On 2010-09-19, at 11:35 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> On Sep 19, 2010, at 6:01 PM, Marv Gandall wrote:
>
>> it was well within the realm of possibility for US capitalism to move towards a European/Canadian universal health care system
>
> Really? Can't you see what this place is like?
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Perhaps you're right; you live in the US, after all, and I only visit.
But, then again, there are many other Americans who evidently do see the reform as possible under US capitalism and have been fighting for it, and I expect a large number will continue to do so despite their failure to secure single payer or even a public option from this administration. See the listing below.
I have some friends who are active in this movement. I don't at all regard them as "naive" for seeing a Democratic administration at this juncture as the ONLY vehicle through which it might be obtained. Believe me, they have no more illusions than you or I about Obama - and had none before he was elected. They were as aware as any of us on the list, perhaps even more so, about how how Obama's own political views, the constraints of his office, and the power of the private healthcare industry, would all conspire against the prospect of meaningful reform.
I expect the physicians, nurses, seniors, and trade unionists with whom my friends were collaborating were not much more inclined to entrust their hopes to the campaign promises of politicians, though recognizing the need to keep encouraging and pressuring them to follow through. It would conform to my past experience up here with "mainstream" liberals and social democrats and trade unionists active in other reform movements. Unlike some of other far left friends who have tended to absent themselves from these grinding prosaic struggles, the "mainstream" folks who participate in them are less inclined to blame their defeats on the personal failings or "betrayals" of their leaders than on the power of their adversaries and the structured way in which the system thwarts change. In this sense, I think they demonstrate a greater political sophistication than those who pride themselves on their political sophistication.
We also met some other people on our recent trip to the States who are active in the fight against education cutbacks and privatization. Most of the teachers and parents involved on this front are also Democrats without any particular illusions about Obama or the party leadership, but who back the party for PRACTICAL reasons as the only available means of defending their interests in the legislatures, courts, and regulatory agencies. The same holds true for the other component parts of the DP base - blacks, hispanics, feminists, gays, environmentalists, pacifists, civil libertarians, etc. - something which a signficant part of the marginalized US left refuses to accept.
Organizations and Government Bodies Endorsing HR 676 / Single Payer
1. American Medical Student Association (AMSA) (link)
2. Falls City Medical Society, Kentucky
3. Kentucky Psychiatric Medical Association
4. Health Care for All Texas (link)
5. National Health Care for the Homeless Council (link)
6. Health Care for the Homeless, Inc. (link)
7. American Association of Community Psychiatrists
8. American Medical Women’s Association
9. National Medical Association
10. American Nurses Association
11. American Public Health Association
12. California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee
13. National Association of Social Workers
14. Puertorican College of Physicians and Surgeons
15. American Medical Student Association — University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine
16. New Mexico Network of Health Professionals for a National Health Program
17. CA Health Professional Student Alliance
Faith Organizations
1. Assembly of the Urban Caucus of the Episcopal Church
2. General Board on Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church
3. Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
4. Church Women United
5. Social Justice and Ministry Committee of Saint John the Baptist Parish, Collegeville, MN
6. Unitarian Universalists Association of Congregations
State Governments
[…]
Local Governments
[…]
Political Organizations
1. Progressive Democrats of America
2. U.S. Green Party
3. Colorado Democratic Party
4. Woolwich, Maine Democratic Committee
5. Single-Payer Action Network (SPAN), Ohio
6. Chester County Pennsylvania Democratic Committee
7. Meyerland Area Democratic Club , Houston, TX
8. West University Area Democrats, Houston, TX
9. Democratic Party of Milwaukee County
10. Skagit County Democratic Party
11. Butte-Silver Bow County Democratic Central Committee, MT
Civic/Community Organizations
1. League of Women Voters
2. Americans for Democratic Action
3. US Public Interest Research Group
4. OWL
5. Peace, Living Wage, Universal Health Care Coalition (Wilmington, DE)
6. Women’s Community Cancer Project (Cambridge, MA)
7. Patriots for Change (Chagrin Falls, OH)
8. Consumer Federation of America
9. Consumers Union
10. National Council of Senior Citizens
11. National Family Farm Coalition
12. The U.S. Conference of Mayors
13. American Library Association
14. Results
15. Midcoast Health Care Reform (South Thomaston, Maine)
16. City of Richmond Commission on Aging
17. Human Rights Justice Forum
18. Alliance for Retired Americans (ARA), Cape May County, NJ Chapter #01042
19. Our Bodies, Ourselves
20. Amnesty International
Labor Organizations
(See link for complete listing)
HR 676 has been endorsed by 508 union organizations in 49 states. Endorsers include 124 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 state AFL-CIO’s (KY, PA, CT, OH, DE, ND, WA, SC, WY, VT, FL, WI, WV, SD, NC, MO, MN, ME, AR, MD-DC, TX, IA, AZ, TN, OR, GA, OK, KS, CO, IN, AL, CA , AK, MI, MT, NE, NY, NV & MA).
The following 20 international/national unions have endorsed HR 676: USW, UAW, NEA, ILWU, NALC, IAM&AW, UA (Plumbers & Pipefitters), AFM (Musicians), UE, CNA/NNOC, SMWIA, IFPTE, OPEIU, UTU, SEIU, AFT, AFSCME, CSEA (California School Employees Association), UWUA, & CWA.
http://www.pnhp.org/print/action/organizations-and-government-bodies-endorsing-hr-676-single-payer