I called Waters, my Rep. and left a message re both the Weiner and Kucinich amendments. staffer did not know her position but stated that she favored the public option.

I have the solution to too much company influence over legislation. Boycott some of those companies en masse and make them get it for us. Yes, we will need to get at least 100,000 people to act on these. With these actions you can help limit corporate power.

Please sign these NEW petitions for single payer health care HR676

http://bit.ly/HR676

http://bit.ly/single_payer_ross

http://bit.ly/single_payer_exxon

http://bit.ly/single_payer_california

http://bit.ly/drug_benefit

Also sign these petitions.

http://bit.ly/EFCA

http://bit.ly/10_an_hour_min_wage

http://bit.ly/women_freedom_of_choice_act




Make these phone calls and spread the word.

Boycott Tyson Foods of Arkansas who gave Mike Ross D-Arkansas $37,000 for his campaigns. Call lobbyist for Tyson Foods Chuck Penry 202 393 3921 and tell him politely that you refuse to buy Tyson chicken until Mike Ross D-Arkansas the leader of the Blue Dogs on health care gets the entire house and senate conservative Democrats to help get HR 676 enacted into law. Tell others to call.

Boycott American Express who gave Max Baucus $50,000 for his campaigns. Call Joanna Lambert at 212 640 9668 and politely tell her you will not use any American Express cards until Max Baucus gets HR 676 enacted into law. Tell others to call.


Call GOP contributor Rite Aid Pharmacies at 800 325 3737 and tell the person to get the CEO to get congress to enact HR 676 Single payer health care and enact a new Medicare Prescription drug benefit in Medicare Part B covering 80% of the cost of drugs with no extra premiums, no extra deductibles, no means tests, no coverage gaps, and remove the means test for Medicare Part B and until that happens, you won't buy ANYTHING from Rite Aid Pharmacies.

In 2008 Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniels Whiskey and Southern Comfort gave Mitch McConnell money for his campaigns. CALL Brown-Forman AT 502-585-1100 and tell the person who answers to get the CEO to GET Mitch McConnell to execute no Republican filibusters and enact the Employee free choice act into law or you don't buy Jack Daniel's whiskey and Southern Comfort anymore!

Call GOP contributor Wendy's restaurants at 800 443 7266 and tell the person who answers that you want their CEO to get congress to enact a $10/HR MIN. WAGE into law and until this happens you will not go to a Wendy's Restaurant.

Call GOP contributor and war contractor General Electric Corporation at 800 386 1215 or 203 373 2211 and tell the person who answers, to tell the GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt that you want him to get the President to end the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and until that happens you will not buy any GE products and that you will tell your friends about this.

I don't think there's any way that Senator Bill Nelson of Florida will vote for either the Weiner or Kucinich Amendments if either or preferably both somehow make it into the final bill. (If you recall, it was like pulling teeth just to get him to vote for Sen. Chuck Schumer's public option amendment to the Senate Finance Committee bill—which he did but only after voting AGAINST Sen. Jay Rockefeller's stronger public option amendment to that bill.)

Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schulz is much more liberal/progressive so I would list her as a "maybe."

I am in constant contact with Sen. Jeff Merkley ( Oregon Senator) on Health Care Reform. He's a member on the HELP Committee and he is dedicated to fight for the Affordable Health Choices Act. He fought hard for a strong public insurance option and will continue to do so. He has told me that he will continue to see that the reforms of the Help Committee are included in the final Senate version of the bill.

I phoned and also sent handwritten letters to both my Senators (Boxer, Feinstein) and congressional representative, who happens to be Nancy Pelosi. On the phone, their staff people politely responded that they would convey my message. In response to my letter, I received a standard email response from Pelosi (very generic and full of bureaucratic detail), but not from the senators.

I sent emails to my reps, received one back from Donnelly but it goes into a bunch of info on the deficit etc., excuse not to support health care reform and didn't hear from the other two at all. I did tell them that as a proud ELECTED Democrat myself, I would not vote for their reelection if they fail to vote in favor of healthcare reform.

I sent emails to my reps, received one back from Donnelly but it goes into a bunch of info on the deficit etc., excuse not to support health care reform and didn't hear from the other two at all. I did tell them that as a proud ELECTED Democrat myself, I would not vote for their reelection if they fail to vote in favor of healthcare reform.

I am so frustrated with both Corker and Alexander, Senators from TN. They do not seem to care that the need for health care reform is so intense and so immediate. Sometimes I think they really believe that drivel about single payer option is financially irresponsible. When I asked whether that had been a consideration in their stand on Tarp funds or the Iraq war their staffers (I have never spoken to either of the senators) act as if I should shut up and not ask such stupid questions. I am near giving up on this country. Normal everyday people are certainly seen as 'Dead Peasants'.

I asked someone in Henry Waxman's LA office a if the congressman would support the Weiner and Kucinich amendments. Was told that Waxman's amendment is already for a public option so he wouldn't be supporting the other 2 amendments. The person I spoke with will communicate my wishes to Waxman.

I went down to Boxer's office with Momsrising to talk about healthcare and have called Sen. Boxer. I have received letters from both my senators. I have called Matsui and will be attending a Health Care Forum with her Satuday Oct 10.

Thank you so much for participating in the MomsRising.org Senate meetings! We really appreciate your time and effort.

best,
Anita, MomsRising.org

I am lucky to have Tammy Baldwin as a Rep where I live, mostly. But I also own a house in another corner of her district, so emailed from there too, thanking her and pumping her stamina (I hope). Then I wrote to Ron Kind, where I have another house, warning him that if he did NOT vote for 676, we would put all our energies toward replacing him next election. This is THE most important vote. I only wish something would happen in time to save me from going down the financial drain. The system is evil as it stands, sanity must be established.

DIVESTMENT IS THE ANSWER; VOTE WITH YOUR STOCK!

Single Payer is by far the best path, actually the only path. The pitch and claim for the Public Option is "Keeping the insurance companies honest." Really? If I break the law I get prosecuted, fined, and jailed, that simple – do the crime - pay the time or the fine. That should keep them honest. Congress passes laws, and if they violate those or cheat they are out of the game.

The second pitch for the Public Option is cost control. According to the President, if you hate what you have you are stuck, in other words, the PO is nothing more than a tax subsidized high risk/low income health care subsidy, and like Medicare - a limited admission club.
The rest of us, like me, are thrown to the wolves.
If the true purpose of the PO was to control costs it could be done with a pen stroke by declaring insurance companies a public utility, which they are. Like AT&T or your electric company. If the mighty AT&T and Edison companies can be subjected to this level of price control and regulation, why not the insurance companies?
Why? The answer, once again: Wall Street greed! Insurance companies and their obscene profits are a big fat part of all our portfolios, including union’s retirement plans, (that is why the AFL/CIO opposes opening the Public Option as a real choice for everyone) including the pension plans of all our cities and states.

We should all take a good hard look at the portfolios of those states represented by the blue dogs for instance. The refusal of their Senators and Congressional Representatives would then, I am sure, make sense.

Wall Street, having seen the plunge of Lehman Brothers and AIG has no intention of allowing health insurance companies, the most profitable of them all, to go down the drain. No way. Now maybe this explains why, when 65% of the voting public wants real reform, single payer, nothing happens.
No maybe about it! This explains why none of the other high power corporations, automakers, Coca Cola, the usually liberal Hollywood studios, just to name a few, and all our Senators, Republican and Democrat and even President Obama, are not demanding single payer. Their executives and their unions, their cities and states, their school boards, also own a piece of the insurance pie
Do you have a pension fund, mutual fund, an IRA, a 401k? Congratulations, then you too own a piece of a health insurance company.

Protecting such investments can be a costly trap. Saving comes after necessary expenses, including health insurance; it is 25% of my income. After years of paying an absurd amount of money, if I ever get sick (I will one day, we all do.) -- I will go broke in a blink anyway.

Unless we demand healthcare as a basic civil right, the tangled web is in so many of our pockets it will forever keep us trapped.
Now, I do not believe that reaching our goal of universal healthcare under a single payer system should take a huge toll on everyone’s savings, so let’s divest.
Let us all call our brokers, our pension funds administrators, our banks and divest from health insurance companies.
Call your school board, your union, you mayor, your college, your governor, your employer, and ask them to divest their pensions and investments from all health insurance companies stock.
Just like they did once with South African gold coins, or today with Sierra Leone conflict diamonds, all major institutions refused to trade in inhumanity, so le’s add the health insurance co. to the list.
First, make sure you dump your own, then start writing, calling and campaigning within your own communities, unions, cities, schools, etc.

If we remove the risk of a big down slide for all of us and all of the powerful big investors on Wall Street this strong resistance to single payer health care and the demise of the health care insurance companies will be less of a real financial and practical threat to anyone.

Guys --

The purpose of this section is for folks to let us know if your member is going to vote for the Weiner amendment. Please keep it to that. Thanks.

It's morally wrong to leave 100 million Americans un or underinsured, 1 illness away from financial ruin. And it's wrong to burden small business with the outrageous insurance costs also -- saw a cool site; Balkingpoints ; incredible satellite view of earth

hi, as a practicing chiropractor for 31 years I am afraid of discrimintion in a single payor system. I know what we have is not perfect but I do have my hard fought for rights in the insuance market. In a single payor system one stroke of a pen can eliminate my carreer. So I am changing my mind and I want you to not go single payor.

Democratic Party - Democratic Reform Party

As Democrats of the Democratic Party, we join together in seeking reform within the Democratic Party.

Many Democrats already know their elected representatives within the Democratic Party are no longer following in the time-honored footsteps laid down by the founding fathers of our great Nation. More importantly, we as democrats see our elected representatives within the Democratic Party abandoning the values and principles as set forth within the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.

At the very least, many of our elected representatives within the Democratic Party are no longer abiding to the sole reason the Democratic-Republican Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson - "Strong state governments with a weaker federal government."

This is only the beginning of our problems as Democrats, for many of our elected representatives within the Democratic Party have clearly set their own agendas over the members of the Democratic Party, our Nation, and the American people. Overall, many of them no longer think of themselves as being our elected representatives, and now refer to themselves as leaders in the true form of tyrants.

Most Democrats already know their pleas are only being answered by repeated insult and injury by their elected representatives within the Democratic Party. Despite this, we as Democrats can restore control of the Democratic Party back to the party members. All we need to do is cut off donations to the local, state, and national headquarters of the Democratic Party, and to make sure the donations are made directly to worthy and honorable Democratic Party candidates.

So spread the message to everyone of our fellow Democrats, for the Democrat members are taking back control of the Democratic Party. Also, please don't forget to contact and request the Unions and other outside contributors to follow our lead as patriotic Americans. Thank you!

Web site: http://www.democraticreformparty.com

Hello, this is Beverly Nelmes from St. Petersburg, Florida. I was unable to get through to the Capitol Switchboard or other 800 numbers. They ring and ring with no answer. However, I was able to contact Rep. Kathy Castor's office in Tampa. The people there said that they would pass on my message urging support for the Weiner and Kucinich Amendments. A key issue regarding the Weiner Amendment remains the ability of low income people to get help with the cost of Medicare, and how much single-payer programs would cost the individual states under the Kucinich Amendment with the ERISA waiver.

I called Rep Ron Klein, 22 Dist, Florida, Dem, this morning. I gave the information to the person who answered the phone who was very nice and helpful. I told him that I wanted Rep Klein to vote for Weiner's and Kucinich's bills. He said that Klein was not in favor of them and is not in favor of single payer. He could not say if Klein is in favor of a public option. I was at the Florida State Democratic Convention last week, where I heard Klein speak twice. I don't recall that he mentioned the public option. I told the young man in Klein's office that I just couldn't imagine why Klein is not in favor of single payer or Medicare for all since that is what his constituents want. And that's why I and so many others worked so hard for him, that I didn't know how much money Klein had received from the health care industry; but just as a matter of conscience how could he not be in favor of health care when so many people are suffering so much. I find it very frustrating and hard to continue to support these people.

Thanks everyone. Keep the information on your members coming!

thanks for all your hard work making calls...please continue to report call information here..very helpful

keep fighting!!!

THE OKLAHOMA OBSERVER, SEPTEMBER 25, 2009, PAGE 15

First Of Two Parts

Although we live in Stillwater, we have for the last 27 years owned a cottage on
Lake Winnipeg, Arnes, Manitoba, Canada. We have spent almost as many summers
there over the years. This year was no different ... with the exception that
there is raging battle going on in the U.S. in regards to healthcare reform.
Wherever I went in the big city of Winnipeg or in smaller cities like Gimli
or Arnes I interviewed ordinary Canadians about their thoughts about the U.S.
health care controversy, a historical repeat of Canada’s health care reform some
50 years ago.

Canadians, I learned, are not losing any sleep over the push for U.S. health care
reform. Their attitude seems to be, “We’ve got ours, you get yours.”
Gerry Cowie, a senior citizen and long-term acquaintance said, “I think they’re
stupid for not having it before. I worked for doctors before Medicare [1962] and
they couldn’t collect from patients who couldn’t afford to pay. After Medicare
came in doctors were paid for all their patients.”
My niece, Laurie Stirton, said, “Canadians laugh their heads off that Americans
are so afraid of health care.” Her son Cary Stirton added, “For such a wealthy
society, it’s criminal.”

CANADIANS LOVE SINGLE-PAYER

In the same way some Americans think they have the best care in the world
most Canadians feel their single-payer system in place for 50 years puts our forprofit
system in the dust bin of history.
They may complain but 96% wouldn’t have it any other way. The complaints
of Canadians pale beside the big time complaints of Americans, who are mostly
blind to the fact that the Canadian system costs a fraction of ours and covers
everybody.
Andrew Schultz, a Canadian filmmaker, told me about getting sick after a heavy
meal. He went to the hospital where they found a 4-mm kidney stone. He will
have surgery in a few days. He will never see a bill that in the U.S. could cause
bankruptcy.
No Canadian goes bankrupt because of medical bills and Canadians don’t lose
their health insurance because they don’t have a job. Regarding U.S. healthcare
reform, he remarked, “The level of discussion is at rock bottom.” He asked,
“Americans have no experience of national health care so how can they know
anything about it?” He added, “The most conservative Canadian politician would
never think of opposing public health care. It is not a political issue.”

GIVE JACK A CALL

Jack Hinchey, a retired 77-year-old and his wife Audrey live next door to our
cottage and have been good neighbors for 25 years. He had a knee replacement
a few years ago and is now having multiple internal problems – his gall bladder
and a tumor were recently removed. He has had five colonoscopies and now has
a collapsed colon.
In a few days he will have surgery to remove and reconnect the colon. Over the
years he and his wife have had only praise for their medical care for which they
have never received a bill. I couldn’t get them to say anything negative; both are
grateful for Canadian healthcare.
Should you wish to contact them their number is 204.642.7739.
My advice to Americans is to call individual Canadians rather than be influenced
by American anti-Canadian propaganda paid for by the private, for-profit
health insurance industry.
Canadians at all levels are willing to talk about health care, but few think they
should get involved or be telling us what to do.

AMERICA NEEDS A VISIONARY LEADER

Shirley Bookbinder, B.A.S., a retired social worker, believes in Canada’s medical
system. She said, “America needs another Tommy Douglas [father of Canadian
health care], someone with the vision to look to the ordinary person. You have
to listen to what’s important for your country, not what’s good for your party.”
Barry Asgeison, my brother-in-law’s son said, “For a government that provides
the best health care in the world for its soldiers ... but not for its citizens is infantile
thinking that will block national health care.”
He added, “The U.S. worships the bottom line and is willing to sacrifice the
well-being of the nation in order to line the pockets of powerful corporations.”
I asked a retired family member whether a really expensive [$400,000] bone
marrow transplant necessary for mylodyplasia – the cancer that killed my son
– would be covered in Canada. His answer was, “It doesn’t matter ... it would be
covered ... cancer care is superb.”
A Winnipeg waitress said, “Americans have to pay big fees to see a doctor; here
we can see a doctor any time.”

FEAR-MONGERING IN AMERICA

Dr. Anne Doig, president of the Canadian Medical Association, whose father
took part in the strike of doctors in 1962 because they thought public health
care would infringe on their basic rights, said in a CBC interview [Aug. 19], “Can-

Health Insurance Reform
Canadians Support
Single-Payer System
By Ron du Bois

Why is it so difficult for these people to look out for their neighbors well being...I don't get what has happened to the people's Congress, the people's Senate...etc.
...and...The media continues to slander the President,and then make a joke about themselves being Liberals-and they aren't!! So everyone I have talked to is CONFUSED out there!! What can be done to get this whole system to where it is about - "every person is important-all the people"
I know that in this country there is so much _______being put into the pockets of those in charge...
Hey everyone out there listening, thanks for all you do!
Well just some thoughts...Jackie (I ran for Congress last election!)

There's going to be a rally in Austin this Saturday under the rubric "Healthcare Not Warfare". Appears that y'all don't have a Texas chapter as yet. Would you like some suggestions as to contacts?

Dan Grant Dump the BlueDogDems Petition : [ powered by iPetitions.com ]
Source: www.ipetitions.com
Petition Dump the BlueDogDems I speak as a life long Democrat from the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party. We as Democrats lose when we take Red State Politians and paint them blue just sso we can claim a majority.

When I called Representative Speier on October 13th, the staff person said: "I'll let her know. Jackie supports the public option. She supportst single payer in general, but how she is going to vote on these amendments, I can't say."

On October 14th, the staff person responded: "OK."

On October 16th, the staff person responded: "I'll let her know."

Called offices of Hoyer, Pelosi, Rangel, Miller and Waxman. Staffers took messages only when I asked for reinsertion of Kucinich amendment and vote on Weiner amendment.