Thousands of people marched on downtown Chicago Oct. 27th to call for economic justice. Our target was the American Bankers Association -- a convention of the biggest bankers in America that was held at a fancy local hotel.

These are the same banks that took $17.8 trillion in taxpayer bailouts and backstops. Despite the continuing crisis of foreclosures and unemployment, they have spent more than $35 million of OUR dollars to fight reform in Congress.

But thanks to your support and this amazing rally, Congress is finally working on a solution. Legislation is already moving that will protect consumers, curtail outrageous CEO pay and help prevent another financial meltdown.

I've just seen that when we work together, we can send a powerful message to end Wall Street's greed and protect American consumers. Check out my video report from the streets of Chicago, and then join the fight by signing this petition to Congress and banking CEOs.

WOW. What a day. You have to see what happened October 22nd, thanks to USAction/TrueMajority organizers and our Health Care for America Now coalition.

October 22nd was the big health insurance CEO conference in Washington D.C. Seven brave families confronted the CEOs who denied them care. They were backed up by hundreds of protesters, and tens of thousands of TrueMajority/USAction members.

But don't take our word for it - check out the videos from before and during the event to see what your signatures, donations and support made happen.

Check out the videos.

Meet Melanie Shouse. A few years ago, Melanie was living the American dream when she transformed an old Dominos storefront into an expansion of her home business. But just as the store was opening, Melanie was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and given months to live.

Melanie had insurance, and she went straight to the experts at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. Working with the world-renowned doctors there, she's beaten the odds and stayed healthy for years. But now her insurance company, a subsidiary of WellPoint, is refusing to pay for the medication her doctors recommend.

So Melanie got mad. And last week Melanie went to WellPoint's local office in St. Louis to confront CEO Angela Braly - who makes almost $10 million a year in salary and stock benefits, but defends dropping people like Melanie's insurance when they get sick.

Can you back her up by signing our petition?

The only place the public option is in danger is in the US Senate - where a tiny group of Democrats and Republicans are stalling the process and trading away the most important parts of reform in the name of "bipartisanship." It's time to get these foot-draggers off the dime.

Tell your Senators: Reform won't wait - either get behind the public option and real healthcare reform or get out of the way.

http://act.truemajorityaction.org/t/120/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=35

Dr. Howard Dean has been a physician, a governor, a presidential candidate and the head of the Democratic National Committee. If there is one guy in America who knows what's wrong with our healthcare system and can make sense of the current debate, it's him.

Listen to Monday night's show with Howard Dean by clicking the play button below.

By now you've probably seen the news, but it's worth repeating: after years of work, this month we WON the battle to end the outmoded F-22 fighter jet.

That will free up billions of dollars in tax money, which can be available for projects which truly build America's strength. More importantly, though, the victory has shifted the playing field. Mere days before this historic Senate vote, the conventional wisdom was what it has always been: that you just can't kill a weapons program which defense contractors want. But t hen the program WAS voted down, by an unexpected bipartisan majority of Senators. And in a surprise announcement the very next day Rep. John Murtha, by most accounts the biggest player in the Pentagon pork business, said he wouldn't fight anymore for the F-22 jets.

The point is: the tide we have been swimming against for so long has turned.

The industry knows the same thing we do, and they don't like it: the only way to make reform work for patients and payers is to allow the option of a public insurance plan. Obama has committed to that in the past, but insurance companies are trying to talk him out of his pledge with these promises to cut some unspecified costs, some years in the future. We need to have OUR say about that.

While we couldn't get into that room with the health industry lobbyists, we DO have access to the most widely-read public forum: the local newspaper.

Write a letter to your local paper that reminds Congress and the President that health care reform needs to work for us, and demand a public option.

Ben Cohen on The Colbert Report Did you see our founder, Ben Cohen, on the Colbert Report? Click here to check it out. Unfortunately, the frisbee giveaway is over, but you can still sign up for TrueMajority.org. We'll send you quick alerts letting you know what you can do to help make America better.