President Obama concisely shot down each and every attack tonight by telling the American people exactly what has been going on. He addressed the death panel lie, the illegal immigrant coverage lie, and specified that no federal dollars would pay for abortions and the federal government will not take over the entire healthcare system. He appealed to the fact that healthcare is not only a social issue but a moral issue and shows the true character of the people of this country. He advised the American people not to listen to tall tales, and irresponsible lies. These bogus claims have been made by politicians who want a career boost by scoring short term political points and who want to kill reform.
Seniors will have the same medicare but it will be solvent. Not a penny of the medicare trust fund will be used to pay for the new plan but waste, fraud, and subsidies padding profits will be identified and dissolved so medicare can be in place for future generations as well as present ones.
Those with healthcare coverage through their job will have NO CHANGE but there will be no denying of coverage for pre-existing conditions, no dropping coverage if ill, and no cap on coverage for a year or for a lifetime. It will limit out of pocket expenses and there will be no extra charge for preventative tests to stop disease before it starts. This will bring more security and stability to existing coverage.
The uninsured will have quality with affordable choices. Small businesses can shop for coverage and insurance companies can compete for these new customers. If you cannot afford these lower costs then you will get tax credits. It will take four years for this to be in place but immediate relief will be offered by giving low cost coverage to people with now jobs now.
Just as we are required to have auto insurance, everyone will be required to have health insurance since each American now pays around 1,000 dollars a year to cover those who show up at the emergency room with no coverage.
Since the waste and fraud will be pared down this will lower our deficit by FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS and will give us greater security and not higher taxes. Since many companies hold a monopoly individual states in our country ( for example there is only one company holding 90% of the policies in Alabama ) these companies drop sick people from their policies, jack up rates to profit, and are rewarded for having the healthiest customers. So to keep insurance comapnies hosnest there will be a not-for profit phase of government insurance.
There was much more information but I thought it was important that President Obama reiterated that no one - not the left, right, or the media should lie or exaggerate the impact of this program. Abuses and suffering need to end and rather than making wild claims, people should work together.
The major current bill under consideration, HR 3200, is, IMHO, seriously flawed. It has devolved from a large public Health Insurance Exchange (itself not the best solution) to a "public option" expected to cover only about 10 million Americans. That leaves at least 37 million uninsured. The Health Insurance Exchange lets you choose which private insurance company [or the government] to pay your premiums (if you are eligible; employees are not unless [1] their employer offers no plan or [2] the employer plan offered costs more than 11/12.5% of your income—if less, you are obligated to take that plan). There are few, if any, modifications to employer plans mandated: they can still be HMOs or PPOs, can change type or providers at any time, etc. The Health Insurance Exchange (another bureaucracy) won't even be open until 2013; many employers won't even be eligible then.The real solution to our patchwork of a health care "system" is HR 676 (or S 703 in the Senate), a single-payer plan whereby the current private delivery system would stay basically intact: hospitals, clinics, doctors, dentists, etc. would continue as they are now. The difference would be that there would be one public payer—all doctors' bills would go to one agency, either via computer or through 1 simple claim form, thus freeing doctors' staff to help patients instead of fighting with insurance companies as to how to properly fill out the ever-changing claim form, and ending the "Who's-in-my-network-today?" syndrome. People could go to any healthcare provider they chose; the payment agency would pay agreed-upon rates. Private NONPROFIT insurance companies could continue to provide "Cadillac plans" but would not be allowed to include or compete for insurance against basic needs—everything medically necessary—included in the HR 676 plan.
We could get President Clinton or Hw Bush and we will knock until they know who we are in our country.We are America!
Jim and Kim were big time volunteers at the Ramsey office during the campaign. Here's mention of them and some other New Jersey attendees to the swearing in ceremony:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/elections/New_Jerseys_witnesses_to_history_brave_long_rides_cold_weather.html?c=y&page=4
and here is an article on the Obama grassroots and the Democratic Party:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/bergenpolitics/38126539.html
Please send me links to any other articles or blogs that mention us!
Yes, we can!
Rick 512-669-6112
You can find the plan here:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcdzhvn_218xx8krqv
So I'm at a UMBC basketball game on Saturday night January 17th and I get this phone call from a friend in the Inaugural Committee. He asks me if I want to go to the concert, says he has a staff pass for me. I'm like: totally dude! So we make arrangements for me to come to his house at 8am on Sunday to get the pass.
8am Sunday...the phone rings "Where are you?" he asks. Oops, I overslept. "Well get you butt to DC now if you are not here by 1pm somebody else will use the pass." So I quickly dress and head down - driving, mind you. As I get closer, he tells me he wants me to meet another staffer at his house.
This guy is in a meeting and suggests by text that I park in Union Station and wait for him there, where it is warm. I find the station and find a parking spot. It is now 10:30 and we are supposed to meet at 12:30, with the concert starting at 2pm.
I read the paper and finally get some lunch. I text'd him again and he says he'll be there soon. I'm starting to get worried then I get a call and he says "Wave your hands!" and I do, and he comes over. Adrienne is his name. He introduces me to Dan who he says will escort me to the event. It turns out that I could not use the staff pass because it required matching hard creds, so they are holding a volunteer pass for me at the gate.
After an unepectedly long train ride we arrive on 23rd. We are supposed to meet at 23rd and Constitution, so we are running to make it. The mags were going to close! We get there, and there is no pass. Dan has 2 blackberries going at the same time but we can't get in touch with this person who has the pass.
Dan finallyl goes through security in the press/Congressional entry point to find her. At 1:59 he hands the pass to me through the gate. As I start to enter, a cop says "Sorry, we are shut down!" I looked at him and said "Please, I've been waiting here for a long time!" A woman cop agrees, and the cop says "GO!" The woman cop helped tie the pass to my hoodie, she was so nice!
I go through the mag as the National Anthem is starting to be played.
Wow. My heart was pounding. What if I'd not been able to get in?
So I go up and ask a security person where I can go. They looked at my pass and said "Anywhere you want but the Podium."
So I went to the Congressional Seating Area and stood with some press and Secret Service who were guarding the Congresspeople. About 150 feet from the stage!
The concert was amazing. Lots of celebrities giving speeches. U2 and Bono - WOW! Stevie Wonder, Shakira and Usher! I bought a T shirt with all the performers on the back, and my I HEART PRESIDENT OBAMA hat.
I was able to make my way back on the subway with no problem. I ended up using the same trains for the swearing in, so this was good practice.
A special thanks to PIC 2009 and Michael, Dan and Adrienne. You guys all rock!
Pictures are on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15943&id=1189561977&saved
I got the tickets to Suzi Gerace and Angeline Watts by overnight mail. Charles came to my condo in Baltimore and picked his up, although we planned to meet on the Metro train at 5:30am. We did end up on the same train but opposite ends, so we just stayed put until we got to Metro Center and our transfer to the Blue line to the Federal Center SW station.
I heard from Angeline about 5:45 they were in position. I had set up a spot a little away from where I thought people would be to meet, and it worked out perfectly. After a few minutes, we were all together! I stopped and bought some snacks and water then we headed for the Silver Gate. The line wasn't bad we were maybe a block from the gate but it was cold.
I had brought along left over T-shirts and rally signs and stickers, so I had a lot of fun handing those out. I think people thought I was selling them but eventually, I handed out the last sign.
We were in line until about 7:30 when they opened the outer gate, earlier than the 8am published time. It felt good to be moving!
Security was pretty simple: they frisked you and checked your bag. I did not see anybody being hassled at all. We got to keep the tickets, also. We were in our designated area by 8:30, and quite dissapointed: we could barely see the Jumbotron!
There were two green plastic fences keeping us from the sidewalk around the Reflecting Pool. It only took a few minutes before the crowd breeched the fist fence. The police did not seem alarmed. This got us slightly better views but still not that good.
Not long afterwards, the 2nd fence came down, and we swarmed around the Pool closer now to the Capitol. Charles and I went to the right but lost Suzi and Angeline. I decided to go find them and I did. I suggested we try to closer to the Jumbotron so at least we could see it that way. We worked our way over and got right in front of it, plus there were porta potties there, which was good. The wind blowing off the Pool was incredibly COLD. The wind chill was said to be 15 degrees.
Charles stayed put and the crowd ultimately pushed further up in front of the Ulysses Grant memorial with a clear view of everything. We hated being separated but by this time (about 10am) the crowd had grown considerably. Looking back down the Mall, it was a sea of people and looked like a throbbing red something.
The Marine band started playing and finally about 11:30 they started introducing people. They introduced every member of Congress I think - I swear, we were freezing our butts off and could care less. WHERE IS OBAMA?
When Joe Lieberman came down the steps, he got boo-ed BIG TIME. BOO! BOO! The crowd went crazy then we all started laughing. What a jerk. Then came Cheney in his wheelchair. Hurt himself moving out of the VP mansion. LOL. What a jerk! He got boo-ed too, but not as loud. I kept wondering if they were going to bounce him down the steps. We shouted: push him!
Finally, Bush came out. He got boo-ed too, but more respectfully. I learned that CNN blocked the sound when we boo-ed Bush, that figures. He heard it though, you could see his reaction. BOO! No more Dumb Presidents! BOO! BOO! BOO! BOO! BOO! BOO!
O-BAM-A!
OMG! When his motorcade came up the driveway, WE WENT NUTS! The roar from behind us in the Mall was incredible. Our President was in the Capitol.
Finally, the moment came for Biden. We cheered. Yes, we can. I loved it when Obama picked Biden. Great choice, very dignified man.
Then ... Obama took the oath. I can't belive Roberts screwed up the oath. You could see Obama visibly react - he knew the oath! Anyway, everybody was hugging everybody else and screaming. It was so moving. Especially when you consider that some of us gave up practically everything to work on the campaign those last months and weeks. To have worked so hard and come to this moment was simply amazing. There are no words to adequately describe it.
As Obama gave his AWESOME speech, we were so totally frozen we could barely concentrate. But when he said some of those things, we yelled. We screamed. We could not feel our feet despite having warmers in there - but we stood our ground.
After the speech, we headed back to the Federal Center SW Metro station. You could barely move it was a sea of people, and the rest of the fences came down, people were just walking right over them. It probably took 45 minutes to walk the 3 or 4 blocks and then we discovered there had been an accident so the subways were backed up. In fact, there was no possible way to even get into the station, so we decided to go find some food.
Bad idea. No restaurants at all! We were cold, tired and hungry.
Suzi decided to call her cousin Johny to ask him for suggestions. He said "hold on, I'll come get you and you can eat with us, we are having a party!"
The man actually drove to get us. Then after we were settled into his mini van and had some hot coffee and an apple, he said "Oh, we have to wait for the other 8 people." Eight? Where are they going to sit? He just smiled. We sat in the middle of M street with total chaos going on around us and waited. Sure enough, about 8 people including 4 more adults showed up.
Believe it or not, we got all 12 people into this mini van and off we went. We were laughing so hard it hurt, and held up an OBAMA sign and screamed at the people in the street. One man offered us $100 for a ride, but like, where would HE sit?
It was a couple of miles to his house, and we were mighty glad to get out of that van! We went in and first thing they did was bring us all a beer. Talk about grateful! Then they started bringing out food: lasagna, chili, sandwiches, chips, veggies, OMG. We ate like we'd never eaten before, while watching the parade on TV.
I thanked them and headed for a Metro station. I figured if I could get back over to MD before the parade ended, I'd be OK. And that turned out to be true. I was back to my truck about 5:30pm and home by 7pm. What a day. What memories. Wish you could have been with me!
Pictures are presently posted on Facebook:
YES WE CAN. OBAMA!
I've been preoccupied since the holidays with starting a new contract job in Baltimore as well as of course the Inauguration of President Obama. I wanted to take this opportunity to once again thank everyone who worked so hard to achieve his election. I'm slowly returning to my new love (politics), so you will be hearing a little more from me in the coming days and weeks.The North Jersey Grassroots ("NJG") group continues to organize and make good progress at becoming a permanent progressive movement in Bergen County. This is the official new name of Bergen County for Barack Obama. MyBO is being updated, we've reserved an Internet domain name, and I am continuing in my leadership and advisory roles for the time being. If you have an interest in becoming involved (leader or participant), please contact me off-list.-> In particular, I need legal advice regarding the bylaws ASAP. Also, a financial person.We discovered recently that we'd scheduled the next meeting of NJG on Super Bowl Sunday. That, of course, won't work for football people, so I wanted to briefly touch base and let you know our updated plans. A conference call on January 29th at 8pm is scheduled in lieu of the February 1st potluck and meeting, here's your MyBO link:http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpt8gqPrior to the call, I'll send out links to the materials that we will be reviewing and/or acting upon, including a draft of our bylaws, and the plan of action that has already been approved. We'll keep the call to under an hour and make follow up plans.The next in-person meeting and potluck dinner will be on March 1st, and here's your MyBO link:http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpt8gbA newsletter has been put together and will go out soon, covering the group's progress as well as these plans. Look for that in your inbox soon! Please be sure to add my email address rebelmbx-04@yahoo.com to your Contacts, so my emails don't get stuck in your spam filters.It is clear to me that President Obama has told us to become active in our communities, to find ways of service, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant. That is the goal of NJG as well as myself. Please take a moment to reflect upon your own life and how you might be of service right now, today, to your community. Then, go do it.I'm looking forward to working with you all to meet that goal. Please join me!YES WE CAN! (I'm not saying "did" because we have a lot of work ahead of us)Take care and stay in touch,
Rick
WOW THE EXCITEMENT IS MORE THAN I CAN BARE. GETTING READY FOR THE TRIP OF MY LIFE TIME. WE'LL BE DRIVING TO D.C. . THE THINGS I WILL BE THINKING ABOUT ON MY JOURNEY LOL WILL THERE BE ENOUGH PORTA POTTIES I BOUGHT DEPENDS (LOL) JUST IN CASE. -------WILL IT BE TOOO COOOOLD. WILL IT HAPPEN SO FAST THAT I'LL MISS IT. WILL I BE ABLE TO SEE ANYTHING. WILL I BE ABLE TO GET TO ANY OF THE BALLS AROUND TOWN. I KNEW AHEAD OF TIME TO BUY MY GEAR. WELL I BOUGHT HAND WARMERS, FEET WARMERS, GLOVES, HATS. LOL I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE FAMILY THAT LIVES CLOSE BY. MY COUSIN IS A POLITICAL JUNKIE. SHE KNOWS ALL THE IN AND OUTS OF D.C. THE BEST PART WAS GETTING TWO TICKETS IN THE (PURPLE SECTION) NOT THE YELLOW OR GREEN. BUT I STILL FEEL BLESSED TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO RECEIVE THEM. FINALLY THE DREAM TURNS TO A REALITY. CHANGE IS HERE, NEW DAY IN A NEW WAY. AMERICA RISE THE TIME IS NOW. MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
(THE WORLD IS WATCHING)
WHAT WILL THEY SEE
Hi all and Happy New Year 2009!
Obama Grassroots, renamed North Jersey Grassroots at our Jan. 4 meeting (more details in a further post), seeks to survey community members' interests, skills and level of commitment going forward.
NOTE: This survey was filled out by a number of you at the Jan. 4 meeting so if you already gave it to Gwenn at that meeting, no need to do it again.
For everyone else, please CLICK 'READ MORE' BELOW FOR SURVEY. Print it out, fill it out & mail it no later than Jan. 21st to Gwenn Levine, 65 Campbell Avenue, Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677. Thanks!!
