Donna Smith
Donna Smith Donna Smith is the former executive director of Progressive Democrats of America and currently a Medicare for All campaign surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Articles by this author
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Views Thursday, March 05, 2020 She Persists: A Reflection on Elizabeth Warren's Sense of Shared Humanity Author's Note: I first wrote this in April 2019. Today, I share it again after learning Senator Warren is ending her 2020 presidential campaign. It is a sad day for me. Yet, I want to honor this great American senator who has taught me so much. It was July 17, 2007, and I was set to testify to the... Read more |
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Views Thursday, November 21, 2019 Medicare for All: Medicine for a For-Profit System Addicted to Itself Just three short weeks ago, I became Medicare eligible. And shortly afterwards I faced a serious health crisis. What I never knew is how absolutely protected I would be as a Medicare beneficiary when compared to the previous 64 years of my life "covered" by private insurance. My mindset has shifted... Read more |
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Views Thursday, October 17, 2019 Post-Debate Musings: Bernie’s Heart and His Courage Just Fine with Me Fourteen days from now I will know what it’s like to have Medicare coverage. For the past 64 years and 11 months, I have been at the mercy of a for-profit insurance and health system that doesn’t forgive illness or injury and never forgets my age. Since 2006, my husband has had Medicare coverage. I... Read more |
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Views Thursday, July 04, 2019 This 4th of July, We Will Still Hold Some Truths to Be Self-Evident I don't write as much anymore as I've been traumatized, angry, and a bit fatalistic about the events unfolding around us. Every American who cares about this nation even a bit ought to be paying attention—on all of the polarized sides. Yet, many of us really just don't care or are too tired. That... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, January 09, 2019 Shutdown Offers Taste of Suffering the Poor and Vulnerable Know Too Well The drama around the shutdown may seem mostly political with the latest news barely touching on the pain felt by real people who believed they worked for all of us. While millions of us celebrated festive holidays, I know that many families had a season of worry that hasn’t ended yet. You probably... Read more |
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Views Sunday, October 21, 2018 Democratic Autopsy: One Year Later In October 2017, a team of progressive researchers published “ Autopsy: The Democratic Party in Crisis ,” which probed the causes of the disastrous 2016 election defeat. The report came in the wake of the party leadership’s failure to do its own autopsy. In a cover story for The Nation , William... Read more |
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Views Sunday, March 11, 2018 From One Mass Shooting Survivor's Mother to the Parents of Student Survivors in Florida: An Open Letter Dear parents, It is my solemn duty, at least I feel it is, to tell you what many of you will face as the parent of a survivor of mass shooting in America. I am so very sorry that we are at this point 25 years after a young, angry gunman and former employee entered a Chuck E Cheese pizza parlor in... Read more |
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Views Monday, September 25, 2017 White House Bully Disrespects, Embarrasses America Among the offensive comments made by Donald Trump on Saturday night in Atlanta were those he made about the game and its players not hitting or being hit as hard now as once was the case in the National Football League. Trump believes it's the rules and penalties related to tackles that are causing... Read more |
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Views Monday, July 17, 2017 Ode to the SiCKO Decade and Single-Payer Power When Michael Moore’s documentary film, SiCKO, was released in June 2007, the nation was yet to elect our first African American president, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA/Obamacare) was yet to be introduced or debated. Taken with the unrealistic notion that somehow SiCKO... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, April 12, 2017 Standing for Peace Puts a Target on Tulsi Our memories can be so fleeting—especially as the intense emotions and horror felt about seeing images from war-torn Syria drive blind acceptance of the most recent chemical attacks and subsequent U.S. retaliatory bombings. We certainly believe that nearly every person reading this essay abhors war... Read more |