Still another Health Care Home Stretch Week, with US Senators busily engaged in bribing their fellow senators with home-state sweeteners to have them hold their noses and vote for the Graham-Cassidy version of Obamacare/ACA repeal. There is no room for complacency here; we have to let them know they can’t get away with it.

Lots more action below, regional and chapter-based, plus blog posts from the previous week.

Still another Health Care Home Stretch Week, with US Senators busily engaged in bribing their fellow senators with healthcare_not_wealthcare.jpghome-state sweeteners to have them hold their noses and vote for the Graham-Cassidy version of Obamacare/ACA repeal. There is no room for complacency here; we have to let them know they can’t get away with it.

Progressive Maryland activists will take pre-emptive action with a visit (see Regional Actions calendar, below) to Dist. 1 Rep. Andy Harris’s Capitol Hill office Tuesday, Sept. 26 and plans other actions (more here). The Senate, as you know, has till Sept. 30 to act before their majority-vote window to overturn the ACA turns into a pre-Hallowe’en pumpkin. We can stop them again. We are building power and we are winning.

Regional Action Calendar:

Tomorrow Tuesday, September 26th, Progressive Maryland members are going as a group to Office of Rep. Andy Harris (CD1) to let him know how devastating passing the Graham-Cassidy Bill, as well as defunding CHIP or cutting crucial healthcare needs in the 2018 budget would be for people in his district! RSVP here. Meet at Capitol South Metro station: 10:30 a.m. Legislative Visit: 11 a.m. to noon. DC Office of Rep. Andy Harris, MD, 1533 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 Make sure to bring signs (not on sticks!) and swag for the visit! Note: This visit is not intended to risk arrest, and will be carried out as such.

Thursday Sept. 28 , 4-6 p.m. join Progressive Maryland, Baltimore Chapter in collaboration with National Voter Registration Day, as we host a "Register, Resources, and Reach," event to educate, register citizens, and provide resources for training programs and job placement. It’s at 5005 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21215  This is a great opportunity for volunteers to (1) engage community members (2) actively participate in signing-up and registering citizens (3) provide vital information, (4) answer questions about logistics and purpose of event as well as (5) connect with other leaders throughout the region.
Light refreshments will be served. If you have a Progressive Maryland logo'ed T-shirt please wear it. If not, we will provide name tags and other event staff passes. More at the above link.

CHAPTERS AROUND THE STATE

Progressive Prince George’s

Wednesday, September 27th - 6:30 pm '13th' Showing & Panel Discussion at Laurel Branch Library - 507 7th St. Laurel, MD 20707

 Thursday, September 28th - 7:00 pm-9:00 pm Fair Elections Town Hall featuring Donna Edwards -- College Park City Hall, 4500 Knox Rd.

College Park, MD 20740

 Saturday, September 30, 2017 – 11 a.m. -5 p.m. New Carrollton Community Day at Beckett Field - 8511 Legation Road, New Carrollton, MD

The City of New Carrollton is hosting our annual Community Day and inviting all residents and visitors to come and have fun.  There will be crafts, games, vendors, music, food and other excitement.   It is always a good time!!

 You matter!  Get involved and get your issues addressed.  

Email the issue leads below to join a group. RVSP meeting attendance with the issue lead.

 Join Our County Council Teams Today!

We are looking for a point person for each County Council District. This team will mobilize when needed to advocate with their councilperson on a progressive issue, or to support new candidates for the office. If you are interested in this, please reach to Diane Teichert, County Council Lead [email protected].

PMD Montgomery

We have a website! Come visit us online and learn about our upcoming events.

Tues September 26th Minimum Wage Council Hearing – 7:30 p.m.,  Montgomery County Council Hearing Room, 100 Maryland Ave., Rockville, MD 20850 map and directions -- The Montgomery County Council is considering a bill that would raise the county minimum wage to $15/hour by 2020. Help ensure it's a strong bill that protects all workers–no exceptions, no exemptions. Join us at a public hearing about the bill and show solidarity for workers in Montgomery County. RSVP

Wed September 27th MoCo District 5 Happy Hour 6-8 p.m. , location tbd for more info see RSVP

Frederick County Progressives

Take Action Anne Arundel County

Sunday, October 1, before the Fannie Lou Hamer awards March on Maryland, Anne Arundel Indivisible Coalition and AA County Progressive Maryland will be holding a March for Racial Justice at noon at Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis. We'd love to have speakers specifically addressing Councilman Peroutka's racist and sexist comments. Our march will also be a tribute to Fannie Lou Hamer. Email [email protected] if you're interested in speaking and/or volunteering. Info at https://www.m4rj.com/sister-marches/ Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1972172153030021/?ti=icl

Monday, October 2 the Anne Arundel County chapter of Progressive Maryland, known as Take Action AAC, is devoting our monthly meeting on Oct 2 to addressing the County Council that night. Councilman Peroutka's recent sexist and racist comments must be addressed. We'll be meeting at 5:30in the back room of 49 West in Annapolis. After our meeting we'll walk to the County Council meeting around the corner. https://www.facebook.com/events/290646684753721/?ti=icl

Progressive HoCo

Sunday Oct. 15 Panel Discussion on Fair Elections – 6-8 p.m. at Owen Brown Interfaith Center, 7246 Cradlerock Way, Columbia, MD 21045, Progressive HoCo is cosponsoring with Together We Will of Howard County a panel discussion on Fair Elections.  Currently confirmed panelists are Rep. John Sarbanes, Jennifer Bevan-Dangel of Common Cause and our own Larry Stafford of Progressive Maryland.  Goal: raise awareness of the process of getting Fair Elections legislation passed at the local level, and to encourage other jurisdictions to think about implementing Fair Elections legislation. If you have questions about the event contact Dave Bazell at [email protected], or 410-707-7930. Progressive HoCo and the Howard County Chapter of the NAACP will be holding a Voter Registration Drive throughout the fall.  We are finalizing the details but look for an email soon with locations and signup for the next couple of weekends.

Talbot Rising

ARTWORKS FOR FREEDOM: Art Exhibition and Public Event to raise awareness on human trafficking on the Eastern Shore, nation, and world-wide Hurry and see it – ends Oct 1, 2017

Lower Shore Progressive Caucus

Join us! Our next meeting is September 28th 5:30-7:30 PM at the Wicomico Public Library. RSVP here.

Actions and Events from our Allies

Monday October 2 join a Trump and Walmart Make America Worse rally at University of Maryland, College Park’s Stamp Student Union from 10-2. From 10 a.m. to about 12:15 we will be outside handing out raffles/games/ and at 12:30 we will be moving into the Stamp Atrium room to hear from Reps. Anthony Brown and Jamie Raskin plus gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, along with student speakers. This is the last stop on United Food and Commercial Workers tour, also hosted by Young Democratic Socialists of America at UMCP, who hope to show how the way problems at and caused by Walmart and Trump reflect problems at UMD.

Monday, October 9 : Progressive Neighbors' Forum with Gubernatorial Candidates!   Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Plaza Doors open at 7:00 p.m., program begins at 7:30 p.m. Guests:   Rushern Baker, Alec Ross,  Ben Jealous (invited), Jim Shea,  Kevin Kamenetz (invited) , Krishani Viganarajah,
Rich Madaleno

Baltimore comrades, Check in on Max Obuszewski’s highly useful calendar and tip sheet at http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/

To keep up with progressive events in and around DC consult the invaluable calendar at the Washington Peace Center, http://washingtonpeacecenter.org/alerts

 It all happens for free… right? Not exactly. Organizing for change in our society and our high-maintenance politics requires both people and money. Keep change moving with a quick, secure impulse-buy contribution here.

Reading the Progressive Maryland BlogSpace: our blogs for the previous week are shown below, but if you want a handy way to keep track – and never miss a blog post – you can sign up to get this Weekly Memo by email. Remember this is your blogspace and your participation is heartily invited. See something going on that you don’t like – or that you do like and hope to see more of? Send us your thoughts; submit to the moderator at [email protected]

We recently posted these blogs:

September 22, 2017 Progressives bring vision, factual analysis to $15 wage hearing Tuesday
As the Montgomery County Council enters the next phase in the battle to raise the minimum wage, Progressive Montgomery has been huddling up to fine-tune its own strategy in the Fight for $15. On Tuesday, a public hearing on the bill to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour will be held at the County Council in Rockville. Progressive Montgomery’s outreach efforts are set on engaging business owners, employees, and residents as a whole in a constructive dialogue that humanizes this policy. Next Tuesday’s hearing in Rockville is the place to start.

September 21, 2017 Training helped me discern that power is in our hands

Progressive Maryland organizer Michael Feldman recounts how his recent training experience focused his understanding: "How do we harness this energy that’s clearly in the streets and push it into the halls of power? No one builds power by accident. We have to understand what power is, why we should want to attain it, and the training to focus ourselves and our fellow progressives into the leaders who can and will change this country."

September 19, 2017 Sanders's "Medicare for All" Bill Feels Like New Level of Progress, Activism

 The introduction of "Medicare for All" in the Senate Sept. 13 feels like a new stage, a new plateau, in the quest for single payer in this country, says activist Sydney Jacobs. "People are really waking up to the awful realities of our current system and coming around to the fact that SP is the ONLY sustainable way we can do healthcare in this country.  The press, mainstream politicians, and the insurance/Big Pharma goons can no longer ignore SP in conversations about healthcare - our representatives, such as Van Hollen and Cardin, can no longer NOT talk about Medicare for All."

September 18, 2017 Progressive Maryland Weekly Memo for September 18-24

Let’s cut to the chase – a full calendar ahead of actions, get-togethers and learning opportunities. Plus the most recent blogs.

Keeping up with the blogs is easier with the index. The blogs published in the PM BlogSpace since June 2015 are all available with descriptions and links here.

 

 

 

woody woodruff

About

M.A. and Ph.d. from University of Maryland Merrill College of Journalism, would-be radical, sci-fi fan... retired to a life of keyboard radicalism...