Category: Resist - PACG - Progressive Action for the Common Good

Toast the Resistance - After Action Report

3/4/2019

Toast the Resistance - After Action Report

On February 23rd, close to 50 people attended our 2nd Annual Toast the Resistance party. We celebrated the RESISTANCE at The Key restaurant in downtown Davenport. Many of the attendees were new to PACG and had come to learn more about our organization and about how they could get involved in making a difference.

Allison Ambrose delivered a "Toast" to the Resistance and membership awards were given for "Most Active New Resister” - Deb Sperry; "Worker Bee Resister” - Susan Meenan; "Behind the Scenes Resister” - Jeannie Price; and, the "Successful Forum Event" award went to the Environmental Forum for the Renewal Energy Conference they presented in November.

The energy in the room was at a high level while everyone discussed with each other the “goods” and the “bads” of the past year. Forum facilitators informed the crowd of the various things being done to advance progressive causes and the PACG Book Club publicized their activities. Those in attendance were encouraged to sign up for a forum and/or the book club.

At the conclusion of the event, the various sign-up sheets were full of names. Everyone had a great time! Cheers!

Nobody is Above the Law - Rapid Response for Jeff Sessions Firing

11/8/2018

Attend the Nobody is Above the Law Rally TODAY at 5:00 pm
Davenport - LeClaire Park 400 West Beiderbecke DR (map)
Rock Island - US County Clerk 211 19th ST (map)

With the firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions yesterday, Donald Trump is demonstrating his intention to put himself above the law. We won’t allow it.

Trump is compromising the Special Counsel investigation and will create a constitutional crisis if he fires special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller.

Our response is imperative now! We must show Members of Congress that they need to stand up to Trump or allow him to move our democracy toward authoritarianism.

From the MoveOn rally organizers: "Donald Trump has installed a crony to oversee the special counsel's Trump-Russia investigation, crossing a red line set to protect the investigation. By replacing Rod Rosenstein with just-named Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker as special counsel Robert Mueller's boss on the investigation, Trump has undercut the independence of the investigation. Whitaker has publicly outlined strategies to stifle the investigation and cannot be allowed to remain in charge of it. The Nobody Is Above the Law network demands that Whitaker immediately commit not to assume supervision of the investigation. Our hundreds of response events are being launched to demonstrate the public demand for action to correct this injustice. We will update this page as the situation develops."

MoveOn is holding emergency “Nobody is Above the Law” rallies around the country TODAY at 5:00 pm local time. There are over 900 of these demonstrations planned, in every state, with 350,000 RSVPs to date!

RSVP to attend the rallies today. Nobody is Above the Law – Mueller Firing Rapid Response rallies here:

For Davenport RSVP here.

For Rock Island RSVP here.

Alta Price

Are You Interested in Non-Violent Resistance? Learn More!

11/5/2018

Civil Disobedience Training
from the PACG Board

Sunday, November 11th 4:00 pm
Metropolitan Community Church, 2930 W Locust St, Davenport, IA (map)

Rev. Rich Hendricks of the Metropolitan Community Church is training activists in peaceful civil disobedience. This training is very important! If you have not yet gone through one of these sessions, and you think that you might wish to participate in acts of peaceful civil disobedience, you really need to go through the training. With the administration considering redefining Transgender out of existence and the approach of the Immigrant Caravan, we may soon find ourselves needing to engage in acts of peaceful civil disobedience, should the government remain unresponsive to our protests.

Note: Even if you do not want to personally participate in civil disobedience, we need support in the community for those who do, and those supporters also need to be trained.

Alta Price

What You Can Do Now - Sign Up for Mueller Firing Rapid Response Rallies

5/8/2018

Nobody is Above the Law – Mueller Firing Rapid Response

Donald Trump could be preparing to put himself above the law. We won’t allow it.

Trump will create a constitutional crisis if he fires special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller, or attempts to compromise the investigation by other means.

Our response in the hours following a potential power grab will dictate what happens next – whether Congress will stand up to Trump or allow him to move our democracy toward authoritarianism.

MoveOn is preparing to hold emergency “Nobody is Above the Law” rallies around the country, in the event they are needed- 900+ of them and counting, in every state, with 350,000 RSVPs to date!

To learn more, visit this MoveOn website.

You can sign up for local Nobody is Above the Law – Mueller Firing Rapid Response rallies here:

For Davenport sign up here.

For Rock Island sign up here.

Alta Price

February 21st Lobby Day in Des Moines

2/18/2018

Lobby Iowa State Legislators Against Bills Promoting Intolerance

Wednesday, February 21st, 10 am
State Capitol Building Cafeteria, Des Moines, IA (map)

The Iowa Legislature is considering three bills that would ban public school diversity programs, promote deportation of law-abiding immigrants, and encourage businesses to discriminate against LBGT people. Come to a Lobby Day organized by LULAC and supported by PACG, One Human Family, and other progressive groups to oppose these bills.
#HatefulState #NotIowaValues #NoHate

Toast the Resistance - January 20, 2018 - After Action Report

2/2/2018

Toast the Resistance - January 20, 2018

On Saturday, more than 40 people came out to celebrate the Resistance on its one year anniversary at Soiree Wine and Martini Lounge in Moline. Many of the attendees were new to PACG and had come to learn more about our organization and about how they could get involved in making a difference.

Alta Price delivered a "Toast" to the Resistance and everyone interacted discussing the “goods” and the “bads” of the past year. Alta and forum members informed the crowd of the various things being done to advance progressive causes.

At the conclusion of the event, the various sign-up sheets were full of names. Everyone had a great time and our common thought was that this should become an annual event!

Allison Ambrose
Chair, Membership Committee

Toast the Resistance - January 20, 2018

1/25/2018

PACG is having a Toast the Resistance party, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Women’s March, and to commit to growing the resistance in 2018. Recruit a friend you think should join PACG to come to the party. Come yourself and make a commitment to do more in 2018.

The party is on Saturday, January 20, 2018 from 5 to 7 pm at Soiree Wine & Martini Lounge, 1516 5th Ave, Moline. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and a free drink will be provided. Space is limited, so you and your friend must register in advance to reserve your spot.

Download the flyer at the link below the image. Use it to send or hand to your friend to invite them to the party.

toast_the_resistance_flyer.pdf
File Size:	182 kb
File Type:	pdf

Prescription Drug Pricing

6/19/2017

Health Care Reform Forum

Trump Says House Health Bill "Mean." That was the headline after the President met with senators last week. We agree. Now, he should act and not just talk.

In the meantime, our Health Care Reform Forum continues its series of letters to the editors on Prescription Drug Pricing.

Pharmaceutical companies continue to be the most profitable segment of our economy. The companies claim that high prices fund necessary research and development (R&D). However, 9 of the 10 top pharmaceutical companies spend much more on marketing and sales, totaling $3 billion annually to consumers and $24 billion to healthcare providers, than on R&D. The U.S. is one of only two countries in the world to permit the advertising of drugs.

The drug companies have other strategies to increase prices to prescription drugs. Most new drugs are patented, giving the manufacturer monopolistic marketing and price protection for up to 20 years. But when the patent is due to expire, companies often make a minor change in the formula, and get a new patent to maintain profits

Another strategy is to keep generic versions of the drugs off the market, sometimes by paying generic manufacturers to postpone the introduction of cheaper versions.

Another strategy is to buy the rights to an old, cheap, “niche market” drug with only one supplier, and then hike the price by several hundred percent. Patients who need that drug are hostage to that inflated price.

They also encourage the use of prescription drugs for purposes other than that for which they have been tested and approved by the FDA.

By using these monopolistic strategies, pharmaceutical companies have proven that they cannot moderate their own pricing practices. We need to tell our legislators to regulate the costs of these necessary and often life-saving medications like is done in nearly every other country.

Doug McCollum,
Rock Island

Frank Samuelson
cfsam22@gmail.com

Repair and Strengthen the ACA, Not Replace It!

6/16/2017

Health Care Reform Forum

As the Congressional effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act moves to the Senate, we progressives need to tell our senators to dump the draconian House bill which will cause 24 million Americans to lose their health insurance, reduce Medicaid for the most vulnerable, and give tax benefits to the wealthy and corporations (among other things). Tell your senators now to repair and strengthen the ACA, not replace it.

When the House and Senate bills move to the conference committee, we will evaluate that result and again have the opportunity to contact our representatives and senators with our opinions.

In the meantime, our Health Care Reform Forum is beginning an effort to raise awareness and understanding about a major factor in the ever-rising cost of health care: the rapidly escalating prices of prescription drugs. We have begun to submit a series of letters to the editors of the Quad City Times and the Dispatch/Argus, and we plan to include them in this newsletter. We hope they will help you to better understand this multi-faceted issue and to share this information with others. We need to tell our legislators that the pharmaceutical industry has shown that it cannot resist putting profits over people; therefore Congress must act in the public interest. Here is the first letter in this series.

PRESCRIPTON DRUG PRICING

One factor in the rising cost of health care, and therefore of health insurance premiums and copays, is the rapid escalation of prescription drug prices. Some medications have seen price increases of several hundred per cent over a few months or years. Many new drugs are priced much higher than the costs of development, testing, and bringing them to market. Protected by patents, and promoted by advertising, drug companies charge whatever the market will bear. The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most profitable in our economy.

But these escalating prices are paid for by the patients who need these treatments and by the insurance companies and government agencies that pay the bills. President Trump raised this issue in a meeting with pharmaceutical CEOs. Other politicians, Congressional committees and health care experts have also raised the alarm. Since drug companies can’t resist using all the “tricks of the trade” to raise prices and profits, only our government can bring some rationality and fairness into the system. But so far it’s all talk and no action.

One simple first step toward addressing this problem would be for Congress to change the law that forbids Medicare from negotiating prices with the drug companies. Private insurance companies, the Veterans’ Administration, and most governments around the world negotiate drug prices. Medicare should also. Tell your representatives and senators to act now to let fairness, competition, and market forces, rather than monopolistic practices, set the prices of our prescription drugs.

Frank Samuelson
cfsam22@gmail.com

Skyrocketing Prescription Drug Prices

6/16/2017

Heath Care Reform Forum

Our government has a long history of regulating prescription drugs for safety and effectiveness. We need to tell our representatives that it's time to address drug pricing. Here's why:

Wonder why health care costs in the USA are almost twice as much as they are in other developed countries? Follow the money from the pockets of the paying patients to the coffers of Big Pharma. One major reason for the higher cost of health care and insurance premiums is skyrocketing prescription drug prices.

Among the most profitable industries in the U.S. economy, pharmaceutical companies benefit from legal protections and from monopolistic and marketing practices that enable them to set prices without relation to the costs of production or a competitive marketplace.

Recently one company bought the rights to the drug Daraprim and overnight hiked the price 5000%, from $13.50 to $750. Another bought the right to sell the life-saving drug, Epinephrine, in a two pack dispenser and raised the price 650% from $94 to $608. These two examples reflect an industry wide trend that has caused loud complaints from the public and congressional committees.

In 1940, Congress created the Food and Drug Administration in response to a lethal mistake by a drug company that caused 100 people to die. The FDA now protects the public by assuring that all drugs are proven “safe and effective” before they can be marketed.

Prohibitively high prices of life-saving medications are deadly to the public. Let's tell our congressmen/women and senators to protect us by regulating the costs of pharmaceuticals so they will be available and affordable for all of us.

Clara Caldwell
Rock Island