PDACNM Monthly Gathering

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PDA MONTHLY COMMUNITY GATHERING
April 8 @6:00
Our April 8th monthly community gathering will be a live, Zoom-based webinar. Check back closer to the meeting for more details.

We hope you can still join us in our online gathering space. The guest speakers will have 15 minutes to share their ideas on climate crisis-related issues and any actions we can take.  And you at home will be invited to ask questions using the chat function. More details coming soon.

This is a time for everyone to come together and figure out ways to tackle this challenge so that we can continue the work of the movement and maintain connections with our progressive community.

Thank you for your patience and willingness to participate with us.

Medicare for All Calculator

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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.

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter Newsletter – PDACNM APRIL MEETING FROM YOUR COUCH

Events, Meetings, News


TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR RIGHT AS A CITIZEN

Would you like to join PDACNM for some citizen advocacy with the staff of your US senator or representative? Every month PDACNM sits down with these friendly folks to express concerns, show support, share information and create lasting relationships.  We bring a letter each month from PDA national asking for support for specific legislation or to express our thanks for their support.  These letters are delivered by PDA chapters throughout the country. We welcome your participation.   Let us know if you can join us.  Lisa Franzen at geolisafranzen@aol.com, Laura Stokes at stokescorrales@comcast.net, Paul Stokes at stokescorrales@mac.com, Deborah Marez-Baca at tinybrownwoman@gmail.com.

The staff of our Congressional and Senate offices are currently working remotely. There will be no in-person visits till further notice. However, we will be delivering our monthly PDA letters to our senators and representatives by email. Following are the letters for March.

Read the Complete Newsletter Here!

Deb Haaland Moves to Shut Progressives out of NM DNC Delegation

Opinion


by Jerilyn Bowen

At the March 7th NM Democratic Party Pre-primary Convention, US Representative Deb Haaland put a big thumb on the scale to keep progressives from serving on the Democratic National Committee that determines party rules, and that is already heavily stacked in favor of corporate Democrats.  Two eminently qualified long term Democratic Party devotees were running for the two open New Mexico DNC seats as progressives:  Pia Gallegos of Albuquerque and Jay Levine of Taos.  Their centrist opponents were Trish Ruiz of Lea County and former Albuquerque mayor Marty Chavez.

Continue reading Deb Haaland Moves to Shut Progressives out of NM DNC Delegation →

Stephen Colbert Goes Corporate on Bernie Sanders with Red Baiting

Opinion

by Jerilyn Bowen

For three years now Stephen Colbert’s Late Show has been my much needed nightly dose of sanity in the midst of the Trump madness.  Ever since The Colbert Report gave wickedly skewering voice to the resistance during the Bush regime, I’ve seen him as a trusted and valued public commentator.  Of late, though, I’ve been taken aback and then shocked by his underhanded and unclever attacks on Bernie Sanders.  This came to a head following the Feb. 25th South Carolina debate when Stephen contrived to undercut Bernie’s significant landslide victory in Nevada and well earned front-runner status in the presidential nomination race by running a clip from the debate in which Bernie pointed out that the policies he advocates are already operative in many countries around the world, following which Stephen ended his monologue with a flourish by sardonically commenting that yes, this is true in places like Cuba and Venezuela.  As if he didn’t know perfectly well that Bernie was referring to Canada and the socialist democracies of Europe.  As if he didn’t know that Bernie has spent his entire adult life opposing authoritarian regimes of all kinds while fighting for humane and just policies in the U.S.  If anyone can be said to be a fierce enemy of the totalitarian forces that presently endanger our democracy, it is Bernie.

Continue reading Stephen Colbert Goes Corporate on Bernie Sanders with Red Baiting →

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter Newsletter – Black History Month

Events, Information, Meetings, News, Opinion

The Democrats’ Moral Dilemma 

With the rise of Michael Bloomberg in the polls, the values that have historically defined the Democratic Party are being challenged. Every day we are exposed to more and more of Bloomberg’s racist, classist, and sexist comments and actions, many of which seem to be quite similar to those of the current occupant of the White House. And yet, we hear liberal Democrats say “No one is perfect” as they justify their insistence that this Republican Light is the only one who can beat the Republican Hoax. This kind of hypocrisy sounds so similar to that which we accuse Trump Republicans of. We find him loathsome but he’s our loathsome. A caution to those who say that Bloomberg is the most electable. There are Democrats and Independents out there who still have a conscience and will vote accordingly.

Laura Stokes

Read the Newsletter Here!

Progressives in New Mexico Denounce Recent Actions by the DNC and Committee Chair Perez

Opinion

Three progressive groups in New Mexico jointly oppose recent acts by the Democratic National Committee and its chair, Tom Perez, that benefit centrist candidates and hurt working people.

The Adelante Progressive Caucus of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, the New Mexico Working Families Party, and the Central New Mexico chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America criticize the DNC’s change of debate rules and appointments by Perez.

As reported in Politico on Jan. 31, the DNC has dropped its donor threshold for the Nevada debate to be held on Feb. 19. This opens the door for the debate to possibly include multibillionaire candidate and former Republican mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, who has said he would not accept campaign contributions. The change of debate criteria came after Bloomberg donated $800,000 to a joint fundraising committee of the DNC and state Democratic parties. Yet the DNC refused to change the debate qualifications in December 2019 when a group of Democratic Party presidential candidates, led by Cory Booker, called on the DNC to ease criteria to allow for more diversity on the debate stage. It appears that the DNC is susceptible to big-money influence at the expense of the viewpoints of candidates of color.

Continue reading Progressives in New Mexico Denounce Recent Actions by the DNC and Committee Chair Perez →