MESSAGE FROM LYNN MCMULLEN AT THE PEACE ALLIANCE - Dept of Peace Campaign Update - State Coordinator Planning Retreat
This past weekend, State Coordinators from across the country met with our staff for a national strategy planning retreat. The Peace Alliance hosted this gathering -- along with The Peace Alliance Foundation -- to connect, train, inspire, and plan around our mission and work to help build a culture of peace and to establish a Department of Peace in the U.S. government. It was a highly productive and inspiring weekend marking the strategic launch of the next frontier in our campaign. With over 295 Congressional District Team Leaders now active in all 50 states, we will be working with our State Coordinators more than ever to help us further organize our network of committed activists. [Three NY DoP State Coordinators (Kevin, Liz & Carol) attended this event. Awesome!]

At the gathering, we further developed our national campaign strategy for 2006 and got right down to business organizing activities on the ground. Two of the most important areas of focus this year for our State Coordinators will be helping to organize regional weekend conferences around the country to further build and train our grassroots network. This will provide an ideal opportunity for our District Leaders to further organize, develop their skills and connect with fellow activists in their region. We also began plans for organizing Candidate Forums around the country for the upcoming congressional elections. These forums will be hosted by local Department of Peace activists, along with domestic violence shelters, prison reform groups, gang prevention groups, and the many other local efforts working to reduce and prevent violence and highlight the struggles in a community.

Our intention is to make the practical application of violence prevention and reduction, as well as the Department of Peace legislation, a part of the national dialogue this coming election season. These and other projects for 2006 will be posted on our website [http://www.dopcampaign.org] and in future e-alerts in the coming weeks and months. There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved. As always, we hope you will join us in moving this effort forward.

QUOTE OF THE DAY ... When women have a voice in national and international affairs, wars will cease forever. Augusta Stowe-Gullen

LIVE FROM NYC ITS LIBERAL NEWS!

DEAD MAN TALKING
Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Lowlights from the presidential address.
http://www.alternet.org/story/31639

SOTU, SLICED AND DICED
Think Progress
A guide to the truth behind the lies and fabrications in George Bush's State of the Union speech to Congress.
http://www.alternet.org/story/31640/

DEMS DON'T KNOW JACK
Greg Sargent, The American Prospect
Not so bipartisan after all: A new study reveals that Abramoff's scummy money was twice as likely to line Republicans' pockets.
http://www.alternet.org/story/31625/

LYING ABOUT THE STATE OF THE UNION
Molly Ivins, AlterNet
As Bush officials keep more and more information from us, they are less and less accountable for what they do.
http://www.alternet.org/story/31616/

THE TRUTH ABOUT UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE
Tyler Zimmer, Campus Progress
What's the biggest obstacle in achieving health care for all? It may just be our misplaced skepticism.
http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/31196/

MESSAGE FROM "WORKING FAMILIES E-ACTIVIST NETWORK" ON BUSH/CHENEY REGIME "STATE OF THE UNION" ADDRESS
In his State of the Union address last night, President George W. Bush announced the centerpiece of his efforts to reform health care would be tax breaks for people to pay for their own health care, including Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), in which people replace traditional insurance coverage with their own savings.

HSA-based health care would be a disaster for working families, a giant step backward that would shift costs away from employers to employees and their families and force many people to go without needed care. Here are a few things you should know about HSAs.

1] The idea behind Health Savings Accounts is that Americans have too much insurance. You read that right. Those who came up with the idea believe Americans are overinsured, something that very few working families would likely agree with.

2] Despite the rhetoric, HSAs will do nothing to control skyrocketing health care costs or reduce the number of uninsured. In fact, they will just make matters worse for those who have health coverage.

3] By shifting the costs to workers, HSAs provide cover to employers to reduce or even eliminate health benefits. It will undermine employer-based health plans, where two-thirds of Americans get their coverage.

4] HSAs will drive the wealthy and healthy away from health care insurance, driving up the costs for those who need insurance the most. Seniors and those who need health care coverage will see their premiums skyrocket.

5] HSAs are brought to you by the same people who brought you the Medicare prescription drug disaster, and it will have the same consequences. It’s a boon to the profit-driven drug companies and insurance industry. It’s complicated, fragmented and costly.

At a time when we are working hard on the state and federal level to give more working families the coverage they need, President Bush’s commitment to an idea that would reduce coverage is baffling. Like his proposal to privatize Social Security, giving more tax breaks for HSAs will go nowhere if Congress sees massive public opposition to Bush’s bad ideas. (And like Social Security privatization, the political push is being bankrolled by Big Business, including the banking and insurance industries.) That’s why we need you to take action immediately. Write your U.S. representative and senators and tell them you oppose Bush’s plan for Health Savings Accounts.