Gray Panthers & Raging Grannies Band Together for Single Payer Health Care

The co-sponsors of HR676 may be found at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:HR00676:@@@P
San Franciscans: Please note, Nancy Pelosi is not on the list and neither is
Jackie Speier, both staunch Democrats. This must be a litmus test for your vote. I can hardly wait to vote for Cindy Sheehan again in November 2010.
If your congressperson is not on the list and refuses to get on this list this week, do not vote for that person.

For more on HR 676 and what you can do to help promote it, see:
http://www.hr676.org/index.html

There is no senate version, so remind your senators there should be a senate version

Then there is the Califonria version, SB810. The co-sponsors are listed at:
http://www.healthcareforall.org/SB%20810coauthors.pdf
For more on SB 810, see:
http://www.healthcareforall.org/

You should remind your federal and state representatives of the following facts:
1. 126 years ago, the German workingclass won universal healthcare, along with unemployment insurance and old age pensions (Social Security). It took the 1934 general strikes in San Francisco, Minneapolis and Toledo to win in 1935 unemployment insurance and Social Security. If Obama continues to refuse to consider single payer, then WE MUST AND WILL CARRY OUT ANOTHER GENERAL STRIKE, THIS TIME NATIONWIDE, AND PUT AN END TO THE PRIVATE PROFIT SYSTEM THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEADLY HORROR KNOWN AS PRIVATE PROFIT MEDICAL INSURANCE. And when (not if) we WIN THE GENERAL STRIKE, WE WILL NOT SETTLE FOR SINGLE PAYER; WE WILL HAVE SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, as does the entire US Congress, the president and the president's cabinet.

2. Endless polls show strong support for single payer healthcare among the public, among nurses and among 60% of doctors. The reactionary American Medical Association does not represent all doctors. The latest poll is in the New York Times and reported in the SF Chronicle, 6/21/09 at:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/06/21/MNH918AVU8.DTL
Here are the poll's results:
"The national telephone survey, which was conducted from June 12 to 16, found that 72 percent of those questioned supported a government-administered insurance plan - something like Medicare for those under 65 - that would compete for customers with private insurers. Twenty percent said they were opposed."

"But in the poll, the proposal for a government coverage plan received broad bipartisan backing, with half of those who call themselves Republicans saying they would support a public plan, along with nearly three-fourths of independents and almost nine of 10 Democrats." (50% of Republicans, 75% of independents, 90% of Democrats support single payer, and Obama still ignores single payer healthcare. He should be impeached today.)

"Sixty-four percent said they thought the federal government should guarantee health coverage, a figure that has stayed steady all decade. Nearly 6 in 10 said they would be willing to pay higher taxes to make sure that all are insured, with 4 in 10 willing to pay as much as $500 more a year."

"Three in 4 people questioned said unnecessary medical tests and treatments had become a serious problem, suggesting that they would support calls by health researchers for a payment system that would better reward appropriate care. But an even higher number, 87 percent, said the inability of people to get the tests and treatments they needed was a serious problem."

'The poll found that Americans were far less satisfied with the cost of health care than with the quality of it. Eighty-six percent of those polled said rising health costs posed a serious economic threat.'

3. Labor supports Single Payer Healthcare, including California Nurses Association, and hundreds more labor organizations. See
http://unionsforsinglepayerhr676.org/union_endorsers

4. The outstanding documentary 2007 movie, "Sicko," exposing the horror of the so-called medical system in this country, contrasting it with socialized medicine in Cuba and France, is the third most popular documentary ever.
See
http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/09/10/michael-moores-sicko-third-biggest-documentary-of-all-time/
And more on Sicko at
http://www.michaelmoore.com/sicko/index.html

THIS IS SUCH AN OVERDUE, BROAD-BASED DEMAND THAT OBAMA'S REFUSAL TO CONSIDER SINGLE-PAYER SHOULD BE GROUNDS FOR IMMEDIATE IMPEACHMENT.