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Friday, August 28, 2009
Organizing for America: 1000+ Rally for Health Care Reform in Albuquerque
Click for larger view of slideshow.
Organizing for America's Health Insurance Reform Now: Let's Get it Done! cross-country bus tour to promote meaningful health insurance reform -- including a strong public option -- stopped in Albuquerque last night for a huge rally at the National Hispanic Cultural Center attended by an estimated one thousand people.
The crowd was so big it spilled out beyond the main rally space into adjacent areas. The excitement was palpable in the crowd and among the speakers because we are the closest we have ever been to achieving what Senator Ted Kennedy said was "the cause of my life."
Sen. Dede Feldman
NM State Senator Dede Feldman -- a legislator who has been dedicated to improving access to quality health care for all for many moons -- gave a rousing speech full of facts that dispel the negative spin being generated non-stop by the monied interests working so hard to defeat health care reform. You're strongly encouraged to read the text of her remarks and pass along the info to folks you know who need some facts about health insurance reform. Sen. Feldman was appointed by the White House to be a member of State Legislators for Health Reform. She knows her stuff.
L to R: Sen. Dede Feldman; Sisto Abeyta, Fonda Osborn RN;
Greg Bloom, Field Director for Sen. Bingaman; Dr. Luella Toni Lewis, Dr. Elaine Bradshaw
Other speakers included the Executive Director of OFA, Mitch Stewart, Greg Bloom from Senator Jeff Bingaman's office, Dr. Elaine Bradshaw and Dr. Luella Toni Lewis, President of the Committee of Interns and Residents, Fonda Osborn, a registered nurse and Young Democrat Sisto Abeyta. Former Democratic Party of New Mexico Chair Brian Colon -- who's running for Lt. Governor -- as well as probable new DPNM Chair Javier Gonzales attended and greeted the crowd.
Javier Gonzales & Brian Colon, City Councilor Rey Garduno
All of the speakers urged supporters of health care reform to reach out to friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members NOW to dispel the myths and downright lies being spread by right-wing media figures and shills for the insurance industry. Get informed and get going. It's now or never and we are now in a position to make a difference not only for Americans alive today, but for generations to come. You can find OFA health care reform events near you by typing in your zipcode here.
Mitch Stewart, Director of Organizing for America
The New Mexico skies that provided a dramatic backdrop for the rally, going from sunny to dark and dumping pouring rain near the end of the rally -- with one of our famous Land of Enchantment double rainbows to add just the right punctuation. Or was it Teddy sending a little message that this time -- THIS TIME -- we're finally going to get it done for all Americans?
Click on images for larger versions. All photos by M.E. Broderick.
August 28, 2009 at 02:55 PM in Democratic Party, Events, Healthcare, Obama Health Care Reform, Organizing for America, Physicians | Permalink
Comments
this was a very informative and fun rally!I took lots of short and longer clips of the speeches. These are going to be out up too, soon as we can so check back.
The younger americans attending and working in the OFA were full of positive hopeFULL energy!
Posted by: mary ellen | Aug 28, 2009 3:45:54 PM
Excellent speech, Sen. Feldman!
Posted by: JJ | Aug 28, 2009 3:49:13 PM
While this event was important, why do all the signs now say "health INSURANCE reform" and nothing about a PUBLIC OPTION? Has Obama (OFA) given up on the public option? One of the organizers of the event last night told a friend of mine who attended the rally, that OFA did not want to "scare" people with talk of a public option. As Howard Dean said recently on Democracy Now, "without a public option, there is no real health care reform".
There is another march/rally scheduled for Sept. 13 in ABQ that is specifically pro public option! This is a nationwide, coordinated event called March4HealthCare. A march in DC, rallies in NYC, San Fran., Chicago, etc. This event is going to be BIG, and we want as many people to turn out for it as possible.
Full details: https://march4healthcareabq.blogspot.com/
Posted by: cindy folsom | Aug 28, 2009 4:35:10 PM
Good point, Cindy. I did not know about this grassroots march but I will put up info on it and talk about it at our DFA-DFNM Meetup next Thursday. This is something I strongly believe will get huge support once people know about it.
I will also make contact as the website suggests. Thanks!
Posted by: barb | Aug 28, 2009 7:00:00 PM
THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO TELL YOU ABOUT COOPS. IS THIS WHAT WE WANT FOR OUR HEALTH CARE?
Cops converge on Co-op meeting PDF Print E-mail
Written by Gerald Garner Jr./El Defensor Chieftain Editor
Saturday, 29 August 2009 13:00
Four uniformed Socorro police officers were dispatched to the Socorro Electric Cooperative Thursday night to quell a disturbance.
When they arrived, officers found five SEC member-owners upset that they were not given the opportunity to listen to a presentation regarding the Co-op's 2008-2009 audit. The presentation — to be given by Randy Robbins of the Lubbock-based Bolinger, Segars, Gilbert & Moss L.L.P. — was the lone item on the board's special meeting agenda.
As quickly as the meeting was called to order, trustee Juan Gonzales motioned to close the meeting and go into executive session. The motion was quickly seconded and approved — the member-owners were then asked to leave.
"We simply asked the board why we were being excluded from the presentation about our audit," Dr. Donald Wolberg said. "It wasn't a personnel matter they were discussing; they just didn't want us to hear how our money has been spent."
When asked why the board opted to exclude member-owners and the press from the proceedings, Gonzales quipped, "It's executive session — that's all you need to know ... "
Gonzales then warned the lone media representative against printing anything regarding the meeting.
The door was shut and board members reconvened in executive session while member-owners waited for the meeting to be reopened.
That never happened.
Ninety minutes after closing the doors, trustees emerged, headed for their cars and left.
"It's a pathetic situation," Magdalena resident Barbara Moore said. "Perhaps they were worried that the audit would make them look unfavorable."
One hour into the executive session, SEC General Manager Polo Pineda and three SEC staff members joined the police and member-owners outside the meeting hall. Pineda said the audit would be posted on the Co-op's Web page as soon as he received a PDF version of the document.
"No one's hiding anything," Pineda said. "The audit will be on the Web site for anyone to review."
A check of the co-op's Web page Friday, Aug. 28, revealed that the current audit results had not yet been posted. As of Chieftain press time, only excerpts from the previous two audits are posted.
Last Updated on Saturday, 29 August 2009 00:12
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Posted by: qofdisks | Aug 30, 2009 5:52:00 PM
