The Mad As Hell Doctors (MAHD) are a group of Oregonian physicians lobbying for single payer health care by traveling from Oregon to Washington DC, meeting with mad as hell citizens in rallies across the country. They are holding a rally in Nashville, TN today, and will hold a rally today, Monday, beginning at 4:30 p.m., along Charlotte Avenue at 25th Avenue South.
I know that the majority here think that single payer is a dead issue, something that no amount of supernatural force can resurrect. But I also know that most see the Public Option simply as a way to GET to single payer. I've had the joy of living in Sweden, where single payer is a reality. I've seen the difference between those who do not live in fear of an illness and those who do. I believe that single payer is eventually, hopefully, inevitable...why not get it right the first time?
Listen to these doctors and their impassioned plea to GET IT RIGHT.
From their website:
Slow things down.
Don't calculate political wins and losses.
Give health care reform the time it needs.
We want to help.
Let's restart the effort and take Health Care legislation off the table until the Spring session of Congress. In the meantime, let's use HR 676 as a starting point for a new health care conversation and empower MAHD physician-citizens to seek out the best minds from America's vast resource of inspired health care professionals. We will then assemble these individuals into a working team that does not include anyone from the private Health Insurance Industry, the Pharmaceutical Industry, or anyone currently holding public office. Their assignment will be to craft a thoughtful, actionable single payer health care model, uniquely tailored for America, that the entire country can comprehend.
MAHD will then present this model to you, to Congress, to the Senate and to the entire country for their consideration. In the true spirit of competition, let all comers do the same: craft a plan, present it alongside the other plans and submit it to the American people for their review and approval.
Health Care is too important to rush. As physicians who have sworn an oath of care, we feel that health justice is the next great, social movement in America that will restore dignity and security to this generation and to generations yet to be.
Mr. President, we can begin immediately.
They want to get it right...they believe that EVERYBODY should be in, no one left out. They were shocked when Senator Baucus released his 'non-plan'...
When Senator Max Baucus announced his health care proposal a number of us, myself included, felt like we had been sold down the river. Written by a Baucus aide who has been a health insurance industry executive this was just more of the same old corporate theft. The Senator came pretty cheaply only costing the insurance industry about $3 million dollars in campaign donations to provide them with billions in future profits.
They believe they can do better...they believe America can do better. Who are these doctors?
Dr. Paul Hochfeld, Emergency Room Physician, Good Samaritan, Corvallis, OR
Dr. Gene Uphoff, Family Physician, Portland, OR
Dr. Katherine Ottaway, Family Physician, Port Townsend, WA
Dr. Paul Gorman, Family Physician, Portland, OR
Dr. Barbara Blaylock, Retired Primary Care Internist, Rockville, MD
Dr. Samuel Metz, Anesthesiologist, Portland, OR
Dr. Mike Huntington, Radiation Oncologist, Corvallis, OR
Dr. Joe Eusterman, Retired Internal Medicine, Portland, OR
Dr. Bob Seward, Internal Medicine, Forest Grove, OR
Dr. Marc Sapir, Primary Care Physician, Alameda, CA
What are they mad about?
The short of it...
The long of it...
Their mission will culminate in Lafayette Park, in Washington DC, on September 30th...in their own dreams, they describe the day.
Imagine a meeting in Lafayette Park on September 30th...
Thousands of cars pulling into Washington D.C., with Winnie in the lead, headed for a single payer rally in front of the White House. The sidewalks are filled with supporters carrying signs in support of the Mad As Hell Doctors who have captured the imagination and the ignited the passion of their fellow citizens. We wave and honk at the camera crews, as do the endless line of cars behind us, as we wend our way toward the White House. On every antenna, on the backside of every car, and flapping like flags from sidewalk supporters, is the symbol of this new movement: the White Ribbon.
When we arrive, we go directly to a conference table with chair for all the doctors - plus one for President Obama. From our place in front of the White House lawn we place a call to President Obama, requesting again that he meet with to discuss the social, moral and fiscal imperative of instituting a true single payer system at this moment in our history. Meanwhile, the throngs of single-payer true believers are passing out ribbons to the press, to pedestrians and to the multitude of people waiting for the President to Arrive. Politicians, celebrities, entertainers and hand selected citizens stand at the microphone one after the other, offering testimonials and expressing outrage at a corrupted health care system that puts profit before people. Our message to the President and Congress is clear:
Single Payer is the Solution. We Demand it Now.
We know it's going to take a miracle to make this happen. It's going to take boldness, courage, commitment, a busload of faith and a lot of resources to rally the American people to the cause of Single Payer. But with hundreds of thousands of voices, all singing in unison, in the same place, at the same, we will not be denied.
Please help us make this movement a reality. It's now or never for Single Payer. Help us construct a miracle.
Join them in their quest. If you can't join the Care-A-Van, watch Dr. Hochfeld on the Ed Show. Get mad as hell, and join them at one of these rallies along the way...
Mad as Hell in Nashville!
Hospital Corporation of America
Charlotte Ave & 25th Ave. N.
5:00pm
Contact: Warren Duzak
Email: wduzak@hotmail.com
September 22
Mad as Hell in Louisville!
Humana Insurance Headquarters
500 W. Main Street
12:00noon
Contact: Garrett Adams
Email: kyhealthcare@aol.com
Mad as Hell in Louisville!
Jefferson County Public Health Dept.
400 E. Gray
3:00pm
Contact: Garrett Adams
Email: kyhealthcare@aol.com
Mad as Hell in Louisville/Jeffersonville!
Clark Memorial Bridge Candlelight Walk
Southern Indiana Ave & North Shore Drive
7:30pm
Contact: Garrett Adams
Email: kyhealthcare@aol.com
September 23
Mad as Hell in Xenia!
Express Yourself
78 E. Main
11:00am
Contact: Sheilah Conard
Email: cshyloc@aol.com
Mad as Hell in Dayton!
Wright State University
Student Union
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy.
1:00pm
Contact: Sheilah Conard
Email: cshyloc@aol.com
Mad as Hell in Yellow Springs!
Emporium Coffee Shop
233 Xenia Avenue
3:00pm
Contact: Anne Whitaker
Email: whitaker_anne&yahoo.com
Mad as Hell in Xenia!
Greene County Social Service Bldg.
130 W. 2nd Street
7:00pm
Contact: Sheilah Conard
Email: cshyloc@aol.com
September 24
Mad as Hell in Detroit!
Wayne State University
Warren & Woodward Ave.
4:30pm
Contact: Delphine Palkowski
Email: delpal68@sbcglobal.net
Mad as Hell in Detroit!
Sacred Heart Church
3451 Rivard St.
6:00pm (Press Conference)
6:30pm (Town Hall)
Contact: Delphine Palkowski
Email: delpal68@sbcglobal.net
September 25
Mad as Hell in Chicago!
SK-Tool (Union Strike)
Contingent upon continuing strike
3535 W 47th St.
1:00pm
Contact: Sonja Rotenberg
Email: sonja.rotenberg@gmail.com
If you can't join them, consider supporting them on their journey toward a better health care for all!