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State Based Single Payer Movement PDF Print E-mail
Written by Chuck Pennacchio   
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In detail, the US Senate healthcare bill would undermine state innovation, especially state-based single payer legislative campaigns that are making tremendous headway all across the nation.

The US Senate's poison-pill language preempting state initiatives/reforms until 2017 would lock in industry control over HC funding (and, thus, delivery); provide a mandate-driven, ready-made market of some 30M new "consumers" to a predatory, profit-first insurance industry; and, perhaps worst of all, tie the hands of some 20 state-based single payer legislative campaigns working closer and closer to enact the proven Single Payer Solution as both a model for other states and the national government.

Here in PA, if you recall, we are alone among states in the following three (3) ways: we've got Governor Rendell's promised signature once our SP bill (SB 400/HB 1660) passes; funding is authorized in the bill itself (meaning no need for a wildly expensive tax referendum), and Rs and Ds are working together on hearings, studies, and more, particularly in our GOP-controlled State Senate. Just this week, in fact, we completed the process of promoting for endorsement the bi-partisan Economic Impact Study resolution. In our 30-20 Republican-dominated State Senate, we got 11 Rs and 19 Ds to co-sponsor the EIS before its formal introduction occurs this coming week.

Having said that, there are numerous states beyond PA that are moving rapidly to adopt single payer reform in the next 2-3 years. Representatives from at least seven (7) states are gathering shortly in PA to discuss strategies, tactics, and resources-sharing. We're building a powerful state-based single payer movement that speaks to the inherent constitutional, historical and financial realities that cripple Washington,DC, on the one hand, and underscore the necessity of state-based healthcare innovation, on the other.

 
Books on Ex-Felon Disenfranchisement PDF Print E-mail
Written by Linda Swanson and Andrea Miller   
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To learn more about the history and societal problems of ex-felon disenfrancisement the following books are available from Amazon.com.

disenfrancisementThe Disenfranchisement of Ex-Felons
by Elizabeth Hull
In fourteen states some or all former prisoners who have completed their sentences, their paroles, and the terms of their probation are prohibited from voting. This short book provides an overview of the history, nature, and consequences of denying ex-felons the right to vote. Readers learn of state practices, the arguments that have been used in court houses, legislatures, and the press to justify disenfranchisement, and the attempts to remedy the situation through recourse to state and federal governments. Elizabeth Hull enumerates the disproportionate effect of these policies on African-Americans and the ways current criminal justice practices cause those effects. The book contains an Appendix on the 2004 election

Google Books Link

 

lockedoutLocked Out: Felon Disenfranchisement and American Democracy
by Jeff Manza and Christopher Uggen

5.4 million Americans--1 in every 40 voting-age adults--are denied the right to participate in democratic elections because of a past or current felony conviction. In several American states, 1 in 4 black men cannot vote due to a felony conviction. In a country that prides itself on universal suffrage, how did the United States come to deny a voice to such a large percentage of its citizenry? What are the consequences of large-scale disenfranchisement--for election outcomes, for the reintegration of former offenders back into their communities, and for public policy more generally? Locked Outexposes one of the most important, yet little known, threats to the health of American democracy. It reveals the centrality of racial factors in the origins of these laws, and their impact on today's political landscape. Marshalling the first real empirical evidence on the issue to make a case for reform, the authors' groundbreaking analysis will inform all future policy and political debates on the laws governing the political rights of criminals

Google Books Link

 

 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 March 2010 10:09
 
Single Payer Comes to Minnesota and Maryland PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Swanson   

California keeps passing bills for state single-payer healthcare, but Ahhhnold won't sign em, and Jerry Brown who wants to be governor doesn't seem to want it badly enough to make a commitment on healthcare. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania is encouraged that their current governor has said he probably will sign a single-payer healthcare bill, and the legislature just might pass one. But Minnesota has an angle neither of these other states can claim: a serious candidate for governor who is the state's leading advocate for single-payer.

State Senator John Marty was the Democratic nominee for governor of Minnesota 16 years ago and is making another run for it. My friend Vin Gopal, who's working on Marty's campaign, tells me "Senator John Marty is the real deal. If he gets elected Governor this year, which he has a good shot at, it's a whole new ballgame for the single-payer movement. No other statewide candidate in the country is as committed to the movement as he is."

Marty tells me he's optimistic about bringing single-payer healthcare to Minnesota, and that he has a third of the legislature on board with it at this point. Marty's election campaign can be supported here http://www.facebook.com/l/26ec3;johnmarty.org and the campaign for single-payer in Minnesota can be found here http://www.facebook.com/l/26ec3;muhcc.org and here http://www.facebook.com/l/26ec3;mnhealthplan.org

Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 March 2010 14:13
 
"Respect Choice" License Plates Don't Respect Choice PDF Print E-mail
Written by Alex DiBranco | Change.org   

I don't know about you, but if I paid for a "Respect Choice" fundraising specialty license plate, I'd think I was shelling out to raise money for an organization that actually, you know, respects choice. But in Virginia, they prefer to dupe pro-choice supporters into buying "Trust Women/Respect Choice" license plates that actually deny funding to pro-choice, women-trusting groups.

About half the states in our country already offer "Choose Life" license plates, which unfortunately raise money for groups that don't want to let women choose, and for lying crisis pregnancy centers that manipulate women instead of informing them. In Virginia, pro-choice supporters who want to wear their beliefs on their bumper decided it was high time to fight back with "Trust Women/Respect Choice" plates, which would provide funds for comprehensive reproductive health services and information at Planned Parenthood.

Yet Right Wing Watch points out there's been a ridiculous twist in the House bill authorizing these plates: an amendment has decided to take the funds away from Planned Parenthood, and give them to the Virginia Pregnant Women Support Fund.

 
Restore Our Vote Roundtable (March 6, 2010) PDF Print E-mail
Written by Stephen Spitz   
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Progressive Democrats of Virginia (PDA-VA) invites lawyers, law students, and activists for ex-felons' re-enfranchisement to participate in a Restoration of Rights Roundtable on Saturday, March 6th, at Capital City Ale House in Midlothian, VA, from 12:30pm to 4pm.
Roundtable organizers want to bring together proponents for reforming Virginia's felony disenfranchisement law and supporting the federal Democracy Restoration Act of 2009 for a half day of organized discussion and strategic planning, including the following:
1) What is the status of Virginia General Assembly's legislation regarding rights restoration?
2) How can we promote the federal Democracy Restoration Act of 2009?
3) What is the impact of the recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving Washington State (Farrakhan)?
4) What are the next steps in Virginia ?
5) What are the next steps in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate?
We invite lawyers, advocates, and legislators to participate as panel contributors and/or discussion moderators. Anyone interested in being a panel contributor, please email or call Stephen Spitz at kcnspitz@aol.com or (703)845-9294 by March 1st to express your interest in participating and what you would like to talk about.
Thank you for all your work to end the injustice of Virginia's lifetime disenfranchisement law.
***
EVENT SUMMARY:
A Virginia Restoration of Rights Roundtable
Date: March 6, 2010
Time: 12:30pm-4pm.
Address: Capital City Ale House, 13831 Village Place Dr (Upstairs)
Midlothian, VA 23114
RSVP on Facebook click here
Last Updated on Friday, 19 February 2010 16:35
 
Here Comes Single Payer in Another State PDF Print E-mail
Written by David Swanson   

A bill to create single-payer healthcare in California has passed that state's senate for the third time now. Californians just need to persuade a governor to sign it. Single-payer healthcare bills are advancing in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and a growing list of states, including New Mexico, where State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino, a long-time supporter of single-payer healthcare, is running for Lieutenant Governor.

Now North Carolina house candidate Marcus Brandon has pledged to introduce a bill to create single-payer healthcare in that state. Brandon, whom I know and like and who worked for Congressman Dennis Kucinich's 2008 presidential campaign, is a candidate in North Carolina House District 60. That's near Greensboro, where I can just picture Marcus sitting at a lunch counter and refusing to be provoked.

Brandon has promised that if he is elected, the first piece of legislation he will introduce will be the "North Carolina Healthcare Act" which will provide universal single-payer healthcare to every citizen of the state.

Brandon says that he remains a supporter of national single-payer healthcare and will continue lobbying for passage of HR 676, Congressman John Conyers' bill:

"The HR 676 fight is definitely not over, but we must now strategically shift the focus to the state level.  When other states see that we can cut the cost of healthcare, streamline our medical industry, and still provide universal coverage to all North Carolinians, then all of the sudden, single-payer health care doesn't look so bad."

Brandon argues that a single-payer system could save over $1.5 billion per year in reduced bureaucracy in the state of North Carolina alone. And he speaks confidently about making this happen:

“North Carolina is poised to be the first state to adopt single-payer, once I am able to introduce it.  North Carolinians are ready for real solutions to healthcare.   North Carolina has the third  highest healthcare cost of any state, while it sags at 37th in average income.  This is a disparity that most North Carolinians feel when they have to think about healthcare.  Every day, as I am knocking on doors to talk to voters, I hear stories of people who cannot afford insurance and become victims of this for-profit industry."

Brandon says his bill is similar to other states' initiatives such as the "Minnesota Health Act" or the "California Universal Healthcare Act."  Brandon points to these two bills as excellent examples of how a single payer healthcare system could be both fiscally sound and provide full coverage.

Brandon served in 2007 and 2008 as Dennis Kucinich’s National Finance Director and Deputy Campaign Manager.  He says that Kucinich inspired him:

 
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Healthcare

article thumbnaiState Based Single Payer Movement
09 March 2010
In detail, the US Senate healthcare bill would undermine state innovation, especially state-based single payer legislative campaigns that are making tremendous headway all across the nation. The US Senate's poison-pill language preempting state initiatives/reforms until 2017 would lock in...

Afghanistan

article thumbnailAfghanistan: Necessity Isn't Always Just
14 January 2010
As Americans usher in a new year and new decade, they find themselves confronted with old problems: war and terror. The epicenter of these problems has shifted from Iraq to Central Asia - Afghanistan/Pakistan. According to the web site iCasualties.org, 953 American troops have died in Afghanistan...

Restore our Vote

article thumbnailBooks on Ex-Felon Disenfranchisement
08 March 2010
To learn more about the history and societal problems of ex-felon disenfrancisement the following books are available from Amazon.com. The Disenfranchisement of Ex-Felonsby Elizabeth HullIn fourteen states some or all former prisoners who have completed their sentences, their paroles, and the...

In the General Assembly

article thumbnailGA Bills 2-17-2010
19 February 2010
General Assembly Report, Wednesday 17 February, 2010 We have now passed "Crossover" day.  Any Senate bill that has not been passed by the Senate, and any House bill which has not beeen passed by the House, is DEAD for this year.  Here's a review of where we stand.  If you come by the General...