Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

March 19, 2010

I hope you had a chance to read my article on the PDA home page yesterday entitled “Healthcare Torture.” It’s a short analysis of the history of the current healthcare legislation with an inside/outside perspective.

In the article, I point my finger at well-funded organizations, MoveOn and HCAN, who failed to join with the majority of Americans and organizations (like PDA) in supporting enhanced Medicare for all. They endorsed the “politically feasible” public option—over the best option—and moved the course of the debate rightward.

(For more analysis, see Norman Solomon’s “Zero Public Option + One Mandate = Disaster.”)

Political feasibility, combined with the corporate health insurance industry and a Congress unable to embrace simplicity, was the death knell for meaningful reform. Whether this bill passes or not, healthcare reform will be back in our lifetimes.

Read the Rest Here

Laura Bonham
March 17, 2010

Kucinich: “Not the Bill I Wanted to Vote for”

Today, Dennis Kucinich announced in a Washington DC press conference that he will vote YES for the healthcare bill. For weeks, Democratic leadership have been pressuring Kucinich to change his vote. Kucinich had been seeking insertion of an ERISA waiver, to begin immediately, for states pursuing Medicare-for-all plans. The waiver was stripped from the bll before it passed the House in November. Several states including California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio are working to institute Medicare-for-all type healthcare plans.

No one can say the healthcare reform battle has not been an interesting one—it has definitely been a disappointing one for those of us who support the most efficient and effective option—Medicare-for-all.

Read the Rest Here

February 17, 2010

Dear Representative Woolsey,

We thank you for signing on to support HR 2454, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan & HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

Further, we call on you to publicly commit to voting “No” on any bills that fund wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Yemen, and to publicly urge your colleagues and the House leadership to make the same commitment.

PDA is proud to introduce “The Agitator: Voices of PDA” a series of kitchen table conversations with members of the PDA community led by Tim Carpenter, PDA National Director. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Guests in the inaugural broadcast include Thom Hartmann, author, radio host and PDA Advisory Board member; California Nurses Association/National Nurses Union Policy Director and PDA Board Member Michael Lighty; and PDA’s own Deputy Director and Communications Coordinator. Laura Bonham.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 15, 2010
Washington, DC

IN MEMORY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, VIGILS AGAINST WAR FUNDING TO BE HELD AT CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES NATION-WIDE

As the country celebrates the life of Martin Luther King on January 18, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) will launch the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils to be held every third Wednesday each month. The vigils are an expansion of their Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign.

With the White House having just announced its intention of requesting another record military budget ($708 billion, not including military budgets in the Departments of State and Energy or the CIA) and another war supplemental ($33 billion), it is appropriate that the first lunchtime vigils will take place immediately following Martin Luther King Day.

Colorful vigils and pickets are already planned in many congressional districts, including the following, with others being added: AZ-3, AZ-5, CA-6, CA-22, CA-23, CA-48, FL-10, FL-17, MA-2, MI-9, OH-13, OH-17, PA-7, WA-2, WA-6, WI-3, WI-7. More details are available about each location online: http://tinyurl.com/brownbagvigil

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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.