PDACNM Monthly Gathering

StickyMeetings

PDACNM IN NOVEMBER
Community Gathering

December 11, 2019
First Congregational United Church of Christ
2801 Lomas Blvd NE.

Doors open 5:30       Program begins 6:00
Childcare

New Mexico State Budget for 2020 

 Given the economic challenges we face in our state, it seems to us that we need to begin to take seriously the way our state government is spending its resources and then begin to question how effectively those tax dollars are working for New Mexico.  Bill Jordan of New Mexico Voices for Children will be discussing the NM state budget, how the state spends money and why it matters.

Bill Jordan, MA
Government Relations Officer – Voices for Children

Bill has been with NM Voices since 1998 and leads our legislative advocacy efforts in Santa Fe and Washington, D.C., working primarily with lawmakers on issues such as raising the minimum wage, creating a state-level earned income tax credit, expanding access to health care, passing the child helmet safety law, and the like. Bill is relied upon by many legislators for data and information relating to the legislation they are voting on or writing. He was appointed to Governor Richardson’s Equal Pay Task Force and his Budget Balancing Task Force. Previously, Bill was Executive Director of the HIV Coordinating Council of New Mexico.

Here’s a little homework for you – Citizen’s Guide to the NM State Budget

And a vocabulary list:

Please try to be there before 6:00 because the doors lock automatically.  However, if you can’t make it by then, ring the bell or text the number listed at the door and someone will let you in.  It might take a minute so don’t leave!! We want to see you.

Medicare for All Calculator

StickyInformation

The Medicare for All Calculator is a free, online, user-friendly tool based on a proposed financing plan for H.R. 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All bill in Congress. With this calculator,mfacalc.com, anyone can enter information anonymously about the number of people in the household with health insurance, their current income, a typical year’s health insurance premium and out of pocket health costs. Once this information is entered the calculator will determine the savings (in most cases) that HR 676 would provide if enacted.

H.R. 676 would expand Medicare to cover all Americans, regardless of age, income or disability. It eliminates ALL individual healthcare costs, premiums, co-pays and deductibles. It adds comprehensive healthcare coverage, including dental, vision, mental health, long-term care, prescription drugs and other benefits.

We are indebted to Kris Hardy, owner of Albuquerque Software for his role in developing the Medicare for All Calculator. And to Health Action New Mexico for their sponsorship.

A group of concerned citizens, many who are former healthcare providers and associates, have formed the Medicare for All Speakers Bureau. We have created a 30 minute Power Point presentation which compares single-payer health system myths vs facts, gives the pertinent points of the bill and a picture of the financial analysis done by Gerald Friedman, PhD., Economics Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, on how to pay for this bill if enacted, “Funding HR 676”, published in 2013.

If your group would like to schedule a presentation email  mc4allnm@gmail.com for more information.

What’s at Stake

Opinion

by Jerilyn Bowen

In a recent interview entitled “Democratic Party Centrism Risks Handing Election to Trump,” as preface to his remarks Noam Chomsky had this to say:  I find it psychologically impossible to discuss the 2020 election without emphasizing, as strongly as possible, what is at stake: survival, nothing less. Four more years of Trump may spell the end of much of life on Earth, including organized human society in any recognizable form. Strong words, but not strong enough.

In case you’re wondering, he’s talking about climate catastrophe and the growing danger of a nuclear holocaust.

Our venerable speaker-of-truth-to-power frosts his dark prophecy with this surmise: The Democratic Party, in its apparent determination to kill the left wing, may very well end up ensuring a Trump electoral victory for a second time.

Continue reading What’s at Stake →

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter – 12/7/19

Events, Meetings, News


Nobody Is Above the Law. That’s why we’re calling on Congress to Impeach & Remove Donald Trump.

The night before the House of Representatives takes a somber vote to impeach Trump, we’ll head to every congressional office and public square to declare that Nobody Is Above the Law as representatives finalize their positions and senators look on.

Join this historic nationwide mobilization on the eve of Trump’s impeachment vote: RSVP for an event near you or sign up to host one. Events will be visible, family-friendly, public gatherings to demonstrate to our lawmakers that their constituents are behind them to defend the Constitution-and that Trump has left them no alternative to uphold their oath of office but to support impeachment and removal.

J.D. has organized an event at Tiguex Park.  Go here

to register.

Read the Newsletter Here!

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter – 11/26/19 – Thanksgiving

Events, Meetings, News

“Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often. ”  Johnny Carson

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.”  Jon Stewart

But seriously, during these frightening times that seem to be determined to bring us down, we are most grateful for all our activist friends who generously give their precious time and resources toward building a force for positive change.

Read the Newsletter Here!

Mind Games in the US Corral                

Opinion

by Jerilyn Bowen

In his bafflement over the role of language in human knowing, twentieth century analytic philosopher Wittgenstein finally concluded that language is a game in which the rules evolve over time through usage practices.  As we watch the impeachment proceedings in the U.S. House of Representatives with bated breath, we are witness to a battle between those who adhere to linguistic rules based on conveying a truth that accords with objective evidence and those who violate those rules by weaponizing language into a means of psychological manipulation and deception.  In a culture where we are saturated with advertising designed to do the latter, perhaps it’s not so surprising that the longstanding rules of our major means of human communication have been eroded to such an extent that the more unscrupulous among us seize upon an anything-goes approach to public discourse in pursuit of both power and profit.

Continue reading Mind Games in the US Corral                 →

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter – 11/12/19 – PDACNM Community Gathering this week!

Events, Meetings, News, Uncategorized

Medicare for All Act of 2019
U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal

Today’s healthcare system fails to provide quality, therapeutic healthcare as a right to all people living in the United States. Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured, and at least 40 million more cannot afford the costs of their co-pays and deductibles. The quality of our healthcare is much worse than other industrialized countries-the life expectancy in the U.S. is lower than other nations, while our infant mortality rate is much higher. Yet the U.S. spends more money per capita on healthcare than any other industrialized nation. We waste hundreds of billions of dollars every year on unnecessary administrative costs, while healthcare industry executives measure success in profits, instead of patient care.

The current healthcare system in the United States is ineffective, inefficient and outrageously expensive. It is time to remove the profit motive in healthcare, to resolve the inefficiencies and to guarantee quality, therapeutic healthcare to every person living in the United States.

The Medicare for All Act of 2019 improves and expands the overwhelmingly successful and popular Medicare program, so that every person living in the United States has guaranteed access to healthcare with comprehensive benefits.

Rest of summary here.

Read the Newsletter Here!