About 50 people that I know of are planning to attend the
Hollywood & Highland White Ribbon Single Payer Rally in
support of the Mad As Hell Doctors. There may be many more, I
really have no way to tell.
For more info and to RSVP, please go to
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/manage/gpkrw4.
I just set up a new Facebook Event page to share with your
Facebooking friends at http://is.gd/3GHmX. And if you twitter,
tweet it!
If you can't make it, please forward this to your L.A.
friends.
The Mad As Hell Doctors are very excited that Los Angeles is
supporting their D.C. Rally and have a link to our rally on
their website.
They've been care-a-vanning from Oregon to Washington, D.C.,
hitting Town Halls and having press conferences along the way,
getting lots of support and media, and I'm hoping L.A. will
come out to support them - and Universal Health Care!
EVERYBODY IN! NOBODY OUT! MEDICARE FOR ALL!
If you saw Bill Maher last night, or recently, you know that
he and Michael Moore support a single payer plan over a public
option.
Even President Obama said that if we were to start from
scratch a single payer plan would be best.
The Mad As Hell Doctors plan to propose to the President on
Wednesday in D.C. that we do just that. Start over from
scratch.
The Public Option is set up to fail and a Single Payer plan is
the answer that makes sense for the country fiscally, morally,
and logistically.
There is a lot of information explaining why this is at
www.madashelldoctors.com and at www.PNHC.org, including the
fact that private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume
one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar.
Streamlining payment through a single nonprofit payer would
save more than $400 billion per year, enough to provide
comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans. Look
at the PNHC site under Lobbying Materials for talking points,
comparisons of Public Option vs Single Payer, common myths,
etc.
I'm supporting the single payer no matter what. It's the only
viable solution. When the Public Option crumbles because it
becomes to expensive to sustain, the insurance companies and
Big Pharm will all point their fingers and say "We told
you so..." and everyone will crawl back to the insurance
companies with their tails between their legs. We need to do
the bold thing and go for real reform. Start from scratch and
not settle for less than Medicare for all. Period.
If they want to try passing a watered down bill that at least
bans pre-existing condition clauses and caps, I guess that's
better than nothing.
I wouldn't have settled for fighting to bring home 100 troops
from Viet Nam though, even though that would have been
something. We kept protesting until they all came home.
I'll keep fighting until everyone is covered and I hope you
will, too.
We have several great people scheduled to speak in Hollywood,
including Radiation Oncologist Paul Y Song, who was on Larry
King Live a few weeks ago, and Matt Hendrickson MD MPH.
We have room for a few more health care professionals or
students, politicians, activists, celebrities and/or citizens
who wish to speak about the benefits of a Single Payer Plan or
our current health care system that puts people before
profits. Please contact me if you'd like to speak or would
like to suggest someone else... Your doctor, your pastor, your
neighbor?
Want to help?
I could use help with some pretty easy tasks between now and
Wednesday night
1. Media calls and/or emails on Monday
2. Putting fliers on cars at health food stores, Trader
Joes, restaurants, gyms, hospitals? (I spent all day today
'fliering' cars in Studio City and Hollywood.)
3. Distributing fliers at Farmers Markets
4. Bringing posters and/or fliers to medical marijuana
clinics, yoga studios, dog parks, hiking trails
5. Finding progressive churches where we could put up
posters or distribute flyers... (Please post a flier at your
church on Sunday!)
6. Putting up posters at busy corners, libraries, on
community bulletin boards at senior centers, gay and lesbian
centers, extras holding?? ; )
7. Someone to take video or photographs of the rally, and
get them to me quickly to send to the media and put up on the
Mad As Hell Doctors website
8. Tie white ribbons around town (The new national symbol of
the Single Payer Movement) and/or to help writing slogans on
the ribbons I have.
9. Print single payer ribbon stickers with Avery labels on
your computer printer - I have the Avery labels packet,
someone to do the actual printing would help. (20 pages=400
stickers)
10. Any chance someone has a megaphone with an in jack to
connect an iphone so the Mad As Hell Doctors can speak to us
from D.C. at our rally? (you never know)
Ideas? Suggestions? I'm all ears.
There is also a "Window Treatment" campaign to put
an HR676 sign in your house, office or car window...
Just calling or emailing everyone you think might be
interested in coming out would be fantastic and a big help.
Many of you have already done this - Thanks! Remind them on
Monday...
But the most important thing you can do is to show up at
Hollywood and Highland on Wednesday night. Bring your own
signs, or we'll have extras for you. Wear scrubs or lab coats
if you have them.
I really want to see everyone who's come out with me before -
and meet new people too.
They aren't going to just hand this to us.
We must be as vocal and organized and VISIBLE as the
opposition. More.
Let's at least not be out-organized or marginalized!
They say that half of life is just showing up.
The Mad As Hell Doctors will be showing up in D.C. on
Wednesday. The least we can do is show up in Hollywood...
We can do this.
Cheers!
Kristin Dewey
626-375-8753