FDL is holding a fundraiser RIGHT NOW (12-2p ET) for Jonathan Tasini with David Swanson (Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union).
If you can walk and chew gum at the same time (continue your immediate healthcare reform efforts in whatever form they may take AND think long term), please join the conversation.
Here's what David Swanson writes in his introduction of Jonathan Tasini:
Imagine electing a senator from New York who will lead the movement for single-payer Medicare for All, real healthcare reform, a senator not bought and paid for by the Sickness Industry, a senator not afraid to back his constituents over the “leaders” of his party, a senator skilled at telling the corporate media what the agenda is rather than allowing them to tell him.
This is a real possibility now, and we should seize it. We should seize it early in order to set an example for other states, other candidates, and the incumbents now in office. New York has only an appointed senator at the moment, Kirsten Gillibrand, filling in for Hillary Clinton who left to become Secretary of State. This is a terrific opportunity to elect a new leader, and I can’t imagine anyone better than Jonathan Tasini to place in the United States Senate, an institution — if ever there was one — in need of shaking up, rattling about, hosing down, and radically redirecting.
Our nation is in a state of fury over the ownership of the U.S. Senate by Wall Street, and New York might just be in the mood to elect a new senator free of its corruption and eager to take on its abuses, including those of the misnamed “healthcare industry.” Here are Jonathan’s own words:
My commitment to you is this: the very first piece of legislation that I will fight for as a United States Senator will be to make single-payer health care a reality. . . . Think of this: insurance companies waste billions of dollars every year in the pursuit of one goal — to deny people health care treatment! Why Medicare? It is by far the most efficient part of our national health care system. The administrative costs of the Medicare system are tiny: just 2 percent. Private insurers are ripping us off because we pay for their bureaucracies, executive pay and benefits, and advertising, which adds up to a mind-boggling 25 percent of costs. We should let firms and individuals buy into the Medicare system, taking advantage of its lower costs. The Medicaid system could also be rolled into Medicare, allowing for further savings by eliminating unnecessary duplication. The expanded Medicare system should use its buying power to push down the prices of pharmaceutical, medical equipment, and other costs in order to bring health care expenses in the United States under control and provide coverage for the uninsured.
please join me at FDL right NOW to talk with Jonathan and David.