Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

CLICK HERE to read the letter.

From: Dr Bill Honigman
Tue, Jan 26, 2010

From bay area activist Susan Harman, and my response below:

Subject: Write Back! Letters needed to refute the Oakland Tribune editorial against SB 810

Dear East Bay Single Payer Activists,

Below is an editorial in today’s Oakland Tribune.

It is part of a newly emerging and growing opposition to single payer, which exists both at the elite level (like the Trib’s publishers) as well as at the grassroots (like Tea Partiers). Such a movement will embolden Republican legislators to fight against SB 810, instead of being resigned to its passage and delivery to the governor. And it will embolden the GOP to wage electoral campaigns for assembly and senate seats on a platform of opposing single payer.

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September 29, 2009

The national team has just returned from California. We thank everyone who found time to come to one of the six scheduled meetings. We covered a lot of territory—organizationally and geographically—from Los Angeles to Sacramento, then Oakland and Santa Rosa.

We discussed the nuts and bolts of PDA, our electoral strategy and next steps concerning Medicare for All and the Afghanistan War. In addition, we got the chance to meet many newcomers to PDA and catch up with our old friends and stalwart activists. Read about it here.

Please listen to this pod cast from Peter B. Collins. In it, Peter interviews PDA-endorsed candidate Marcy Winograd, who is challenging Jane Harmon in California’s CD 36, and Michael Lighty, Policy Director for the California Nurses Association.

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PDA Western States Regional Meeting
September 26, Oakland, CA
California Nurses Headquarters

In an effort to make it easier for members of the PDA community to attend our conferences, the PDA national team is scheduling regional meetings, which we hope are more accessible. The next meeting is September 26 in Oakland, graciously hosted by our friends, the California Nurses Association.

We’ll be evaluating our progress and effectiveness, addressing ways to improve, sharing ideas and strategies for success, learning some nuts and bolts, and building our 2010 timeline. Click here for details and to RSVP.

These meetings give us a chance to step away from conference calls and interact with one another in a more meaningful way than a phone call or email ever could. PDA really is a community and it is hard to express how much we gain from the personal interaction at our gatherings. We hope you’ll join us.

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Thanks so much for your warm welcome and the energy you imparted to us on our PDA California Pre-Convention Roadshow to bring “Healthcare NOT Warfare” to the California Democratic Party (CDP) Convention. All of the PDA events were well attended and the participants attentive and ready to act.

At the mosque in Corona, the Teamster’s Hall in Orange, St Ann’s in Santa Monica, and the grand old Unitarian hall in Santa Barbara, the PDA National team gathered steam along the way, with union organizers, local favorite candidates and office holders, and progressive icons, adding to the voices and sentiments of the leaders amongst us, as we spoke truth to power everywhere along the way.