Working with and for progressives, Labor, people of color, peace and justice organizations, and you to transform our society
PDA-Ohio is a chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America
What Is PDA?
Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic Party and our country. We seek to build a party and government controlled by citizens, not corporate elites -- with policies that serve the broad public interest, not just private interests. As a grassroots PAC operating inside the Democratic Party, and outside in movements for peace and justice, PDA played a key role in the stunning electoral victory of November 2006. Our inside/outside strategy is guided by the belief that a lasting majority will require a revitalized Democratic Party built on firm progressive principles.
For over two decades, the party declined as its leadership listened more to the voices of Wall Street than those of Main Street. PDA strives to rebuild the Democratic Party from the bottom up – from every Congressional District to statewide party structures to the corridors of power in Washington, where we work arm in arm with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In just a couple of years, PDA and its allies have shaken up the political status quo – on issues from the Iraq war to voter rights to economic justice. WEBSITE: http://www.pdamerica.org
We advocate the establishment of a public fund that would pay all health care bills without co-payments or deductibles. Funding would come from the savings realized by eliminating the administrative waste and profits of the 1,500 private insurance companies and HMOs, savings from greater utilization of preventive medicine, and from additional mechanisms deemed necessary to ensure that the public fund has the necessary financial resources, with adequate reserves. The plan we call for is known as a single-payer health care system.
WHAT WE DO – We carry out a variety of programs designed to educate and inform on the need for single-payer. A focus of our activities is to win voter approval of the Health Care For All Ohioans Act (HCFAOA), an initiative petition sponsored by SPAN Ohio.
SPAN Ohio functions democratically and those who attend its chapter meetings decide what the group's activities shall be. We distribute educational materials, organize public meetings featuring physicians and others with expertise on health care issues, circulate petitions, and introduce single-payer resolutions to organizations and legislative bodies. While campaigning to win single-payer health care in Ohio, we see this as a stepping stone toward achieving a national single-payer health care system, which is our ultimate goal.
HOW TO REACH US — Voice mail: 216-736-4766 — Email: SPANHealthCare@aol.com . This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it — Web site: www.spanohio.org
WHO WE ARE – The Single-Payer Action Network Ohio (SPAN Ohio) is a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals in Ohio seeking fundamental health care reform in our state and country so that every resident is guaranteed full and comprehensive coverage. This includes the full range of medical services, hospitalization, prescriptions, vision care, dental care, mental health care, home care, long-term care, and care for all injuries and illnesses.
What is the Backbone Campaign?
The Backbone Campaign is a grassroots effort to embolden citizens and elected officials to stand up for progressive values. We are expanding the political dialogue by providing creative tools for citizens and the progressive movement. The backbone symbolizes an interlocking agenda, a coalition, and the personal courage necessary to fight for a future worthy of our children. WEBSITE: http://www.backbonecampaign.org/
CODEPINK emerged out of a desperate desire by a group of American women to stop the Bush administration from invading Iraq. The name CODEPINK plays on the Bush Administration's color-coded homeland security alerts — yellow, orange, red — that signal terrorist threats. While Bush's color-coded alerts are based on fear and are used to justify violence, the CODEPINK alert is a feisty call for women and men to "wage peace."
ACTION LINKS
Support our friends in the movement for change.
Hold Bush and His Joint Co-Conspirators Criminally Accountable!
You can join the movement to indict Bush Administration officials who committed war crimes, "legalized" torture, and engaged in massive illegal spying and wiretapping against the American people. Click this link if you support the indictment of George W. Bush and other high officials.
The rule of law, justice, and basic integrity require the indictment for criminal wrongdoing of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, and other high officials of the former Bush Administration.
The media establishment is surprised by the ground swell of support from the grassroots for the pursuit of individuals who committed grievous crimes during the Bush era.
We are not surprised that the people are demanding accountability for those who committed wars of aggression, torture, and subverted the Constitution and thus violated not only their oaths of office but domestic and international law.
Join the movementin by participating in Democrats.com, the largest independent community of Democratic Party activists, with over 500,000 members.
Democrats.com is the home of the Aggressive Progressives and we have led the fight against George W. Bush since he stole the White House in 2000.
FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.
Uniquely, FAIR works with both activists and journalists. We maintain a regular dialogue with reporters at news outlets across the country, providing constructive critiques when called for and applauding exceptional, hard-hitting journalism. We also encourage the public to contact media with their concerns, to become media activists rather than passive consumers of news.
FAIR publishes Extra!, the award-winning magazine of media criticism, and produces the weekly radio program CounterSpin, the show that brings you the news behind the headlines. In addition, we have a thriving listserv through which we distribute regular Action Alerts to our international network of activists-- as of September 2004, the FAIR list has over 55,000 recipients, with more signing on every day.
For an in-depth explanation of FAIR's critique of the mainstream media, you should start with our overview, What's Wrong with the News? You might also check out the article What's FAIR?, by FAIR founder Jeff Cohen. And see what journalists, activists and scholars have to say about FAIR. Visit FAIR at: http://www.fair.org
"Now more than ever - Our future depends on knowing".
Visit the REAL NEWS NETWORK HERE.
Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez. Pioneering the largest public media collaboration in the U.S., Democracy Now! is broadcast on Pacifica, NPR, community, and college radio stations; on public access, PBS, satellite television (DISH network: Free Speech TV ch. 9415 and Link TV ch. 9410; DIRECTV: Link TV ch. 375); and on the internet. DN!’s podcast is one of the most popular on the web.
Democracy Now!’s War and Peace Report provides our audience with access to people and perspectives rarely heard in the U.S.corporate-sponsored media, including independent and international journalists, ordinary people from around the world who are directly affected by U.S. foreign policy, grassroots leaders and peace activists, artists, academics and independent analysts. In addition, Democracy Now! hosts real debates–debates between people who substantially disagree, such as between the White House or the Pentagon spokespeople on the one hand, and grassroots activists on the other.
New stations are adding Democracy Now! to their programming schedules all the time, and there are several movements going on around the country right now to bring Democracy Now! to new communities. To find out more about these efforts, and how to get involved, click here.
United for Peace and Justice is a coalition of more than 1400 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to protest the immoral and disastrous Iraq War and oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.
We welcome the participation of any and all national, regional and local groups who share our goals and wish to work with others. Visit us at: http://www.unitedforpeace.org/
More Groups, Labor Organizations, Activists and Think Tanks
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