marks the 64th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice, an agreement that stopped “hostilities by armed forces,” but never officially ended the Korean War. 64 years later, the people of Korea and the Asia Pacific Region still face US militarism and constant threats to their land and life.
We will uplift the voices of people in Korea who are resisting militarism and war. Our program will also feature performances from the Korean drumming crew ieumsae, guerilla theatre, and the unveiling of our blue butterfly peace machines!!!
***When Peace Comes, THAAD Goes!!***
HOBAK will be joining Korean organizations across the US who will also be rallying at their local Korean Consulates.
Host: HOBAK (Hella Organized Bay Area Koreans)
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/07/15/18800870.php & https://www.facebook.com/events/3310932739…
20. Thursday, 4:00pm – 8:00pm, 2-Part Action to Stop Speculation & Displacement (SF Action)
Meet at:
McDonalds
235 N. Front St.
SF
Part of the Housing Now! coalition’s statewide day of action to stop speculation and displacement.
Day of Action to Repeal the State Restriction on Rent Control
Join the Bay Area 2-Part Action! Come to one or both!!
Part 1 – 4:00-5:30pm
4pm – Meet at the McDonald’s at 235 Front St., San Francisco. Together we’ll go protest one of the largest Wall St. landlords who gobbled up single family homes after the foreclosure crisis and is now rent gauging and displacing tenants.
Part 2 – 5:30-8pm
5:30pm – Meet back at the McDonald’s at 235 Front St. in SF.
5:30-6pm We will train folks on introductory steps to organizing buildings against greedy landlords and speculators.
6-6:30: Folks will go in small teams to buildings of the biggest corporate landlord in SF who is harassing tenants across the city.
6:30-8:00: Knock on doors, drop off flyers, and talk with tenants! We will be giving them tenant rights information and giving them basic info about organizing with other buildings facing the same corporate landlord harassment.
Join as long as you can!
Sponsors: Housing Now, SF Anti-Displacement Coalition, Tenants Together, Housing Rights Committee of SF
Info:
21. Thursday, 6:43pm – 9:45pm, Displacement & Gentrification: How did we get here and how do we stop it?
Sierra Club
2101 Webster St., Suite 1300
Oakland
Accessible for mobility devices
Donation $5-$20. no one turned away. (Will go to support Causa Justa :: Just Cause work challenging gentrification and fighting displacement)
Workshop has space for 66 people.
To reserve your spot & purchase tickets at http://
SURJ workshop will put gentrification and displacement in a historical context so we understand the racialized political and economic drivers. You’ll hear about past and current struggles led by communities of color to preserve their homes and communities.
Facilitators from SURJ – Oakland/Bay Area will present analysis based on the work of Causa Justa :: Just Cause. SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Bay Area chapter
Sierra Club is a scent-free environment
Host: SURJ – Bay Area
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/237758136736662/?active_tab=about
22. Thursday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, The Future of Work
Unitarian Universalist Center
1187 Franklin St. (@ Geary Blvd.)
SF
While most progressives actively support workers’ struggles for fair wages, decent working conditions and the right to organize, the inescapable fact is that the basic nature of work itself is changing radically. How are these changes affecting today’s generations? How can progressives play a role in ensuring that human labor benefits everyone equally in a democratic society?
Speakers:
Peter Olney is retired Organizing Director of the ILWU, and was the Associate Director of the Institute for Labor and Employment at the University of California.
Matt Ranen is a scenario planning and strategy consultant helping clients understand and navigate future change and uncertainty.
Bill Sokol, is an attorney with Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld, representing unions in their labor relations with employers and members. He also teaches labor law at San Francisco State University.
Sponsor: PDA (Progressive Democrats of America)
Info: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/07/08/18800695.php
May 26, 2017 (sfbayview.com)
The New York Health Act, which would create a state-run Medicare-style single-payer system, now has 30 cosponsors in the state Senate and is endorsed by 40 labor unions. “We’ve never been this close,” Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, the bill’s sponsor, said with high hopes.
In other countries, people enjoy better healthcare at lower cost. Everyone has access to healthcare and average life expectancy is greater. In Canada, with their version of Medicare for All, no one goes bankrupt because of healthcare expenses. In the U.S., healthcare bankrupts more than a million every year.
Healthcare spending per person in the U.S. is $10,000, twice the average for developed countries. Obamacare increased access to health insurance and medical care but millions remain uninsured. Those who are insured frequently avoid needed healthcare because of expensive insurance co-pays and deductibles.
In a recent Kaiser poll, 81 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of all voters supported an Improved and Expanded Medicare for All. What is being done to move us in that direction?
H.R. 676 is a bill in Congress that adopts many of the practices other countries use to control healthcare costs and provide quality service. Of the 193 Democrats in the House of Representatives, 110 are currently co-sponsors. No Republicans support it. Only 62 Democrats were cosponsors last year when Obama was president.
Now, with a Republican president and a Republican-controlled Congress attacking healthcare, H.R. 676 (introduced in every Congress since 2003) finally enjoys a majority of co-sponsors in the Democratic Party caucus. Unfortunately, Democratic “leaders” like Nancy Pelosi are not cosponsors because insurance and drug companies contribute heavily to Republican and Democratic politicians.
On the issue of healthcare, I believe Nancy Pelosi isn’t leading or following. She is standing in the way. If you want better healthcare at a more reasonable price, call Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Ask her to cosponsor H.R. 676. Call 202-225-4965 or 415-556-4862 and also ask her to endorse SB 562, discussed below.
In response to Republican attacks in Washington, a bill to provide healthcare to every California resident was introduced into the California Senate earlier this year. The Healthy California Campaign in support of SB 562 is generating a remarkable amount of new energy to the movement. The number of people who have rallied to support the bill is impressive. From the HealthyCA.org web site:
“Healthy California is a campaign of over 4 million Californians building a statewide movement to win guaranteed healthcare for ALL California residents. We represent over 150 community and labor organizations made up of nurses, teachers, patients, doctors, union members, business leaders, faith and immigrant rights community, progressive political organizations, healthcare advocates and providers.”
As this article is going to press, an initial draft of the financing of SB 562 has been submitted to the Senate Appropriations Committee. A vote is due in this committee and the full Senate by June 2, with little time for debate or amendments.
Just as is the case in Washington, not every Democrat in Sacramento supports universal healthcare. Yet, passing SB 562 will require every Democrat to vote in favor, including Gov. Brown, who has been silent on this issue. Democrats could pass universal healthcare legislation this year but possibly will not.
If SB 562 passes and is signed into law by the governor, a ballot measure to repeal it would, no doubt, soon be filed by those whose profits will be impacted. Unless we are organized, it will be difficult to defeat an opponent who will spend whatever it takes to influence voters.
In addition to organizing support for SB 562, it is important to have a Plan B. Universal healthcare will very likely be won or lost at the ballot box in California. To win, 5 million California voters who support an Improved and Expanded Medicare for All must be identified. Because too many politicians are influenced by political donations, the Healthy California coalition should craft an initiative for the ballot and do the hard work of identifying the voters needed to pass it.
The only organization I know of in California that has a goal of identifying 5 million voters is Single Payer Now. Please visit SinglePayerNow.net or call 415-695-7891 to register your support. Healthcare is a human right. Together, we will win.
Barry Hermanson is the San Francisco-based Green Party candidate for U.S. House of Representatives. He can be reached at barry@hermansons.com.
Here’s a youtube video with the CNA response to Dayen done before Rose’s show:
Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy for National Nurses United, joins Jimmy Dore to discuss how to best get single-payer passed in California. Watch the full Aggressive Progressives episode here: https://tytnetwork.com/2017/07/06/agg…
Here’s youtube video with Pollin’s rebuttal to Dayen argument against SB 562 done before Rose’s show:
Fearless, Adversarial Journalism – Spoken Edition: Pollin: Why Single Payer, Now, Is for Real // The Intercept produces fearless, adversarial journalism, covering stories the mainstream media misses on national security, politics, criminal justice, technology, surveillance, privacy, and human rights. A SpokenEdition transforms written content into human-read audio you can listen to anywhere. It’s perfect for times when you can’t read – while driving, at the gym, doing chores, etc. Find more at www.spokenedition.com
(Courtesy of Leland Jung.)
