Let's go change the world...
It's time for Health Insurance Reform!
I hate to admit it but I feel totally ripped off by the new administration. My wife and I were quite active in the campaign--not as active as many, but more active than most. On top of my volunteering efforts, i donated more that 5% of my earnings to the campaign (even more if you look at post tax income).
And now, Obama's selling out to Wall Street has me totally disgusted. If I had know that he would appoint the people he did (Geithner and Summers in particular) and let them run amok with taxpayer money to further enrich their Wall Street buddies, I would have let the campaign rely on their contributions to get Obama elected.
Perhaps some needs to remind President Obama that it wasn't Goldman Sachs that went door to door in Pennsylvania to get out the vote.
If a bank is insolvent, it should go bankrupt. If it's too big to fail, it's just too big and needs to be broken up. If parts are insolvent, cut the dead weight. A lot more could be accomplished by giving the bailout money directly to the American people.
Please don't get me wrong, I'm still elated that Obama won. I think we would be in even worse condition had McCain won. I think Obama has done some very good things like overturning the global gag rule and acknowleding that climate change (and science in general) are real. But on this key item, I just feel totally ripped off.
(By the way, I never earned enough to get the cuts under Bush and earn too much to get the cuts proposed by Obama. I'm not complaining about the amount of tax I pay, rather what that tax is used for.)
I'm posting this rant here in the hopes that those of us who contirbuted to the campaign can affect some change rather than writing a letters to the editor.
Enjoy the Whitehouse Slideshow at www.Whitehouse.gov......
President Barack Obama is inaugurated as President of the United States of America!
Hope fills the hearts of everyone watching.
Peace remains foremost in the minds and hearts of Americans and People around the world.
Change is coming to our U.S. Government, banks, corporations, businesses, and People.
Amazing grace has uplifted the spirits of People everywhere.
Responsibility is awakened again for our Nation to be an example of Goodness in the World.
We all have a part in determining our personal happiness and a responsibility to others.
We, as a nation, are blessed and united with this new First Family, the Obama Family.
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Malia and Sasha are the greatest example of a happy, responsible family that we could ever hope for.
We, all together with the Obamas, make History, each of us and all of us Together!
Open for Questions: Round two
Monday, December 29, 2008 01:01pm EST / Posted by Dan McSwain
During this brief transition period, we’ve rolled out important new tools to let users interact with our team in a transparent and meaningful way.
Our first run of Open for Questions was one such feature, with nearly 1,000,000 votes cast on questions from the Change.gov community.
In this round, you can still view all of the questions that have been submitted—or you can break down the questions by category for easier navigation. For instance, you can read the top-ranking question regarding Energy and the Environment and browse through other questions on the same topic by clicking on that issue.
We think this change is valuable. It serves the other key purpose of features like Open for Questions: making your input easy to pass on to the members of our Transition team that are crafting solutions to these vital issues right now.
Check out the Open for Questions feature here. We’ll close this round of questions and put together our responses in the new year.
Now...I have a homophobic, hate filled, torture supporting, peace award to Bush giving pastor Rick Warren present at the Inaugaration that I planned to go to. Not now.
Maybe it was all for naught. Count me with the folks who are bitter, but I am clinging to my rights as a gay man and I am clinging to my 16 year old relationship with my partner which Rick Warren works against.
Count me out for 2012.
THE LIVING TREE 'live' Shirley Bassey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7zLYpE1_2A
Shirley Bassey - THE LIVING TREE -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9c_qOpiPSk
Tracy Chapman - New Beginning
click to view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fNYEQYNjtg
Hey You ~ How about a Grassroots Inaugural Party?
"Party": groups acting together, leaning more towards the effort of staying active and organized for Barack as volunteers, than to have an extravagant celebration Ball. A scaled back approach to the gathering, being that our country is at war and our economy is the pits.
Here is where we are ~ We have a local Maryland kick-off committee, submitted a formal request to the official Inauguration Committee to include our gathering as an official event, have a local event organizer already doing research, found location options including the Convention Center, and have a list of several entertainers to choose from.
The "Party" theme is a promise to continue our community involvement, tickets will be $200 per person, dress code is relaxed.
The Maryland kick-off committee is looking for volunteers to spearhead the event, and you do not have to reside in Washington DC.
If you are interested in attending and purchasing a ticket, or would like to offer your event coordinating talent as a volunteer in one of the committees please send an email to: obamatallgrass@gmail.com.
Obama Love,
Maria Isabel
Fired Up, Ready To GO. We Can Do It--Meet the World Head On---Yes We Can
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBYKobKdWoM
The movie 'HAIR' is being shown for free from IMDB Internet Movie Data Base. Full legnth movie with commercials.
Click to Watch http://www.imdb.com/rg/watch-it/summary/video/hulu/vi20709401
For the first time, the weekly Democratic address has been released as a web video. It will also continue to air on the radio.
President-elect Obama plans to to publish these weekly updates through the Transition and then from the White House.
Today's address from the President-elect concerns the current economic crisis:
Also available on AOL, Yahoo, and MSN High-resolution, Quicktime format: (106MB .mov file).
Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama
November 15, 2008
Today, the leaders of the G-20 countries -- a group that includes the world's largest economies -- are gathering in Washington to seek solutions to the ongoing turmoil in our financial markets. I'm glad President Bush has initiated this process -- because our global economic crisis requires a coordinated global response.
And yet, as we act in concert with other nations, we must also act immediately here at home to address America's own economic crisis. This week, amid continued volatility in our markets, we learned that unemployment insurance claims rose to their highest levels since September 11, 2001. We've lost jobs for ten straight months -- nearly 1.2 million jobs this year, many of them in our struggling auto industry. And millions of our fellow citizens lie awake each night wondering how they're going to pay their bills, stay in their homes, and save for retirement.
Make no mistake: this is the greatest economic challenge of our time. And while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis -- because here in America we always rise to the moment, no matter how hard. And I am more hopeful than ever before that America will rise once again.
But we must act right now. Next week, Congress will meet to address the spreading impact of the economic crisis. I urge them to pass at least a down-payment on a rescue plan that will create jobs, relieve the squeeze on families, and help get the economy growing again. In particular, we cannot afford to delay providing help for the more than one million Americans who will have exhausted their unemployment insurance by the end of this year. If Congress does not pass an immediate plan that gives the economy the boost it needs, I will make it my first order of business as President.
Even as we dig ourselves out of this recession, we must also recognize that out of this economic crisis comes an opportunity to create new jobs, strengthen our middle class, and keep our economy competitive in the 21st century.
That starts with the kinds of long-term investments that we've neglected for too long. That means putting two million Americans to work rebuilding our crumbling roads, bridges, and schools. It means investing $150 billion to build an American green energy economy that will create five million new jobs, while freeing our nation from the tyranny of foreign oil, and saving our planet for our children. It means making health care affordable for anyone who has it, accessible for anyone who wants it, and reducing costs for small businesses. And it also means giving every child the world-class education they need to compete with any worker, anywhere in the world.
Doing all this will require not just new policies, but a new spirit of service and sacrifice, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. If this financial crisis has taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers -- in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people. And that is how we will meet the challenges of our time -- together. Thank you.
President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden announced that former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Republican Congressman Jim Leach would be available to meet with delegations at the G-20 summit on their behalf. Congressman Leach and Secretary Albright are holding these unofficial meetings to seek input from visiting delegations on behalf of the President-elect and Vice President-elect.
The Obama-Biden Transition Team today announced a broad list of Agency Review Team leads that will complete a thorough review of key departments, agencies and commissions of the United States government, as well as the White House, to provide the President-elect, Vice President-elect, and key advisors with information needed to make strategic policy, budgetary, and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration.
Obama-Biden transition spokesperson Stephanie Cutter released a statement on a planned meeting between President-elect Obama and Senator McCain Monday.
President Elect Barack Obama...Where You Lead, I Will Follow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGW1fxoWDrU
The story of the campaign and this historic moment has been your story. Share your story and your ideas, and be part of bringing positive lasting change to this country.
This is part of an interactive roadtrip criss-crossing the heartland from Indiana to Michigan, through Ohio, then into Pennsylvania for the ten days preceding Election day. Volunteers with the Obama campaign invite people to participate in the large scale projections, and have been successful in signing up more volunteers to help out with getting out the vote and issue awareness.
Campaign for Change Road Blogger Paul Notzold wrote this post.
Tomorrow in Philadelphia. RSVP here. Details:
There is very little I can do to get you out to the polls. I can not control your actions. I can not make you vote. I can 't even deliver a state to Obama. I do not live in a swing state/ toss up state, but I hope Kentucky will surprise us all. Besides voting, reminding others to vote and fasting until the polls close there is not much I can control.
I need your help in order to take back this country. Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Indiana ( where My Sister is working hard to Get Out The Vote ), North Carolina, Virginia, Nevada, Missouri and Georgia too, your votes are key to change this country. My vote counts but your States can win the Electoral College. It is important for the youth to vote in recorded numbers. It is important for seniors to vote.
I can't make you take responsibility for your country but you are responsible for your country. I can't make you vote but you should vote!
What will I do? I will fast until 7:00 PM Tuesday. I will vote and bring 4 other voters with me to the polls. I will write about the importance of voting. I will call and make sure that others vote. I will pray for landslide. I can not make you vote, but I will ask you now please vote for Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States of America.
You control you and your vote.
