Healthcare Reform

Here is a notice from Ben Vos of Nashville Community Organizers:

Hey, everyone!  Nashville Community Organizers is going to be working with Health Care For America NOW!, Change that Works, Tennessee Citizen Action, Tennessee Disability Coalition, Tennessee Health Care Campaign.  We’re holding a major public event on Thursday afternoon, August 13th.  It starts at 4:30 and runs til around 6 PM.

NCO needs people who can make phone calls, send invites, and gather the troops. If you can help, contact Ben at benvos329@yahoo.com

Time: August 13, 2009 from 4:30pm to 6pm
Location: Centennial Park
City/Town: Nashville, TN

Nashville Community Organizers Honor Jim Cooper

Yesterday, we attended a brunch at Ombi on Elliston Place to honor Congressman Jim Cooper who was one of the first significant Democrats in Tennessee to support Barack Obama. My support for Obama was early, but I’m not a significant Democrat. My endorsement probably just influenced my husband.

Rep. Cooper was home sick, but his wife Martha Cooper accepted and spoke on his behalf. We brunched with Mrs. Cooper, as well as a former diplomat who resigned when Bush was re-elected, and our young friend Ben, who is a constant volunteer with the Tennessee Democratic Party. Nationally, Rep. Cooper will be advising President Obama on healthcare.

I enjoy attending the get-togethers, sponsored by Nashville Community Organizers, Organizing for America and the Tennessee Democratic Party. We need to get involved locally. Our state legislature in Tennessee is more concerned right now with giving gun owners the right to carry their loaded weapons into restaurants, bars and nightclubs than the high rate of unemployment in our state. Too many of our residents are malnourished and do not have health care.

The group will be volunteering in Murfreesboro over the next few days helping with the tornado clean up. This is a great way to spend a few hours in your community aiding those who have lost their homes and in some cases their loved ones.

Helping in Murfreesboro

Nashville Community Organizers is interested in getting a group together to go to Murfreesboro to help with the clean up effort. I’ll post more when I know more.

Take Back the Economy Demonstration

Here is an email I received this morning as a member of the Nashville Community Organizers group:

Take Back the Economy Demonstration

Time: March 19, 2009 from 12pm to 12:30pm
Location: Bank of America Building Downtown
Organized By: SEIU, Cindy Smalls

Event Description:
While most people in America today are making hard choices and sacrifices, big banks and corporate executives collect government bailouts and continue their lavish pay and lifestyles that drain families’ finances and sap our overall economy.

On March 19, 2009 Americans in cities nationwide will hold demonstrations at the offices of major banks and other corporations to demand more responsible corporate behavior and call on Congress to enact the change that will make it happen.

How does the 60s song go? “Spring is here and the time is right for rioting in the streets.” Not only are the unemployed the only ones angry about the AIG bailout/bonus gift plan.

Nashville Community Organizers Meet

This afternoon a group of community progressives met at a Nashville Community Organizers event. Although many members of the group are involved with the Tennessee Democratic Party, membership or participation is open to anyone wanting to promote progressive issues in the state.

Tennessee is a red state (Republican) for those of you not familiar with our politics, although we have a Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen.

Republicans and Independents are invited to be part of Nashville Community Organizers if their interests are progressive. I think that means liberal to most of us.

Two local groups presented their grassroots activities, Tennesseans for Fair Taxation and Tennessee Health Care Campaign. Not all attendees agreed with the Tennessee for Fair Taxation agenda. And that was okay with the organizers. It is preferable that we hear both sides of the story.

I learned some interesting facts from the meeting. Tennessee has the most personal bankruptcies of any state in the USA. One attendee remarked the most of the bankruptcies were due to medical bills. One bipartisan fact I learned from the meeting is that our Republican senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, tend to vote progressively on healthcare issues.

The Nashville Community Organizers group was formed from those supporting Barack Obama.