I've gotten two mailers and one phone call from AFSCME. My union rep (COPPEA -- City of Portland Professional Employees Assocation) says they have no link to AFSCME, so they're not targeting me because they know I'm in a union. So someone is trying really hard to fight this. More power to them. I've always thought Wyden is a windmill-tilter, in spite of healthcare being one of his big issues. I wish he would go away.

Supporters of single payer health care plan will be rallying at the Blumeauer/Dean health care town hall (PCC Cascade) this afternoon, circa 2:30 pm. People probably already know that you can't get into the event itself if you don't have a ticket, but there will be some kind of video feed of the town hall for people who can't get in, and the rally is an opportunity to show support for the single payer option. (fwiw, I'm not an event organizer, just someone who gets a lot of emails, and will be attending this because I'm tremendously irritated by people like Wyden right now.)

Wyden should not be villified because he is the only one with a plan that might move us forward, even if it's not perfect and people don't like parts of it.

As a health care worker for the past 15 years, I can tell you that since the talk of healthcare reform started with Clinton in 1993, the year I started working, absolutely NOTHING has changed, except the following:

1)Walmart started a basic drug program last year for 4$/prescription, and fred meyer followed suit. This was huge, huge, huge. So for all you lefties, you have Walmart to thank for this.

2)More and more spendy life-prolonging procedures and practices and gizmos have been developed and invented, and Medicare/Medicaid (our current version of single payer healthcare)is lapping it all up. "Have a dying heart, and wanna try an experimental fancy new pacemaker? go for it, the government will pay another 100k to stave off your death for a few months". "Got no health insurance and endstage breast cancer and want a "salvage operation" to remove metastatic lesions from your brain and liver? sure, medicaid will pay for it, although you will still die in the near future, but have helped provide full employment for healthcare workers for a while before you do so."

Single payer systems are fabulous in France and Canada, but they have developed over many years and exist in a different social and medical culture which is inherently more conservative and accepting of death and dying. I want universal healthcare here as badly as the next person, but for all the idealists out there, a word of caution: you may regret it when you see how much money is needed to keep the senile great grandparent generation alive in misery for a few more years, because we have developed no mechanisms built in to control costs. All that money diverted away from saving the environment, educating our children, etc.

Be careful what you wish for.

Town Hall my Ass!

I attended the fiasco called a Town Hall Meeting with Congressman** blumenauer and Dr. Howard Dean on Friday afternoon. The was the worst run “Town Hall” I have ever attended. At best it was a major screw up on the part of willie smith and the earlman and at worst was a planned shutout of any of the activists who support and are willing to fight for Single Payer. I was ashamed that I had spent 40 years in the democratic party, and was glad I finally left it in disappointment. This meeting was modeled after the bush/cheney idea of a Town Hall; control the tickets, load the place with party officials, and exclude any real people who might ask the hard questions. Willie Smith, you are a LIAR!

Lie: “Anything that gives a false impression.”

We were invited to the Town Hall by e-mail, we were told that Blumenauer’s staff were overwhelmed by the response and had to have a lottery to pick for the tickets, we were told that they would let us know who won the lottery. Two days before the event we were told, “We” lost!

I say we, because the activists who are the leaders in Portland for Single Payer were excluded, any members of Individuals for Justice were excluded, and members of any protest group that are known were excluded. It is not possible to have a random lottery and come out with those results, the fix was in and heads should roll. But we can’t even get the earlman to call for the arrest of mass murderers, why would he apologize for screwing his base one more time. But there is good news.

From the reports coming out of the “Invited guest meeting” things heated up inside when Dr. Howard Dean recognized the noise outside the doors and acknowledged that the democratic party must move towards Single Payer. I was not inside so I am dependant on others for what was said. I know there will be video soon of the rigged event, so we shall see. The protest became sad when a wonderful, peaceful man named Harry was arrested by the campus police.

I call Harry a friend of mine, because he makes me proud when I stand and say enough! He has refused to surrender to police power on any level when his rights are challenged. Talking to him after his release it was obvious to me that once again a cop was asked by what law do you order me under and that caused Harry’s arrest. I hope he writes about his arrest, as this part of the event is his story. I am just proud to be around people who will stand and say---I am an American and you are not going to violate my rights without one hell of a fight, Thanks Harry!

We shall see how all this plays out, more and more people are coming to realize that our politicians are not representing our interests, but their own. They belong to a club that will never invite you or I to the table, they must be replaced, every goddamn one of them: blumenauer, wyden, wu, etc. etc. (give Merkley a few years of grace or not)

There will be more written about this event, this again is how I saw it. I did enjoy chasing willie smith around with my makeshift megaphone yelling, the best I could, Liar, willie you are a liar---you lie!

Some think that people who had tickets are also supporters of Single Payer, I disagree---if they supported our battle then they would be standing with us and not validating the rigged town hall manipulated by willie smith and the earlman! ENOUGH!

Joe Walsh-Lone Vet
VVAW-Veterans Against Torture
Individuals for Justice
American