No Rest in the Summer of Shove

I just gave another $25 to the fund, wish it were more.

Everybody: Hope you'll give a bit to help continue Al's work.

He is read by many people and journalists the world around, and his prescience on issues helps us all to understand the workings of our political world.  Our dollars given to the Authentic Fund will go far, in ways that we don't know, and even Al can't know.

We've all seen matching contributions at work in other fundraising drives, where someone pays a dollar for every dollar given within a particular time frame.  Well, our dollars for the Authentic Fund also pack a wallop.  For example, if the words written here were to have the influence to end the drug war a day earlier, and thus save the life of some innocent bystander who would otherwise have been in the line of fire somewhere in the world, just think what work we've done.

(Al didn't put me up to this post.  It was my own idea.)

Hi Al: I attended an OFA meeting on healthcare in Salt Lake City last Saturday. About 20 people were there- we've committed to two activities in response to Barack's call for national action on June 27. Just about everyone at this meeting was in favor of SINGLE PAYER. I think it's super important that we citizens speak up about this now- the pace of legislation development in DC is really picking up, and our reliably in-the-tank-for-the-status-quo legislators are already digging in to defend the indefensible. I hope that people are paying attention to this! Keep up the great work.

When I signed up for the event in my meighborhood my wife and I were the only attendees.  When I checked on Friday there were 60... The event ended up split into three groups for manageable size.  It was run by three doctors that are part of Physicians for a National Health Program.  While that group is (I believe) strongly for single-payer over a public option, the guy leading our group felt he was an Obama guy, and would be backing the program Obama puts forward.  Some are single-payer or nothing (a tactic I sympathize with - the public option has risks that could end up making any public health care look bad...).

Anyway, it was an interesting meeting, and notably my wife and I (at 51 and 40) were probably about the youngest people there.  The time was mainly spent with the guy in charge just helping people understand the difference between the policies being suggested.  And (as usual) there was a certain percentage of folks that wanted to gripe about their particular health care peeve.  It was a bit frustrating for me since I wanted more action oriented agenda, but we just didn't really get there.  But the information presented was good, and certainly motivated me about the seriousness of the issue, and the urgency of any action we actually take.  This stuff is happening NOW.

It's frustrating to see how litte chance single-payer has, and even the threats to any public option whatsoever.  The single payer side of me thinks, "Fine.  Let private insurance die under its own weight, without a public plan there to blame it all on."

So, I'm pursuing my own agenda since none was agreed on at the meeting.  But I'll gather more folks myself, and really aim to have them hit the ground running at a meeting I'll host as part of the OFA June 27th call to action day.

So the bottom line, it was good to see the turnout, I wish it had been a more action oriented group, and nonetheless I'm fired up and ready to go.

I hosted a kickoff party for 17 people in my Philadelphia home on Saturday evening.  As I sat and listened to the discussion I was struck by how much my world has changed since Obama began his run for the presidency.  Here I was, a 60 year old woman, hosting a room full of strangers who had come together to make a difference. This is what we hoped for in the sixties, and Obama has made it a reality.

Thanks for all the good stuff you do. I learn so much here.

I hosted in the Fruitvale district. Had a small turnout, but the folks who came were passionate about the issue. Most were proponents of single payer, while also agreeing it is unlikely that the single payer will get through the current congress. All felt that any plan without a public option would be unacceptable. Most saw the public option as being on the continuum towards single payer. There were a variety of folks, all impacted by healthcare issues. One teacher, who is eligible to retire, but does not want to, may be forced to retire in order to assure her lifetime health benefits, which she provides to her family, as future retirees in the school district will likely lose this benefit. A retired teacher has benefits, but worries about her daughter who does not. A home health care worker's children are covered under Healthy Families, which our governor seems intent upon cutting. One attendee was a 50ish woman recently divorced and recently unemployed without any health benefits; through tears she talked about how scared she was. We all had our stories, and they were all compelling. The one person who was satisfied and comfortable with his healthcare was a veteran who said he receives great care. However, he attended the meeting because (in his words) he was "afflicted with an incurable condition -- a social conscience." He was also a still-working 90 year old artist and former community organizer who had worked with Saul Alinsky!

For the Day of Service on the 27th, we decided to do a healthcare access/information event in this neighborhood; and since OFA is collecting people's stories, we decided to incorporate an "oral history" kind of project. This is largely an immigrant neighborhood, and English is a second language for many folks, and many are monolingual. We wanted to be sure all their stories are told, and figured that taking stories by tape recorder, allowing people to tell them without having to write them would be sure all voices are heard. We plan to collaborate with a community agency. We are meeting on the 15th to do phone outreach with the "Neighbor to Neighbor" tool provided by the OFA website.

Lastly, at least two of us, maybe three, are going to Camp Obama this weekend in SF.

Al, Another $20 is coming, but not until the 20th. However, it's a monthly commitment on my part.

One concern that received a lot of discussion was the number of primary care physicians that would be required to handle an influx of almost 50 million uninsured. The question from a primary care physician friend of one of the attendees was "who is going to provide the care?" Given the disparity of compensation for PCP's as opposed to specialists, fewer PCP's are coming out of medical school. Is there discussion taking place nationally in this regard?

You've brought up my key concern. It came to the surface for me after I got a listen to "The Doctor Can't See You Now" a couple of years ago.

Study after study shows that better access to primary care means better health-patients have lower rates of death from diseases such as treatable cancers, diabetes, and stroke, and are less likely to wind up in the hospital or emergency room- and it saves money.

But even in a state like Massachusetts, where there are m ore primary care physicians per capita than anywhere else in the nation, patients are experiencing longer waits to get in to see their doctor, and many cannot find a primary care physician at all.

With an aging population that uses healthcare more we are on the road to some very serious problems. This has to be addressed in conjunction with healthcare coverage plans or we are just setting ourselves up for failure.

Also see THIS LINK

i lost my wallet (go figure), and need to get new credit cards, etc. but i'm in for $100 by the end of the week.

Does this mean you're not planning to attend Netroots nation this year?

Democrat for US Senate (Wisconsin 2012)

My wife and I attended a small healthcare kickoff event in Dallas, attended by perhaps 12 people.  While most of us expected to hear something from the leadership as to policy, instead we were encouraged to share personal stories about healthcare and leave policy discussions for a future date.  Most attendees were much more interested in discussing their ideas for policy and the meeting lost a lot of steam when the focus was taken away from those desires.  The host seemed pretty deflated when, at the end, only my wife and I remained and only a meager hope for a service event had been attained.  I look forward to more energetic future meetings.  My wife and I are 29 and 28, and we were the youngest in the room by 30 years at least.  Hope more young people get involved, too.

C'mon, Field readers, let's hit Al's $15k goal ahead of schedule, so that he can concentrate on authentic journalism rather than fundraising!

Thanks for the link... although it served to add to my anxiety! This is exactly what was being discussed in my home at the meeting. I am at work, and only have a second.. but what occurred to me as I was reading the article are the nurse practioners I have known over the years. They were skilled and practical, and I always loved that they had more time to spend than the physicians... while we advocate for more PCP's, perhaps the time has come for widespread recognition of nurse practioners and their ability to help fill the void... Just a thought.

I hosted an OFA meeting at my house with 15 people attending.  We decided on a service project, shared healthcare stories, made phone calls, and planned recruitment activities.  We will have 3 recruitment events per week as well as three phonebanks.  Also, all of the participants took home call lists and are continuing to make calls from home.

There is going to be a Volunteer Expo on June 19th from 2-6 pm at Westchester County Center in White Plains "in answer to President's call to service."  More info at WestchesterGov website.  Hope to go.  Will report back.

Al, I just threw in $35. Things are tough right now as we all know, but I find your writing to be incredibly informative and inspirational, so priorities have to be made.  And I will always remember how you got us through the primaries and general election.  I'm looking forward to the summer of shove.

Kensington Ken (formerly Merced Ken)

Nice to see McAuliffe was sent packing - look forward to a follow up on that one.

And the tip jar has been tipped...

I found my wallet, totalled my unpaid reimbursements, and found $100 for the cause.

If there were any doubts, the McAulliffe post (and the place to celebrate!) reminded me why.

Well, that and because Al was the only other person I saw supporting Obama's no mandatory buy-in on principle. Most every friend of mine wants people to have an affordable option, but not be forced to turn their health care over to a dubious medical system.

Well, that and the great health care party posts from readers. My little kid and I are going to give the door-to-door knocking another go-around this summer (while the pregnant wife sits at home).

When I look at my nice state employee benefits, it kills me that so many people dont have that as an option.

What's also weird to me is that I think corporate or state employer-based health care is killing innovation in this country, but it's never talked about. So many talented people I know take a job doing something else for the health care.

here's another $50 - c'mon folks ante up......as they say on snl, "really???"  as in, why is the obvious taking so long?

I thought for sure we could meet Al's small fundraising goal, but it doesn't look like it's happening.

A client paid me, so I was able to add a second $25.

Journalists!  Get your boss to help you support Al as one of your sources, or dig into your bonus money (sorry if the economy ate into yours) to help your compatriot and oft-times source or sharer of ideas!