Portland area Archimedes Chapter Leaders: Lynsley from Outer NW Portland, Russ from Tigard, Mallen from E Portland, Jan from Newberg, Paul from downtown Portland, Jason from Canby and Jo from Beaverton.
A Group for Archimedes Leaders
This page is a place for Archimedes Movement leaders from around the state to gather to ask and answer questions, and share ideas. Most people in this group are active in chapters. If you want to be added to this group, please contact us.
Donna Smith, community organizer and legislative representative for the National Nurses United (US largest nurses’ union with 150,000 members)/California Nurses Association, and Congressman Jim McDermott will headline the Fifth Annual Public Meeting of Physicians for a National Health Program - Western Washington Chapter on Saturday February 27 at 7:00 pm at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall.
Smith was recently honored as the National Organization for Women’s (NOW’s) 2009 Woman of Action and first came to the public’s attention in Michael Moore’s 2007 movie, “SICKO.” Despite having health insurance and even a health savings account, Donna and her husband Larry were forced to move into their daughter’s basement after being unable to pay staggering health care costs—and were left in financial ruin. Donna’s husband, Larry, suffered three heart attacks and Donna was diagnosed and treated for cancer. There is a scene in the movie “SICKO” where Michael Moore takes Donna to Cuba to get the necessary treatment their insurance wouldn’t pay for. After the film was released, Smith became a health care activist, taking her story and those of other victims of the badly broken health care system around the country at rallies, teach-ins, seminars and demonstrations. She is a founder of the health care advocacy group American Patients United. She has expressed her views on current health care reform efforts on PBS’s Bill Moyer’s Journal.
Rep. Jim McDermott has represented Washington’s congressional District 7 since 1989 and has been a leading advocate for health care reform. He is the sponsor of HR 1200, the American Health Security Act, which would guarantee health care to every American through universal, single-payer health care. Rep. McDermott will deliver an insider report on health care legislation in Congress.
Smith and McDermott will be joined by state health care reform activist Larry Kalb who will address the moral imperative of universal coverage for guaranteed access to comprehensive, timely health care. He is a Democratic candidate for Congress in Washington’s 2nd District and has been Chair of the Progressive Caucus for the Washington State Democratic Party. Larry also served as the National Coordinator for the Health Care Working Group for the Progressive Democrats of America. He has been a board member of Health Care for All - Washington for six years and its President for the past two years. Kalb has developed a popular health care reform presentation that encapsulates the players and issues in the current U.S. system.
The speakers will each make presentations and take questions from the audience. In his State of the Union address on January 27, President Obama asked, “But if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and top insurance company abuses, let me know.” The presenters at this event will have answers to the President’s challenge.
Also on the program, a representative of the Mad as Hell Doctors will introduce a short video of their caravan trip across the country advocating for single payer Medicare for All. The Bob Wickline family will provide musical entertainment. The PNHP Western Washington Chapter will present its 2010 John Geyman Health Justice Advocate Award.
This is a free event and the public is invited. For more information go to http://www.pnhpwesternwashington.org/
About PNHPWW
Since 1987, Physicians for a National Health Program has advocated for reform in the U.S. health care system and has done some of the most significant research on its deficiencies. A large part of our work involves educating health professionals and the public about the benefits of a single-payer Medicare for All system --including its huge administrative savings ($400 million/year). This reform would guarantee comprehensive health care to all Americans, without increasing costs.
PNHP has more than 17,000 members and chapters across the United States. We organizes rallies, town hall meetings, and debates; coordinates speakers and forum discussions; contributes op-eds and articles to the nation's top newspapers, medical journals and magazines; and appears regularly on national television and news programs advocating for a single-payer system. The Western Washington Chapter was founded in 2005. We meet at the Swedish/Cherry Hill Campus Conference Center Auditorium the 3rd or 4th Wednesday of the month.
A short documentary about mental health treatment here in Oregon has been introduced. You may watch the trailer to see if it is worth your time - I think it's great!
In a sequence of editorial and letters to the editor, the debate continues on the pages of the Corvallis Gazette-Times:
Editorial: Let us see legislative process, pretty or not (Dec. 29)
The Power of Articulation: Turning Values into Political Messages
Using Value-Laden Language to Communicate about Health Reform
A special one day workshop for leaders in health reform.
For too long, health reform leaders have been bogged down in policy-speak. That is, they have focused on policy minutae and failed to speak a language that connects with everyday Americans. This approach fails in the public arena, because the reality is that many Americans don’t have the interest or time to sift through the endless array of issues, personalities, and competing agendas in today’s political culture. As a result, individuals look for ways to simplify their intake and evaluation of information. One way that has become increasingly commonplace among citizens is to rely upon “cues” — that is, credible people or information that can be confidently used to guide decisions. The most politically potent cues, often, are core values and beliefs that unite Americans and inspire them.
The bottom line is this: Progressives must become effective — much more effective — in identifying and communicating their core values in ways that are moral and culturally resonant. We call this articulation: the use of language in purposeful, everyday ways to create clear connections between guiding principles and social priorities. To do this is hard work — far harder than one might suspect. The approach we utilize is highly interactive and hands-on: Our goal is to help you identify and pursue your goals by clarifying and working through key ideas, issues, strategies, and concerns. We strive to merge our scholarly expertise with concrete, realistic, and applied understandings of contemporary politics and media.
Proposed Workshop Agenda:
The Archimedes Movement is proud to sponsor a 6-hour workshop to help activists craft a purposeful language to communicate about the issues that are important to us.
The workshop will include elements of these steps:
David Domke, is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington. He worked as a journalist for several newspapers in the 1980s and early 1990s, including the Orange County Registerand Atlanta Journal-Constitution, before earning a Ph.D. in 1996. His research and teaching focus on how political leaders strategically craft their public communications and how news media and the public respond to these messages. His most recent book is The God Strategy: How Religion Became A Political Weapon in America, published in 2008 by Oxford University Press. In the last few years he has spoken about politics and news with academic, political, media, and public audiences around the country. In 2002 he received the University of Washington’s Distinguished Teaching Award, the university’s highest honor for teaching. In 2006 he was named the Washington state Professor of the Year by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. And in spring 2008 he was selected as the favorite professor of the UW graduating class.
Crispin Thurlow, also a professor in the Department of Communication, has an academic background in psychology and critical linguistics, and his work examines the ways that people use language and other forms of communication to negotiate their differences. Specifically, he is committed to understanding how relations of power and conceptions of privilege and inequality are sustained in everyday human interaction. His latest book is Talking Adolescence: Perspectives on Communication in the Teenage Years (Peter Lang, 2005). In 2007, he received the University of Washington's Distinguished Teaching Award.
To find out more please email Matt Webber at matt@wecandobetter.org.
From Social Security to financial security, Oregon seniors face a unique set of issues. Congressman Schrader will be holding two briefings to talk with Oregon seniors about the issues they are facing. He will also be inviting local elected officials and experts to join in the conversation.
Salem
Monday, August 17th
9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
Center 50+
City of Salem Senior Center
2615 Portland Rd. NE
Note: The other briefing is in Oregon City (see link)
The message below is the result of a collaborative effort among Archimedes Movement Community Leadership Council members and staff. Members of Congress are holding town hall meetings all over the country in August. We're maintaining a list of the Oregon ones here.
Now is the time to share your views on health reform.
Howard Dean was in Portland last Friday at Powell's Bookstore giving remarks to a crowd of about 200 people about a book he has just finished called Howard Dean's Prescription For Real Reform. Rick had been invited to meet with him after the book signing and I tagged along.
Hosted by SAFE: United for a Healthy Oregon, you're invited to a reception to celebrate Oregon's big step forward on health reform with the passage of HB 2009 and HB 2116. IF you have questions you can call Chris Coughlin at 503-312-8178.
Wear your WCDB t-shirt if you have one; if you don't have one let us know and Erick will get one to you for the next event!
Hosted by SAFE: United for a Healthy Oregon, you're invited to a reception to celebrate Oregon's big step forward on health reform with the passage of HB 2009 and HB 2116. IF you have questions you can call Chris Coughlin at 503-312-8178.
Wear your WCDB t-shirt if you have one; if you don't have one let us know and Erick will get one to you for the next event!
Next step - vote on the floor of the Oregon Senate, possibly as soon as Wednesday. If you have not contacted your Senator yet, now is the time to do so.
Liz
It has been off and on and off again, but it has been added to the Human Services Subcommittee agenda for Thursday at approximately 1:30. It's best to check and make sure before heading to Salem.
You can check committee information at http://www.leg.state.or.us/comm/
Daily schedules are printed and can be found at http://www.leg.state.or.us/09reg/pubs/commsch.pdf
Join Berwick, Davis, and Fisher for a Webinar on How Physicians Can Help Achieve Health Reform Legislation that will fundamentally change the U.S. health care system is now being shaped in Washington, D.C. And this time, nearly all stakeholders are at the negotiating table. Join a Commonwealth Fund/Institute for Healthcare Improvement webinar this Friday, May 22, 2009, at 11 a.m., E.D.T., as three of the nation's leading thinkers in health policy and practice outline how physicians and others can help create a health care system that offers high-quality, affordable care for all Americans while containing costs.
Webinar panelists Donald M. Berwick, M.D., M.P.P., a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health and president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement; Karen Davis, Ph.D., president of The Commonwealth Fund; and Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., professor and associate director of Population Health and Policy at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, will address quality improvement, integrated delivery, and payment reform as well as cost-saving measures that can help finance the coverage of the uninsured. A question-and-answer session will follow the panelists' presentations.
To register for this free one-hour online meeting, go to
http://commonwealthfundevents.webex.com.
This meeting and discussion of HB2009 has now been cancelled.
These schedules are subject to change, so we will update this event if we hear there has been a change to the schedule.
You can also listen to/watch live streaming of committees and floor sessions at this link
http://oregonchannel.org/rams.htm (requires Windows Media Player)
I am passing this news on from a rally organizer. For more information go to http://may30march.org
_________________________________________________________
Hi everyone,
Just a quick announcement:
Senator Murray has confirmed her participation in our May 30th March
She will be a part of the opening program at Pratt Park.
Please spread the word. This will be up on http://may30march.org shortly.
And just a refresher of the speakers already confirmed from before:Featured Speakers
Emcees
Entertainment
--
Lynne Nguyen
May 30th March Coordinator
Organizer, Washington CAN!
www.washingtoncan.org
office: 206-389-0050 x232
On Saturday, May 30th, more than 150 organizations have come together to organize a major march and rally in Seattle to support the goal of winning quality, affordable health care for everyone in 2009.
Our theme, "Health Care for All in 2009 - Mothers Leading the Way," is a powerful message that makes it clear that we are determined to support the goal set by President Obama to achieve health care reform this year. Join the movement today.
March with us on May 30th, starting at 12:30pm at Pratt Park
(20th & E Yesler)
Email lynne@washingtoncan.org for more info!
Attached is the side-by-side comparison completed by Oregon Health Policy and Research. This will give you a brief update on how the bills are similar and how they differ. Here is the email sent to several organizations from Carol Robinson that accompanied the spreadsheet:
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY and PLAN TO ATTEND!
On Saturday, May 30th, more than 75 organizations have come together to organize a major march and rally in Seattle to support the goal of winning quality, affordable health care for everyone in 2009.
Our theme, "Health Care for All in 2009 - Mothers Leading the Way," is a powerful message that makes it clear that we are determined to support the goal set by President Obama to achieve health care reform this year. Join the movement today.
Email lynne@washingtoncan.org for more info!
Additional flyers are available at http://www.may30march.org/ under Spread the Word.
Join us and bring friends, neighbors and family. Show our lawmakers that "we, the people" want effective health care reform now!
Together, we can make a difference!
Linda Sternhill Davis
Vice-Chair, Board Member and Co-Chair, WHSC Legislative Committee
Washington Health Security Coalition (WHSC)
P. O. Box 19631 - Queen Anne Station
Seattle, WA 98109
Phone: (877) 502-1873 (toll-free)
Email: legislative@wahealthsecurity.org
Website: http://www.wahealthsecurity.org
By now you've heard about the Archimedes Movement Lobby Day in Salem this Thursday, March 26th (there's still time to RSVP). If you're unable to join us then do the next best thing - sign our online letter and we'll make sure to hand deliver it to your legislators and the Governor's office
This coming Monday the 23rd at 11 AM, KBOO will air on its HealthWatch program: "4 Advocates Talk about Health Care Reform." The four are Betty Johnson, Mike Huntington, Joe Zaerr and Roberta Hall.
KBOO is at 100.7 FM in Corvallis, 90.7 in Portland, see the KBOO website for other availabilities, including listening live on the Web.
In this half hour session they'll talk about why House Bill 2009 needs to include a public plan offering health care, and a Health Authority, and why innovations at the state level are important.
If you have ever had any problems getting KBOO, be sure your radio has an aerial -- or just attach a wire to the aerial and raise it toward the ceiling (at my house we use a twistie to attach a wire to a plant hook on the ceiling--works great). If you're in the Portland to Salem area, KBOO is at 90.7--it's 100.7 in Albany and Corvallis.
