National Call-In Day for Single-Payer Healthcare

[Guest guest]

National Call-In Day for Single-Payer Healthcare

Thursday, February 12th is the third _National Call-In Day_

(http://e2ma.net/go/1722935826/1567178/57612859/goto:http://www.healthcare-now.o\

rg/campaigns/ca

ll/) to support single-payer healthcare, HR 676!

(If you read this late, just call when you can.)

This time we're asking you to call Congress and the White House. Every call

counts!

If you don't know your Representative, or want a script, all of the

information you need for a successful call is on our _National Call-In Day

page_

(http://e2ma.net/go/1722935826/1567178/57612858/goto:http://www.healthcare-now.o\

rg

/campaigns/call/) .

If you know your Representative, the Capitol Switchboard number is

866-338-1015. Ask to be connected to your Representative, and then ask him or

her to

co-sponsor HR 676. If they _already are a co-sponsor_

(http://e2ma.net/go/1722935826/1567178/57612857/goto:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-b\

in/bdquery/z?d111:HR006

76:@@@P) , thank them.

The White House number is 202-456-1414.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A massive, well-organized public movement has been built that is pressing

right now for single-payer. In the House of Representatives, the leading

advocate is Congressman John Conyers whose bill _H.R. 676_

(http://www.johnconyers.com/healthcare) had 93 cosponsors in the last

Congress. Conyers provides a

useful FAQ on single payer _here_ (http://www.johnconyers.com/hr676faq) , and

Physicians for a National Health Program has provided _a longer one_

(http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php) . Other advocates include

_Labor for

Single Payer_ (http://www.laborforsinglepayer.org/) , _Healthcare Now_

(http://www.healthcare-now.org/) , the _California Nurses Association_

(http://www.guaranteedhealthcare.org/) , and the _Leadership Conference for

Guaranteed

Health Care_ (http://www.pdamerica.org/leadership) which boasts dozens of major

organizational members. Progressive Democrats of America has mobilized

tremendous grassroots pressure through its _Healthcare Not Warfare_

(https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personal2.asp?formid=healthpet) campaign.

This is

essentially a campaign for single payer health coverage, but it both organizes

the

peace movement to participate and communicates an important selling point. The

financial cost of creating a single payer system would be a fraction of what

we spend each year merely on the occupation of Iraq, which Congress and the

president have committed to ending. Compared to the cost of wasteful programs

at the Pentagon or bailouts for bankers or even the new economic stimulus

bill, single payer is a bargain, doesn't kill anyone, saves and improves lives,

and even stimulates the economy better than most of the measures being used

toward that end.

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