This Saturday, Ed Perlmutter will be talking to folks at a local grocery store, taking your questions and listening to your concerns.

As you know by now, the enemies of reform have come out in force. Across the country, they've acted in a manner befitting an unruly mob, unwilling to listen to either reason or rhyme, driven mad by their desire to shut down debate:

We need to respond. In your hands, more than others, lies the fate of health care reform. Only you can make a difference, in this time and at this place. Will you stand with Ed Perlmutter on Saturday, and tell him Colorado, and our country, must have health care reform now?

You can RSVP here.

When you come back from the townhall, be sure to tell us what happened, and to share any pictures or video you may have taken here.

The time is now. Our broken health care system will not be fixed unless you stand up and speak out. Congress is in recess in order to listen to you. Ed Perlmutter is looking to you for the courage and steadfastness to stand strong and make the change Colorado and our country needs. Now, more than ever, we need to remind Ed Perlmutter that Colorado cannot afford to wait.

Come to his townhall; show up early. Wave signs, wear t-shirts & buttons. Most of all, tell your stories. Standing together, we will drown out the enemies of reform. We will send a message that, for the general welfare of America, health care reform must happen this year.

Again, you can RSVP here, to stand with Ed.

Be sure to share your story of the townhall, and any video or pictures you may have taken, here.

One day before we celebrate the birth of our nation, Nebraskans gathered at a scheduled healthcare roundtable to call on Senator Johanns to support an American solution to our healthcare crisis.

Instead of greeting the teachers from NSEA, veterans, and SEIU workers Senator Johanns' staff called the police, ordering the Nebraskans to leave the Medical Center grounds.

"Johanns' voters-- teachers, members of the armed forces, and SEIU members-- set up a table with apple pie and signs welcoming the Senator and urging him to support a uniquely American solution to healthcare reform," explained Jane Kleeb, SEIU State Director. "Instead of coming by and saying hello, the Senator walked right by us as we were surrounded by police, and the Senator said 'good luck with that.'"

SEIU received advanced permission from the Nebraska Medical Center to greet the Senator as he started his day of roundtables on healthcare reform. Instead of greeting the healthcare reform advocates at the table, the Senator's staff called the police.

Just as our founders realized the time for hard decisions was upon them, SEIU and our partners know we can not afford to wait any longer to reform our broken healthcare system.

Nebraskans need policies that will make healthcare affordable and accessible for everyone. With our families and businesses struggling, the future of our nation depends on the solutions being debated in DC. It is not a time to slowdown, it is a time to act.
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For more pictures of today's event, visit Nebraska's Change that Works Facebook album. To learn more about what we do, visit our website.

Update: Here at TPM, Jane Hamsher confirms that the police told her Johanns' staff were the ones who called.
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Crossposted on MyDD, OpenLeft and Daily Kos.

As part of the "Healthcare 09' - We Can't Wait" rally in Washington, DC, nearly 250 activists gathered yesterday at the Republican Party's temple to Ronald Reagan - home of the National Republican Senatorial Committee - to demand quality, affordable health care for all.

Led by health care providers from Pennsylvania, Washington State, New York and elsewhere, the crowd chanted "What do we want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!" and "We want health care! We want health care!"

We succeeded in causing quite a stir outside the headquarters, but Republican staffers chose to remain inside. The crowd moved and re-gathered at Union Station to hear Maine singer and Change that Works volunteer Peter Alexander sing "Beggin' for Change," a song Pete wrote to help out his friend Doug, a man burdened by crushing medical debt of an accident.

Find more about Peter Alexander's music at www.peteralexander.us.

Watch the video above to see the scene yesterday at Republican headquarters and Union Station.

TODAY: Health Care for America Now (HCAN) Rally & Lobby Day

Joined by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger, Actress Edie Falco, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and other leaders, more than 10,000 healthcare advocates from across the country kicked off the Health Care For America Now (HCAN)'s historic lobby day with a rally in upper Senate Park. See the photos and read about SEIU 1199 NW members attending today's rally and lobby day.

Created with flickr slideshow.

Now is the time for healthcare reform, and SEIU members from 1199NW are helping to lead the way. Delegations of community leaders from over 40 states are being flown into Washington for in order to meet with key Members of Congress, and four SEIU Healthcare 1199NW members will be among them.

RNs Linda Arkava and Tara Lerew, CNA Maikele Mengesha and medical unit secretary Levorn Glover will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow as part of HCAN's large-scale rally and lobby day for quality, affordable health care. Watch the video to find out about why they're traveling from Washington state to DC to lobby for reform.

This isn't just my first time in Washington D.C., it's my first time flying. At first, I thought flying would be scary, but it was actually pretty exciting. The takeoffs were a little rough, but after getting up there, I was actually looking down at the clouds! I not only flew on one plane, I flew on two planes. My flight from Nashville to Chicago went just fine, but I just barely missed my connection from to Chicago to Washington D.C. which meant that I had to take a later flight from Chicago.

Eventually, I made it to Washington D.C. and the first event that I got to attend was a rally for healthcare at Freedom Plaza. There were a lot of great speakers and performance artists expressing themselves in front of a crowd of hundreds with the U.S. Capitol building visible in the background.

One of the highlights of the rally was a speech by Rep. John Conyers (D-NY). Conyers is a long-time supporter of a single-payer health care system in the U.S. But today, Conyers didn't mention single-payer at all. His focus was on passing President Obama's plan, which focuses on choice and the public option plan. Conyers made some touching comments about how important it is to pass health care reform in 2009 and it surprised a few people sitting next to us that Conyers was so supportive of the public option plan and the President's agenda. Conyers is often referred to as "The Godfather of Universal Health Care", and to hear him speak tonight, it's no wonder.

Got lost on the way to take Trina back to her hotel and ended up catching a ride with a tourist from Sweden. She asked us what we were doing here, and after we told her she got so excited. She said that she had grown up where everyone had health care, and was so shocked by our system here. She had married a man from the United States, and was now living here. She told us so many horror stories she had heard since she has lived here. One of her friends had a rash and had to go to the hospital. She said that she was quite surprised to see the doctor run so many tests on her friend before giving her a simple ointment. She wouldn't even accept the money we tried to give her for the ride. She said "no way will I take money from people that are here to get health care for all passed". The last thing I told her was that I was going to give it all I could, and I meant that from the bottom of my heart.

Tomorrow is the big day - lobby visits with our representatives in Congress. Looking forward to hearing what they have to say about the health care crisis and what they plan on doing about it.

Michele works for Metro Social Services in the Homemaker Services division, where she is responsible for providing in-home services for dozens of Nashville's poor, disabled, and elderly population.