(Following up on this post and this one in the series)

The second of my chosen areas of emphasis is getting Single Payer Health Care more into the public awareness and mainstream thinking, and, of course, ultimately to get HR 676 or something very like it passed into law in this country.

DCBlogger and hipparchia have done an excellent job keeping us up-to-date on the issue, so I won't even attempt to duplicate their efforts here: just follow the relevant tags.

I will report on the Healthcare-Now! Rally for HR 676 which took place last Thursday in Times Square. and some of my thoughts coming out of that rally. And, of course, photos! (Not very many this time because my batteries ran out.) Read more…

Rev. Jesse Jackson:

"Dr. King fervently supported Kennedy over Nixon. We still had to march for a public accommodations bill. He supported President Johnson over Goldwater. We still had to march for the right to vote. Now when Mr. Barack Obama gets to Washington, there'll be competition for his attention. And so the Civil Rights Movement must make its presence felt. And the labor movement. And the women's movement."

Amen.

Full disclosure: Anyone to the left of me would probably be a clown. And I've long felt the presence of jokers to the right. I bet you have too! So here I am: Stuck in the "middle" with you! Let's let them know just where the middle really is, my friends, eh?

As I wrote in response to Sarah's question "Where do we go from here?", (and have mentioned before), I am concentrating my political energy in three areas: single-payer health care, economic justice, and fighting misogyny and sexism.

I'll start the discussion with the latter.

Splashy9 said it well: one of the lessons we learned in this electoral season is that

Misogyny is alive and works to kill the dreams of females

So the males that understand that it is a problem that needs to be fixed really need to work harder to educate other males about it. Read more…

Vote tomorrow, please. Vote your heart, vote your conscience. But vote.

Whatever happens tomorrow, we'll need to be here for each other in the year and years to come. You know it won't come easy.

We need to make sure that the poor and defenseless are taken care of.

We need to make sure that the lonely are not left alone.

We need to make sure that no one forgets the people who (in the words of Bill Clinton) worked hard and followed the rules.

Above all, we need to stand by each other - we who've argued and struggled and spoken together.

I'm quoting this poem by Auden in its entirety. Read nothing but my economic anxieties into its title. Many of its lines ring so true to me today.

See you all later. Show an affirming flame. Read more…

Nouriel Roubini has some advice:

U.S. should enact $400 billion stimulus [Bloomberg].

The U.S. government should enact an economic stimulus package of between $400 billion and $500 billion before the end of the Bush administration in January, New York University professor Nouriel Roubini said.

But what a stimulus!

“The only way to increase aggregate demand is going to be through” government spending on roads, bridges and other infrastructure, Roubini said at a Bloomberg conference in New York. “We need a huge plan, $300 billion is not going to be enough. I think we’re going to need a plan of $400 billion to $500 billion.” Read more…

The Brecht Forum in NYC has set up a new website, Economy Watch, for coverage of the economic crisis from a decidedly left, not to say Marxist, viewpoint (as you might expect given it's the Brecht Forum).

Not saying I'm totally on board with their POV, but it provides an outlet for viewpoints you may not see represented anywhere else.

This video "An Offer We Can't Refuse? Progressives respond to the Wall Street crisis" is a very interesting discussion with William Greider, Arun Gupta, Doug Henwood, Naomi Klein & Frances Fox Piven. (from the 6th of October at the Brecht Forum)

to the junior Senator from New York Who is now in her prime!

He's never wrong! Alas. (But I wonder if he's got any thoughts on the World Series?)

Bloomberg (October 23, 2008): Roubini Says `Panic' May Force Market Shutdown. Friday Morning Update: Markets are becoming dysfunctional and S&P and DJIA futures trading already suspended today [RGE monitor] Read more…

That was the front-page header given to this AP article in today's Metro (freebie newspaperlet).

The ailing economy is leading many Americans to skip doctor visits, skimp on their medicine, and put off mammograms, Pap smears and other tests. And physicians worry the result will be sicker patients who need more expensive treatment later.

This WaPost version is much more fleshed-out, and chilling.

Say it with me! We can't afford NOT to have single-payer.

Still seeking to answer the question "Who's going after Charlie Rangel," I found this Washington Post article whose coverage agrees well with most of my carefully-assembled timeline. Glad to see someone's on the story, even if I think they stop before asking the most important question.

From the article (and to fill in those who haven't been following the story):

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), 78, addressing two visitors in his office near the House chamber, says he won't cave in to Republicans and other critics who demand that he step aside as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee until the ethics cloud surrounding him clears. Read more…

The New York City Central Labor Council held an Emergency Mobilization Press Conference today at noon in front of the NY Stock Exchange. We packed Wall Street with the usual verve.

Unions to Congress: A Blank Check is a Bad Idea.

Photos? Have I got photos?!

Update: NYCCLC press release below... Read more…

From The Hill (Thursday):

Democrats shot down a second GOP attempt in as many months to punish Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) for a series of alleged ethics violations.

Democrats easily tabled a motion House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) offered that was aimed at forcing Rangel to give up his chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee while the ethics committee investigates the charges. It also would have ordered the ethics committee to establish an investigative subcommittee to look into the matter. The motion went down, 226-176, with only the five Democrats on the ethics panel voting “present” and eight Democrats not voting. Read more…

A strange issue (seemed strange to me, anyway) of New York Teacher, the NYSUT publication, gives us a side-by-side two-page spread comparison of McCain and Obama on the issues.

The blurb at the lower left tells us:

The decision is yours

• How you vote is a personal decision. The information contained on these pages is being provided to help you make an informed decision about issues that affect working families  Read more…

Because B*tches Get Stuff Done!

Edit: couldn't embed.

hat tip: riverdaughter

In New York State Assembly District 72 (upper Manhattan) there is a rather contentious race going on for the Democratic primary election next Tuesday. The incumbent, Adriano Espaillat, is being challenged by his former mentee Miguel Martinez, who has reached the end of his term limit as City Council Member.

Interesting things can be found in the duelling campaign mailers sent out by the two camps. I wonder if this speaks only to the politics of heavily Dominican (and Hillary-supporting) upper Manhattan or whether it's a sign of how NYC politics as a whole is tacking in 2008.

First mailings: Read more…

[Welcome, C-SPAN readers!]

So I went out on a long walk/shopping trip to the Upper West Side of Manhattan today, hoping to take my mind off the convention. (Yes, I know...)

Along the way I met about a dozen volunteers (I assume) for the DNC, armed with clipboards, asking passersby to vote for Obama.

The first one I spoke with had no reaction to my complaints about misogyny, seeming only to want to wait me out so she could talk to someone else. But the second one responded to my talking about misogyny and how Obama had benefitted from it by a wide-eyed "What misogyny?"

I wanted to say this to her: Read more…

As part of my ongoing efforts to stick my fingers in my ears and sing "la la la la la" very loudly and pretend Roosevelt is President...

I started making this hat in 2002. The pattern is from a booklet (price 10 cents!) published in 1936. I decided to use some very nice antique wool fingering yarn that I've had sitting around for some time. The yarn is medium grey with a blue tone and a kind of tweediness I like very much. Here's how far I got: Read more…

I want to give major creds to Lambert, for approving me. And I want to cred the rest of the Corrente folk, for being who they are.

I'm about down to TalkLeft and CorrenteWire for my blog feeds aanyway.

If I ever, ever have things to say, you bet I'll say them here.