by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Marcy Winograd
California Democratic Party Executive Board Representative
41st Assembly District

Some wore Obama t-shirts, a few mourned Hillary’s exit, but the majority just talked about taking back our country from those who took us to war.

Meeting near San Francisco last weekend, representatives to the California Democratic Party Executive Board, planned neighbor-to-neighbor voter outreach campaigns, passed resolutions calling for the elimination of water boarding and torture, and looked to the future – not just in Washington, but also in Sacramento, as gubernatorial hopefuls came calling.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it,” said Yogi Berra.

It’s a lesson that health reformers can take to heart after reading the May issue of The American Prospect, which has a special section on “the path to universal health care.” The articles reflect heated debates, some spanning decades, on the preferred type of health reform; the best strategies and messaging; whether to pursue reform at the state or federal level; and how prevention can be a cornerstone for reform. My sense is we need all of the above: multiple efforts on different tracks and different venues—to meet this challenge.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Kenneth Burt

The breaking news about Senator Kennedy’s medical condition has provoked a flood of memories, many of them deeply personal.

I was one of Kennedy’s youngest delegates to the 1980 Democratic National Convention. For an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, it was a life-altering experience.

The convention experience was amplified by traveling to New York with Dolores Huerta, as I was a staffer that summer for the United Farm Workers. I still have the blue and white Kennedy button I wore with the UFW’s Aztec eagle.

Kennedy’s speech electrified Madison Square Gardens. As he talked about “sailing against wind,” my mind was filled with promise of liberalism to create a more just society. The fact that we came up short in the delegate count only proved that victory is not certain, that the progress often requires a lifetime’s commitment.

Senator Kennedy has certainly dedicated his life to advancing the common good, whether it was advocating for universal health care, the minimum wage, or comprehensive immigration reform.

The last time I saw the senator was in 2004, at yet another Democratic National Convention, where he joined the California delegates in Boston for breakfast. Kennedy brought down the house when he sang “Jalisco,” accompanied by Mariachis, in his Boston-accented Spanish.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Sheila Kuehl
Chair
California Senate Health Committee

According to the new statewide poll by the Field Institute, released Monday, the number of Californians who would prefer to receive their health care coverage “through the government” has risen by 9 percentage points since the last poll in 2006, and now stands at 31%, while those who prefer that individuals take responsibility for their own coverage dropped 6 percentage points to 20%, and those preferring employer sponsored coverage declined 4 percentage points to 38%,. “Government provided health coverage” was the only policy option showing an increase in support.

Since 2002, universal health care advocates have rallied around Senate Bill 840, the California Universal Health Care Act which I am proud to have introduced. These advocates have formed the OneCareNow coalition, made up of hundreds of supporting organizations around the state. The coalition has prioritized community education about universal health care and sponsored hundreds of public educational events throughout the year.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

If California voters don't like having the third highest unemployment rate in the country, endless war, nonsense issues at the forefront of the presidential discourse, an outrageous attempt to abolish rent control, and an unfortunate lack of universal health care due in large part to Repubublican obstructionism, they can show the pundits they are motivated by voting during this June 3rd's Assembly, Senate, Congressional, and local races primary.

Courtesy the Secretary of State Debra Bowen's Office:

by Susan Rowe [courtesy of Blog for America]

...OTHER RICH COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD HAVE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE.

WHY DON'T WE?

On Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at 9 P.M. ET PBS presents sick around the world. Americans say our health care system is broken, but are other countries any better off? Journey with FRONTLINE to five other countries which are also capitalist democracies in search of a Universal Health Care system that could work in the U.S. See what's working, what's not, and whether their ideas could work here. YES, WE CAN!

Sick Around The World