Guaranteed Healthcare

By Donna Smith, community organizer, CNA/NNOC 

ROCHESTER, NY -- Seems I just got off that 1980 school bus touring the southeastern U.S. and stumping for HR676, single payer healthcare reform.  But that was 10 months and 24 states ago, and the mood in this country is shifting.

Here in New York in just three days, I have meet with more than 500 people (like the Raging Grannies pictured above in Rochester) to talk about single payer -- publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare. And while the audiences have varied greatly in age and economic status, the support for true reform and the desire to fully understand is much greater than it was in late 2007.

 You see, creating hope and energy sometimes has its own unintended consequences.  And this time, people are beginning to sense a shift that could actually mean the era of selfish and nationally damaging greed is winding to a close.  And I can almost hear a collective sigh of relief tempered with the reality that a lot of hard work over the next few weeks will be required of all who care.