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Welcome to Nurse Talk where laughter is the best medicine. A salute to our Republican friends and relatives—and we do have them. This week on the show you will hear Mitt Romney. We think he’s singing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL? Oh dear lord.

Shayne says, “Casey that was AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL and we’re told he learned it from Millie Fawn his music teacher in high-school—lets take a listen.”

Ladies and gentlemen, Millie Fawn:

We promise when the Democratic Convention rolls around we’ll give equal time to President Obama’s singing! Just a little fun on this sunny summer day.

We’ve got CNA’s Michael Lighty on the so-called Not-for-Profit hospital rip-off, Trent Lange with a victory for all of us from The California Clean Money Campaign, caller questions, health trivia and a lot more. Read more and listen up…

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Donna Smith, our National Nurses United D.C. correspondent brings us up to speed on all things Washington. Donna also shares a bit of personal news about her own health. Donna Smith is best known as one of the documentary subjects of Michael Moore’s 2007 movie, “SiCKO.” Her journalism career includes 15 regional awards from the AP Managing Editors. Donna now works as a national single-payer healthcare advocate and community organizer for National Nurses United, and co-chairs the Progressive Democrats of America’s national “Healthcare Not Warfare” campaign. She also blogs at MichaelMoore.com. Read more…

Nurses from around the United States took part in a rally at Daly Plaza in Chicago on May 18, 2012 to support a half-percent financial transaction tax, known as the Robin Hood Tax, on Wall Street trades as part of their campaign to heal America.

Read more…

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Casey and Dan talk with the distinguished Doug Connor. Doug grew up in a conservative Republican family. He is a nurse, a veteran of the Iraq War, a union member, and a passionate supporter of the Occupy movement. Doug returned from the war in 2006, disillusioned by the unnecessary deaths and organizations profiting on the destruction that surrounded him as a nurse treating victims of war. Upon his return, he was looking for change. He supported Barack Obama because, he says, “…just saying the word ‘change’ was enough for me. That’s what I (was) looking for; change, hope.” But by 2011, failures to improve the economy and involvement with his nurses union took him down a different path. Connor came face to face with the Occupy Wall Street movement. Read more…

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Oh my…Casey is trying her very best to be still but this “women” bashing thing has got to go. In order to keep Casey civil—Dan recommends they sing a song—that reflects these nasty little current events. Sing they do and the emails start rolling in. Ahhh, some agreement…yes? No! Here are just a few:

“Don’t ever sing again!”
“I had to turn the radio off!”
“I can’t tell Dan from Casey!”
“Stick to your day jobs!”

O.K folks we get the message.

Casey and Dan talk with the distinguished Doug Connor. Doug grew up in a conservative Republican family. He is a nurse, a veteran of the Iraq War, a union member, and a passionate supporter of the Occupy movement. Doug returned from the war in 2006, disillusioned by the unnecessary deaths and organizations profiting on the destruction that surrounded him as a nurse treating victims of war then came face to face with the Occupy Wall Street movement.

You won’t want to miss Doug’s story

AND LATER…Craig Preston from the California Clean Money Campaign. A few weeks ago we talked with California One Care’s Executive Director Andrew McGuire. Cal One Care is committed to single payer health care for all Californians. Craig Preston from California Clean Money Campaign also supports a single payer healthcare system but says we have to get the money out of politics first.

READ MORE about this show and get a link to the podcast >

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Joining Casey (Dan was excused to go to Chuck E. Cheese with seven 8-year olds) is RN Dorothy Ahmad. Dorothy is a CCU nurse at Stroger Hospital in Chicago. Recently registered nurses at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center on Chicago’s South Side voted by 85 percent to join National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union and professional association of RNs. The Jackson Park RNs voted 94 to 16 to join NNU. Read more…

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:43 — 49.2MB) | Embed

Joining Casey (Dan was excused to go to Chuck E. Cheese with seven 8-year olds) is RN Dorothy Ahmad. Dorothy is a CCU nurse at Stroger Hospital in Chicago. Recently registered nurses at Jackson Park Hospital and Medical Center on Chicago’s South Side voted by 85 percent to join National Nurses United, the nation’s largest union and professional association of RNs. The Jackson Park RNs voted 94 to 16 to join NNU.

Casey then visits with Jennifer Gainza, the communications director for the Northern California chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. We asked Jennifer to come on the show and talk with us about MS, the signs the symptoms and current treatments. Read more…

Virtually every other consumer sale is taxed. Why not Wall Street’s?

A robust tax on Wall Street transactions would raise far more revenue – as much as 17 times as much – than more limited proposals, even accounting for the worst case scenarios of reduced trading as a result of a tax. That’s the findings of an important new research brief from prominent University of Massachusetts Amherst economists Robert Pollin and James Heintz.

This study is the most recent serious effort to quantify current, actual costs and evaluate the impact of the trading costs on trading volume. It can be viewed at: http://www.peri.umass.edu/fileadmin/pdf/research_brief/PERI_FTT_Research_Brief.pdf

The data in the study come from three sets of sources: the most recent academic and financial market research; a 2011 survey study by the International Monetary Fund; and the most up-to-date and comprehensive data on market trading from specialized firms that obtain these figures directly from the financial market trading businesses themselves.

One of the stories of the past year has been the growing international and U.S. movement for a financial transaction tax (FTT) on the trading of stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments.

An international coalition of labor, environmental, and non-governmental organizations have prodded the European Union to adopt a continent wide FTT, also referred to as the “Robin Hood tax.” Several European governments, including conservative leaders in France and Germany support the FTT and the EU which is predicted to adopt the tax by the end of this year. Read more…

From our friends at National Nurses United:

With up to two million British workers expected to join the biggest strike in the United Kingdom in a generation Wednesday, Nov. 30, the largest union of registered nurses in the U.S. announced today that it will hold support rallies for British nurses and other workers in six U.S. cities Wednesday.

U.S. nurses, joined by other union members in Washington and several other cities, will hold noon rallies at the British Embassy in Washington and at British consulates in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, and San Francisco.

The actions come amidst huge corporate cash reserves on both sides of the Atlantic while government officials in both nations push reductions in retirement security and other cuts. In the U.K., some 30 unions representing nurses, teachers, paramedics, civil servants, and other public workers will protest plans by the conservative government to cut public pensions. In the U.S., support rallies will also remind the public of threats to Social Security as well.

U.S. rally locations, all actions at 12 noon local time:

• Washington, DC – Embassy of the United Kingdom, 3100 Massachusetts Ave NW
• Boston – Consulate, One Broadway, Cambridge
• Chicago – Consulate, 625 N. Michigan Ave.

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Massachusettes RN Karen Higgins joins us. Karen is a good friend of ours and she always takes time out of her busy schedule to talk with us. As a matter of fact we want to make it perfectly clear that Karen was on her BREAK when speaking with Dan and Casey. Karen weighed in on the Financial Transaction Tax, a.k.a. the Robin Hood tax that nurses and others all around the world asked the G-20 leaders to adopt. The tax would be .005 on stocks and other financial transactions. The money raised COULD dramatically change and add to funding for healthcare, education, infrastructure and more. Karen is the past president of Massachusettes Nurses Association and is currently one of three co-presidents for National Nurses United. Read more…