Hello PDA Activists!

I'm joining the PDA National Advisory Board because I believe in what you're doing. I understand PDA launched in 2004 to work inside and outside of the Democratic Party, standing up for the strong progressive principles that helped make this country great. PDA's commitment to grassroots organizing appeals to me.

I've spent 3 decades battling the "Powers That Be" on behalf of "the Powers That Ought To Be" consumers, working families, environ- mentalists, small businesses, and just plain folks.

My latest book, "Swim Against the Current," focuses on the changes people can make in their lives through grassroots activism. I'm proud to come on board as PDA is launching the "Healthcare NOT Warfare" Campaign. Like me, PDA is committed to ending the Iraq War and Occupation, and PDA shares my demand for fundamental health reform. In "Swim Against the Current" I wrote:

"The [healthcare] industry is controlled by insurance middlemen, HMO chains, and rip-off drug makers--all putting profits over patients. The industry's lobbyists impose public policies that leave forty-seven million of our fellow Americans with no health plan whatsoever, while tens of millions more hold miserly plans that provide very little balm in times of need. The industry has created such a screwed-up system that we Americans spend more each year on health care ($6,280 per capita) than people in any other country, yet the treatment we get ranks a pathetic thirty-seventh in the world."

I hope you'll join me as I tour the nation discussing my new book and old problems. I'll be in Washington, D.C. on St. Patrick's Day, March 17 at a benefit for Heathcare NOT Warfare. PDA's field team will keep you informed about the other stops on my tour, and you can check for yourself at my website, http://jimhightower.com.

I look forward to seeing you soon, and I especially look forward to working with you as PDA activists.

Onward!

Jim Hightower