First I want to congratulate President Obama for a moving speech at the joint session of Congress last Wednesday. I hope it clarified the objectives of the health care reform to those who were mislead or confused. I also read Senator Kennedy's last letter to the President mentioning the need and importance of a health care reform. "...while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will - yes, we will - fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege..." Let us make his wish come true. [http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/notepad/2009/09/ted-kennedys-letter-to-obama.html]
The World Health Organization Constitution also states: "the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being..." [http://www.who.int/hhr/en/]
The creators of this democracy believed in "all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men." The government today is trying to do just that.
In this democracy, opportunities such as housing, employment, primary education are equal for all and same should be true for affordable health care. Those who cannot afford the rising prices of health insurance should have an alternative to help them against preventable morality, disability, and illnesses. Changes have to be made to accomplish this task because without any government involvement the matter just has been getting worse. The greed of the health insurance companies is not going get any less.
"Universal coverage: For fair and efficient systems, all people must have access to health care according to need and regardless of ability to pay. If they do not have access, health inequities produce decades of differences in life expectancies not only between countries but within countries. These inequities raise risks, especially of disease outbreaks, for all. Providing coverage to all is a financial challenge, but most systems now rely on out-of-pocket payments which is the least fair and effective method. WHO recommends financial pooling and pre-payment, such as insurance schemes. Brazil began working towards universal coverage in 1988 and now reaches 70% of its population." [http://www.who.int/whr/2008/summary.pdf]
We rank "...last among developed countries in limiting preventable deaths...", and yet the United States spends more of its GDP than any other nation in the world. [http://www.who.int/nha/use/THE_pc_US$_2006.png] [http://allcountries.org/health/usa_health_care_2008_nyt.html]
This status needs to be changed and I support the President and members of Congress who are in favor of a health reform. Please tell your members of Congress to support President's health reform.
I sincerely hope people read this. I'm looking at my television and watching all these ignorant, uninformed right wingers get air time. I'm sick of Glenn Beck. I'm sick of political criminals using me and my country to get richer. I'm sick of being nice. We were already too nice the last 8 years, and this will no longer stand. Our health is on the line. Our children are on the line. Our f-ing planet is on the line.
It is our turn to march, not in protest, but in favor. I know, for myself, that I would really like to go to the doctor. The fact that I'm not allowed to see a doctor because I don't have the money, even though I work in education, is terrible and no way to run a successful nation. And, I'm sick of Hollywood-style marketed political sex-symbols like Sarah Palin creating more noise in the media than we are. Abbey Hoffman wouldn't stand down when our rights as citizens were on the line, and niether should we. Say what you will about the man, but he had guts and balls so big that the powers that be had to force him into hiding because of the impact he had and the potential he carried. He put his life on the line for civil rights.
I, admittedly, have no idea how to pull something of that magnitude together. But I know that it starts here. I know we need our own 30,000 or more in Washington yesterday. Supporters were there for the inauguration, now let's get back there. I hate it when I feel like our country only backs things when they are hyped up and then we all get bored and abandon our posts. Are we really only interested in instant gratification? I like to think that not all Americans are.
Please...your thoughts? What do we do? Because I'm scared that just sitting at home and writing blogs and emails is the same as sitting silently.
Thanks for reading,
Rick -- I hope I spelled everything correctly.
You know I did have hope.. so much hope that we could really turn things around .. get rid of the Bush/cheney nightmares... and yet as I look back on this week I realize that we have not done it yet! President Obama made one of his better speaches.. it was fabulous! Yet what is the press focusing on? Stupid Congressman Wilson and his "Your a Liar" outburst. Instead of having a week of clarity we have a week of listening once again to the cynics out there! When is the real debate on health care going to start? When are we going to talk about issues that mean something to us? the people!?
To challenge the President of the United States for speaking with the school children of his country! I can't help to wonder if this isn't just a case of all these white people not wanting their kids being spoken to by an uppity colored boy! I hate to say it .. I honestly do think that this is their problem! I really want to believe that there are enough of us out there ~ that Americans are going to weather this storm..I think that we can .. but there are a lot of us not being heard! Where are we? Please start to weigh in! We NEED you we need you to be heard out there! We need you .. I am out there talking and even making some enemies from former friends.. sad but true! We need all Americans to get into this fray now.. please! there is no time to waste!
..... so those are my thoughts for today .. the ass hole right wingers.. the veiled racism that is impacting this President and us! and the heart felt belief that we Americans are good and honest at heart and not all those good people are being heard right now!
So what are your thoughts today?
I am outragedged at the treatment and lack of respect toward the President of the United States of America. Barack Obama is a man who worked tirelessly to advance himself and eventually become the most powerful man in our country. He truly is the epitome of the American dream. How disheartening and appalling it is to witness a total lack of respect toward him!
This is the first time a president was banned from speaking in some schools. Presidents have been speaking to school children for years and this is the only time it caused such a ruckus. This is America, the land of the free, and we are censoring our own president? This is a clear act of racism and it makes me feel very upset to see people behaving this way.
These attacks from the right wing have gone too far and have created a baseless frenzy which has led to blatant lack of respect toward President Obama. How must it look to other countries when they see congressmen texting on their cell phones and shouting during a speech by our president? Rep. Joe Wilson's comments were deplorable, something a child would do, not a member of the government. And, it seems hypocritical of Rep. Wilson to call the president a liar, and yet fail to mention that he receives most of his political backing from the same lobbying groups that have ties to the insurance companies. I believe Rep. Wilson should resign after his behavior during President Obama's speech. How can he control his state when he cannot control his mouth?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/i-will-boycott-whole-foods-for-opposing-health-care-reform
Let's go change the world...
It's time for Health Insurance Reform!
A group of Republican National Committee members are putting out a plan that would limit how much the new and historic Chairman Michael S. Steele could spend without any authorization from other party leaders, a move some Steele backers say is an attempt to limit the authority of the sometimes controversial chairman.
There are some supporters of the plan against Mr. Steele, first reported by the Washington Times, said that the party committee has put similar measures in place before to monitor spending and that it was not an attempt to constrain the authority of Steele, who as head of the RNC leads an organization that will spend tens of millions over the next two years.
Chairman Steele's spokesman wouldn;t comment, but some of his advisers said privately that the move represented a power grab by RNC members still bitter that he won the chairman's race this year. "It would restrict his ability to manage the organization," said Jim Greer, head of the Republican Party in Florida and a Steele ally.
An important note to remember however is that the RNC outraised the Democratic National Committee over the first three months of the year. More money is pouring in now after the inauguration of President Obama than one could have imagined. Let's hope Chairman Steele can turn this around in time to stave off any further bickering and in-fighting. Keep Mr. Steele in your prayers please.
See some of our other postings and resources at http://www.whitehouseprayerteam.blogspot.com. Also participate in our frequent up to the minute (literally) updates on Facebook.
Goodmorning, as you know, we are aligning our focus and prayers toward the unemployment crisis that is affecting hundreds of thousands of additional americans each month. Since January 2007, nearly three million jobs have already been lost in our country.
One of the leading drivers in the Campaign for Change were empowered by the need of the american people to acquire work for themselves. It helped to catapult, that and a dismal economy, President Obama to the Oval Office in a historical landslide win.
Our prayer team looks toward the act of praying and strengthening our faith that the men and women who are seeking employment will most certainly find it. God is not responsible for millions of people losing their jobs. He is faithful and just; He will sustain you and your family until new employment is obtained. He will honor His word and not leave forsaken. He will give you peace in your mind to remove the stressful pressure points from your mind.
These are those things we ought to pray for. We typically seek the black and white theory; blessings or curses, good or bad, up or down. Not so with God friends. Today we pray that God will make your way simple, without stress, painless. We pray that He provides you with what some in the south call "staying power"; endurance.
In this race, you win in the end! However, the race is not "given" to those who run the fastest or the furthest, nor is it "given" to those who possess the greatest strength, but instead to them who simply endure. We pray today that you find your pace and run your race! This prayer team will join with you and stand with you along the way.
The politics of our country, well, they come and they go, they are good and then they are bad, but your faith in God and the power of prayer should never lose its intensity.
Visit us at http://www.whitehouseprayerteam.blogspot.com Join up there with us and enjoy more information and resources as we grow that network for God and the power of prayer.
We love you because He does.
In His Service,
WHPT
We offer our prayers and condolences to a Texas family of the first U.S. associated dealth with Swine Flu or H1N1 virus. The small child, told to have recently visited Mexico was only 23months old.
As told, Texas is now known to have 6 of the known 64 U.S. confirmed cases of the Swine Flu to the moment. Our prayers go out to this family this morning as well as to all those still experiencing difficulties with the virus.
Below, I have attached some FAQ's from CNN to help us better understand some of the concerns associated with the virus and some of the things we should be doing as a community as we further engage into the flu remedies.
Throughout your day, please keep this family and all others lifted up before God in humble prayer.
This morning, CNN answers questions from viewers who are concerned about symptoms and their travel history. As we learn more about the swine flu, we are using CNN’s newsgathering resources to help answer some of our viewers’ most frequently asked questions.
Q: How can you tell whether you have a common flu or swine flu?
CNN: The symptoms of the current swine flu and seasonal flu are very similar. Reports suggest that this flu virus may result in nausea, vomiting and diarrhea more often than the typical flu. CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta says doctors in Mexico have reported seeing sudden dizziness as well. There’s no way to tell for sure without getting tested. If you’re feverish or have other flu-like symptoms such as a cough or a sore throat, you should see a doctor.
One positive aspect is that the swine flu cases appeared near the end of influenza season, Dr. Richard Besser, the acting CDC director told a news conference Tuesday. Had the outbreak occurred in January or February, public health officials would have had greater difficulty because of the number of people infected with the common flu.
Q: My family returned from Mexico this week. We aren’t sick, but aren’t sure if we should stay away from other people. Can we spread the virus even if we feel ok?
CNN: In general, people who are not sick probably do not put other people at risk, said Dr. Arthur Reingold, head of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. There is no recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization that they should be quarantined.
Q: Will the current economic situation make the swine flu outbreak worse because of unemployment or uninsured Americans who may delay going to the doctor because of their current financial situation?
CNN: If more people go untreated because they lack insurance or the money to pay to see a doctor, it would likely cause those people to become sicker than they would have been otherwise. Lack of care would not affect the spread of the disease if those people remained isolated and avoided close contact with others, as the CDC has recommended.
Q: How long can the virus survive on objects? If someone sneezes and touches a grocery cart how will that cart carry the virus?
CNN: The virus survives on surfaces certainly for a number of hours. Even though the virus can survive on surfaces, the likelihood of it being transmitted from one person to another via a phone or surface is slim. It needs to get down into your lungs to make you sick, said Dr. Arthur Reingold, head of epidemiology in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “I personally would not have a major fear of environmental contamination,” he said. “Virtually all influenza is transmitted from sneezing and coughing.”
Well, not literally, that would totally suck. Rain as in awesome...you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, let's get out there at geting people pledged. What are we having people pledge?
We want people to support their pledge for Mr. Obama's energy, education, and healthcare plans. We want to have New Brunswick residents sign a pledge to talk to people about that support to their friends, family, and their congressman!
There are thousands of these being done across the country.
Meet at Starbucks on George street at 12 pm THIS SATURDAY!
On Saturday the 21st, I will wait for anyone else at Starbuck on George St. in New Brunswick to canvass to support three pillars of the President's plan. I will be there at 12 and wait until 12:15
Energy
Healthcare
Education
There has been push back in Washtington from those who think this is a bad way forward. That is not what the American people want though - the American people want these three key areas addressed. It is the policitians, so entrenched in their habits of doing this, who cannot grasp that this must be the direction forward. For that reason, I am hitting the streets to get people confirmed as supporters of Obama's plan. This will prove that Americans want change, and that these politicians are getting in the way.
Wonderland of Opportunity…
I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. It had snowed all day yesterday and then well into the night. Heavy, white snow clung to tree branches, bushes, rooftops, and decks. A clean white carpet covered the earth. A scene this pure and innocent was created not by the hand of man but was there for him to gaze upon with wonder. It would be but a brief display, for the sun shone brightly this morning and soon its’ warming glow would melt the multitude of snowflakes that had created this awesome scene.
I dressed quickly, grabbed my camera, and headed for the cold outdoors. This was the photographic opportunity I had waited for all winter. The realities of politics, the sagging economy, and the hungry mouths around the world could so easily be forgotten here. In a few short hours, the snow had covered all the ugliness of the world and the conflicts of its people. Oh, if only the answer to our woes were that simple. But what if we took only a clue from this wonder of nature? Our moments of opportunity are only short and fleeting. I want a better world for my children and grandchildren. Together we can change the realities of today and make for a better tomorrow.
Overview of the Administration
Change.gov
We will profile the people that will be leading the Obama Administration and the priority work that will begin after the inauguration in January. The Transition Project is responsible for overseeing the appointments of a new White House staff and members of the Cabinet.
The Cabinet is made up of the Vice President, the White House Chief of Staff, and the Secretaries of each of the 15 executive departments:
The Cabinet also includes:
the Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Trade Representative, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy. In addition to selecting new Cabinet members, an entirely new staff will be chosen to lead the offices within the Executive Office of the President. These offices include:
There are also many offices within the White House Office that will be filled with new personnel. These include:
We all know, the government has passed a 700 billion dollar bailout program. What we don't know is how they are planning to use our money to put this plan into action. I have come up with some solutions to this dilemma. Here they are, short and to the point.
First and foremost, nothing is going to be solved by throwing money at big banks and institutions. It might save a few high-paying jobs but that's about it. Instead, everyone currently with a mortgage should be given a check for a lump sum, say five to ten-thousand dollars. This money should be paid directly to the mortgage company. This includes families who are in arrears on their mortgage, as well as families who are in good standing. It will not only help to keep families in their homes, but will also help out people who have been paying faithfully, thereby freeing up money they have to spend on goods and services. And the monies from these checks will help to keep big banks and mortgage companies afloat.
Second, drill baby drill is old, outdated, and foolish. The answer to restarting our economy is in alternative energy. We need to focus our attention on researching, creating infrastructure, and managing this industry. This would create all kinds of jobs for hard-working Americans, all of which cannot be outsourced, as our wind and solar power is ours. And at the end of the day, we lose our dependance on foreign oil.
Third, I do not think the big three in detroit should be bailed out. They got into this mess, some companies, such as Chrysler, more than once, and they should pay the consequences. After years of making big, fuel-consuming trucks and cars, and ignoring new technologies, I think it is time to make these companies take responsibility for their actions. Big companies should not expect small consumers pay for their mistakes!
Fimally, I am not a financial person. I am a nurse, who, for ten years, was a single mother. I, single-handedly, managed to buy a house, raise my kids, balance a budget and teach my children to work hard and be responsible. I was not perfect, but at the end of the day, I was expected to take responsibility for my actions and I learned from my mistakes. I think these qualities are missing in many of our economic and government leaders.
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.
June 12, 2008 - The Pew Global Project Attitudes [Complete Report ]
Now that election day has come and went, I just want to say wow. We did it, Barack Obama will be our next president. It is through everybody's hard work that we have acheived this great accomplishment. Its been a great campaign and a great political year for us, and can't wait untill Inauguration Day and I know these next four years will be very exciting, and hope that we can turn this country around.
Thank you everybody for all that you've done to help make this dream come true. Let's stand behind Barack and show the rest of the country and the rest of the world how much we can all do to implement change. Yes We Can.
All you can say is Wow.
