HELP! I just got this bit of news from the head of our local Dem Club:
Well, I saw a scroll on the news tonight:
Schwarzenegger plans to veto SB 840.
(follow me... (stupid diary rules...) --->
Please: tomorrow take the time to call his office, fax, cajole, threaten: after the time and effort to get this bill through the California Legislature, it takes just one jackass to kill Health Care for All Californians. And he's apparently planning on doing so. Please talk to anyone - everyone you may know who supported the recall of Davis and the installation of Schwarzenegger; ask them if they have decent, affordable healthcare: and then make sure you tell them that Schwarzenegger doesn't want them to have it. And that he plans to - once again - buck the consensus of the citizens of this state.
And then remind people that Phil Angelides SUPPORTS affordable health care for all Californians; he's made a five-part plan to provide the same a hallmark of his candidacy and has stated he'll start the ball rolling on his very first day in office.
In case we can't stop Schwarzenegger, let's make sure we hang this bloody albatross from his neck and keep it in plain view into November. There can be no one less fit to govern this state.
Holy crap everyone...
My family is one of the millions without any health coverage whatsoever. We are so close to the bone that our bills often go late (garnishing late fees to fuck us over even more for being "bad people" without money). Health care for us is nothing more than a dream... it's something rich people have. If something happens to one of us, we will either lose everything or die.
No, I'm not being overdramatic -- my husband and I fully understand that we can't afford expensive medical care, and should anything happen like cancer or a stroke, that person will likely die. Dead due to lack of money.
Then I heard about SB 840, a California bill that would mean universal health care coverage for all Californians. And I mean universal --
* medical with complete doctor choice
* dental
* optical
* mental health (which I personally despirately need for depression)
* family planning
* prescription drugs
* hospice care
* alternative treatments like acupuncture
* dialysis
* drug abuse treatment
...everything!
This is more hope than I've had since November 2004. This would save lives, including possibly mine! I have suffered from depression since high school and sometimes have... unfortunate thoughts. My son has Asperger's and we are unable to get any counselling beyond the free services the school district offers.
My mother-in-law could have teeth to eat again -- she has one molar left and is unable to eat most hard foods, and cannot afford to get crowns or replacements. Stroke also runs in her family and we feel it's pretty much a matter of time before one takes her.
My husband could afford his life-saving high blood pressure medicine. And, since we live on a homestead, there's always the danger of ranch and farm injuries related to equipment and animals (my mother was killed when a ram knocked her down, causing a blood clot that went into her brain).
OMG you guys... please... fellow Kossacks... please help us. I'm writing this with tears in my eyes and humility in my heart, praying that you can help... I'd be on bended knee if I could type from that position.
PLEASE help us... PLEASE call Schwarzenegger's office right now at and ask him to sign SB 840. We need his office flooded with phone calls.
* Sacramento: Phone: 916-445-2841, Fax: 916-445-4633
* Fresno: Phone: 559-445-5295, Fax: 559-445-5328
* Los Angeles: Phone: 213-897-0322, Fax: 213-897-0319
* Riverside: Phone: 951-680-6860, Fax: 951-680-6863
* San Diego: Phone: 619-525-4641, Fax: 619-525-4640
* San Francisco: Phone: 415-703-2218, Fax: 415-703-2803
* Washington DC: Phone: 202-624-5270, Fax: 202-624-5280
Update: I've just tried to call the Sacramento office number and they are just letting it ring. I called the Fresno office and got a machine. This man, right at the top of his website claims to be "The People's Governor" and that is so full of shit that it's a wonder the website isn't brown.
If you can't call for whatever reason, you can email him via this web form or email his office directly here.
I assumed this would be a slam-dunk due to it being an election year, but the historically anti-health care Governator looks like he's on the path to killing more Californians through lack of health coverage.
Please... I beg you... please send your voice and let him know how you feel about denying people like me, people like my son, my husband, my MIL, my son's classmates... denying over 5 million Californians even basic health services.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for anything you can do to help us.