Working In These Times recently published an astute article on the possible inclusion of progressive financing in the final health care bill.  While regressive financing mechanisms like the excise tax are on the table, they’ve received pushback from progressives in Congress along with USAction, Citizens for Tax Justice and their coalitions with Health Care for America Now and Rebuild and Renew America Now.

USAction Program Director Alan Charney, prominently featured in the article, articulated that taxing the rich is not only a moral imperative, but smart politics:  “This excise tax was causing serious political problems with the progressive base, not just unions.”  In addition, Charney goes on to say that “the only fair way to pay for reform is to tax those who benefited from this economy:   the rich.”  The article concludes with Charney’s analysis of the financing fight: 

First, both houses of Congress pass their versions of progressive, tax-the-rich financing. Then, he hopes, “The excise tax is squeezed out, so in conference they come up with financing that doesn’t involve the excise tax anymore.” Given how far reform advocates have come on financing and keeping some form of the public option alive, these are realistic expectations for the tense health-care combat that lies ahead.  The Senate leadership’s new direction on taxation, he observes, “is a sign that there’s a better chance that the final bill will be good, and we’re helping this process along.”

Click here to read the full article.

Hundreds gathered yesterday in Chicago to mark the one year anniversary since the historic election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.  However, the anniversary event was not organized to lavish praise on our President, but to push him to act on the promises of his campaign.

“We need an America where we not only bail out the banks, but bail out the people on the bottom. People need good jobs and need to live in their homes without being foreclosed on,” USAction President William McNary said. “This is an America that should work for all of us.”

Last year’s election gave us a glimpse of the power of an organized, passionate grassroots base fighting for progressive change.  But as the health care fight has shown this is an elusive power that the progressive community must make sustainable to move legislation on the Hill.

Too many look to President Obama for this sweeping change, but Obama himself has echoed FDR’s famous “go out and make me do it” sentiment. So in the end it is on us, the people, or as President McNary says in the video below,

“Barack said ‘Yes WE can, not yes I can’. We’ve come far but we’ve got far to go.”

As the economy sheds more jobs, as more families lose homes, and as the legislative slate ahead of us gets more - not less - challenging, progressives all over the country have to be prepared to fight the powers that be for the change we seek in our country.

Today America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the lobbying arm of the insurance companies, comes to Washington, DC for a conference just as they have elevated themselves as the chief opponent of meaningful health care reform. And you can join a huge action happening tomorrow outside the AHIP conference.

We are planning to have hundreds of people from labor, community and online groups join seven people who have been harmed by the insurance industry to march in support of quality, affordable healthcare. The health insurance industry has been spending more than a million dollars a day since July, so we must show that grassroots power can overcome big lobby money to win victories that benefit people and not profits in our nation’s Capital.

As AHIP conspires to stifle reform, gut any regulation and to further profit from Americans seeking health care, you can voice your support for comprehensive health care reform with a public option on Thursday afternoon just outside their conference at the Capital Hilton. We’ll meet at the AFL-CIO headquarters at  815 16th St., NW, at 2:30 p.m. and march to the Capital Hilton. You can RSVP to attend here.

On Twitter and want to help spread the word? Tweet this:

rt @USAction In DC today? Upset w/ big insurance abuses? Rally w/ those harmed by the insurance industry! http://bit.ly/2jNLCU #p2 #hcr

As Congress prepares to return to Washington, USAction affiliates and partner organizations are participating in over a hundred rallies and other events in support of health care reform with a public health insurance option.

“Get-It-Done” events began Aug. 29 and will continue through Sept. 8, the day Congress returns from recess. They are taking place in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin and are part of several thousand events taking place nationwide, organized by Health Care for America Now, Organizing for America and other organizations.

“We want to make sure members of Congress hear a very clear message from their constituents before they return to Washington,” explained Alan Charney, USAction program director. “That message is let’s get it done. Let’s pass comprehensive reform that lowers costs, stops insurance company abuses and gives everyone the choice between private insurance and a new public health insurance option.”

Some event highlights include:

• In Scranton, PA, USAction partner Penn Action is working with two local theater groups to stage an 11-hour reading of H.R. 3200, the 1,000-page health care bill. Actors will “liven up” the reading by reading part of the bill in Spanish, pretending to be Star Trek’s William Shatner and adding dramatic or comedic effect when necessary. The event will culminate in a candlelight vigil for health care that evening.
• In Bismarck, ND, NDPeople and SEIU are holding a rally and concert featuring five bands.
• In Davenport, IA, members of Iowa Citizen Action Network will help Organizing for America deliver 2,000 Band-Aids symbolizing the need for health care reform to a local congressional district office. Rest assured that the Band-Aids won’t go to waste – they will be donated to a local clinic.
• In Columbus, OH, more than 1,000 people are expected to turn out for a tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy. Speakers include Senator Sherrod Brown, Ohio AFL-CIO President Joe Rugola, SEIU nurse Barb Montgomery, USAction President William McNary, Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Representative Mary Jo Kilroy and Mayor Michael Coleman.
• In addition, large, successful rallies were held this past weekend in New York City, Fargo, ND and Orlando, FL.
• More than 300 volunteers from TrueMajority.org, the online arm of USAction, are helping USAction affiliates with turnout by phone banking supporters of health care reform.

USAction affiliates and other advocacy groups around the country are helping to turn the tide on health care reform, and because of their hard work and dedication, we are one step closer to passing quality, affordable health care for all.

Last week, USAction sent me back to Upstate NY, my stomping grounds of 18 years, to help our New York affiliate, Citizen Action of New York (CANY).  The area is currently buzzing with political activity, especially around moderate Congressmen Michael Arcuri and Eric Massa, both Blue Dog Democrats.

The night I flew back into town, fellow activists and I went to a town hall meeting for Representative Arcuri.    Although we got there at the starting time, the room was already full, and along with about a hundred other people, we were sequestered to the lobby of an academic building at Utica College, where we were told that folks would be let in when others came out.

We took the opportunity to “work the room” by recruiting volunteers and talking to undecides.   Our quest, however, was not without obstacles.  While about half of the attendees were on our side and wanted to get involved, I was amazed at how many people were incredible vitriolic and had bought into the health care reform myths.  The most common myths I heard were:

• The bill has death panels
• The bill will force us to have abortions
• There are really only 4-5 million people uninsured
• Health care reform will lead us down a path towards socialism.

For a split second, I had wondered where these people could have possibly gotten such false notions.  Then when some protesters started chanting “God Bless Fox News,” I got my answer.   I’m not going to spend time rebuffing these falsehoods, but Media Matters produced a great piece on clearing up these myths.  Be sure to check it out here.

While I and other pro-reform activists were advocating for a public health insurance option, focusing on the facts and recruiting volunteers, the opposition resorted to intimidation and insults.  In the course of a few minutes I was told to “stop listening to my college professors” and “go back to my Communist country and listen to Rachel Maddow.”  Little did he know, The Rachel Maddow Show wasn’t on for another three and a half hours.

Anyway, during and after the event, we ended up passing out a lot of flyers for the upcoming teach-in and signing-up over 80 people for various activities, including contacting the Congressman and participating in events.  It was really rewarding to see people’s favorable reactions to us and willingness to volunteer for upcoming activities.  In addition, after the meeting was finished, some of the people we had talked to helped us hold up signs and provide more visibility.

Seeing the energy from activists on both sides gave me a much-needed energy boost to get back to work.  It was refreshing to spend some time outside of the Beltway bubble and in the field where the rubber meets the road.  Amid the angry protesters, it was amazing to be around such positive energy and activists dedicated to a cause that may be the biggest political fight of our lifetimes.  The work that CANY and other activists have been doing around health care for the past year and a half is truly remarkable.  While it is unfortunate that that some angry residents of Utica, NY acted like childish bullies, this is one of the most important votes that Congressman Arcuri and others will take, and I, along with the majority of America, hope that he will vote in favor of quality, affordable health care with a public health insurance option.

As the debate over health care reform heats up, an effort to place a billboard in U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt’s home district has been, well, blunted.

The billboard was to have featured a picture of Blunt with the words: “Roy Blunt has taken $556,682 in contributions from the insurance industry. Is that why he won’t take our side on health care reform?”

USAction and its Missouri affiliate, Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, had arranged to place the billboard in downtown Springfield. However, the groups were informed Thursday that it was being rejected based on political content.

“Roy Blunt, the target of this smear campaign, is a local politician and has been a strong proponent of Outdoor Advertising in Missouri for a number of years,” Lamar Advertising Company said in an email message. “As much as we would always love the business, we will have to respectfully decline.”

The move comes after Blunt tried, and failed, to have a radio spot taken off the air pointing out that the senior Republican congressman has taken more than half a million dollars worth of campaign contributions from the insurance industry and is working to defeat health care reform. A second radio ad – currently running on four Springfield stations — also points out that Blunt has questioned the worthiness of Medicare.

USAction Program Director Alan Charney said alternate plans are being made to get the word out about Blunt’s connections to the insurance industry and refusal to support quality, affordable health care for his constituents. “We’re guessing that there are newspapers in Congressman Blunt’s district that would welcome our business and won’t discriminate based on content,” Charney said.

Julie Burkhart, executive director of Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition, added that Blunt should stand up for his constituents’ ability to afford health care as strongly as he has stood for Missouri’s outdoor billboard industry. “After all,” she said, “Billboards don’t get sick or get dropped from coverage or see their premiums double. People do.”

You can view a PDF of the rejected billboard at www.usaction.org/bluntbillboard.

It’s August, and you know what that means.  No, I’m not talking about President Obama’s birthday, the American Idol auditions or my parents’ anniversary.  August signals the Congressional recess, which means members of Congress are holding town hall meetings and other events back in their home districts in an attempt to hear from their constituents.  While these events are meant to be productive settings for activists and other civically-engaged people to express themselves and ask questions, they have also become forums for every right-wing wacko to come out of the woodwork.

After over a year and a half of organizing, affiliates of USAction, Health Care for America Now and other progressive organizations are facing opposition from angry protesters who are working to undermine health insurance reform.  As I wrote last April around tax day, these radicals are not only fighting against a public insurance option, but are also voicing their opposition to immigration, abortion, LGBT rights, tax justice, President Obama’s citizenship and anything else they can think of to rile up the troops.

While these protests are meant to look like an organic outpouring of grassroots activity, they are largely associated with the insurance industry and right-wing fringe groups.  Their tactics are also part of a larger coordinated operation.  FreedomWorks (a conservative, lobbyist-run group) released a memo entitled “Rocking the Town Halls,” (Thanks to ThinkProgress for uncovering this) which provided instructions to protesters for disrupting the town halls:

• “Artificially Inflate Your Numbers” - spread out and congregate in the back of the room to seem like a majority of the attendants.
• “Be Disruptive Early and Often” - seize opportunities to yell and interrupt the congressman.
• ”Try To ‘Rattle Him,’ Not Have An Intelligent Debate” - rattle the congressman before he takes questions.

Real mature.  I’d compare them to five year-olds, but I would never insult children like that.

These hostile protesters seem to have taken this memo to heart and have really pushed the boundaries of civil discourse.  Numerous examples illustrate their angry, disruptive spectacles, but here are just a few: 

• Representative Frank Kratovil was hung in effigy a couple of weeks ago by an anti-healthcare reform protester at a Tea Party event in Maryland.
• Violence erupted last week at a town hall meeting in Tampa, FL, where right-wing activists were incredibly disruptive and police had to break up fights.   “The insurance industry and … Republican activists are manufacturing a lot of these phony protests,” said Congresswoman Kathy Castor, the sponsor of the event.
• At a town hall meeting in Texas, hecklers shouted down Representative Gene Green, and later admitted that they did not live in the district.
• Representative Brad Miller of North Carolina announced he will not be holding any town hall meetings during the recess due to threatening phone calls, including at least one death threat.

While the right-wing mobs are receiving most of the media attention, they do not reflect the will of the American people, a majority of whom support having a public option.  Health Care for America Now is organizing recess events throughout the country (find one on your area here) and turning out tens of thousands of people to have a spirited discussion with their member of Congress (uncivil discourse has never been encouraged), including events in New York and Pennsylvania.

Health reform advocates should be proud that they are not resorting to the violent, juvenile tactics of the right.  No one ever said achieving health care reform would be easy, but with continued innovation and organization, we will achieve quality, affordable health care for all.

Yesterday’s U.S. Senate vote to end funding for new and unnecessary F-22 fighter jets shows a new willingness among some members of Congress to examine wasteful Pentagon spending, despite the considerable amount of influence defense contractors wield, USAction said Tuesday.

Matt Holland, Pentagon Budget Campaign Director for USAction/TrueMajority, is quoted in The Nation’s blog, The Beat, speaking on the Senate defeat of the F-22s:

“‘Common sense wins out,’” declared Holland. “’Now we will see if House members get the message. The old ways are dead, and from here on out voters will be scrutinizing the Pentagon budget to scrub wasteful and obsolete weapons systems.’”

USAction/TrueMajority helped build the  “True Security” coalition, which is leading the way nationally in educating the public about wasteful defense spending in general and F-22 fighter jets in particular. Members of the coalition include VoteVets, Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, Taxpayers for Common Sense, Common Cause, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Women’s Action for New Directions and other groups.

As part of their campaign to thoroughly examine military spending, USAction/True majority has released a new report, Putting the Pork out to Pasture, that profiles the web of connections between powerful weapons manufacturers and House appropriators.

Politico announced that stemming from this report, Truemajority.org will begin airing a radio ad today in the St. Petersburg, Florida district of Congress member C.W. Bill Young, who took more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from defense contractors and repeatedly did their bidding in a House defense subcommittee and on the House floor. Congressman Young is one of a handful of Representatives who write the FY10 Defense Appropriations bill, which includes the F-22.

The ad features Mike Burns – a former US Air Force pilot and POW who spent years in the same ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prison camp as Senator McCain – who calls on Congressman Young to reject his campaign contributors and vote to end the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. Burns is a member of Florida Veterans for Common Sense, a group that works to bring responsibility and effectiveness to military decisions.

“This is one of the most worthless and unnecessary programs and we’ve spent 30 years dumping money into it,” Burns says in the ad, “I’m asking Congressman Young to vote against [the F-22]. Be a lion, not a gopher for Lockheed Martin.”

In addition to this ad campaign, USAction/TrueMajority’s half a million members have pledged to keep pressure on any member of Congress who continues to spend billions on weapons we do not need while lining their campaign war chests with money from weapons builders.

Yesterday’s vote to reject spending on F-22s is a step in the right direction towards investing in true national priorities and standing strong against “purveyors of pentagon pork” in Congress!

Representative Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) probably expected a smooth reception from constituents yesterday morning at a public event held in Kenilworth, Ill.  Instead, he was met by over 50 activists from Illinois Citizen Action (an affiliate of USAction) and Health Care for America Now holding their representative accountable and stressing the importance of health care reform, including a public option.  The activists chanted “Health Care Now” while sharing their personal struggles with each other and the media. 

When confronted by a constituent after the rally on why he won’t support a public option, Kirk reluctantly answered “we can’t afford to insure everyone.”  It’s interesting that Kirk fashions himself a champion of fiscal responsibility, considering that he voted for the 2001 $1.35 trillion Bush tax cuts and their extension in 2003, tax breaks for corporations to ship jobs overseas and the war in Iraq.  These votes seem to be indicative of Kirk’s priorities:  he values the interests of the wealthy, corporations and military industrial complex over the uninsured people in his district and around the country.

Rep. Kirk described himself as “a Republican reformer with a commitment to honor and integrity” who possesses “thoughtful, independent leadership.”  However, Kirk refuses to support reforming the broken health care system and step away from the party line.  Calling himself an independent reformer makes about as much sense as the posts on Chuck Grassley’s Twitter page.

This public demonstration coincides with Congress’ development of health care reform and mechanisms to finance it.  Both activists and public officials are on the brink of making monumental progress towards making health care more affordable and insuring almost 50 million Americans, and Representative Kirk is currently on the wrong side of history and his priorities are out of touch with the needs of the American people.  Because 72% of Americans favor a public option, it is extremely important to hold our elected officials accountable and let them know that the road to elective office runs through health care.

A new report - Putting the Pork out to Pasture- issued today by True Majority highlights the link between pork barrel defense projects and campaign contributions. The report shows connections between powerful weapons manufacturers and contributions to members of the House Appropriations Defense Sub-Committee.

The report documents that more than 18 members of the subcommittee have inserted more than $355 million in earmarks into the last defense spending bill on behalf of their campaign contributors. Those contributors, in turn, donated $1.3 million to members who sponsored their earmarks.

“It’s unconscionable that the public servants charged with spending our money to keep America safe appear to be trading billion-dollar weapons contracts for cold, hard campaign cash,” said Matt Holland, Pentagon Budget Campaign Director of USAction/TrueMajority.

The most recent example of the battle to eliminate funding for outdated weapons systems is ongoing in Congress. Despite a veto threat, Pentagon opposition, and serious reliability problems, Congress has repeatedly voted to spend between $500 million and $1.75 billion to keep manufacturing the F-22 fighter jet.

“Weapons like the F-22 do not make us safer, but they do make weapons manufacturers rich. And when those same corporations are spending millions of dollars on our Congress – the public has a right to know, and get outraged,” said Holland.

USAction/TrueMajority’s half a million members have pledged to keep pressure on the Appropriations Committee by running broadcast ads and bringing constituent pressure to bear in the home district of any member who continues to spend billions on unnecessary weapons while larding their campaign war chests with money from weapons builders.

To read the entire report click here.