[PAA-Discuss] [Win-Win] Fwd: Here Comes Single-Payer Healthcare in Another State

Wed Feb 17 18:19:36 EST 2010

Brandon in North Carolina will sign it 

     and Boyce in Texas will too .....

--- On Wed, 2/17/10, Bill Crosier <paa at crosierbiomed.com> wrote:

From: Bill Crosier <paa at crosierbiomed.com>
Subject: [Win-Win] Fwd: Here Comes Single-Payer Healthcare in Another State
To: winwinhouston at googlegroups.com, "PAA Discussion List" <discuss at paa-tx.org>
Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2010, 3:33 PM

Fwd: Here Comes Single-Payer Healthcare in Another
StateCalifornia may be leading the way for us with single payer
universal health care, if Gov. Gropenator will sign the bill -- see
article below.  Looks like some other states are geting
interested, too.

Bill

Date: Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:47:46 -0500

From: David Swanson <david at davidswanson.org>

To: "activists at lists.mayfirst.org"
<activists at lists.mayfirst.org>

Subject: [Activists] Fixed: Here Comes Single-Payer Healthcare in
Another

      State

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Here Comes Single-Payer Healthcare in Another State

By David Swanson

http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/50183

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:

"Dennis urged me to run for office so we could build a
state-by-state grassroots movement for single payer and other
progressive issues.  My campaign for the North Carolina House is
an extension of the work I did with Dennis
Kucinich."

While Kucinich has struggled unsuccessfully thus far to pass federal
legislation facilitating the state creation of single-payer healthcare
systems, states are pressign ahead and will deal with lawsuits from
"health" corporations when and if they arise.

Marcus Brandon's website is at

http://www.marcusbrandon.com

He has a primary on May 4th.  Those who want a real healthcare
system in this country would be wise to pour money into his campaign
and those of other state leaders across the country. 

Alternatively we could keep putting all our eggs in the basket of
fantasies about the United States Senate getting its act together.

--

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David Swanson is the author of the new
book "Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a
More Perfect Union" by Seven Stories Press.  You can order
it and find out when tour will be in your town: http://davidswanson.org/book.

To receive updates from After Downing
Street register at

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To subscribe to or unsubscribe from other
lists go to

http://davidswanson.org/lists

-- 

Bill Crosier

paa at crosierbiomed.com      713-641-4941

Progressive Action Alliance  
http://progressiveactionalliance.org/

KPFT - Radio for Peace - 90.1 FM Houston  
http://kpft.org

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