is a grassroots health care movement about to happen?

Posted by rflacks on: Mon 21st Sep, 2009

First of all: some report having trouble registering here so they can make comments. You do need to know that 'STATE ST." is the correct answer to the question about Santa Barbara's main street. Scroll down and you'll find complete instructions on how to register.

My post yesterday aimed at getting health care supporters to see that the time is more than ripe for getting out in the streets to support real reform. A crucial moment will come when the house ( as expected) passes a bill that embodies a strong public option--and the senate doesn't. I think many of us would trek to Washington to rally around a bill that's reasonably progressive. But meanwhile, there are signs of grassroots organizing that may have potential. The big coalition supporting the administration healthcare reform is HCAN. Tomorrow in many cities, they plan what may be some good theater. If you know when and if Santa Barbara will be site for such protests (they are planned in waves over the next few weeks) let us know!

Nearly 200 "Big Insurance: Sick of It" Protests Happening Nationwide on Tuesday

Health Care for America Now Partners to Protest Insurance Companies; Demand They Stop Denying Care

Washington, DC - On Tuesday September 22, 2009, Health Care for America Now (HCAN) partners will hold a "Big Insurance: Sick Of It" day of action nationwide to highlight private health insurance industry abuses and call for reform that guarantees good, affordable health care and includes the choice of a strong national public health insurance option.

MoveOn.org Political Action is leading more than 100 events across the country. Other Health Care for America Now coalition partners are spearheading an additional 80 events, including 30 organized by SEIU. Three flagship events will be taking place outside major insurance company headquarters in Minneapolis (United HealthCare), Indianapolis (WellPoint), and Philadelphia (Cigna). Wendell Potter - the former Cigna executive who has been speaking out against the insurance industry - will be attending the event in Philadelphia.

Two other large-scale actions will take place in Hartford, CT - the insurance capital of the nation - and in Milwaukee, WI where WellPoint CEO Angela Braly is delivering the keynote speech at Marquette University's annual Business Leaders Forum luncheon.

As the health care reform debate rages on in Washington, the protests will highlight how Americans are suffering every day because of the profit-driven policies of the health insurance industry. People wronged by insurers will share their personal stories, and in some instances, protesters will read the stories of those who are no longer with us due to insurance company abuses.

Tags: health care, insurance companies, protest

About

Dick Flacks here...sociology professor emeritus at UCSB. Budget cuts mean that I can't continue my annual course on political sociology. Maybe a blog will be a space for me to continue to ruminate and pontificate. And maybe (as a veteran teacher on these matters) I can offer some ways of thinking about what's happening nationally and locally that will be useful, as we struggle to make sense of the tortured complexities of these times. I've been a leftwing activist for more than 50 years. What we've been struggling for all these years is full democracy--to increase the opportunities for people to have real voice in the decisions that affect them. Step by step over these years we've made some gain...but it is a long march, and one that never ends. The big barrier to democracy in our society is the concentrated power of corporations. At the same time, democracy is undermined by the felt powerlessness of people in their daily lives--the persistent belief that our problems are only our own personal concern. It's a strong cultural theme--such individualism--constantlly reinforced by mass media and everyday circumstance. But the current big crisis of the economy maybe makes it more possible for more people to understand that we've got to have social reform and economic reform. So my writing here is aimed at helping us figure out what to think and act on that so that we can hope for new democratic possibilities. WE'll be talking about the local and the national. The blog name comes from an old labor union hymn: Step by step the longest march can be won. Many stones can form an arch...singly none. And by union what we will can be accomplished still. Drops of water turn a mill, singly none, singly none. For 27 years I've had a weekly radio show on KCSB (91.9 fm. www.kcsb.org) It's called the Culture of Protest. It's comes from my fascination with music and social movements. I collect 'political' and 'protest' music and that's what we play each week (Thursdays 6-7 pm). So sometimes here we'll share and talk about that. I'm worried about one thing about the blogosphere. And that's the way that some people use the blog comment space for anonymous nastiness. I'm sick of the kind of political blather that assaults the motives of others, and sees dark conspiracy behind every thing one doesn't like. This kind of stuff is helping to poison the political atmosphere. So I'm going to strive for a civil tone to whatever interaction may happen on this blogsite.