Five Democratic members of the U.S. Congress from the state of Maryland declared their support for “Health Care for America Now!,” (HCAN), on Oct. 31, 2008, at a press conference held at the AFSME headquarters in South Baltimore. Three members of the U.S. Congress, Rep. Elijah Cummings (7th D), Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (2nd D), and Rep. John Sarbanes (3rd D), personally signed onto the statement of principles and also spoke at the event. Rep. Cummings said: Health care is a “life and death issue.” A lot of people in our society “are dying” because they can’t afford the enormous cost of health care and they “don’t want to be ‘a burden’ on their families...This is the United State of America. We can do better...We get our moral authority from how we treat our own people.”
According to the press release, the statement of principles advocates “quality health care for all,” while opposing “leaving Americas on their own with unregulated health insurance.” See the full statement of principles, at: http://hcfan.3cdn.net/517370ec1fddf45044_vbm6ivw3d.pdf. For background on the issue, see http://healthcareforamericanow.org/.
An aide for Sen. Ben Cardin and Sen. Barbara Mikulski also signed on. The press conference was sponsored by Health Care for America Now, along with AFSME, and a host of other groups and organizations. Matt Weinstein, Maryland Coordinator for Health Care for America Now, and Director of Progressive Maryland, served as the moderator for the affair. Patrick Moran, Director of AFSME Maryland, introduced the program and was also one of the many speakers at the affair, along with Fred Mason, President of the Maryland/DC AFL-CIO. For background on Progressive Maryland, go to: http://progressivemaryland.org/page.php?id=268. To view the full press conference, go to Google, at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-189661075159524140&hl=en

Bryan Casler is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of both the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. He is the Northeast Regional Coordinator for the Iraq Veterans Against the War. Speaking at a “Winter Soldier” rally in Baltimore City, on Oct. 18, 2008, he said: We were trained, intensely, to “kill without thought”...and then to “think about it later.” The military’s objective is to make its soldiers “into a killing machine.” In basic training and in boot camp, they “broke people down. You weren’t a person anymore. You were a killing machine.” Mr. Casler added this may be why so many veterans are coming back home “so messed up.” His comments came during the Q&A period of the proceedings. To view the comments of all seven speakers at the event, please go to Google, at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3474511407340891416 The prime sponsor for the rally was the Fort Meade Chapter of the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), see: http://ivaw.org/; supported by the “Military Families Speak Out,” go to: http://www.mfso.org; and “Veterans for Peace,” at . The affair was held at Red Emma’s “2640 Space,” on St. Paul St. Red Emma’s was also one of the twelve co-sponsors of the affair. It was entitled: “Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan.” Please check out for background: http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier. The speakers were: Bryan Casler, Trey Kindlinger, Madeleine Mysko, Alicia Lucksted, Emiko Ortega, Geoff Millar and Michael Schwartz.

MUST SEE! On Sept. 23, 2008, five military veterans occupied a 35-foot-high ledge in front of the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C. At the site, they unfolded a 22X8 foot banner. It read: “Defend our Constitution: Arrest Bush and Cheney: War Criminals.” The demonstration was sponsored by the Veterans for Peace, a national organization. One of its members, Tarak Kauff, discussed the reasons for the protest action with this presenter. Also talking about the event was Peace Activist, Max Obuszewski. He had traveled over from Baltimore to give his moral support to the protest. For background, and for the latest updates on the National Archives’ demonstration, please go to: http://www.veteransforpeace.org.