Subject: [big campaign] ProgressNow is fighting for HIR implementation - here's how.
From: Aniello Alioto <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:50:51 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

Friends -

You probably already know, following our collective victory to ensure
passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, *the ProgressNow
State Partner network is deep in the fight for Health Insurance Reform (HIR)
implementation*. While there is still much more work to be done, strong
foundations are being laid this week.

*Please contact me at [email-masked] to join our fight against
conservative extremism and for the implementation of **America's most
far-reaching **civil rights advancement in over four decades. *

On top of spearheading the in-state actions for HIR implementation with the
local c4 tables, the ProgressNow network is:

   - Proactively going on the offensive by highlighting all benefits of this
   legislation
   - Educating local reporters & political bloggers through conversations,
   interviews and numerous press releases
   - Exhausting all modes of social media
   - Responding, in real time, to conservative misinformation
   - Organizing thank you events for Members who supported the legislation
   - Organizing demonstrations outside the offices of Members who voted
   against the bill to show broad support for this legislation
   - Highlighting local residents who will immediately benefit and tell
   their personal stories via videos, social media, email campaigns, blog
   stories, local political talk shows placements, and meetings with local
   editorial boards, among other means
   - Discrediting the narrative of the Tea Party movement and other
   anti-health care reform forces by highlighting misleading statements and
   actions used to attack this bill and its supporters
   - Developing press kits, in conjunction with allied groups, on the
   specific benefits of the legislation to local communities to share with our
   extensive media contacts
   - Driving a narrative linking health reform legislation and job creation;
   by working with research and policy groups in order to create and
   disseminate needed resources
   - Collaborating with local allied groups to ensure that we all have
   consistent messaging

*In addition to all the crucial work listed above and the almost 3.3 million
emails sent to our members since Monday, here are SOME highlights of what we
are doing to engage our 2.4 million members, the press & elected officials:*
*

CA: Courage Campaign <http://www.couragecampaign.org/>
*When Rep. Loretta Sanchez indicated she might vote "No" on health care
Saturday, the Courage Campaign community -- along with Organizing For
America and MoveOn -- responded on Sunday by flooding her phone lines in an
unprecedented statewide mobilization. The Courage Campaign can
*directly*account for, via email lists and rapid-response house
parties, over 5,000 of
the pro-reform calls that Rep. Sanchez received on the day of the vote.
Additionally, the Courage Campaign is currently building a war chest in
order to publicly confront the five major conservative gubernatorial
candidates - who have all endorsed repealing the reform - on which specific
rights from the new legislation they desire to take away from the citizens
of California.* **More plans are currently in the works to target other
prominent opponents of reform.**

*
The Hill: A tough vote in the right direction (Rep. Loretta
Sanchez)<http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/88347-a-tough-vote-in-the-right-direction-rep-loretta-sanchez>
"In my fourteen years in Congress, I have never seen my constituents reach
out so intently and so persistently in support of a particular piece of
legislation."
*
CO: ProgressNow Colorado <http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/>*
ProgressNow Colorado lead the effort to create a successful media event,
delivering a letter to Senators Udall and
Bennet<http://www.coloradopols.com/diary/11953/open-letter-to-senators-bennet-and-udall-no-on-amendments-is-a-yes-for-healthcare-reform>,
from 11 organizations representing hundreds of thousands of Coloradans,
encouraging the Senators to pass reconciliation without amendments.

KDVR: Bennet in the cross-hairs of last-gasp effort to add public
option<http://www.kdvr.com/news/politics/kdvr-bennet-healthcare-032310,0,5921421.story>
Bobby Clark of the group Progress Now also showed up at Bennet's office
Wednesday morning to deliver a letter, signed by the AFL-CIO and other
Democratic unions, encouraging Bennet to stick to his guns and save his
fight for the public option for another day. "Every single step in this
process that causes delay is a risk," Clark said. "We're urging our Senators
to pass this now, without amendment."

*FL: Progress Florida <http://progressflorida.org/>
*Progress Florida is working both publicly and privately to thwart AG Bill
McCollum in the Sunshine State. When AG McCollum, a conservative candidate
for Governor, announced his intention to lead the Attorneys General in their
lawsuit on the constitutionality of health insurance reform, Progress
Florida started planning their attacks. They privately solidified their
network's resolve and then publicly launched a "Not In My Name - Not On My
Dime" petition from
Floridians<http://progressflorida.org/page/s/opposemccollum>on
Thursday (that gained over three thousand signatures in the first six
hours of existence) and a facebook page of "Floridians Opposed To Bill
McCollum's Lawsuit Against Health Care
Reform<http://www.facebook.com/opposemccollum?ref=mf>".
Furthermore, Progress Florida is working behind the scenes to directly
counter AG McCollum; most recently, they worked with elected offices and a
major news/talk radio station in South Florida to secure the booking of an
appropriate counter-point to AG McCollum, who was on the same program the
day before. Additionally, ProgressFlorida is currently booking core staff
and surrogates on talk radio and political programs across the Sunshine
State.
*
MI: Progress Michigan <http://www.progressmichigan.org/>
*Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak, whose vote in support of national health
insurance reform was critical to its passage, was a priority target of
earned media and online advocacy that sought to keep pressure on the
northern Michigan anti-abortion Democrat. As part of a year-long
collaborative campaign with other Michigan-based groups, Progress Michigan
helped generate high profile press events including a protest rally at
Stupak's congressional office in
Marquette<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n6aFDW-WDY>the day prior to
the historic March 21 vote when Stupak switched from
opposition to support of reform. Since that time, Progress Michigan has
launched a petition to AG
Cox<http://progressmichigan.org/page/s/michiganshealth>,
demanding that he withdraw from the Attorneys General lawsuit & not
sacrifice Michigan's health for partisan politics. That petition, with
thousands of signatures from Michiganders, will be delivered at a 2pm CDT
media event on Friday March
26th<http://www.petoskeynews.com/national_news/article_f68dabf4-381c-11df-a37c-001cc4c03286.html>in
conjunction with a media blitz in markets outside of Lansing.
*
MN: Alliance for a Better Minnesota
(ABM)<http://allianceforabetterminnesota.org/>
*ABM has generated over 150,000 emails and faxes to the two leading
candidates for the Republican endorsement for governor & sixty-six
Republican state legislators who want to repeal the toughest patient
protections in American history and let profit-driven insurance companies
decide on care. ABM is also planning a media campaign to ask hard hitting
questions to these prominent conservatives. *

NH: Granite State
Progress<http://granitestateprogress.org/page/content/gsp-home/>
*On Wednesday, Granite State Progress launched into action when they learned
that two conservative state senators were attempting to secure a resolution
to have the NH AG join the Attorneys General lawsuit and offer an amendment
to the NH Constitution that would exempt the state from national health
reform legislation. Granite State Progress was the only group in NH to
rapidly respond to this threat. Over the 12 hour period that followed,
Granite State Progress delivered one letter to elected officials every five
minute that opposed the playing of partisan politics w/ NH's health. The
24-member Senate defeated the initiative 14-10 on Wednesday evening.

WMUR: Bradley Health Reform Amendment Fails In
Senate<http://www.wmur.com/health/22931150/detail.html>
"This was clearly a partisan move over a 12-hour period today. Our members
handed in letters to each of the state senators every five minutes because
people really felt that the Republicans were playing politics with our
health care here in New Hampshire," said Zandra Rice Hawkins, director of
Granite State Progress.
*
** NV: ProgressNow Nevada <http://progressnownevada.org/>
***Following our mobilization that urged Rep. Titus to vote in favor of the
Affordable Health Care for America Act, ProgressNow Nevada is continuing to
make a large impact on the Silver State. In anticipation of the upcoming
large-scale protest in Sen. Reid's tiny hometown, ProgressNow Nevada is
organizing a counter-protest in order to capture media and public attention.
ProgressNow Nevada continues to debunk of the far-reaching conservative
misinformation outlet *Las Vegas Review-Journal *via a new, yet prominent,
stand alone site - the LVjournalreview.com <http://lvjournalreview.com/> .
Additionally, ProgressNow Nevada is currently building a war chest in order
to continuously counter Nevada's conservative misinformers in local media
markets.
*
OH: ProgressOhio <http://progressohio.org/>
*Even before passage of the Affordable Health Care for America Act,
ProgressOhio was integral in framing the Teabaggers for their true and
abhorrent nature. After capturing video of unhinged behavior at a rally in
Columbus, ProgressOhio worked with local and national media to amplify their
footage of Teabaggers mocking and scorning a man w/ Parkinson's
disease<http://www.youtube.com/user/ProgressOhio#p/u/1/6ik4f1dRbP8>-
which has received over 313,000 views and 4,700 comments on the
ProgressOhio youtube account alone. That video has been featured on - at the
very least - Hardball with Chris Matthews, Real Time w/ Bill Mahar, MSNBC
and FoxNews. Moreover, not to be outdone by local media, ProgressOhio later
found the accosted man in the video and gained his exclusive
interview<http://www.youtube.com/user/ProgressOhio#p/u/2/MfvnNzgQy7Q>-
which has already received over 85,000 views itself. Furthermore, on
Wednesday two conservative state senators announced their pursuance of an
Ohio constitutional amendment to exempt the state from national health
insurance reform - targeted email campaigns and a media blitz will occur in
the coming days. For even more information on the tremendous work
ProgressOhio is doing specifically on HIR implementation, please click
HERE<http://www.progressohio.org/page/community/category/affordhealth>
.*

PA: Keystone Progress <http://keystoneprogress.org/>*
Within 2 hours of AG Tom Corbett’s news release announcing his joining the
Attorneys General lawsuit, Keystone Progress issued a press release
condemning Corbett's use of tax dollars to fuel an effort to block health
care reforms that offer huge benefits to the people of our state.
Additionally, Keystone Progress sent a blast email to its membership, which
gained over 7,000 signatures on a petition to AG
Corbett<http://www.keystoneprogress.org/page/s/pacorbett1>in less than
24 hours. Furthermore, Keystone Progress is organizing a rally
at the PA Capitol on Monday at noon with Health Care For America Now (HCAN),
MoveOn.org and other groups.

*WA: Fuse Washington <http://fusewashington.org/>*
On Tuesday, Fuse launched a strongly worded petition to AG
McKenna<https://secure.fusewashington.org/page/s/mckenna>,
already garnering over 15,000 Washintonians and producing hundreds of
disapproving calls to the AG's office. *More actions are currently being
finalized. **

WI: One Wisconsin Now (OWN) <http://onewisconsinnow.org/>*
On Wednesday, OWN was featured on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan Show (VIDEO - skip
to minute 5 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/#36023939>), using OWN's
video footage of a recent Madison Teabagger rally exemplifying the repeated,
unhinged behavior employed by the GOP base. Today OWN issued a press release
detailing their filing of two open records
requests<http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/250/one-wisconsin-now-requests-van-hollen-doj-communications-on-partisan-gop-health-reform-lawsuit-3-25-2010>to
the Wisconsin Department of Justice. OWN is seeking copies of all
correspondence to and from Republican Attorney General JB Van Hollen and DOJ
staff with individuals inside and outside of Wisconsin urging Van Hollen to
file a Republican-orchestrated frivolous lawsuit brought by attorneys
general from 13 states around the country to block the federal Affordable
Health Care for America Act signed into law Tuesday by President Obama.
*

More actions are being rolled out in the coming days and weeks* - *please
contact me at [email-masked] to join our fight against conservative
extremism and for the implementation of America's most far-reaching civil
rights advancement in over four decades. *

In solidarity,
Aniello

-- 
Aniello Alioto
National Political Director
[email-masked]
502.664.2420

CA: Courage Campaign
CO: ProgressNow Colorado
FL: Progress Florida
MI: Progress Michigan
MN: Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM)
NH: Granite State Progress
NV: ProgressNow Nevada
OH: ProgressOhio
PA: Keystone Progress
WA: Fuse Washington
WI: One Wisconsin Now (OWN)

Facebook:  Progress Now

www.ProgressNow.org <http://www.progressnow.org/>

www.50WaysYouCanHelpObama.com <http://www.50waysyoucanhelpobama.com/>

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