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Health Care Activists: A Special Note To Help You Bump Up Your Activism
By Lora Chamberlain (about the author)
Become a Fan -- Page 2 of 6 page(s)
With Global Capitalism Exposed as a Sham, All the Global Elite Have Left Is Pure Force
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig. Posted September 22, 2009.
Our global economy, like our political system, has been hijacked by a tiny oligarchy, composed mostly of wealthy white men who serve corporations. They have pledged or raised a staggering $18 trillion, looted largely from state treasuries, to prop up banks and other financial institutions that engaged in suicidal acts of speculation and ruined the world economy. They have formulated trade deals so corporations can speculate across borders with currency, food and natural resources even as, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, 1.02 billion people on the planet struggle with hunger. Globalization has obliterated the ability of many poor countries to protect food staples such as corn, rice, beans and wheat with subsidies or taxes on imported staples. The abolishment of these protections has permitted the giant mechanized farms to wipe out tens of millions of small farmers-2 million in Mexico alone-bankrupting many and driving them off their land. Those who could once feed themselves can no longer find enough food, and the wealthiest governments use institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization like pit bulls to establish economic supremacy. There is little that most governments seem able to do to fight back.
Now to these Health Care bills; do not be concerned about this vote in the Senate Finance committee today, my sources tell me that we have 51 votes for the Public Option in the Senate, they are just letting the process play out. But of course we deserve a Single Payer system in this country, Medicare For All. This would mean that if you were an American citizen then you would have Health Care, period. Everyone In, No One Out. We would all be in the same boat and we would form citizen Health Care Lobby groups all over the country and fight hard for the best medical care we could get from this new unified, streamlined, accessible system, including alternative health care. The Doctors would form their own lobby groups to fight hard for reimbursement that was fair and equitable. There would be very little waste and no For-Profit Insurance Middlemen skimming 15-30% off the top. With this system we would save $400 Billion a year. Watch this short video with Canadians talking to Americans about their "Medicare For All" system; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXXBCFnhsUc
This is what citizens all around the World get from their Governments and it is what we deserve in this country from our Gov! We will get this type of system if we keep working as hard as we can on our Reps and Senators in Congress. But you know as well as I do that our Fed.Gov is in the pocket of the Corporations in this country. We let that happen and it was foolish of us! Now we will have to take back our politicians by applying massive pressure on them to do what is right for us. We are going to have to be tough with our Fed. Gov, they have literally gotten away with murder and robbery, but now is the time to put your foot down and stand up to them!
We are going to get the opportunity for Congress to vote on a Single Payer system during this Health Care debate, the Weiner amendment in the House would replace HR 3200 with John Conyers' HR676, a Single Payer bill. Sen. Sanders is going to offer a similar amendment in the Senate. Even though there is only a slim possibliity of passing these amendments in this present Congress, we still need to work as hard as we can to get as many votes on these amendments as possible, for the future Health Care debates that are inevitable.
Sorry to inform you of this but these Health Care bills in Congress are too flawed and the process is too flawed for these bills to come out as an adequate fix to our Health Care problems. This Health Care debate will not end this Fall!
But you do want all Americans to have Health Care, right? You do want us to take care of each other in this country, correct? Then we will just have to get it into our minds that we will stay organized and keep pressuring Congress to do the right thing.
In fact I would love to help organize a huge March on Washington this Spring for a real Universal Health Care system (Single Payer), real Peace, real Environmental Sanity, real Green Jobs, real Economic and Social Justice, a real Return and Adherence to the Constitution + the Bill of Rights and real Publicly Financed Elections. We could have all of this, if we just cut the Military Budget and End the Corporate Welfare in this country! We should have organized this March this Fall but we were all so busy in our local Health Care town halls that no one was left to look at the big picture. I am confident that national organizers are now looking at this seriously, please jump into this effort by contacting your local groups working for Peace, Justice, Health Care and the Environment.
So now what do we do? How do we change these Health Care bills so that they do more good than harm?
1) First, push as hard as you can for the Single Payer votes coming up in Congress;
---For the Reps, ask them to voter for the Weiner amendment that would replace the bill with a Single Payer type system, Medicare for All.
---For the Senators, Sen. Bernie Sanders may introduce a Weiner-like amendment soon in the Senate.
---For the Reps, ask them to vote for the Kucinich amendment in the House. This allows states to enact their own state wide Single Payer plans, some states are very close to doing this like California.
---For The Senators, vote for the Kucinich-like amendment being introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders
To reiterate; Single Payer, (Medicare For All), is where we send our tax dollars to the Federal Gov, they pay our health care bills and our pharmacy bills. They only take 3-4% of the money to run the administration of the program. They don't tell you what doctor to see or what that doctor can do. They negotiate with the Pharmaceutical companies, the Providers, the Hospitals, the Medical Technology companies all for reduced prices, so that we all benefit. And you can get health care in any state in the union just by the fact that you are an American citizen.
Now it is true, this Weiner amendment may not win, but tell your Rep. and Sen. you want to see them vote for it anyways. Tell them that you will be following their vote closely and that you will vote in the next election based on their vote for this amendment. Tell them you want them to prove that they truly stand with the American people and that a "No" vote will prove that they stand with the corporations!
Become a Fan -- Page 2 of 6 page(s)
By Chris Hedges, Truthdig. Posted September 22, 2009.
Our global economy, like our political system, has been hijacked by a tiny oligarchy, composed mostly of wealthy white men who serve corporations. They have pledged or raised a staggering $18 trillion, looted largely from state treasuries, to prop up banks and other financial institutions that engaged in suicidal acts of speculation and ruined the world economy. They have formulated trade deals so corporations can speculate across borders with currency, food and natural resources even as, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, 1.02 billion people on the planet struggle with hunger. Globalization has obliterated the ability of many poor countries to protect food staples such as corn, rice, beans and wheat with subsidies or taxes on imported staples. The abolishment of these protections has permitted the giant mechanized farms to wipe out tens of millions of small farmers-2 million in Mexico alone-bankrupting many and driving them off their land. Those who could once feed themselves can no longer find enough food, and the wealthiest governments use institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization like pit bulls to establish economic supremacy. There is little that most governments seem able to do to fight back.
Now to these Health Care bills; do not be concerned about this vote in the Senate Finance committee today, my sources tell me that we have 51 votes for the Public Option in the Senate, they are just letting the process play out. But of course we deserve a Single Payer system in this country, Medicare For All. This would mean that if you were an American citizen then you would have Health Care, period. Everyone In, No One Out. We would all be in the same boat and we would form citizen Health Care Lobby groups all over the country and fight hard for the best medical care we could get from this new unified, streamlined, accessible system, including alternative health care. The Doctors would form their own lobby groups to fight hard for reimbursement that was fair and equitable. There would be very little waste and no For-Profit Insurance Middlemen skimming 15-30% off the top. With this system we would save $400 Billion a year. Watch this short video with Canadians talking to Americans about their "Medicare For All" system; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXXBCFnhsUc
This is what citizens all around the World get from their Governments and it is what we deserve in this country from our Gov! We will get this type of system if we keep working as hard as we can on our Reps and Senators in Congress. But you know as well as I do that our Fed.Gov is in the pocket of the Corporations in this country. We let that happen and it was foolish of us! Now we will have to take back our politicians by applying massive pressure on them to do what is right for us. We are going to have to be tough with our Fed. Gov, they have literally gotten away with murder and robbery, but now is the time to put your foot down and stand up to them!
We are going to get the opportunity for Congress to vote on a Single Payer system during this Health Care debate, the Weiner amendment in the House would replace HR 3200 with John Conyers' HR676, a Single Payer bill. Sen. Sanders is going to offer a similar amendment in the Senate. Even though there is only a slim possibliity of passing these amendments in this present Congress, we still need to work as hard as we can to get as many votes on these amendments as possible, for the future Health Care debates that are inevitable.
Sorry to inform you of this but these Health Care bills in Congress are too flawed and the process is too flawed for these bills to come out as an adequate fix to our Health Care problems. This Health Care debate will not end this Fall!
But you do want all Americans to have Health Care, right? You do want us to take care of each other in this country, correct? Then we will just have to get it into our minds that we will stay organized and keep pressuring Congress to do the right thing.
In fact I would love to help organize a huge March on Washington this Spring for a real Universal Health Care system (Single Payer), real Peace, real Environmental Sanity, real Green Jobs, real Economic and Social Justice, a real Return and Adherence to the Constitution + the Bill of Rights and real Publicly Financed Elections. We could have all of this, if we just cut the Military Budget and End the Corporate Welfare in this country! We should have organized this March this Fall but we were all so busy in our local Health Care town halls that no one was left to look at the big picture. I am confident that national organizers are now looking at this seriously, please jump into this effort by contacting your local groups working for Peace, Justice, Health Care and the Environment.
So now what do we do? How do we change these Health Care bills so that they do more good than harm?
1) First, push as hard as you can for the Single Payer votes coming up in Congress;
---For the Reps, ask them to voter for the Weiner amendment that would replace the bill with a Single Payer type system, Medicare for All.
---For the Senators, Sen. Bernie Sanders may introduce a Weiner-like amendment soon in the Senate.
---For the Reps, ask them to vote for the Kucinich amendment in the House. This allows states to enact their own state wide Single Payer plans, some states are very close to doing this like California.
---For The Senators, vote for the Kucinich-like amendment being introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders
To reiterate; Single Payer, (Medicare For All), is where we send our tax dollars to the Federal Gov, they pay our health care bills and our pharmacy bills. They only take 3-4% of the money to run the administration of the program. They don't tell you what doctor to see or what that doctor can do. They negotiate with the Pharmaceutical companies, the Providers, the Hospitals, the Medical Technology companies all for reduced prices, so that we all benefit. And you can get health care in any state in the union just by the fact that you are an American citizen.
Now it is true, this Weiner amendment may not win, but tell your Rep. and Sen. you want to see them vote for it anyways. Tell them that you will be following their vote closely and that you will vote in the next election based on their vote for this amendment. Tell them you want them to prove that they truly stand with the American people and that a "No" vote will prove that they stand with the corporations!
Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Demand a strong public option open to all, before 2013
Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers
Dr. Lora Chamberlain is a voting activist in the Pacific Northwest.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
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