Thanks to Damien Petty for headline image, above.
A New Year’s Day Parade for ‘Medicare for All’ Signals Energized Battle Ahead in California
“People are hip to faux solutions and incrementalism and are not buying it. They want Medicare for All—and they want it now.” — RoseAnn DeMoro
Excerpts only. Read complete article here.
In the immediate wake of Monday’s Rose Parade—which takes place annually on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California—hundreds of residents and advocates took over the parade route with a march of their own as they called for ‘Medicare for All’ and demanded passage of a bill currently stalled in the state legislature that would provide every Californian with healthcare coverage.
Those who marched, reports the Pasadena Star-News, waved large banners reading “Medicare for all” and “Public health not corporate wealth” as they sang songs, danced along the streets, and emphasized to onlookers the need for a universal healthcare system that excludes nobody.
“What we’re saying is health care for all, rich, poor, and no matter what race you are,” Sam Schwiner, a local resident and one of the marchers, told the newspaper.
“SB… 5… 6… 2!” chanted members of the parade. “It’s good for me! It’s good for you!”
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According to RoseAnn DeMoro, CNA/NNU’s executive director, support for the single-payer cuts across ideological divisions and remains extremely popular across the state.
The parade on Pasadena on Monday “signifies the ongoing popularity of the issue among all facets of our society,” DeMoro told Common Dreams in an email.
“There is nothing more mainstream in California than the Rose Parade and to see this level of turnout, enthusiasm and commitment in the early morning of a New Year’s Day is impressive,” she continued.
Despite the ongoing hostility from its opponents—which DeMoro identified as “establishment Democrats” and financial donors from the insurance and pharmaceutical industry, for-profit hospitals, right-wing operatives, and corporate interests—she says support for SB562 is only getting stronger.
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The time for Medicare for All, she said, has finally come.
Read complete article here.
