On Thursday, after weeks of increased pressure from immigrant rights advocates President Obama addressed a crowd at American University on the need to fix our broken immigration system. The speech outlined his commitment to a comprehensive immigration reform that provides a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrant families currently in the U.S.
Author Archives: AJS admin
Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is
In late May, seventy-five people from twelve different states gathered in Seattle for the inaugural two-day symposium of the Institute for Pragmatic Practice (IPP): “Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is: Building State Budgets that Reflect Our Values.”
Maine Small Business Owners Take on Big Insurance
Big Insurance and its Bag of Tricks The ink may have dried on the federal health care reform bill, but the health insurance industry isn’t packing up its bag of tricks and going quietly into the night. Instead, insurers actually appear to be stepping up their attempts to game the system, seeking to exploit theContinue reading “Maine Small Business Owners Take on Big Insurance”
NWFCO Celebrates New Health Care Law!
I’m signing [this health reform bill] for 11-year-old Marcelas Owens, who’s also here. Marcelas lost his mom to an illness. And she didn’t have insurance and couldn’t afford the care that she needed. So in her memory he has told her story across America so that no other children have to go through what hisContinue reading “NWFCO Celebrates New Health Care Law!”
Washington CAN!: Medical Interpretation Victory Empowers Patients and Workers
For eight years, I was the interpreter for my father while he was sick. At the age of 14, I was more his interpreter than his daughter. I worried about how I would tell my father that another part of his leg would be amputated or whether he was going to survive another surgery. SometimesContinue reading “Washington CAN!: Medical Interpretation Victory Empowers Patients and Workers”
Tax Justice in Oregon
Just weeks after conservative Scott Brown was elected to replace Senator Ted Kennedy in a Massachusetts special election, and the Supreme Court squashed restrictions on corporate campaign contributions, the health care bill appeared dead. Pundits across the country warned of the end of the progressive agenda. Meanwhile in Oregon, hundreds of volunteers poured into unionContinue reading “Tax Justice in Oregon”
Grassroots Leaders Take On the Insurance Lobby!
A showdown happened in the streets of Washington D.C. on March 8 between the millions of people across the country tired of money ruling their health and those who would try to bring down health reform. On that day, 25 survivors of health insurance abuse led hundreds of activists from NWFCO affiliates and grassroots groupsContinue reading “Grassroots Leaders Take On the Insurance Lobby!”
Make the Road New York Wins Pharmaceutical Language Access Fight in NYC
Thanks to compelling stories ((“Bad Medicine: How New York area pharmacies’ failure to provide translation and interpretation service prevents immigrant New Yorkers from receiving quality medical care and stands in clear violation of local, state and federal law,” Make the Road New York and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, October, 2007, http://www.maketheroad.org/report.php?ID=437)) fromContinue reading “Make the Road New York Wins Pharmaceutical Language Access Fight in NYC”
Immigration Reform in Montana
In 2007 millions of people took to the streets to demand comprehensive immigration reform. Despite these strong numbers, we were unsuccessful in getting legislation passed that year. But we did learn one key lesson from this fight: in order to win immigration reform, we need to reach out to non-immigrant communities and educate them aboutContinue reading “Immigration Reform in Montana”
Marcelas Grows Up in Community Organizing, Finishes What His Mother Started
History loves a hero. The historic health reform legislation signed this year by President Obama received its hero in the form of Marcelas Owens, eleven-year-old Seattleite who, in the weeks leading to the bill’s passage, became the country’s most visible spokesman for reform.