Author: eRobin

If you’ll be in PA on June 19, you may be able to get to one of five single payer health rallies happening around the state.  Info below the fold.
June 19: Rally for Sane Healthcare In Harrisburg
This is just one of five rallies for health care reform happening all over the state (and in ten others).  Join concerned citizens from all over the Commonwealth and show our politicians, business leaders, and health insurers that the time for change is now.  And as long as your elected representatives are just up the street, why not take the opportunity to let them know how much you care about single payer health care legislation.  12:00-1:00 p.m. on the State Capitol Steps, downtown Harrisburg at 3rd & State Streets.  Download a flyer and pass it around!  More info: Rev. Sandra Strauss, PA Council of Churches, 717-545-4761 or  s.strauss@pachurches.org

June 19: Day Of Protest Against Insurance Companies – Pittsburgh
It’s a hot summer for healthcare reform in PA and all over this land.  Now is the time to stop the institutional madness that is killing, injuring, and bankrupting hard working Pennsylvanians as they struggle to pay their healthcare bills.  Citizens just like you, along with doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals are making their voices heard here and in more than a dozen cities nationwide.  11:30 – 1:00 pm, 120 Fifth Ave, at Liberty, Downtown.   Download one of our cool flyers and pass it around!   More information: Ed Grystar, PASNAP/NNOC, 412-215-4141, egrystar@pennanurses.org

June 19: Day Of Protest Against Insurance Companies – Philadelphia
Pennsylvania is leading the nation in rallies for sane healthcare, with five events of more than a dozen happening all over the country.  Take a couple of hours and let the insurance industry know how much you would rather have single payer health care than their dollar-driven system.  Noon at Two Liberty Place at 16th and Chestnut.  Download a flyer and give it to someone you care about.  More info: Kathleen Casey, PASNAP/NNOC; 610-567-2907 or kcasey@pennanurses.org

June 19: Rally In Allentown for Single Payer Healthcare
Allentown reminds us that the movement for sane healthcare reform extends to every part of Pennsylvania.  Come join us as we let our community and the health insurance industry know where we stand on today’s healthcare mess.  Meet some of your neighbors, share some stories, and get fired up over improving the lives of our fellow citizens.  Starts at noon in front of the Highmark Blue Cross office, 1221 W. Hamilton St, Allentown, PA 18102.  Contact Ruth for more details, or download a cool flyer to put up all over town.

June 19: Rally in Wilkes Barre – “Healthcare, Yes; Health Insurance, No”
Join some kindred spirits in Wilkes-Barre for a rally for single payer healthcare.  Starts at noon in Public  Square, downtown W-B.  We’ll start off with a few words on health care sanity from physicians, nurses, and activists.  Then join us as we walk up the block to Northeast Blue Cross, where we’ll give voice to our theme.  Pick up a nifty flyer here and spread it around.

After looking like they had the White House backed into a corner on the Stimulus Package, only to then talk about caving to BushCo’s demands, it looks like the Senate Dems are willing to play hardball to get a stimulus package passed that would spend taxpayer money wisely and compassionately by getting dollars into the hands of people who spend it and need it the most.  

Please call your Senators right now, especially if they are likely or moderate BushCo voters, to tell them to put unemployment insurance benefit extensions, food stamp increases and money for LIHEAP in the stimulus package.  Those are among the proven ways to get the biggest bang from our stimulus buck.  Calls to Sen. Specter are especially welcome – he’s on the fence.

The vote will happen 5:45pm so spread the word.

They are the 852 million people who go to bed hungry every night. They are people just like you, but because of poverty they must walk to accomplish the most basic tasks:

They walk for food.
They walk for water.
They walk for firewood.
They walk to escape violence.
They walk to seek shelter.
They walk to farm their fields.
They walk to find employment.
They walk to go to school.

I’m walking the CROP Walk with a group from my church this Sunday. I have no friends (who aren’t walking on Sunday) in real life and most of my neighbors do their best to avoid me so I’m counting on readers of this blog to donate and spread the word around blogtopia (hail, skippy) so that others donate too.

The CROP Walk is a great, nationwide event. It’s run by Church World Service, which gets an outstanding rating from Charity Navigator. The walks will help hungry Americans as well as hungry families overseas. I can tell you that the food bank which operates out of my church is reporting consistent increase in demand without a sufficient increase in giving. With the President threatening to use vetoes to gum up the budget process this year, we are running a real risk of having to survive on continuing resolutions to get through another year. That means no increase in funding for programs like WIC and food stamps and nutrition for the elderly since CRs only allow for continued funding at previous levels. No allowance for increased demand. No allowance for inflation.

If you’re angry at the way BushCo and the GOP are literally starving “the beast,” then please consider giving to a CROP Walk online (mine first!) or to one in your neighborhood. We all know that charity isn’t the answer, but given the emergency the hungry are facing here and around the world, charity is the lifeboat they need to get through another day until world leaders make the simple decision that hunger doesn’t have to exist on this planet.

cross-posted everywhere I can think to cross-post it

UPDATE: I fixed the donation link but it’s still confusing. To donate, find the Team Member box at the link and click on General Team Donation.

THANKS!

Chris Dodd has been a leader in the fight to restore America to some sort of sanity once the maniacs who currently run the joint without restraint are done.   Now he’s speaking out against the Levin-Reed Amendment.  Good for him.  It’s a terrible bill.  But here’s the thing: speaking out to potential supporters in emails asking for our contact info and a donation is not enough.   That’s why I called Chris Dodd for President (202.737.3633) and politely suggested that the Senator take a stand on the floor of the Sentate and filibuster this bill until he drops or it drops and a better one has been offered in its place.  The young man who answered the phone told me that I was the third person who called with the suggestion.
Call Chris Dodd for President (202.737.3633) and let him know that you will support him if he takes the gigantic risk of trusting the American people.   Let him know that you will organize a rally in his support.  Let him know that you will call into radio shows and announce your support of him.  That you will write letters to the editors and letters to other senators and candidates asking them why they aren’t lining up to help Dodd’s cause.  Let them know that you are committed to doing something to support a person brave enough to take on the opposition and his own party to end this occupation so that Iraq and our military can begin to heal.

cross-posted at dKos

This is reminder about the Town Hall event tonight in Philly:

Win Without War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War, and Penn Action invite you to partipate in a

Philadelphia Town Hall Meeting

Exiting Iraq: Military Experts Speak Out
“Bring Our Troops Home”

7:00 pm, Monday, September 10th

17 Logan Hall, University of Pennsylvania
249 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia

On the eve of General Petraeus’ report to the US Senate on the status of the surge in Iraq, join three internationally known military experts discussing why it is necessary for the United States to bring our troops home from Iraq quickly and safely.  [Information on speakers below]  After their presentations, these experts will lead a discussion on steps you can take to help end this war.

We need to show President Bush and his supporters in Congress that Pennsylvanians are fed up with his plans to occupy Iraq for fifty years, so help make his town hall standing room only. RSVP by going to:

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/movecongress/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=30255&

t=petition2.dwt

For more information, contact:  Jeff Garis, Penn Action, at jsgaris@aol.com and 215-701-8081.  PDF fliers available via email for distribution; email Jeff to receive the file as an attachment.

SPEAKERS:

General John Johns (ret) served as a combat arms officer in the Army for over 26 years, retiring in 1978. He taught leadership and ethics at the U.S. Military Academy and has lectured on ethics at the Air War College, Army War College, U.S. Military Academy, and the Naval Academy.  

Col. Dick Klass (ret.) has a distinguished military career including over 220 combat missions in Vietnam with 25 years experience in the aerospace sector as an industry executive and consultant. He works to ban landmines and on nuclear threat reduction.

Former Congressman Tom Andrews (Maine) served on the House Armed Services Committee. He has been in the National Director of Win Without War since 2003 where he leads a 40+ member organization including the NAACP, MoveOn.org, Greenpeace, NOW, and AFSC, working to create a political solution to bring the troops home from Iraq.

Sponsored by Win Without War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War, and Penn Action

www.winwithoutwarus.org

www.standupcongress.org

cross-posted at dKos

 
Win Without War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War, and Penn Action invite you to partipate in a

Philadelphia Town Hall Meeting

Exiting Iraq: Military Experts Speak Out
“Bring Our Troops Home”

7:00 pm, Monday, September 10th

17 Logan Hall, University of Pennsylvania
249 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia

On the eve of General Petraeus’ report to the US Senate on the status of the surge in Iraq, join three internationally known military experts discussing why it is necessary for the United States to bring our troops home from Iraq quickly and safely.  [Information on speakers below]  After their presentations, these experts will lead a discussion on steps you can take to help end this war.
We need to show President Bush and his supporters in Congress that Pennsylvanians are fed up with his plans to occupy Iraq for fifty years, so help make his town hall standing room only. RSVP by going to:

http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/movecongress/event/index.jsp?event_KEY=30255&

t=petition2.dwt

For more information, contact:  Jeff Garis, Penn Action, at jsgaris@aol.com and 215-701-8081.  PDF fliers available via email for distribution; email Jeff to receive the file as an attachment.

SPEAKERS:

General John Johns (ret) served as a combat arms officer in the Army for over 26 years, retiring in 1978. He taught leadership and ethics at the U.S. Military Academy and has lectured on ethics at the Air War College, Army War College, U.S. Military Academy, and the Naval Academy.    

Col. Dick Klass (ret.) has a distinguished military career including over 220 combat missions in Vietnam with 25 years experience in the aerospace sector as an industry executive and consultant. He works to ban landmines and on nuclear threat reduction.

Former Congressman Tom Andrews (Maine) served on the House Armed Services Committee. He has been in the National Director of Win Without War since 2003 where he leads a 40+ member organization including the NAACP, MoveOn.org, Greenpeace, NOW, and AFSC, working to create a political solution to bring the troops home from Iraq.

Sponsored by Win Without War, Penn Faculty & Staff Against War, and Penn Action

www.winwithoutwarus.org

www.standupcongress.org

If you’ve seen this post at Firedoglake or were lucky enough to be at the Coffee with the Troops discussion in person, then you know that the vets on the panel asked us all to get out and be part of the movement that is trying end this war.  

If you live near Reading, PA, or near Philly, you’ll have a great chance to do exactly that this Tuesday, August 28th at 6PM.  

Please come out and be part of national Take a Stand Day.
In Reading:

Congressman Gerlach must hear your concerns about the Cost of War at Home and Abroad before he goes back to Washington.

Come to a multimedia Town Hall Forum to express your views and Take a Stand!

Tuesday, Aug 28th
Central Park United Methodist Church
138 S. Sixth St., Reading

6:00 PM

In Philly:

After four years of war, the American people have had enough.  This Tuesday, we’re going to make Senator Specter finally take a stand.

SENATOR SPECTER, TAKE A STAND!

TOWNHALL MEETING

with

SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER (Invited)

PETER LEMS, AFSC Iraq Campaign, and OTHER GUESTS TBA

Tuesday, Aug. 28, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Free Library of Philadelphia

Central Library, Skyline Room
1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA

The “Take a Stand Campaign” is a nation-wide effort of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI) to demand that members of Congress and the Senate take a stand with the 70% of Americans who want a safe and responsible end to Pres. Bush’s endless war policy in Iraq.  Sponsored by:  www.iraqcampaign.org

 

PA Action, in partnership with Vote Vets, Move On, Lower Bucks for Democracy, Americans Against Escalation in Iraq and the SEIU wil be holding a press conference today in front of Sen. Specter’s Philadelphia office.   The topic will be opposition to escalating the war in Iraq and our demand that Sen. Specter stops filibustering the troops already in harm’s way and denying the American people the Iraq War debate they deserve and have long been denied.   

If you can’t get to Philly, you can participate by sending a fax along those lines to Sen. Specter’s office between 11:00 AM and noon.  Sen. Specter’s contact info is:

        Tel: 215-597-7200

        Fax: 215-597-0406

Click on the Change America Now icon above and send a CANgram to your Member of Congress.   You can be part of the national roll-out of support for the four economic planks of the 100-Hour Agenda by getting your Congressperson to help pass them as quickly as possible when the 110th Congress hits D.C.

The four issues spotlighted by the Change America Now agenda, which is supported by forty national partner organizations, are:

* Making College Affordable by cutting student loan costs in half

* Lowering the Cost of Prescription Drugs, getting Part D closer to being a real benefit instead of an industry sop

* Repealing Oil Tax Breaks and putting that money into renewable source research

* Raising the Minimum Wage because it’s the right thing to do

I’m posting this on behalf of PA Action, which, along with ACORN, the SEIU and the Sierra Club, will be introducing this agenda to the Philly press tomorrow morning.  Similar events are happening over the next several days across the country.  But nothing we do will matter if the individual members of Congress don’t hear from their constituents in numbers large enough to make it clear that we want to see real, clear results from the midterm elections.  Business as usual will not be tolerated.  The bigger and louder the success of the Change America Now Agenda, the better our chances of expanding it over the months and years ahead.

Please help send that message today

.

Do you live in a deep-Red county with no hope of change?  Is your county going Blue with or without you?   Don’t feel left out.  We need your help in three of the hottest counties in nation.  From the comfort of your home, you can pick up the phone and make two hours of calls using a web-based dialer program.  On November 8, you’ll be able to say that you helped bring change to Bucks, Chester and Delaware Counties in suburban PA.  

PA Action is working with US Action and Women’s Votes to get likely progressive female voters to the polls on November 7th.

The field plan involves direct mail and an intense canvassing plan as well as at least one contact by phone.  If we can get 375 people around the country to make two hours of calls (about 150 calls), that will free up 750 volunteer hours for us and we can focus on the face-to-face contacts and the last three days of dragging people out.

There aren’t three more important counties in the country.  There isn’t a better way for you to spend two hours of your time.  There isn’t a larger group of non-voting Americans than the women we are focusing on.  They can make a difference.  They can help get the change we want to see in this country and the world.  

Please spread the word about this.  Give us two hours or more.  Go here to find out how.