Tonight I attended my 2nd House meeting at a small household in Columbus, Ohio. Our group consisted of about 15 people, whom knew nothing about each other, except we were concerned. Concerned about what are we going to do about the mess we are in as a country. We watched the video from President Obama and the video from Governor Kaine and then we got to talk about our situations. And there was a good mix of life and experience in the room. Our host, Erin shared with the group her story and opened it up for discussion. I shared my job loss and lack of wanting to be asking for help. I shared that now I do have a job, albeit parttime, it is a start. But I also shared the disconnect that seems to exist in Washington DC and urged people to write, phone, fax and speak with our local offices of elected officials and tell them we need action, not words.
Another woman spoke up and said we need to recognize the need for knowing our neighbors and rebuild the sense of community, that we owe to them to be open to share, to help and to do something. To listen, to talk and to act are the most important things we can do, even as we are missing the work, there is still something we can do to get the ball rolling. Another participant stated the need for us to be focussed on equaling the playing field when it comes to the global standards. Other countries that do not live up to the standards we place in America have an unfair advantage of industrial manufacturing, and sacrifice standards so they can win jobs. We agreed that there is a motive on consumerism and acquiring things which is why there is such a problem in the US economy right now. We are scared to buy things.... because we are very concerned about what might happen later down the road. Like layoffs, and living with less services.
A teacher in the group talked about how we misvalue the role of the teachers we have in the US. There was agreement that our priorities as consumers are now imbalanced. We spend more time debating what happened on American Idol and less on our responsibility as citizens, and as neighbors. It's like we have been trained to buy and not trained to help. It's a misplaced allegiance.
A very astute woman proposed that we meet again, like a focus group and keep in touch, and so we agreed to meet again at our hosts home and discuss in more detail how this plan will affect us as households. But I think this is indeed what President Obama wants Americans all over the country to do. To become engaged. To not lose the hope and the magic of what an educated citizenry does in times of crisis. We have to work the problem, not point fingers at each other over who started it. That debate will prove fruitless. The time to act is now, and the time to get involved is now. Write, email, telephone your family and friends. Have a house meeting, make a focus group. Be open. Be honest about your situation and share your story. It relieves the anger and guilt that builds up in ones self. Don't let it eat you up inside.
I had to ask for help and I did get some answers. I had to admit to myself that in times of crisis, I have to look for answers. Sometimes that means making a few phone calls. Sometimes that means having to fill out forms for food stamps. Sometimes that means having to find a community health clinic. Charity is hard to accept sometimes, but it's there for a reason I am finding out. I do need help. And, as my situation improves, THEN I will be able to give back to those I need help from. That's what we need to do America. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. That's about where I am right now.
There was a statement from President Obama's inaugural address that really sits well within me regarding service. Having these house meetings has been like a living civics lesson in why freedom is to be cherished and not taken for granted. It allows us to give support and concern to others that need our care and concern. Our burdens will be made lighter when we give them up. Our stress might be just two degrees less than when we walked in the door. It was a very uplifting experience. I encourage each and every one of you to participate. All it requires is your attention and your presence.
This is a message to the masses of people who cannot support the stimulus plan, actually the Reinvestment and Recovery Plan for America. What is the solution to putting people to work? Work is what is sorely missing in this country. How are you going to put 11 million people to work? We need to pass a bill that addresses JOBS, JOBS, JOBS . We are stuck in a disaster ten times worse than any hurricane could deliver, yet you keep up with the "you're doing a heck of a job Brownie" response. This dismal economy is challenging the survival of our nation. Where are the priorities Republicans? You go on and on about tax relief, but it will do nothing to help those whom have nothing. You can't get a tax break when you don't have a job!
What do you want from us Republicans? Blood? That's all we have left!! YOU LOST THE ELECTION! That means most of us don't support your ideology... You've had your chance for 25 years with your Contract ON America, you've blamed the unions for everything going wrong and you have rewarded your Wall Street buddies with all the perks they could ever want. And you left the rest of the country out in the cold. Every day, people are scrounging, saving, borrowing, and begging for help from somewhere to go to work. Yet you ignore the obivious. It's high time you learned what it is like to be without, to be without privlidge and power. It was high time you were made to figure out how to make ends meet without being given any ends. That's what I have had to do for months. That's what millions of unemployed and underemployed have to deal with right now. Where would you be if you didn't have your millions? Sen. McCain, McConnell, Kyl and Sessions you drive me up a wall with your ignorance and arrogance. You keep banging an old drum about being "fiscally conservative" yet YOU forget about the 3 TRILLION dollar war YOU charged to the American public when YOUR great leader was in power. And let's not forget the untold cost of what it continues to cost in lost lives and lost resources, to the US taxpayers. You make me sick! Your facts are twisted and arranged by your precious conservative media and think tanks who keep espousing nonstop on FAUX NEWS, that we are wasting money. A working public is not a waste of money. You simply hate the fact that you're not the party in charge and you want to take it out on the American public. You would rather see America fail, just to prove your point.
I am sorry dear conservatives... You will not win with your tired rhetoric. You will not win over the afflicted and the poor. You won't win because you don't understand what it's like to be without. You do not understand compassion or empathy. You don't understand whom the least of these are. You don't understand that one day, you will be without and no one is going to help you. Why? Because you cared more about tightening your fist and closing your heart and soul when a NATION needed you. You're going to be living in a country that is too close-minded to care about anyone, or anything but themselves. That is what selfishness brings. And that is going to be a dark day in America if we proceed down your road.
I say, get on board with the CHANGE that most of America voted for. I say, you are not going to break us, those down and out, because there are more of us that need help than you "fiscal conservatives". You're number in power will shrink, because you just don't get it. And that is too bad. It's like beating your head against the wall and wondering why it hurts. I pity the fact that you have to hold America hostage because things didn't go your way. I say, to hell with you and we just proceed without you.
Today, I attended a house meeting at the Upper Arlington Public Library and listened to others regarding the status of President Obama's Reinvestment and Recovery Plan for the United States. It was a good meeting of WE THE PEOPLE, but I felt the video was short on details. I applaud the good Governor of Virginia for spearheading the need for WE THE PEOPLE to become active and stay active at this critical time in our countrys history, but it did not resonate passion. You know why? It goes back to this idea that the well-to-do don't really understand the pressures of the working class, the middle class and the very poor. I think President Obama does... but that's about it. I have watched the Democrat leaders capitulate over and over again as if they don't know they are the party in charge. I don't like their style. It looks wimpy. That's one reason I don't call myself a Democrat, I call myself a Progressive. The elected Democrats need to take charge of the reins of power, along with the good will the voting public gave them on November 4, 2008.
Allow me to bring my story to you and come down from the clouds of rhetoric, and down to Main Street. I am a 45 year old man, with a college education, and I have JUST TODAY found a part time job of which I am truly thankful. But I had to endure nine long weeks without an income, and it was super frustrating seeing my life pass by and there seemingly being no light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, today, I have 65.00 dollars left for food and fuel and that's it. But my situation is being repeated millions of times over in America. Just last month, 600,000 times. Wondering how they are going to pay the bills, pay the expenses, put fuel in the car, find a job. Their emergency is happening right now.... just like me. And that's what really ticks me off about our elected officials.... They don't understand the NOW of the situation.
So here is a thought I would like to share with about what I would like to say to those in power... "There is no urgency like NOW". To see all this grandstanding by the Republicans, and the flopping of the Democrats is a tough pill to swallow. I wrote to Sen. Reid, Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Voinivich, Sen. Sanders, Sen. Wyden, Sen. Webb, Sen. Brown, Sen. McCain, Sen. McConnell; Rep. Boehner, Rep. Kilroy. Got a lot of thanks for writing, but felt they didn't really hear me. Meanwhile the unemployed, and underemployed lose more of what they used to have. Underserved is what they feel like. They feel 'less than'. Honestly, I have felt 'less than' because a job brings wealth, stability, and DIGNITY. No one wants to be looking for a handout... I certainly don't. I just wish our elected officials understood this. That's why the JOBS are so damn important at this time. Tax cuts will not pay the mortgage or rent; they will not put food on the table. And tax cuts will not help me right now. If you don't have a job, what is the worth of a tax cut? A job will give me the ability to go buy stuff I need.... and that will create DEMAND, or a reason for a small business to exist. THAT .... Republicans.... is how to jump start the economy.
And by the way.... Healthcare should not be a 'for-profit' enterprise. As Thom Hartmann has pointed out on his program, healthcare should be a RIGHT, not a privledge. Having quality healthcare (like a single payer system like Medicare) would take a lot of burden off small business and put them on equal footing to the large corporations, and other international countries. Instead of the ever-increasing cost of providing healthcare, EVERYONE could have a basic healthcare package of coverage, of which I would feel equal to those that are well-to-do. We also need to consider if you want to put more money in the people's pocket, take the burden of healthcare of the employers pocketbooks and simply make it a national deduction from everyone's paycheck.. Just like we do with the current Medicare program. With the 47,000,000 pool of unemployed and underemployed that would make a very affordable rate. And you could allow people to opt-out or purchase additional service for a higher rate according to what they want.
But as it stands now.... I am now going into my sixth year without healthcare. I simply cannot afford it. And as a side note, having these insurance companies vote yea or nay about what they will or will not pay is ridiculous. I think this entire privitization of healthcare is just another way of dividing those that are well-to-do, from those that are down on their luck. It's just too bad that personal profit and greed are too much in the hands of the powerful and the higher calling of looking or caring for your neighbors.... (even the least of these) takes a distant backseat.
And finally, my last point.... I am writing this blog because I feel the need to bring my voice and my story to the public. I want to own my part of the freedom that has been handed to me by those that have defended my right to give voice, and for that I am grateful. I have a mind that is free, I have a soul that is free, and I have a conscience for social justice and equality. I feel the responsibility of being a citizen is to SPEAK UP on the issues and to promote discussion. As Thom Hartmann says on his show, "TAG .... YOU'RE IT!!"
I encourage everyone to speak to your family and friends... Write to your elected officials for investment in America.... in American Jobs... Email.... Blog.... get the WORD out that WE NEED CHANGE... Tell those in DC that we need action TODAY.... THERE IS NO GREATER URGENCY THAN NOW!
(Letter written to Forum Page in the Columbus Dispatch newspaper)
<br>Jonah Goldberg finally helped me "get it," on the October 23, 2008 Forum Page. McCain's vision of Joe the Plumber is "individualistic." Yay! While Obama's is "collectivist." Boo!<br> According to Goldberg, morally, few Republicans would dispute the message of the Biblical injunction to "be our brother's keeper." It's just that when it comes to their money, that's not the best way to go. <br> Here's what Joe the Plumber would do instead, especially if McCain wins. He'd start a business and hire 20 plumbers at 15 bucks an hour, but no more, so he could undercut the union rate; get more business; and, make bigger profits. Instead of providing healthcare insurance for the families of his workers at $12,000 a pop, Joe would pay himself a salary of $250,000 annually. What the heck! The employees will get a $5000 tax credit from McCain to buy health insurance for themselves, won't they? <br> But McCain's extension of the Bush tax cuts won't be enough for Joe. So he'll have the company buy his car--maybe a convertible--and write it off. He'll take all his vacations with "potential customers," so he can write those off as well. In fact, he might even build a small A-frame on a lake to entertain customers, or at the least, buy 4 box seats at the ball park he goes to every week, and take customers there to entertain them. And he'll deduct the A-frame and the ball park seats from his taxes too. <br> See? Not only is he providing jobs. He's even growing the economy by giving work to an accountant. <br> If business slows, Joe won't let this interrupt his trips to the ball park at taxpayer expense or the fun of having in his company car. After all, these things are the American dream! Instead he'll lay off 5 of his workers. They'll have unemployment compensation to live on anyway, if he can't come up with reasons to let them go for "cause"--or maybe they could just get money from their IRAs or 401ks. <br> Eventually, Joe will be making a salary of almost a million dollars annually, and paying 80 to 100 plumbers, but still, at only $15 an hour. Wow! Time to take the company public and cash out. And, in his beneficence, instead of giving his employees raises, he'll give them company stock; encourage them to buy more stock to drive the price up; and tell them to put it all away for their retirements in their 401ks . <br> Then Joe will move his residence to Florida and build a 10 million dollar home where it'll be safe in case he has a bankruptcy because of losses selling futures on the toilet market. Please, Mr. Goldberg--tell me Joe's last name isn't Enron or WorldCom or Lehman or Bear or Sterns or Countrywide or Tyco, etc. <br>
<br>David M. Selcer(my father)
You never know unless you ask.
A very wise man from Ohio gave me some of my all time favorite advice in life – it was his “you never know unless you ask” story. His story was all about dating girls – how guys worry about not being cute enough or smart enough for the girls to like them and want to date them. But he finally figured out – you could sit at home wondering about lots of things – or you could get out there and ask lots of girls for a date and eventually one would say yes. It was about how action trumps! No girl will ever go out with you if you don’t ask. Simple as that really. You have to ask to get what you want. And the worst that happens is they say no. But if they say YES! – Then you have a date and isn’t that the goal.
Well, we have a date – the date is Nov. 4th and we need the American public to make a date to vote for Barack Obama as our next president. What I need from each of you is for you to help me do the asking all across America in the last 4 weeks of this campaign. Here’s what I need your help with:
We need Registered Voters! Deadlines are approaching as early as tomorrow.
We need Votes – many states can vote early.
We need to Get Out Voters On Nov. 4th
We need more volunteers to help with all the above.
We need donations.
We need you to continue to speak to your friends, neighbors, and family.
And, we need you to ask your fellow American’s to do more in the following ways:
You never know if someone will volunteer for the campaign – unless you ask.
You never know if someone will donate to the campaign – unless you ask.
You never know if someone will travel to another state to help – unless you ask.
You never know if you friends are registered to vote – unless you ask,
You never know if your neighbors know about early voting – unless you ask.
You never know if they will vote for Obama – unless you ask.
1%, or 1 vote out of 100There have been 12 Presidential elections that were decided by less than a 1% margin; meaning if less than 1% of the voters in certain states had changed their mind to the other candidate the outcome of the entire election would have been different. More than half were decided by less than a 2% margin.
In 2004, 57,787 votes would have given us President Kerry.In 2000, 269 votes would have given us President GoreIn 1996, 575,515 votes would have given us President Dole.
From ABC News:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html
=========="Squeakers"Ned PotterABC NewsSeptember 29, 2008How close have Presidential elections been? Closer, perhaps, than we ever guessed. Mike Sheppard, a grad student in statistics at Michigan State, has done a mathematical exercise that shows it.He ran a computer program to answer this question: "What is the smallest number of total votes that need to be switched from one candidate to another, and from which states, to affect the outcome of the election?"The answer: in some years, very, very few. Take a look at his analysis HERE. It shows the powerful interaction between the popular vote and the electoral college.[...]==========
Full article here:http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html
Detailed analysis here, including colored maps:https://www.msu.edu/~sheppa28/elections.html-Mike Sheppard
How the circles of influence grow via grassroots campaigning
The campaign officials like to talk about sewing the seeds to grow the grassroots of the campaign –a great metaphor, but I actually think it is more fun than this farming metaphor proposes and takes less time than waiting for the seeds to germinate– I think it is a lot more like skipping stones on the water- or dropping a pebble into the pond and watching the ripples grow.
And it is amazing to see how quickly the ever widening ripples reaching out to spread from sea to shining sea. Each pebble into the water sends out a ripple that grows and hopefully touches another. Each pebble represents a volunteer who will help reach out to at least 10 more people. And that is how we grow a grassroots campaign all across America.
Just to show you how something as simple as this blog has grown the grassroots in just one week, here’s a list of what you’ve been inspired to get involved doing for this campaign – and for America! – THANK YOU!
Grassroots means it is up to you!
Here are some ideas to inspire you to help in creative ways. If yard signs are in short supply – make your own.Have a painting signs party. OR…The BarackObama.com website even has downloads of Logos, signs, and posters to use: http://www.barackobama.com/downloads/
Here’s an eco-friendly way to share your support:http://steppingstonesforobama-barb.blogspot.com/ If it is buttons you need – button making parties are going on too all across the country – look on the MYBO site for an event near you: www.My.BarackObama.com Many schools and scout troops have the machines – all you need is the time.Here’s a link for some artwork on Registering to Vote for the next 2 weeks. REGButtons.pdf321K View as HTML Download
Special thanks to Chet Farley for helping with this artwork.
Lastly, here’s my latest idea: do you remember the days when trees all across America had big Yellow Ribbons tied around them? It was all about supporting our troops coming home from a different war in another era. They were everywhere – all across America!
What if we all tied big Purple Bows around our trees this time? – in support of Barack Obama?
Purple – because we no longer want to be Red versus Blue!
Purple – because we want to bring home another generation of our troops!
Purple – because it is my favorite color!
I will work on getting Tony Orlando to re-write the lyrics to the song too!
Now it is up to you to get creative and come up with your own idea of how to spread the word and show your support for this campaign.
Please write back with your ideas and I will happily spread the word.
Reach out and touch your neighborhood today!
The other day I asked you to reach out and touch the campaign, to get to know what resources are available on the website and how to find answers at www.BarackObama.com and create your own site on www.My.BarackObama.com or MyBO – which will help keep you in the info loop with the campaign as well as give you ways to get involved each day.
Today, I would like to share with you another tool to help you to get involved right in your own neighborhood:
Neighbor to Neighbor. This internet tool is easy to use and oriented towards get you to reach out to others in your local area.
http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php
Neighbor to Neighbor is a new campaign internet tool that allows you to put in your own address and obtain a list of local undecided voters for you to reach out and touch in your very own neighborhood. It will either give you a list of names and addresses for a walking around the block, door knocking, canvassing for the campaign locally or a list of people to call. These are people who are mostly UNDECIDED as of yet.
The information provided to you will also include talking points, or a script, and even some questions to get the ball rolling easier. It is always a good idea to read through all the info first – before you head out or pick up the phones. Sometimes there are flyers to print out as well if you are knocking on doors. Other times there are key questions to ask in your calls.
The key thing this does is make the political neighborly; and therefore, personal – in a very friendly and open way. It is about neighbors reaching out to neighbors about issues that affect them and their communities. It is about friends reaching out to friends, and it is about family reaching out to friends. .” This is not about badgering anyone – it is all to be done with kind persuasion as well as listening.
It is about you stepping forward and saying “Hey, I am your neighbor, here’s why I support Barack Obama, and I am hoping you will too! Now how can I address any issues or concerns you might have before you vote?”
There are hundreds of volunteers who want to work for Barack Obama this fall in the swing states, but a lot of these volunteers, students and recent college graduates like myself (Stanford 2008), don't have the resources to get where they are needed.
If you have 25,000 miles on any airline, you likely have enough miles to sponsor a verified volunteer's trip to work in a swing state! Registering new voters and talking to undecided voters face to face is the best way to fight all the smear campaigns and attack ads we are facing.
In the primaries one woman with a phone line raised two million miles for Obama! For the general election we can raise even more!
To get involved as a sponsor or volunteer please email alisa@travelforchange.org or just visit TravelforChange.org and please pass this on!
Hello everyone, I am new to this site. Just want to stay informed about what is going on. Watched Obama on CNN tonight. I feel that it was very informative. Jacqi :)
We! Magazine #77, Volume 2, Number 32 Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Publisher: www.mytown.ca Editors: Norla Antinoro and E. Pickersgill
Campaigning For and Being President As
Two-Way Learning
by Robert A. Letcher, 9 July 2008
For months, I had an unsparingly complementary appreciation of Senator Obama, and I was ready to give my all – literally – to get him elected president. (I say “literally” because when I heard Obama speaking in my hometown in occurred to me, as it never had before, “I’d take one for him.” That’s how committed I was to his candidacy.) Then, the policy positions of the last few weeks came out: for the FISA exemption, for the AIPAC position, for listening to the commanders in Baghdad, for a variation of the Bush faith based initiative. I thought of Cool Hand Luke’s observation, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
It’s not that I expected Obama to communicate with me about his policy positions, although I certainly hoped he would – even though I don’t wait around for him to call. Instead, it just seemed to me that his campaign – our campaign – would likely improve his prospects for winning if he were somehow to really communicate with this me and all the other me’s whose support he needs in order to be elected and govern successfully.
Let me make this clear: I think Obama can be elected successfully without communicating with me. Heck, even W succeeded at that! And, Obama can clearly govern without such communication. W did that, too… though poorly (including among other arrogances, famously ignoring his own Secretary of State’s admonition about the “Pottery Barn Rule”). But, for Obama to govern successfully, he’ll have to lead the country through a long list of extremely difficult challenges, including several messes that W played a major role in creating, and several other messes that W played a major role by neglecting. And the only way that Obama even might govern the country successfully through all those challenges and messes will be to develop some sort of two-way communication with all of us everyday citizens out here.
I say “only” because in my view, the most difficult challenge Obama will face is—to borrow from Bush-speak—the “division thing”, a problem that, like slavery 150 years ago, was seriously “misunderestimated”. As Sam Nunn argued, Obama needs to “lead[…] people to be able to say, ‘Yeah, that’s the direction we ought to go in as a nation; that’s the kind of nation we want to be.’”
Obviously, there’s no way for Obama to know whether people have come to say that sort of thingunless he and his surrogates have been listening to them. Indeed, unless they have been listening for some time – the longer, the better… say, starting now. I imagine they are “listening”, in the sense of polling, their eyes focused on winning the Electoral College.
But, the country desperately needs leadership: not polls, and not triangulation based on polls. Such passive, non-principled listening would probably only deepen the “division thing”. Obama needs to listen to the public’s nuanced expressions of where they are coming from now. Then, in the manner of the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, Obama needs to figure out ways he can lead people to learn how to work their collective way through and beyond the current “division thing” to a collective agreement that is itself at once consistent with his Progressivist understanding of the Constitution, consistent with the principles of his own “un-division thing”, and—I hope—consistent with Martin Luther King’s Dream (if the Bush appointees to the Supreme Court will suffer it).
That is to say, particulars matter: some visions of “un-division” wouldn’t be suitable, no matter how ardently their proponents argued for them. And I personally couldn’t come up with an outcome that would be acceptable to both me and several people close to me in my personal life. I could likely, however, come up with a process for dialoging toward some yet-to-be-worked-out agreement.
Under the right set of desperate conditions—a situation which seems diminishingly hypothetical—they might even agree to participate in such a dialog. People might be willing to engage in civil discourse in order to address these problems because they have learned the hard way of the correctness of Sam Nunn’s characterization of the problems we face as “fundamental problems [that] we’ve got to deal with, including perhaps some sacrifice in the short run in order to have a better future for our children and grandchildren.”
Of course, Obama and his immediate surrogates wouldn’t need to be present for every such conversation. But, he can’t ignore them either. To take a problem seriously today means assigning money to support working on it. Whether as a candidate or as an elected President, Obama would have to fund such an effort: rent halls, train facilitators, develop infrastructure capable of handling (and summarizing) large amounts of information, equalizing access, and many other activities without which this whole effort would collapse.
One final observation for now… In real-world politics, none of us can--or at least, I can't… and I don't--expect any candidate to agree with each substantive detail of any progressive agenda. That means compromise is essential, and that means that the benefits of “un-division” inevitably come at the cost of deeply held principle. That could take a lot of effort and resources. I wonder whether we are up to it, whether I am up to it.
