(cross-posted from Working Californians, also in Orange)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a sneak peek screening of Michael Moore’s new film SiCKO.  Several blogger reviews are already out, Brian Leubitz, nyceve, Randy Bayne and fnpople.  Instead of another review, what I would like to talk about is the political message of SiCKO, as it relates to the California health care debate.  Two years ago, Michael Moore set out to make a documentary on America’s health care system.  He could have focused on any number of topics, including big PhRMA, or the millions of uninsured, but settled on the failure of private health insurance.

In the end, the film is one big fantastic advertisement for single payer health care.  Naturally, Moore teamed up with CNA here in California for a series of events.  Moore is not shy about his goals.  He wants to start massive grassroots movement to institute a national single payer system and use this film to do it.  However, Moore went out of his way to support Fabian Nunez and his efforts to reform the current system, holding both a press conference and the screening for legislators and other guests like yours truly.  Moore recognizes the current political atmosphere here in California.  It is what he is trying to change by making this film, promoting it and framing the discussion of the film politically.  If millions of Americans watch this movie, their political outlook on health care policy will change.  SiCKO is that powerful.

Right now single payer is lacking a lot of necessary support to truly be viable in California.  Arnold Schwarzenegger has already vetoed SB 840 once and will again this year.  Even if he were to pass it, there is still another hurdle to get over.  SB 840 is simply a framework bill.  The billions of dollars to fund the program would have to be passed separately, something that would require the support of 2/3rds of the legislature, something that is not in the current realm of possibility.  Just check out the Republican rhetoric around SiCKO.  This is an excerpt from a CA Republican press release.  (Someone needs to teach the Republicans about run-on sentences.)

[Yesterday] Sacramento Democrats left no doubt where they really stand in the debate over strengthening California’s healthcare future. Literally rolling out the red carpet to welcome  Michael Moore, the discredited filmmaker, to the State Capitol, the Democrats warmly embraced the Soviet-style healthcare he showcases in his new propaganda reel, “Sicko.”

Oh no the REDS!!  Moore actually treats the great Communist scare tactics of the Republicans with some biting sarcastic humor in the film.  It is amazing that in the 21st century that the Republicans are still trying to use that as a fear card.  Moore retorted:

“They’re going to fight this, and they’re going to scare people,” he told legislators. “Ooh, socialized medicine: bad. Really? Isn’t that what our police departments are? Socialized? Run by the government? Free service? You think anybody would ever ask if the fire department should have to post a profit?”

Frankly, this is a logical argument, but not one Americans are used to hearing.  The private industry of health care is so ingrained in our way of thinking that such arguments sound very strange.  But Moore is right here.  He relayed the story last night of firefighters in England, back when you used to have to purchase fire fighting insurance.  Those houses that were insured had placards on the front of their homes.  Responding firefighters would only put out fires for those who had those in place.  Tough luck for the neighbors of the uninsured, who would face the consequences of the inaction by the firefighters.

More from the Republican press release:

Moore spoke of his desire to see health providers criminally prosecuted for following free market principles in trying to make healthcare more efficient and affordable… Californians have seen this bad movie of record tax increases and bloated government-run healthcare directed by Sacramento Democrats and they continue to give it two thumbs down. If Democrats strike box office gold in the Legislature and succeed in pushing through their massive, government-run healthcare scheme that will force all Californians to endure long waits and rationed care, hard-working taxpayers and small business owners will be at the top of the casting list to star in the sequel to Moore’s film, “Sicko II: The Death of California’s Economy.”

They are trying to scare you.  Michael Moore’s favorite line in the movie was from an American living in France who said: “The Americans fear the government, but in France, the government fears the people.”  She said it trying to explain why the government works so hard for betterment of the French citizens not other motives.  The Republicans are intentionally trying to increase Americans’ fear of the government with this language about single payer.  They are playing up the fear of the unknown and obscuring the reality in most developed countries with national health care plans.  Those countries generally pay less and get more out of their health systems than our inefficient system, where the primary motive is profit not care.

Until there is greater education on the issue, there will not be the necessary public support and thus political will to pass single payer in California or nationally.  SiCKO will be one important tool in that path towards better legislation.  It is important that we promote and encourage other to see this film in an attempt to change public perception.  However, SiCKO is not a panacea.  It is unreasonable to assume that a public shift will occur overnight, to make single payer viable politically.

Meanwhile, 800,000 children in California go without health care.  Over 5.8 million adults have no coverage.  Bottom line is that the private health care industry is a mess, but there are reforms we can enact to solve many of the problems Moore powerfully brought to light in SiCKO.  The California legislature can stop the hospital dumping of patients on skid row in LA.  We can get coverage to many if not all of the uninsured and we can improve the quality of the insurance for those already enrolled in plans.  It will not be perfect.  Heck it may not even be great, but it will be better than what we have got now.

Passing health care reform this year that is not single payer does not eliminate the possibility of passing single payer in the relatively near future.  Until we get there publicly and politically, legislative negotiations need to be supported.

So let’s support SiCKO.  Take our friends and family to see the film.  Praise people like Oprah for using the film as a springboard for talking about our health care industry.  Press the presidential contenders to detail their health care plans.  Push the California legislature to pass the best possible bill.  Keep the ball moving forward.

Watch Moore on Oprah, which has several clips from the film that are not in the previews.  This is part one.  Part two is here.

Yes I timed it.

After yesterday’s national debut of SiCKO, 1,000 nurses from the California Nurses Association and across the country rose as one, roared, and continued roaring for 8 full minutes.  I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes at the same time, and so did everyone else in the theater.

It was an emotional conclusion to a historic day: the campaign kick off for an extraordinary month of health care activism that aims to cure our nation of the health insurance corporations who are doing so much damage to all of us. 

The media, nurses and doctors, Moore, and healthcare activists gathered together because this—-this-—is our opportunity to finally change the healthcare system in this country.  We’ll recap what happened and plans going forward below…

Cross-posted at the National Nurses Organizing Committee’s Breakroom Blog, as we organize to make 2007 the Year of GUARANTEED Healthcare–thanks to SiCKO.

I won’t review the film here—nyceve, among others, has already done a better job than I could.

But this film is a masterpiece—and one told from the nurses’ point of view.  Those of us who aren’t RNs tend to think of the healthcare crisis in terms of numbers: infant mortality, deaths of uninsured, murder by insurance, record insurance industry profits, etc.  Nurses, however, are on the front lines fighting the “denial of care” industry (alias: private insurance corporations) and are used to seeing the tragic stories SiCKO uncovers.

That’s why yesterday was so exciting for them.  CNN, CNBC, USA Today, AP, The Wall St. Journal were all there, doing live stand-ups, shouting out questions, finally giving the silent genocide that is our healthcare system the attention it deserves.  Already Moore has changed everything—and we need to keep that change rolling. 

The day opened with a press conference with California Speaker Fabian Nunez.  Nunez is the perfect candidate to see the film: he has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the insurance corporations, and is carrying their water with bills to expand their customer base (and customer abuse).  He is emblematic of weak-kneed politicians across the country who won’t do the right thing—and who must be forced to. 

Michael Moore then went under the dome of the California Senate, and gave a rip-roaring defense of him film.  “I believe these insurance companies are an illegal racket and should be forced out of business.”  High drama.

From there Moore proceeded to rally the troops of 1,000 nurses and doctors outside, who gave him a hero’s welcome.  Finally, a media star who uses his celebrity to make a difference!

The nurses escorted him to the film’s screening in a sea of red scrubs, an image that appeared on the front pages of papers across California.  During the film, nurses alternated between laughing and crying, shock, horror and hope as the story of their battles was unfolded on the big screen.

There was much discussion afterwards about how to help this movie have the maximum impact.  Moore stressed that we must have a great opening week so that more theaters across the country will pick it up.  He also gave everyone blanket permission to call up local theaters, say they are close personal friends of his, and ask for help in setting up a discussion or handing out literature.  If you’re unsure if you can talk to the audience as they leave this film in tears ready for action, use this rule of thumb: it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.

And of course—calling all nurses, doctors, and other healthcare professionals.  We need you to join the “Scrubs for SiCKO” campaign.  Sign up with us, we’ll send you literature to hand out opening night June 29th.  Bring a buddy, and help solve this healthcare crisis by advocating for guaranteed healthcare on the single-payer model.

Please post additional suggestions on how to maximize SiCKO’s impact in the comments.

And now, let’s check out the SiCKO coverage from yesterday:

Great San Francisco Chronicle article here.

Fun stuff from CNN.

Here’s a nice Huffington Post.

And the AP did their usual good work.

To join the fight for guaranteed healthcare (with a “Medicare for All” or SinglePayer financing), visit with GuaranteedHealthcare.org, a project of the National Nurses Organizing Committee. 

This summer is going to see a lot of intrastate travel in the Robert in Monterey household. Next week my fiance goes to San Diego for a 2-week training. The week after that, we’re both going back to OC for my sister’s wedding. In August is my 10-year high school reunion, also in OC.

Because there is no reliable train that connects Monterey County to SoCal, we’re going to drive each time – three round trips by the time September rolls around. We’re lucky that we can still do this – gas prices are high, but not yet crippling. There’s enough supply to fuel our new subcompact. But the environmental cost of these trips is already significant, and in the coming years, this easy galavanting around the Golden State will no longer be possible or desirable. Peaking oil supplies, crowded freeways, and unaffordable gas costs will mean that millions of summer trips like these – and the economic activity they collectively generate – will simply cease.

Happily, there is a plan to deal with this. As I’ve written about before, California has had a detailed plan to build a high speed rail line to connect the major metro areas of the state since 2002. Were it in place we could just hop a bus to Gilroy or San José and “Fly California” via the rails, arriving in SoCal in just a few hours, without using gas or adding carbon to the atmosphere.

As I’ve also written about, Arnold is trying to kill this plan. Democrats in the state legislature are trying to fight him off, and committees in both chambers have voted to give nearly $50 million for the project. But to hear some newspapers tell it, this plan is pretty much already dead. What gives?

Over the last week two San Diego papers have turned their attention to the high speed rail project, and both gave the very strong impression that what I believe to be the most important project debated by Californians in the last 45 years is “pretty much dead.” Their coverage misstates the situation and provides a false impression that high speed rail is not only dead, but not really worth fighting for. At the same time though, these articles DO suggest who some of the other forces in SoCal are that are trying to slow or kill the project.

First comes an article from Saturday’s North County Times headlined “High speed rail called dead”, quoting some government officials in the Temecula area as saying that high speed rail is “dead.” Temecula councilman – and head of the six-county Metrolink board – Ron Roberts says “A long time ago I thought it was dead. And I still think it is dead.” Bob Magee, Lake Elsinore’s mayor and Riverside County transportation official is quoted as saying “I don’t think we’re going to see high-speed rail in my lifetime.” And a Republican State Senator, Dennis Hollingsworth (CA-38), an avowed opponent of HSR, is allowed to spout this talking point: “The state’s finances are going to have to improve at a pretty remarkable clip to make it attractive to go out for a big bond for something that would be completely new.”

The article does also quote some HSR supporters, and we’ll have more to say about them later. But let’s parse the above quotes. Roberts, the head of the Metrolink board, calls HSR dead. Does Metrolink have full support for HSR, or do they worry that it might compete with them for funding, right-of-way, capital, and riders? If Magee, who sits on Riverside County’s transportation commission, says “we’ll never see it in our lifetimes,” was Riverside County ever really on board the HSR plan? Magee was later quoted by KCBS/2 news as saying Metrolink trains, not HSR was the solution to gridlock on the Interstate 15 corridor. As Magee also presided over a freeway and roads-centric transportation plan for Riverside County, it raises questions about whether he and the county were ever serious about HSR or whether they and local officials always preferred to work with Metrolink alone.

A few weeks back I noted that the CHSRA had voted to proceed with construction on the SF-LA portion of the line first, as mandated by the state legislature. This was seen as a “piecemeal” approach and at the CHSRA meeting in late May where this was decided, it was said that local government agencies such as SCAG (SoCal Association of Governments) and SANDAG (SD Association of Governments) were interested in other alternatives. Might it be the case, then, that local officials such as those quoted in this article had never been on board with HSR in the first place, and were all too happy to help try and kill it by withholding crucial support east and south of LA?

The other article comes in today’s San Diego Union-Tribune, wondering if Arnold’s opposition will “finally kill it,” as if the project has somehow been on life support. The text of the article itself suggests otherwise – that transportation issues remain a central focus of the budget negotiations and that Democrats remain committed to protecting local transit agency funding as well as the CHSRA plan, quoting Assemblymember John Laird (CA-27) to that effect.

Frank Russo recently bemoaned the lack of media coverage of important issues in our state. When a few articles DO appear on high speed rail, such as these two, they tend to emphasize the obstacles HSR faces, instead of emphasizing the popular support that exists for it.

In that NC Times article, State Sen. Christine Kehoe (CA-39) argues that the project is alive and well, but rightly points out that Arnold’s lack of leadership is endangering this vital proposal: “The governor is sending a very mixed message on the high-speed rail, unfortunately…We need leadership that says California is committed to this project. And we don’t have that yet.”

The article also closes with several quotes from locals about the project, including many who support it. Escondido’s mayor clearly gets why HSR is so valuable:

I think high-speed rail is the next generation of transportation, and it is critical to the economic success of California. I think it has to get built because, fundamentally, our highways are constrained, our airports are at capacity and our railroads are at capacity. If we want to keep moving people and goods, our next choice is going to be high-speed rail.

And just a few days ago we learned that ridership on California’s regional Amtrak routes has shattered all previous records, led by the extremely popular Capitol Corridor line between San José and Sacramento.

The desire for rapid, effective, and environmentally friendly rail transportation is quite clearly there. Support is there for the taking. But who will lead? Who in Sacramento, or who out there in California, will take up the cause? This project is clearly not dead. But without strong support, it could soon be.

Last night Michael Wray, Democratic candidate in CA-50, came out to introduce himself to the Rancho North Coast Democratic Club. This was his first “official” foray as a candidate into the Busby-Bilbray battleground district, and the response he got from the crowd was enthusiastic. Attendance was much higher than usual for the club, packing the room with veteran Democrats and Busby volunteers from campaigns past- a crowd that definitely knows the district inside and out. They kept him on his toes all night, asking questions about his personal story, Iraq, health care, Bilbray's record, immigration and disloyal democrats. Eventually he was called back up by popular demand to field more questions as the club members really got into it with him. On the flip, my clumsy recounting of what he delivered much better.

(As mentioned further down, I haven't yet had the chance to see the other Democratic candidates in person, but when I do, I'll recap them as well)

He started out by introducing himself and how he arrived at this point. He discussed his service in the navy and ensuing experience working on alternative energy fusion programs that were ultimately cut by the government and how rewarding it was for him to work on something that could change the world. He spoke about getting deeply involved in the Dean campaign, traveling to Iowa to walk and freeze leading up to the 2004 caucus and about how he was in the room for the “Scream” speech. He explained that his experience with Howard Dean led him to be a founding member of the Black Mountain Democratic Club. Finally, he talked about searching for people who can inspire hope, and realizing at some point that you are the person you've been waiting for. You have to be the one to stand up and fight for what's right.

 He discussed Brian Bilbray's vulnerability and the unfortunate overinfluence of beltway folks in Busby's campaign last year. He suggested that Bilbray's big issue was immigration, and that going after him on immigration would nullify the issue and level the playing field. Clear that issue off the table and we have an opportunity to talk about clean water, universal health care (he likes single payer, for children at minimum), Iraq, and seeking out constructive, peaceful solutions in general.

The next question asked point blank how he would have voted on Iraq funding, and he said flat out that he would not have voted to fund the war. He spoke about the U.S.'s responsibility to engage in nation-building if we'll be in the business of nation-destruction, and lamented that too much of recent foreign policy has been predicated on war being lucrative. He also encouraged more veterans to speak out for peace and against the idea of Republicans as the party that supports the troops.

After a brief break for club business and general technical malfunctions, Wray was brought back up to field more questions. He was asked about his relative youth and whether that would be an issue in the campaign which he didn't see as a concern. He spoke about poverty, health care and similar issues as being moral, not political questions. He said that there are times when serving in Congress that you have to vote for what's right even if it may mean that you lose re-election, because if you don't do what's right, then you shouldn't be there anyways.

There was concern voiced from the audience about electing Democrats who are only marginally better than Republicans, which gave Wray an opportunity to talk about his support for publicly financed elections (noting their success in Arizona), and also speak eloquently about the capacity of the grassroots to influence their representatives. A lot of pressure can be brought to bear by an active and committed group of activists, and he squarely put himself in the bottom-up change camp to fight against the entrenched interests that often undermine progressivism.

*breath*

All-in-all a very well received introduction to a very savvy, very angry, and very ready-to-be-mobilized group of Democratic activists. My very unscientific sampling of crowd reactions found that people were very impressed by him. I haven't yet seen the other two Democratic candidates in person (Nick Liebham and John Lee Evans), but all three will be appearing next week at another local club and hopefully I'll be able to start drawing some distinctions between the contenders in the 50th. Brian Bilbray is very bad news and while it's an uphill fight, it's one that we can and will win.

Ed Jew — the $40,000 man — is out on $135,000 bail and headed for arraignment on 9 felony counts. Know as “Supervisor No” for his record, it appears “no” was also the answer to whether he lived in San Francisco and was honest with investigators.

With a good chance of a special election being combined with the November recall, it is important to consider how this — taken with the recall campaign against Jake McGoldrick in the district to the north — could change the strategic dynamics for ballot measures in San Francisco in the next 12 months.

These two conservative westside districts (the Sunset and Richmond), along with Gavin Newsom’s expensive GOTV effort could make this fall an awful time for progressive initiatives. Pretty much the opposite of next June. San Francisco has always played an important role as an incubator lab for progressive policy that can then be exported across the state and nation. But will this be a year for defense instead?

And what cool ideas would you suggest to take advantage of the overwhelming progressive potential next June?

(Please read this review and make friends with your friends and family to attend the movie when it opens and support SB 840 – promoted by blogswarm)

Well, we went to SiCKO last night, and since we didn’t get back until after 1AM, I didn’t write a review then.  You can check out my Flickr set by clicking the photo.

Few movies were better titled. Now, I’m not sure if Moore intended the title as in “make you sicko” or “treating the sicko” but either way, it works.  I’m not what you would call a Michael Moore fanboy. I mean, his tactics can be grating and more than a little annoying. But, I think this movie makes his strongest statement yet. To put it shortly, this movie made me sad and frustrated, yet I feel more determined to work for change than ever.

The movie specifically disclaims those who are uninsured, as the opening credits roll, Moore states that the movie is not about those who do their own sutures at home, or those who die waiting for assistance at the few public hospitals. Rather the movie is about the weakest link in our health care delivery system, the insurance companies.  Follow me over the flip…

I’m no movie critic, so forgive me my lack of Roger Ebert polish.  Now, that out of the way, let me say that the movie was stunning throughout, yet had a few occasions of well, too longness.  And occasionally, it felt like an ad for France.  Hey, I like France as much as the next guy (well probably more than many GOP next guys), but the Francophile bit seemed a bit long.  But with much of his comparisons to other country, he makes one grand point:

We, not me.

Let me repeat that: We, not me. It’s a simple, yet powerful refrain. For too long, Reaganists have pushed us to fear the government. As one line in the movie said, roughly paraphrased, “The Americans fear the government, but in France, the government fears the people.” You see, we have lived to long in a state of fear, constantly running from one crisis to the next, never wondering why we have such crises. Or how we could prevent ourselves from reaching the levels of poverty that we have achieved in what is supposed to be the richest nation EVER.

So, when Moore goes all Cuba-loving, Franco-philiac and what not, he does it because in those nations he sees the underlying community responsibility.  Or to put it another way, Moore is trying to speak of the commitment that we all make to one another as a neighborhood, a community, a state, and a nation, not to mention our duty to the human race in general.

But the movie doesn’t deal only in generalities. It tells stories so horrifying and so pathetic, that it just screams insanity.  Like the story of a mother who lost her toddler due to Kaiser’s reluctance to pay an out-of-network, or the 50somethings who have to move into their daughter’s basement after co-pays forced them to sell their house. Or the man who found a perfect bone marrow donor, but the health group said the transplant was “expiremental”. No, it was abundantly clear that insurance companies are becoming the weak link in our health care delivery, if not the thief in the night. They seek to deny care. That is their job, not to ensure a healthy population, not to “thrive”, but to keep their “medical losses” to a minimum.

This movie was powerful, and should be considered on the order of Inconvenient Truth. It should make people stop, think, and wonder if they are next. Or your mother, or your toddler. How many more people will be dumped on the Skid Row, or die for lack of care before we just finally decide that enough is enough. Before we finally decide that we are just plain SiCK of the profit motive in our health care industry, or until we are just SiCKOs.

Are you planning to go to your regional delegates’ meeting? I think I am! But wait! What are these meetings for? And who can go? Well, if you were elected or appointed as a California Democratic Party delegate earlier this year, then you can go to this meeting and find out what the Democratic Party is doing in your part of the state.

Here’s something from the email I got last night that explains these meetings some more:

These meetings are being convened in accordance with the CDP Bylaws which calls for the convening of a regional meeting at least 30 days prior to each meeting of the Executive Board.

The general purpose of the meeting will be to assist in the maintenance and development of the Party organization within each region. These meetings give the delegates in each region time to meet, plan, and coordinate various activities.

So would you like to find out what the Democratic Party is doing in your community? Do you want to find out where your regional delegates’ meeting will be? Well, then follow me after the flip to find out…

So where’s your local meeting? Look for your region and Assembly District here.

Unfortunately, many regions have not yet scheduled a meeting. Hey, I feel your pain. Orange County’s Region 18, where I happily reside, has yet to schedule a meeting. I’ll keep an eye on this and the other “to be determined” meetings, and I’ll give an update as soon as it’s available.

But for all of you who do have regional meetings scheduled, mark your calendars. This is a good opportunity to stay involved in the Democratic Party. A delegate’s responsibilities need not end with the convention. Keep involved, and find out what you can do locally to help the party. I know I’ll try to… And perhaps, I can start by trying to make sure that I didn’t miss my regional meeting. ; )