PDACNM Monthly Gathering

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PDACNM IN MARCH AND APRIL

Community Gathering
March 11,  2020
First Congregational United Church of Christ
2801 Lomas Blvd. NE

Summation of the 2020 Legislative Session with Progressive NM Legislators

Community Gathering
April 8,  2020
First Congregational United Church of Christ
2801 Lomas Blvd. NE

Mini Climate Summit with leaders in NM’s fight to combat climate chaos. Teresa Leger Fernandez, candidate for HD3, will be a guest.  She has been endorsed by the Sierra Club.

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.

Doors open 5:30       Program begins 6:00   Childcare

It’s the dinner hour so you are welcome to pack a sandwich and come on over. We’ll have tables for dining from 5:30 – 6:00.

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 – 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 →

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter Newsletter – Community Gathering Reminder – Public Banks

Events, Meetings, News

Healthcare, Not Warfare Action Team  

The Action Team meets every 2nd Tuesday of the month, 2:00 PM, at Casa Clara, 1400 Vassar St.  NE.  We often have invited guests.

Contact the Action Team at  207 332-8026

Herb Hoffman

End Corporate Rule

We are in the process of organizing an End Corporate Rule Action Team.  If you are interested, email Willard at willardhunter@comcast.net

End Wars and Occupations Action Team

End Wars and Occupations meets at 4:00 PM on the second Wed. of the month, just before the PDACNM meeting at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 2801 Lomas NE.

Our mission is to transform the Democratic Party into a party that works for world peace by:
* changing our economy from war-centered to life-affirming,
* serving public interests rather than corporate and military agendas,
* working to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons, and
* promoting problem-solving through diplomacy and non-violence.
We will take actions to influence our policy makers toward these goals.

To join contact Dick Harrison at dickharrisonpr@gmail.com or Willard Hunter at  willardhunter@comcast.net

Read the Newsletter Here!

Progressive Democrats of America CNM Chapter Newsletter – Public Banking in NM

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.

Read the Newsletter Here!

AOC Turns the Tables on the DCCC and So Can We     

Opinion

 

by Jerilyn Bowen

As we progressives know all too well, the neoliberal power brokers in the Democratic Party have long been dead set on preventing those of our persuasion from obtaining a decisive voice in the party.  Top example:  the national party establishment overrode the grassroots uprising of the Sanders campaign in 2016, contriving to prevent Bernie from getting the presidential nomination and thereby throwing the country to the wolves.  Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by three million but Bernie would almost certainly have done what needed to be done to win in the electoral college as well.  Given his demonstrated grassroots support in the industrial and midwestern states that narrowly handed Trump victory, Bernie would likely have taken the White House, bigtime.  And we wouldn’t now be living this nightmare the Republican cartel is inflicting on the country.

So what did Democratic Party centrists learn from the avoidable debacle of 2016?  That election was theirs to lose and they blew it.  Did they then recognize the error of their ways and move to open the party doors to the influx of vital energy coming from grassroots progressives?  No, they did not.  Instead, following the remarkable and most fortunate 2018 midterm House victories, they moved to circle the wagons to protect their hegemony against the invaders who were instrumental in bringing that victory about.  Among other things, under the leadership of Cheri Bustos in 2019 the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) instituted draconian new rules designed to prevent progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Ayanna Pressley (MA), and Ro Khanna (CA) from running for office by denying anyone who challenges a Democratic incumbent the funding they need to hire consultants and vendors.

Continue reading AOC Turns the Tables on the DCCC and So Can We      →