i am so grateful to president obama that he affords all of us the opportunity to speak freely regarding our concerns. for that i see our current administration more transparent than any other. this was the president's promise: to be transparent. i believe that he is keeping that promise to the citizens of the usa. and for that i strongly support president obama.
as a long time loyal member of the democratic party in the usa, i have always supported our party's president from the time that i first voted. i have assisted in many, many campaigns, yes, and even helped to run a few. when they were alive, my parents also stood behind these presidents. my children, as well, stand in support.
before i discuss very briefly my reasons for not supporting the healthcare plan in its presents status, i must admit that, together with (possibly) a few senators and representatives, i have not read the enormous bill itself. sadly, like so many of us busy citizens, i have had very little time to review such an voluminous amount of material.
nevertheless, in its present state, i am neither able to support the healthcare plan that went before the house two or three weeks ago, nor am i able to support the healthcare proposal that passed the senate on november 21, 2009. I may be corrected if i am wrong, but it is my understanding, through the media, that the healthcare plan will cut five hundred and fifty billion dollars from the medi-care budget. where? when? why?
also, it is my understanding that the healthcare budget will be a further drain on our economy by increasing the budget deficit to well over one trillion dollars.
finally, i see the urgent need for a great reform in our country's support of the insurance giants in putting forth this plan. these demigogs do not need the taxpayers' support. and the medical community needs to be more fully urged to provide everyone with greater preventative measures to health care, which must, in my opinion, be included in any health care reform measure.
in short--keep free speech--rework the plan.
I encourage all to go to "http://www.barackobama.com/issues/" and review OFA's core issues. Do we not have a common economic goal with people in other districts in every state? Yes, we do! Is it obtainable? Yes it is, at least it will be once we combine all of our collective thoughts and efforts.
ECONOMY- OFA's Issue Statement basically states: Change how we do business, rebuild our economy on a new foundation. I think it also implies that we all should share in our nation's economic growth and rewards. Not just the top two percent! I reject the thought or premise that a recovering economy will not produce jobs until months or years later. Where does it say Wall Street Bankers, Investment, Healthcare, and Insurance executives must get preferential treatment. Could it have started years ago when these same executives promoted an unregulated perverted free market economic ideology. To the working and middleclass disadvantage, have they also persuaded our representatives in government to consider us to be meaningless simple minded consumers and not intelligent demanding citizens?
Join with me not to be a socialist but to be pragmatist. We need a JOBS based economic recovery. Let us have an opportunity raise and feed our families in a stable place we call home. We need to design, process, and manufacture products in America like those productive Americans before us. There is inherent pride when we can show our family, products that we made in our workshops, factories and on construction sites. A quality life style we can be proud of.
A jobs based economic recovery would also discourage our children from joining gangs. If they can grow up with hopes and dreams and see a pathway to a quality life style, they will want to work. We must realize "Hopes" and "Dreams" eventually turn into goals and success stories. Jobs paying a living wage will indirectly dissipate the growing street gang crises and hopefully reduce it to a controllable nuisance.
Scandalizing methods of making money by shifting paper around in secrecy and under the cloche of darkness on Wall Street is no different than shifting twenty dollar notes around in secrecy and under the crack or coke of darkness behind Main Street.
We need JOBS, financial and insurance regulations, fair tax and trade laws that will remake America into a great industrial society. An educated and skilled workforce that manufactures finished products from raw materials. One that builds great Machinery and wonderful Landmarks. Give us JOBS and a chance to participate in this recovery.
We cannot wait for weak legislation to accidently happen once or twice a year. We cannot accept our Congressional Representatives bragging about being obstructionist introducing numerous phony amendments and then after all that, voting NO. We certainly cannot accept it from Rep. Barton Gordon (D?-TN-6) a BLUE DOG DEMOCRAT in the great Congressional Sixth District of Tennessee. I say " BLUE DOG DEMOCRAT " as a negative intonation. We need a progressive democrat like President Barack Obama.
The first step to success is that we have to want it. The second step is organizing and doing something about it. The third is monitoring or measuring our progress. Forth, continuously improve, change or make corrections to the process. Fifth, monitor, re-measure and accept no less than success. Just as OFA's issue statement says, " We will not rebuild our economy on the old model of bubbles and busts. We'll only climb out of the current crisis by creating a new, sustainable foundation for our economy's future -- and make the tough choices to put our economy back on the road to long-term prosperity." Think about it, talk about it, today we look back and see the economy still needs aggressive change. Our foundation cracked a year ago and is still unstable. We need to help President Barack Obama implement change at an accelerated pace. Do we think Rep. Barton Gordon is up to the task? I am now questioning this?
I wrote this article originally for the newspaper I work for. It's on peoplesworld.org. Appreciate any feedback.
The House of Representatives passed a historic health care reform bill on Nov. 7. By a vote of 220-215 the Democrats ushered in health reform legislation, the likes of which haven't been seen since Medicare passed in 1965.
Like many others in the labor, progressive and left movements, I see the bill, Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR 3962, as not the end of the monumental battle to guarantee health care for all, but a significant step along that road. It curbs the enormous influence the insurance giants have over the country's health care system. And that's a start.
In the first place, the bill would crackdown on the insurance industry by banning lifetime limits and coverage denials based on preexisting conditions. The bill would end a federal antitrust exemption that has for decades protected the industry from federal investigations.
The bill would create a government-run insurance option to compete with private plans on a new insurance exchange for people who don't have employer coverage.
It puts in place mandates for the individual and employers to buy and offer, respectively, health insurance. At the same time the bill would offer subsidies to help households earning up to $88,000 in annual income for a family of four purchase coverage.
The bill would expand Medicaid and provide free health care to all Americans with incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
To pay for the trillion dollar cost over 10 years the bill places a surcharge on taxpayers who earn more than $500,000 a year, or $1 million a year for families. And would cut waste in both Medicaid and Medicare, mainly by phasing out the Bush administration's privatization debacle of Medicare, called Medicare Advantage. This program was a giveaway to insurance corporations.
The bill also would end premium disparity based on health status and sex. Turns out, women are charged more for the same coverage than men. When it comes to pre-existing conditions - they cannot list pregnancy, c-section, rape and domestic violence.
All of which are tremendous victories. All of which have been hailed by Democratic lawmakers, along with the labor movement, civil rights organizations and health care reform advocates.
But, and there is a but.
There is something really disturbing that came alongside those victories.
A bi-partisan amendment, which passed, that would severely restrict women's reproductive health, beyond anything so far to date. Called the Stupak amendment, named after the Michigan Democrat who introduced it, the restrictions go beyond the 33-year-old Hyde Amendment which bans any federal dollars going to pay for pregnancy terminations. It would bar women who get any federal subsidy for health insurance from getting access to abortion even if it's paid with her own money.
To add to that something disturbing happened during the health bill discussion. When members of the House Women's Caucus attempted to take the floor to highlight why this bill overall was good for women, Republicans interrupted and blocked them.
It got so bad, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio accused the Republicans of censoring her remarks and blocking her right to make them.
The Republicans who shouted down the caucus members were men. It was like they were setting the stage for the Stupak amendment. Don't let women have a voice about health care, their actions seemed to say.
The Stupak amendment was passed by a 240-194 vote with 64 Democrats voting with all 176 Republicans. (Only one Republican voted for the health care bill in the end.)
Out of the 64 Democrats that voted for the amendment, only two were women. Out of the entire 176 Republican caucus, only 18 are women.
There is a major gender disconnect here. And women - 50 percent of the population, 40 percent of the breadwinners in the country - are underrepresented in the Congress and it was really apparent what such under-representation means in this vote.
But let's take it another step.
Pro-choice advocates in and out of Congress had agreed early on that this health care reform bill was about health care, and the fight on reproductive rights would be in another arena. Federal prohibitions like the Hyde Amendment would stay in place.
In fact, on Friday, Nov. 6, every major women's organization sent out last minute e-mails urging their members and supporters to call Congress to support the health reform bill, even with shortcomings. It was a very mature and politically astute approach.
For example the National Organization For Women urged its supporters to get their congressional representatives on board despite severe abortion restrictions. In fact, NOW said, a compromise measure called the Capps Amendment was part of the bill that came out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It was seen "as necessary to get the larger bill out."
According to NOW's analysis of the Capps Amendment, "abortion would be prohibited from being included in a list of Minimum Benefits Coverage, a listing that will be determined by an appointed committee of experts and consumers at some future date."
Further, the Capps Amendment was to ensure that at least one of the private insurance options in every premium rating level must include abortion coverage beyond rape, life or incest, and at least one of the private plans must exclude abortion in the newly established insurance exchanges and that in each region of the country, there is at least one plan in the Health Exchange that offers abortion services, but also one plan in the Health Exchange that does not offer abortion coverage, according to NOW's analysis.
State laws regarding abortion coverage, funding and referrals would have been untouched.
"Last minute restrictions adopted in the rule required to bring the House health care reform bill to the floor will explicitly prohibit federal funding for abortion services, guarantee patient access to insurance plans that do not cover abortions and require federal health officials to hire private contractors to handle payments to abortion providers," NOW said. "These restrictions represent a compromise to allow the full bill to go forward and were reached after days of negotiation with conservative abortion rights opponents in both parties."
NOW went on to report that members from the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus were "not pleased with the language but would not oppose it" in order to get support from a few additional Democratic anti-choice House members and to reach the "magic number of 218 votes."
So what happened between Friday morning and Saturday?
Some reports point to a last minute show down with anti-choice advocates insisting on the Stupak amendment going to the floor for a vote. With backs against the wall, Pelosi and the House leadership, reports say, had to let it go to the floor. The Hill reported a shouting match between Reps. George Miller and Rosa De Lauro, both Pelosi confidants, over the decision late Friday night.
Women are a core part of the coalition that helped elect Barack Obama and put a dagger through the heart of the ultra-right's control of politics in this country. Women are a core part of the coalition that will bring to life positive change in this country, including and especially curbing the power of mega-corporations and banks.
It's not easy to keep a diverse and multi-class coalition together on key interests like health care reform, climate change, education or economic recovery. But it's necessary. The Stupak amendment threatens that coalition.
There was already language agreed to that would have prevented any tax dollars going to pay for abortion procedures. It wasn't an easy thing to do but pro-choice advocates agreed to it for the greater good. Then in the eleventh hour, a monkey wrench. Somebody threw it. Seems to me, it played right into the interests of the big insurance companies, desperate to derail major health reform and muck up the political landscape as much as possible as the bill goes onto the Senate. On top of the main political hurdles to overcome in the Senate to get to health reform - the public option and how to pay for it, taxing the rich vs. taxing health plans - abortion, one of the most controversial issues of our time, gets added to the mix.
Why did Stupak and the 63 other Democrats join with all the Republicans in this "bridge too far?" There is much political parsing over that. Whatever the reasons, it only plays into the hands of the insurance giants and the ultra-right. And that won't win health reform.
President Obama said the Stupak amendment must not stand. He is a pro-choice president. Women's groups have demanded the Stupak language be stripped in the final bill. The insurance companies and ultra-right attempt to stop health care reform from going through is not going to happen. Women, and the whole coalition, won't let it.
Get out of Afghanistan, pass meaningful healthcare and if it fails, move on.
Regulate financial industries. Jobs, Jobs, and Jobs.
Stop building unwanted bridges and schools in Afghanistan. We need them at home.
The terrorist are not warriors. They have no army to blow up. We give them creditability calling their gang an army.
The FBI and CIA can chase them. Use the law to prosecute them, jails to hold them and the electric chair to kill them.
Stop spending our precious resources outside of the country and spend it at home.
Don't become "Bushed!"
Stand by the progressives, discipline the blue dogs and bring bills to the floor. If they don't pass it is OUR job (not yours alone) to fix it.
Oh, most important to you. You're not only slipping in the polls, you are losing your base. I love ya, but sometimes action is better than wimpy results!!
Stop enjoying yourself soo.... much. We are living hard lives and are trying to get through tough times.
Where is the "OLD" Barack? Bring him back and if bills go up or down, we will at least have a great time trying.
Good Luck, I am still in your camp for now. I don't think I can afford to give any more money. At least not until things change.
I've been wondering why it isn't a good idea to welcome a Senate filibuster on health care. The House has passed a bill, and everyone seems to think that more than 50 senators would vote for a Senate bill IF they could get 60 votes to end the debate. Why should we not go ahead and let the minority take a stand to prevent a "fair, up-or-down" vote on health care? (Remember when they asked for, and got, this courtesy when Bush's Supreme Court nominees were at stake?)
The House is ready, the majority of Senators are ready, the majority of the American people are ready, and the President is ready. Being a roadblock under such circumstances might not be in their favor.
I know that filibusters aren't the spectacle they once were, with senators reading from the phone book to continue the "debate". But I believe the majority leader still has the ability to make it very clear who is holding up progress. If the failure to get cloture drags on for days, then phone calls, emails, and demonstrations on the Capitol steps can send the message: quit playing games and call for the vote. I think that eventually they'd have to cave.
It has been widely reported across the news wires that Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has released a financial regulation reform bill. Through tough regulation, it will seek financial stability and consumer financial protection and justice.
We in the working/middleclass are being stripped of what little equity we have accumulated. We are forced to accept sub-standard wages, less employer benefits and in millions of cases...under/un-employment.
You can bet, the republicans and blue dog democrats are already planning on voting NO and introducing countless amendments to weaken or water down the legislation. You can be assured, they are planning endless delays. They will follow the same game plan as they did and are doing with health care. Joined by the wallets, the republicans and blue dog democrats will be relentless with their shady tactics.
We OFA members must become active again and counter their corruptive efforts. We cannot and should not expect President Barack Obama to fight this second front alone. It is time to gather the troops and bring re-enforcements to the already tired progressives on capitol hill. Stand-up and plan a strategy on how to bring aid to our fellow progressives. I still have hope, I know you do to. Stand-up, smile and be proud of what you are doing. You are not alone.
Are you committed to supporting the President's plan for healthcare reform?
President Obama has called for Congress to deliver on comprehensive healthcare reform that provides security and stability for the insured, help for the uninsured, and reins in the costs of healthcare for families, businesses, and government.
This requires a mutual commitment - all of us must pull together in order to accomplish this goal.
The status quo is unsustainable and morally unacceptable. We spend 16% of our gross domestic product on healthcare in this country - $2.4 trillion per year - and insurance premiums have more than doubled since 1998. Wages have remained flat while healthcare costs have increased, leaving families with less money in their paychecks. 45,000 Americans die each year because they don't have access to insurance, and a million more American families go bankrupt each year because of medical bills.
These issues don't discriminate. Rich and poor, labor and management, black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American, male, female, straight, gay - all of us are impacted by the drag of healthcare costs on our economy.
Will you join the President in supporting reform? Please tell your Senators and Representatives to pass reform this fall. We can't wait another day.
Post a comment to show your support, and share your ideas.
Last year this time I had just returned from Columbus, Ohio, where I had volunteered for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. This link (http://10daysinohio.wordpress.com) will take you to the actual, albeit unfinished, blog. Here is an excerpt:
... Let me break down a little something on what I see as being a real discussion about big and small government. It has little to do with food stamps, government funded charter schools, or the good ole N.E.A. It has to do with an attitude that we, the people, can empower ourselves, or we can trust a suit in a large house that we will never visit on less than a tour (unless we are Tom Hanks) to throw us a bone. I love Obama specifically because he knows he can do nothing for us. He cannot heal a country that is not willing to do the work. He cannot give us better schools if we do not engage with our children. He cannot give us anything, but he can, and has already, empowered us to create something for ourselves. We need a government that only magnifies and enables the will of the people, not one that stipulates our choices on accepting their all-or-nothing rhetoric, that isolates and bates us against each other. There are certain things we will never agree on. That cannot be solved. Our government should not dictate our culture, it should serve as an organizing administrative body. Do you follow me? That is small government – a government that is willing to step back and give all of us choices. Freedom. I am not a Democrat nor am I Republican. I am a pragmatist. I believe at the end of the day, for this country – there is only one choice that includes everyone. Someone who will stay small so we can all become bigger. It is up to us. All of us...
I share this with you because the topic spoke to my heart after hearing people recently say "I don't vote; What good would writing or calling do; I don't have time to volunteer."
When I volunteered to be a community organizer several weeks ago, I was intrigued by the idea of helping to get the word out about another worthy cause. While the topic was Healthcare Reform, I saw the overall cause as something different. What did I see, you may ask. I saw the opportunity to continue learning, participating and educating family, friends, neighbors, strangers on the importance of being involved in the decision making process that helps to shape laws that govern our rights and privileges.
As John Adams said, "...Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among people."
It was probably 9 years ago when I truly sought to better understand the political process at the local and national level. I was especially interested after 9/11 as the fears among citizens grew and the tolerance for diversity among faiths decreased. It became more important to me to learn what people in positions of leadership were saying about the future direction of my city and state - our country. So, I paid more attention to political commentary shared in the media like the NY Times, CNN and MSNBC and the local newspapers. After all, our parents, their parents and generations before endured unthinkable trials of might and faith to cause a universal cry for freedom, justice and equality. Their journey is inherently our journey because we hold the responsibility to maintain and improve on that which came before us. This means that we each hold a piece of the multicultural quilt that spreads across our free land. It also means we have a responsibility to let our voices be heard.
Our vote is one of the most critical ways we voice our opinions and take part in this beautiful system of democracy that was designed to work for the voice of the people. It is not a perfect system, but it is a beautiful system that continues to work to promote FREEDOM, JUSTICE, EQUALITY for all. There are thousands who lost their lives for the very rights that we have, and there are thousands more who are calling for actions to improve upon the rights that we do have. The recent Healthcare Reform debate is just one recent example.
There have been thousands upon thousands of calls and letters to government officials across our great nation to push for Healthcare Reform. No one knows yet what the line-by-line details of the final bill will include. What we do know is that the call for change is because our fellow Americans have spoken and said they witnessed or know of too many people negatively impacted by the loss of insurance, suffering declining health or losing loved ones because of a damaged healthcare system.
It took people, just like you and me, to make phone calls, write letters, share stories and sometimes hear the stories of families torn apart because of the horrific healthcare policies that are in place. It was the voice of people, like you and me, at the local and national levels that has helped push the proposed bill closer to becoming a reality. When it does, it will be a historic event.
As we continue on this collective road to shape our America, please be encouraged and continue to be encouraged that our voices do matter. It is very important that when we have the opportunity to speak for positive change- let us speak; when we have the opportunity to write for positive change - let us write; when we have the opportunity to vote for positive change - let us vote.
In general, I do not believe as adults we "do" because anyone tells us to. Instead, I believe we generally do because we allow ourselves to be open to the possibility that we can affect the outcome of a situation. That same openess to be a participant in the possibilities of life leads us to do the right thing in our time of need, and in preparation for tomorrow. I believe that resounding voice comes from a sense of honor, dignity, respect for our past and the hope for a great future that cares for all of our people - not just some.
If you are like me, your schedule is booked solid most of the time and you treasure your "me time." If you are like me, you understand that sometimes the best "me time" is when we open ourselves up to causes outside of "I" and give a portion to "we time." You are so very important to the progress of all people, not just in our great land.
Be blessed.
President Obama can expect an instant surge in poll numbers if and when he gets back on board with the majority of Americans who don't give two figs what Snowe and the Party of No think...
To me the only mystery is why some seem to think there's any mystery. It's not like Republicans, with whom a mere 20% of Americans identify and only 36% still think have a clue about what to do are picking up the numbers.
I can only speak for my own disappointment in this once inspirational president who used to fill us all with so much hope, but I fully expect there are others who feel as I do. The President's approval numbers are inversely proportionate to his tacit approval for the antics of disingeuous Republicans such as Olympia Snowe and Chuck Grassley, support for spineless compromises such as Max Baucus's self-serving gift to the industry who supported and supports his re-election, his willingness to place the groups who elected him on hold, as he's done with the gay community, or to call us"opinionated," as he did when he recently described me and my fellow progressives that way. "Principled," Mr. Obama, and "resolute" are two of the adjectives I'd have chosen.
I don't need a public option, I live in Canada where they've understood for decades that single-payer provides the widest high quality coverage at the lowest cost to tax payers. Like over 80% of Canadians I'm very happy with the way it works, and I know it doesn't shut out private companies that enhance my coverage. I'm worried about my nephew and niece, who live in the States and have no health care. I'm worried about families who are plummeted into bankruptcy and still have to bury their 4-year-old child who dies of cystic-fibrosis, a disease that also claimed my first wife -- at the age of 40. She was Canadian. She was covered. "Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" are more than words in Canada.
The so-called "public option" is the compromise. It has the potential of proving to Americans that the health insurance industry will either adapt and put up, as it has all over the globe, or shut up. Without a robust public option health care reform is a sham.
may be in run on mode.. but w/e
From: Kristian Hemker
Longmont, Co.
To: Barack Obama
From: A concerned youth in America
Dear Mr. Obama,
I have recently heard of your Nobel peace prize and I have one thing to say. The humble thing to do regarding the prize would be to turn it down and not be the publicity whore you have been all through your campaign. What we need from you isn’t uselessly accepting baseless award and accolades, but rather a Man, people will be able to look back on and say “he said he was going to change America, and he did.” As a 21 year old American I have seen all of the games and ploys of the political politicians and the rise and dashing of many hopes. I’m for the war in Iraq and I wish the people knew what good we were actually bringing those people. I have asked many “Democrats” “what is a democrat?” to which no one could answer. I have also asked people if they think Iraq is in better or worse shape since we have been there… and I have e yet to find a satisfactory answer from your party. I currently think we live in a one party system where private interests run the show behind the scenes and the political “debates” (if you can even call them that) are just a giant farce. I am a Libertarian and I know that capitalism isn’t all good and socialism isn’t all bad. Capitalism is the only form of economy that provides actual opportunity to gain wealth on your own merit, and individualism like that isn’t possible in a society that gives everyone everything they need. Americans are far too comfortable and stupid to understand the complex systems which control our economy. and schooling is almost impossible to afford in such hard economic times when you barely make middle class wages. The invisible inflation of costs in the housing markets is over rampant. I live in Colorado where those who have no skills lose jobs and those without jobs can’t afford the education for themselves let alone their families. I would like to also note the famous phrase “a government that can give you everything you need can take it all away.” So I think we need a drastic overhaul of Education and Welfare services. As far as the immigration issue is concerned I don’t think we need a second language but if they are willing to enter the “cultural melting pot” then I think amnesty isn’t a horrible idea. I think that Americans are far too comfortable and the low class can make more off of welfare then they can working at a local business. I would urge you to take these things into consideration because its my future and your children’s future not the ruling elite. I didn’t vote for you because I wanted to vote for Ron Paul but he didn’t get the nomination so I voted for Bob Barr, Because I believe that having too much control in both the house and senate doesn’t lead to rational discussion, but rather a comfortable arena to cater to private interests.. And I would also say that the billions of dollars of tax revenue you printed are going to destroy the middle class. I think we need a national minimum wage with a maximum housing limit. I don’t think that the government can solve all my problems so i am going to apply for government aid to start college in January for a “structural engineering and technology of applied science”, and try to get as many certifications as possible. What the country needs is not hand outs or government aid but Oportunity. And I think what they need you of you now is not the politician but the Man, Father, Husband, and intellectually honest person, I know you can be. This whole letter might fall on deaf ears but at least I had my say. I really hope you actually read this all the way through and took it into consideration despite my age. I am off to get my brother from a correctional facility because some of your “peace officers” arrested him while he was helping my grandmother out the front door with some dirty water because our sink is clogged and we cant afford to fix it. I would hope you take each of my statements as if your daughters were asking you. Why the police arrest more blacks and convict them than of any other color? And I hope you don’t disgrace the memory of Dr. Martin King who said “do not judge a man by the color of his skin but the content of his character.” One last thing I have to ask. Why it is in a country that obviously has a drug problem are we arresting these criminals the government, Has made for itself and using my tax dollars, (Which I haven’t earned much of) to house these criminals for upwards of 20,000 dollars a year, Per person. Not that we should let people out of prison because of the high recidivism rate. One final thing that I have learned from my Hispanic forbearers is “I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees”
Sincerely,
Kristian Hemker (concerned 21 years old)
Dear brother, we're invited!
A few months back you went home to God after not receiving adequate healthcare coverage for years. During your brief time with us you touched the hearts of family, friends, professors, and community members alike. I thought that no longer in this Earthly life would I again share laughter and tears with you that only a loved one can, the trust that only a best friend can, and the memories - old and new alike - that only a brother can.
But then I came across our last picture together. Standing against a bright backdrop of the colorful mall lights under a clear night sky, smiling and teaming up as only we could for that photograph -- for that timeless Heavenly moment -- who knew we'd be standing there together to give me an image of hope for the rest of my life?
I think you knew. Because you were so sincere in that moment. I can see it in your eyes now, I felt it in your presence then, and I hear it from our shared history -- and into our future as it unfolds with every new tick of the clock. (You jerk, you should've told me that you were done posing for pictures ;)!)
You always had a clever of doing big things. But this time you've really outdone yourself! You have allowed us to fulfill our childhood dream: of working as a team on something worthy, something noble, something divinely humanitarian; a dream of making a real difference.
Thanks for being my partner then, now, and always. I can almost hear you walking next to me as I campaign - one step at a time. Growing up, I always imagined we'd actually be able to chest-bump or high-five to celebrate each little victory. But if God has had a higher calling for you all along -- to make you part of my guiding light itself -- well, then I just have to wipe my tears away, smile, and march forward with your silent determination! Under the shadow of our captain: God himself :).
So: Did you hear? We're invited! Let's go.
My brother in humanity, Let's go!
Today we held the memorial service for my 24 year old daughter in-law and her unborn baby girl. Jenny did not have health insurance and was not properly treated at for-profit ER. Within 24 hours she went to the next ER and was diagnosed with severe double pneumonia, Septic shock and Respitory failure and laid in an ICU unit for the next two months at a cost of $22,000. a day.
When there was no hope of survival we removed Jenny from life support and said our good byes to this beautiful young woman. She left behind a husband (my son) and a two and half year old daughter. Jenny's crime and death sentence was that she could not afford health-care.
In the richest country in the world our Jenny died.
Don't allow another family to suffer the pain that we have. Stand up for the Public Option, stand up for what you believe in, get out of your chairs, your house, your comfort zone and speak out for this injustice. In the richest country in the world Jenny died....don't let there be another Jenny..
Universal Healthcare is the logical extension of Social Security. Providing health insurance for everyone in order to assist them in reaching retirement age. The Republicans have done pratically nothing on universal health care for 30 years. They were too busy sinking the nation with a worldwide recession, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.NY Times contributor Paul Krug writes of the Poltics of Spite, "For one thing, we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.
http://www.youtube.com/crazycatherder
http://www.youtube.com/BuckMcKeon#play/uploads/1/PAg_Gx_0VZs
Well Saturday's September 26th event turned out to the largest LA COUNTY Townhall meeting to date since the Congressman Adam Schiff’s event in San Gabriel Valley. McKeon and his staff were busy pleasing themselves over the 800 RSVP’s. I watched them giving one another high fives.
Someone had left a visible unlabeled box under the stairwell and the sheriff department responded cautiously to its contents. After one bold sheriff realized that it wasn't ticking, he opened it. And all disgustingly shook their heads to find La Rouche magazines with Obama w/a Hitler mustache on the cover . . . They reclosed the box and shoved it back but out of view, I agreed with their disgust, but this is a country of Free Speech, exhibit #1. There were close to 1,500 people there. Of course, the repubs say that it was 2,000. The initial anxious and alert crowd snaked around the building well before 8:15AM. One event planner was giving the others high fives in relaying “we have up to 2,000 RSVP's”. They had done their job. NOT. For it to be a healthcare meeting, the elevator didn't work for the physically impaired. Although, later in the morning, I heard the janitor exclaim to the sheriffs “it was working on Tuesday, I checked it myself”. Funny, there was little signage to let the public know that the elevator was even there.
I heard the janitor explain to the sheriff officers that the spring wasn't leveling as it should, hence it wasn’t usable. One officer offered that it was a safety violation and should be fixed quickly. I watched the janitor huffing up the stairs. I thought to myself, he’s in relatively good shape, not lean, but if he is huffing up the stairs and stopping at the first landing, what did he expect from moms with a child in a stroller? Some wheelchair bound and motor cart attendees looked dejected when they saw the final set of stairs. There was no signage telling them to keep going up the 20 degree hill to the side entrance of the gym. Some turned around expressing angry others called up asking for assistance.
I saw one young woman run down the stairs and offer to walk the man around the building. The person concerned, but not sure responded, “if you will take me all the way”. The guest obliged him.
She asked me if I knew where the side door would be, I told her it was my first time there also, “I don’t know”. I thought if democrats were in charge, we would have known to facilitate the handicapped and physically challenged. It is a requirement to holding a democratic event.
Eventually a guy in a white Boys and Girl’s Club polo called on a phone and a man came up with a golf cart. The cart man wheeled around to help the gentleman on the canes. I watched Good Samaritans grabbed the front of baby strollers to assist several mothers and a father. I saw audience members descend the stairs to aid physically exhausted elderly men and women, who were measuring their steps to ascend the stairs. One lady I ran down to help pulled her arm away. “I can help myself thank you, ” she was feisty but physically unstable. I retreated. Another man who had seen her too, came down behind me and she allowed him to help her up the last landing. “Thank you sweetie”, I heard her smile and say to him, as she turned around and sneared at me. He and I bodily shrugged at the same time and simultaneously shook our heads . Another form of Free Speech, I thought.
If the planners were concerned about healthcare wouldn’t they have had a plan for this situation I thought. But maybe that was the ultimate message “everybody for themselves”, because they have pulled themselves up by their boot straps why worry about anyone else? No one ever considers that someone made those boots. We can’t get there by ourselves, it takes all of us to make a village and I was taught this years before Hillary Clinton ever wrote the book! (to be continued)
Dear Sir,
I have read the things for healthcare reform that is offered,and the issues are so much that you ask us to go to bat for you.
We realy do trust you but please understand,we do not want Goverment to take care of us,we wish to help Goverment to build a plain,by the people and when you take a healthcare package to Congress,it must be built by the people and not by the adminastration.
When the door was open we searched for a way for the people to build something,that a name was given, A New Concept For a Healthcare Reform Stimulus Package.
I will not give the web address,it would not be politcal correct,but your staff has seen the early stages of a concept of a Healthcare concept built by the people and for the people.
Please uderstand that we the people try to see the futher for our children and we are deeply concerned that there is a people who wish for us to be no more and through their efforts they have caused civil unrest. It is our hope that through this work we will bring to you a concept that will be respected for days to come.
Mr. Obama you had us when you told us about that car with the hole in the floor board,people voted for you because you was once as poor as some.
I have read into the issues you present I can share the veiw of what we see and people see.
The door swings both ways and you and you staff is most welcomed.
Henry Massingalele
Last night CNBC aired an hour and one half special report on Walmart. I will say that they tried to be fair, bringing statements made by employees back to Mike Duke, Walmart's CEO and asking him what he thought about them. Mike Duke seems like a nice enough guy, maybe it's his delusions that make me feel unsure about him.
Mike Duke thinks that the Walmart employees and the upper echelon (including store managers) are one big family. But in the words of one Walmart employee, "I don't even know the man . . . he's no family of mine."
The idea that Walmart is operating in a family atmosphere is merely a show for the public. They no more treat us like family than you do some stranger walking in the street. A family's head would not deprive their members of the money needed to live, or the care necessary to make the family member well, at least a good family head wouldn't.
Not only does Walmart seek to brainwash the public into its squeaky clean image, it tries to brainwash its employees as well. Daily morning meetings are held in each store after which the Walmart Cheer is performed. It's a rah-rah Walmart chant that's meant to hype the employees up so that when they hit the sales floor they will be enthusiastic about their jobs.
You know what Walmart? You want to make me enthusiastic about my job? Pay me decently! Make certain that the two or three thousand dollar suit that Mr. Duke wore during the interview isn't bought with the ache of my back and the sweat of my brow. Make sure that we are receiving a decent wage and then, if there's anything left over, have Mr. Duke go to Men's Warehouse and take advantage of their bogo sales.
Walmart now demands that their employees wear uniforms. It was not so when I joined the corporation in 2007. We wore blue smocks over our regular clothing that said on the back, "how may I help YOU?" As far as I have been able to discern, everyone liked the smocks and felt very comfortable in them. The switch to uniforms was an extra hardship laid upon the workers by Walmart because they do not pay for these uniforms. We are required to wear uniforms but must pay for the pants and T-shirts as well. We are not reimbursed or stipended. I received two shirts and received a voucher for one pair of pants 4 years ago. Boy! Walmart's cheaply made China clothing doesn't last that long! My point is, if we are required to wear uniforms, why must we also pay for them?
Sam Walton started Walmart in the Ozarks in a district where farms were failing and jobs were scarce. His idea of cheap labor to fill the many jobs with these farmers was great for them, but, when Walmart hit the city and, over these many years the workers have become more sophisticated and more apt to be "unappreciative" of the Walmart hype. The average worker today wants to be treated fairly, not made to feel that he should be thankful for a job that pays more than the average retail store, but just barely gives enough hours to stay above the legal requirements.
I do not hate Walmart. On another blog I was labled "a bitter old woman" because I criticized Walmart. I only want Walmart to do what's right for its 2 million employees. Pay us decently, provide us with a health care plan that does not cheap out on us when we have to see a doctor and does not have a $350.00 deductible to pay for even after we take out lots of cash every payday to cover our health care. And, stop all this "family" stuff unless they really, really mean it in every sense of the word.
Oh, and one last thing. You will never read of, or hear me say the word "associate" when mentioning any Walmart worker. The term should never have been introduced. We are not associated with Walmart. We are employees, workers, laborers, take your pick. Because, if I had my choice I would not be an "associate" of Walmart at all.
www.walmartworkersforchange.com www.americanworker.org
Quick post... Just wanted to share my submission for the recently announced Health Reform Video Challenge.
You can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeGdldzBkXo
