Reading and discussion of Restoring the Power of Unions: It Takes a Movement

Please Join us as we welcome author Julius G. Getman fora reading and
discussion of Restoring the Power of Unions: It Takes a Movement

Reception to follow

Date: Friday, February 25th
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Location: University of DC-DCSL Building 38, 2nd Floor Window Lounge
Just above the Van Ness/UDC Metro station (red line)

Please register at: http://www.law.udc.edu/event/RestoringUnions

About the book: "The labor movement is weak and divided. Some think that
it is dying. But Julius Getman, a preeminent labor scholar, demonstrates
through examination of recent developments that a resurgent labor
movement is possible. He proposes new models for organizing and
innovating techniques to strengthen the strike weapon. Above all, he
insists that unions must return to their historical roots as a social
movement. "

About Julius Getman: Professor Getman is the Earl E. Sheffield Regents
Chair at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. A graduate of
City College of New York Professor Getman has LLM and LLB from Harvard
University School of Law. He is a preeminent scholar in the field of
labor law, where he pioneered empirical studies and continues to do
extensive field work. He came to Texas in 1986 from Yale Law School,
where he was the William K. Townsend Professor of Law. He has also
taught at Stanford Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and
Georgetown University Law Center. In addition Restoring the Power of
Unions, he is also author of The Betrayal of Local 14: Paperworkers,
Politics and Permanent Replacements (Cornell, 1998) and In the Company
of Scholars: The Struggle for the Soul of Higher Education (Texas,
1992); and co-author of both Union Representation Elections: Law and
Reality (Russell Sage Foundation, 1976) and Labor Relations: The Basic
Processes, Law and Practice (Foundation, 1988). He edited a book of
essays in 2004 with former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall, The Future
of Labor Unions: Organized Labor in the 21st Century. He is a former
President of the American Association of University Professors. In 2007,
Professor Getman's first novel, Strike!, was published.

Compassion & Choices on end of life philosophies in the Netherlands

The Compassion & Choices Resident's Group at Riderwood Village is
pleased to present, at 2PM on 2/17/11, a talk on end of life
philosophies in the Netherlands by Frances Norwood, PhD.

Encore Theater
Lakeside Commons
3150 Gracefield Road
Silver Spring, MD

Dr. Norwood is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of
Anthropology and the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian
Studies at George Washington University. She is Director of Research
with Inclusion Research Institute in Washington, DC. Trained as a
medical anthropologist, Norwood does research on disability, aging and
end-of-life health policy. She will be speaking about her 15-month study
on end of life philosophy in The Netherlands. Visit her blog at
http://francesnorwood.wordpress.com/

Compassion & Choices is the nation's oldest and largest nonprofit
organization dedicated to improving care and expanding choice at the end
of life. Leading the end-of-life choice movement for more than thirty
years, we support, educate and advocate.

Learn more at http://www.compassionandchoices.org

For more information please contact the group leader Carolyn Drake
Compton at 301-572-8019 or via email at cdcompton@comcast.net

Tell Your Legislators to Support the Maryland Health Security Act

Now is the Time to Tell Your Legislators to Support the Maryland Health Security Act

Calls are often more effective than email. Please use your own words, and mention you're a constituent and the area where you live.

Find your state legislator: http://mdelect.net/electedofficials/
- input your address, click House of Delegates and State Senate, get a phone number to call
Email your state legislator: http://mlis.state.md.us/mgaweb/mail32.aspx
General Assembly Switchboard: 410-841-3000, Toll Free 800-492-7122

Healthcare activists will hold a rally and legislative day 9:30 AM Wednesday Feb 23rd, Lawyer’s Mall in front of the State House. Come show support for the Maryland Health Security Act. Speakers will include representatives from the Coalition for Health Security and legislators. After the rally, we will distribute lobbying materials and give a briefing on lobbying. The Senate hearing is March 9th. House hearing TBA. Please contact Eric Naumburg enaumburg@hotmail.com / 443-562-6562 and Margaret Flowers mdpnhp@gmail.com / 410-591-0892 for further information and to help. Synopsis: Establishing the Maryland Health System; requiring the Health System to provide health care services to all residents of the State under a single system that is not dependent on employment; authorizing a member of the Health System to choose any participating health care provider; requiring the Health System to reimburse a member who receives health care services from an out-of-state health care provider under specified circumstances; etc.

More information about SB 388/HB 1035: The bill would establish Medicare-like (single payer) health care financing for patient-directed, privately provided health care for all Marylanders. The Federal Affordable Care Act will not provide all Marylanders with health care, nor will it control costs to individuals or the state. Based on previous studies, an economic impact study by the Lewin Group is expected to demonstrate that a single-payer, tax-financed, privately delivered system will save money, help businesses, and provide comprehensive health care for all Marylanders. Maryland’s Medicaid bill accounts for over half of the budget shortfall, but the Health Security Act would cover everyone for less money. In 2010 fifty legislators supported the legislation. Last year, the bill (then-called Senate Bill 682) received an "Unfavorable Report" by the Finance committee. We're hoping for a much better outcome this year.

Health care costs are responsible for most of the Maryland state budget deficit. We can cover everybody in the state and create significant savings by creating a state single payer health system as described in the Maryland Health Security Act. The Maryland Health Security Act has been introduced in both the House of Delegates and the Senate. Please take a moment to send the following letter to your delegate(s) and senator asking them to support the Maryland Health Security Act. Feel free to edit if you like and to add your personal health story.

We especially need support from the Senators on the Finance Committee. Chair Thomas M. Middleton, (410) 841-3616, (301) 858-3616
Vice-Chair John C. Astle*, (410) 841-3578, (301) 858-3578, Health Subcommittee Chair Robert J. Garagiola* (410) 841-3169, (301) 858-3169, Barry Glassman, Delores G. Kelley*, Allan H. Kittleman*, Katherine A. Klausmeier*, James N. Matthias, Jr., C. Anthony Muse, E. J. Pipkin*, Catherine E. Pugh; and from the Delegates on the Health and Government Operations Committee: Eric M. Bromwell, Robert A. Costa, Bonnie L. Cullison, John P. Donoghue, Donald B. Elliott, William J. Frank, James W. Hubbard, A. Wade Kach, Ariana B. Kelly, Nicholaus R. Kipke, Susan W. Krebs, Patrick L. McDonough, Dan K. Morhaim, Peter F. Murphy, Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, Nathaniel T. Oaks, Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, Justin D. Ready, Kirill Reznik, Shawn Z. Tarrant, Veronica L. Turner. (* indicates members of Senate Health Subcommittee)

Say "thanks for sponsoring the Health Security Act" if your Senator and/or delegate(s) are on this list:

Senator Paul G. Pinsky, District 22

Senator Joanne C. Benson, District 24

Senator Jennie M. Forehand, District 17

Senator Lisa A. Gladden, District 41

Senator Verna L. Jones-Rodwell, District 44

Senator Richard S. Madaleno, Jr., District 18

Senator Roger P. Manno, District 19

Senator Nathaniel J. McFadden, District 45

Senator Karen S. Montgomery, District 14

Senator Jamie Raskin, District 20

Senator Jim Rosapepe, District 21

Delegate Jill P. Carter, District 41

Delegate Curt Anderson, District 43

Delegate Charles Barkley, District 39

Delegate Kumar P. Barve, District 17

Delegate Elizabeth Bobo, District 12B

Delegate Alfred C. Carr, Jr., District 18

Delegate Galen R. Clagett, District 3A

Delegate Frank M. Conaway, Jr., District 40

Delegate Barbara Frush, District 21

Delegate Ana Sol Gutierrez, District 18

Delegate Guy Guzzone, District 13

Delegate Keith E. Haynes, District 44

Delegate Sheila E. Hixson, District 20

Delegate Carolyn J. B. Howard, District 24

Delegate James W. Hubbard, District 23A

Delegate Tom Hucker, District 20

Delegate Anne R. Kaiser, District 14

Delegate Susan C. Lee, District 16

Delegate Eric G. Luedtke, District 14

Delegate Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, District 10

Delegate Doyle L. Niemann, District 47

Delegate Nathaniel T. Oaks, District 41

Delegate Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk, District 21

Delegate Barbara Robinson, District 40

Delegate Shane Robinson, District 39

Delegate Samuel I. Rosenberg, District 41

Delegate Justin D. Ross, District 22

Delegate Melvin L. Stukes, District 44

Delegate Frank S. Turner, District 13

Delegate Veronica Turner, District 26

Delegate Mary L. Washington, District 43

If your legislator(s) are not on the above lists, please contact them now! You can use this sample text, but please use your own words!

Dear (Delegate or Senator) ________________,

Now more than ever is the time to support the Maryland Health Security Act.

Severe budget deficits at the state level will require cuts to Medicaid at a time when Medicaid enrollment is expanding due to job loss. Even without a recession, Medicaid expansions in the past have failed to keep up with the rising number of people without health insurance in Maryland.

The rising cost of health care places a severe stress on families leading to the majority of personal bankruptcies and home foreclosures.

Businesses, particularly small ones, find it hard to stay open if they choose to provide health benefits. Year after year, as the cost of providing health benefits rises, employers are shifting the added expense to their employees, and/or shifting to benefit packages that cover less and have unaffordable high deductibles.

Health care costs and insecurity have led to wage stagnation and suppression of Maryland entrepreneurs. Large businesses find it hard to compete on the global level because of health care costs.

Physicians in Maryland, especially those in primary care, report that health insurers inhibit their ability to provide quality care for their patients and 77% of them would like to leave practice or stop accepting health insurance. It costs primary care physicians over $65,000 per year deal with multiple insurance company paperwork.

The Federal legislation which passed fails to address the fundamental problem with health care in our state and nation – how to create a universal health system that maximizes health and controls cost.

Now is the time to stop patching up a broken system and create a health system that works for everybody: patients, health professionals and businesses. This is why I am asking you to support the Maryland Health Security Act as a co-sponsor.

Please help Maryland to lead the way and be the first among the many states where citizens are working to pass a publicly funded and accountable, privately delivered, high quality, affordable, guaranteed universal health system. Support the Maryland Health Security Act!

Bring war dollars home resolution passed by Northampton, MA Democratic City Committee!

A Resolution of the Northampton Democratic City Committee:

Calling Upon Our Elected Representatives in Congress to End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Bring Our Troops and Tax Dollars Home.

                                      

WHEREAS, the financial resources available for use by governments at the local, county, state and federal levels in the United States are limited; and

 

WHEREAS, the U.S. Congress has appropriated over one trillion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, most of it borrowed against our national debt; and

 

WHEREAS, according to the National Priorities Project, the taxpayers of Northampton, Massachusetts are to date collectively paying or becoming indebted for over $114 million in total cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001; and

 

WHEREAS, U.S. troops, including those from Northampton and other cities and towns across Massachusetts, have served valiantly in Iraq and Afghanistan; and

 

WHEREAS, over 4,400 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq, over 1,140 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan, and over 39,000 U.S. troops have been wounded in both conflicts according to the Department of Defense; and

 

WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in these conflicts and the ongoing warfare poses great and unnecessary harm to the people of the nations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan; and

 

WHEREAS, the education services, medical care, housing, other essential public services, infrastructure repairs, and family and private sector financing in Northampton and throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts have been substantially reduced in order for an excessive portion of available financial resources to be diverted from the constructive economy to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan;

 

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Democratic Committee of Northampton, Massachusetts supports public discussion and dialogue about the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to our community; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we commend and support Congressman Richard Neal for joining nine of our state's ten U.S. Representatives in voting against a $37 billion supplemental appropriation for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on July 27, 2010; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on U.S. Senator Scott Brown and U.S. Senator John Kerry to join Congressman Neal in opposing further funding of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and urge them to take leadership in the Congress to bring our troops safely home and redirect our federal tax dollars to the pressing educational, employment, health, housing, nutritional, infrastructure, energy, and environmental needs of our city, state, and country; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we call on Congressman Neal and Senators Brown and Kerry to support federal funding for the over 2 million new Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans – particularly the thousands who have come home disabled or otherwise physically or mentally wounded – to ensure they receive health care, housing, jobs, education and other support services the deserve on behalf of our grateful nation

Northampton City Democratic Committee adopts the Resolution to Bring the Troops and War Taxes Home

NORTHAMPTON, MA. On Saturday, February 12, the forty-some members present at the Northampton City Democratic Committee Meeting voted nearly unanimously to adopt the Resolution to Bring the Troops and War Taxes Home, furthering the grassroots effort to stop the war and increase domestic spending on human needs.

 

The resolution was an updated replica of that passed by Northampton City Council in September, 2010, calling on our Congressman Richard Neal and Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown to vote against further funding of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to invest those funds instead in the “educational, employment, health, housing, nutritional, infrastructure, energy, and environmental needs of our city, state, and country.” A specific request was made to fund the needs of returning veterans “particularly the thousands who have come home disabled or otherwise physically or mentally wounded--to ensure they receive health care, housing, jobs, education and other support services they deserve.” A similar resolution has been passed in neighboring Amherst, and the Northampton Resolution was the basis for a meeting with Congressman Neal in December.

 

The resolution was brought to the NCDC by the Alliance for Peace and Justice with the support of Progressive of Democrats of  America  (PDA). The motion to adopt was seconded by State Representative Peter Kocot who spoke of his growing recognition of the futility of the wars, of the tragedy of 149,000 homeless veterans in Massachusetts and of the loss of economic support for small business due to the bleeding of resources to the Pentagon.

 

APJ and PDA plan to 1) promote the Resolution in towns throughout the state; 2) to raise it to the State Democratic Party Platform Committee; and 3) to take it up in the State House of Representatives.

 

For more information, please contact Marty Nathan at martygjf@comcast.net or go to http://www.apj-wmass.org/