One Plan Solves Every Issue that Americans are facingDon’t tell them what you’re going to do. Tell them HOW you are going to do it. Promises are the usual Political Rhetoric; an Action Business Plan is Revolutionary! Well actually, the first thing to do is to get out of Iraq so that our government stops investing in war we should never have started in the first place, which stops the flow of our valuable tax dollars. This will free up the money needed for this ONE plan. Our Nation needs to become completely energy efficient, independent, and green in the tiered order that fixes them. Here are the details of the ONE “Action (Business) Plan that solves everything: Education• Invest in each child from early childhood through college.• This shall also require all parents to be proportionately responsible for each of their children.• Each state shall provide and strictly enforce collection of courted ordered child support through wage withholding, intercepting tax refunds, and by any other appropriate means necessary.• Encourage and provide opportunities so all that want the opportunity to achieve their career goals can.• Promote science & technical curriculum in colleges related to all the new green energy jobs that will be created.• Support Intern and Externships to provide on the job training. • If needed, provide parents with education on proper child-rearing skills, and even include this education in High School and college. Unemployment • Invest in those who have lost jobs due to out-sourcing to other countries or loss of employment due to the poor economy, especially those in old energy jobs.• Reeducate these people in new technologies so that they have the ability to compete in the new energy related jobs; giving those who lost those jobs, a priority advantage in being placed in these new green energy jobs.• Keep these new energy & related jobs in the USA, giving companies tax credits for not outsourcing the work needed to provide all these newly created jobs.• Reclaim as many as possible, those jobs that have been outsourced to other countries, to provide more employment opportunities and giving tax credits for those companies who comply.Infrastructure • Use monies saved from investing into other countries to updating our Nation’s Infrastructure and adding more mass transit systems throughout the Country. This also will provide more employment.Health Care• All Americans have access to the same health care as enjoyed by our congress if they are unable to afford or get insurance for other reasons, such as not provided by employer or for pre-existing conditions.• Have people pay for the above based health insurance based on a small percentage of their income.• All those who are disabled, retired, veterans, or unemployed are covered without any monthly premium.• Health care should focus on preventative care and include the same benefits for mental health diseases.• Anyone who chooses not to participate in this health insurance program, provide a tax break so they have help in paying for their selected insurance provider. Crime Rate• Invest more funds to states and counties for developing crime prevention strategies that actually work.• Provide mandatory 3year designed programs for substance abuse/addiction people. If necessary, provide educational opportunities, which shall include reintegration into society. Those who choose to continue their substance abuse behaviors shall be incarcerated for lengthy stays until such time that professionals determine that the individual is ready to participate and succeed in the program.• House career criminals indefinitely, especially those who are murders, pedophiles, and other major crime activities.Reduce the Trillions of dollars of debt America owes to places like China and Russia. • Use new tax dollars being received by the creation of 5 million new jobs.• Reduce wasteful government spending.• Revamp the tax code and reduce taxes on middle class, increase taxes on others, and tax large corporation’s windfall taxes, unless they are willing to invest their windfall into green renewable energies.• Develop a balanced budget with a payment plan to get out of debt in the least amount of time possible.Reduce or eliminate all unwarranted wars over our dependence on other Countries Oil.• Develop or start producing all of our nations energy needs inside our borders.• Promote and Invest in Research and Development of any new renewable energy sources. Improving our Planets Environment, global warming, deforestation, endangered species. • Do 1-7 above.• Provide incentives for individuals and companies and corporations to go green, by participating in recycling, using green energy, building green homes, making existing homes more energy efficient.• Tax companies and corporations that are not complying with green standards. Economy• succeeding in 1-8 will fix the economy. Benefits: 1. Early childhood education and support through their formative years, reduces the prison population and reduces crime. 2. Highly educated citizens that can compete for employment within the USA. 3. Very low unemployment rate with higher wages and better benefit packages. 4. Less expensive commuting costs. 5. Safer roads and bridges. 6. Healthier citizens, less days missed at work. 7. Not having to file bankruptcy because they couldn’t afford their healthcare costs. 8. Mentally Healthy people are more employable. 9. People that have secure jobs will have money to invest in buying a home, preparing for retirement, and financially contribute to organizations that provide help to disaster victims, global issues, wildlife, etc. 10. Those who are disabled, veterans, retired, or unemployed will not have to spend their fixed income on medical and prescription costs. 11. Employed people are less likely commit crimes. 12. Happy people, those who have hope that there life is going to be better or is better are less likely to commit crimes. 13. Those that commit the worse crimes are not in society to continue their behavior. 14. Reducing government debt provides more monies to do all of the above. 15. Global perception and respect for our Country will be more positive than it has ever been. 16. A greener, healthier ecosystem, greatly reducing global warming, reclaiming the planet’s naturally balanced system. 17. A HAPPY economy reduces global and personal stress, and a stable way of life.
I have been canvassing and volunteering for Obama since the primaries; I have talked with Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and Non- affiliates. The one theme many seemed to say, mostly the Independents and Non-affilates was they were going to decide who they were going to vote for after McCain chose his VP; they even said that if it was one specific VEEP they would vote for Obama and if it was another they would vote for McCain; Palin was not even on their radar.
Some of the people I spoke with said they were going to wait until the debates to make a decision. I supported their choice and thanked them for sharing how they were going to make their decisions. However, I am pretty to almost completely confident that anyone waiting for the VP pick has made up their mind and it will not be McCain; and for those who were waiting for the debates are not even going to bother to listen to them. There were many of them who voted for Hillary, who were still wavering a bit because Obama did not pick her for VP. However, they said they would “probably” vote for him. Guess what – I am also pretty to completely sure they WILL be voting for Obama. They are women and even men, who believe that no man or woman has the right to decide how a woman will treat their reproductive organs or any other part of their body.
Those in many Countries that already have men controlling women’s dress, and what they can and can’t do, are fighting; sometimes with the loss of their life, just to be able, for the first time, to have the right and freedom to have complete control over their own bodies! I met some of these people from many cultures and religious backgrounds; they came to this Country legally to escape oppression and control over them, and it is a complete insult to have another leader(s) take away what they were running from in the firsts place! - I registered those voters too. I am one of those women, I would rather move out of the United States, even if I had to walk, to a new country, than to have any Constitutional right taken away from me. A right that all men have enjoyed here since the Constitution was first drafted.
Apparently, McCain made this big decision for VP to put this entire nation in the worst place as possible in the whole worlds opinion. A VP that believes in controlling women, the one who has animal trophies all over her parent’s living room, the one that would prefer to protect a fetus than a live baby that has special needs; a woman who knows NOTHING about this world nor has even visited countries in peril or involved in war. may have an opportunity to become the leader of this Country. So when seventy-two-year-old McCain, keels over dead in the Oval office, I hope when he takes his last breath, who he really has served all the years he was alive and who he left to lead and manage this Country. So, McCain, THANK YOU for your lying words of "Country First" and choosing Palin as the VP because every woman, including me, would rather vote for Obama who supports our fundamental freedoms and will NEVER allow the two of you to have any right to take that most precious right away from us.
All Americans, the United Americans are still FREE!!
Signed, Beth R., Albany, OR
And Supporter of Animal Rights since I was born (all animals, even the scary ones)
So for mine and yours posterity, and the nation’s future, I will continue wearing out My Obama shoes through the night Obama wins the Presidency, and for the next time I will be called to report for duty.
Hey all, last night a blogger friend got an idea about an event to show support for Obama. I suggested she actually make it an event to sign up for. It only requires you to wear Obama supportive buttons, pins, shirts, etc. on a specific day. just go to the link below to sign up. That's it!
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpgyjf
Hope you can join in the fun!
Beth
Albany, OR
August 14, 2008
Voter Registration Event
At the 25th Anniversary of the River Rhythms Concert Series
Band playing “The Grass Roots”
In 100 degree heat, 6,000+ people ranging in age of 2weeks to 91 years of age, all gathered in our small town river park; a small city hardly noticed by any metropolis city. They still came to listen to the last concert of the summer. The “Grass Roots” band was playing; very appropriate for what I was there to do. People young and old, danced on the grass and sang along. There were all the regulars from the tri-county areas and many visitors as close as Idaho, Arizona, and Illinois and as far away as Canada, Pennsylvania and even Australia.
110 people were approached during a two hour period and asked if they were registered to vote. All who were registered answered with a very enthusiastic yes. The amazing thing was there were only ten people that were not registered. Of those, six did not want to register, three were never going to vote, and one was registered on the spot.
Most all were asked if they wished to say which way they were leaning in the upcoming election. Of those who were willing to tell – the ones voting for Obama were very excited to tell they were definitely voting for him. Many however, did not want to say, some were on the verge of being rude. Many, by the looks on there face, knowing I was an Obama supporter, just kept their mouth shut. Out of all the registered voters, not a single one would admit they were actually going to vote for McCain, it seemed as though many really were not all that thrilled about him, but they were republicans so they were voting republican; they all seemed to be somewhat grumpy to me as though they were annoyed that I asked. Yet, all that admitted they were Obama supporters, were very positive and animated about their choice for the Presidency. In one instance a retired couple had a split household; the wife was for Obama and her husband was a republican. The wife was actively doing here best to persuade him to her side.
I would say the strangest discussion came from a woman who was undecided. I believe she was about 38-45 years old. It was the reason why she was undecided that was strange to me. She liked Obama, but because he is a family man, she felt that if he became President the job would take him away from his children too much. She also said she thought that Mrs. McCain would make a better First Lady the Michelle Obama, but she was not to keen about McCain himself. This was such a foreign idea to me, because here was an individual evaluating what her decision would be on circumstances rather than on the Candidates themselves then I saw her friends arriving and felt it was a good time to make my exist. I could see that the conversation was going to continue for quite some time and I was on a mission to register voters.
For others who were still undecided or felt they really needed to hear more from both of them, I let them know of the first debate that was going to air on CCN Saturday the 16th at 5pm Pacific Time. I explained that both candidates would be in the same room and it could be very informative and may help them make an informed decision.
Believe it or not, I actually ran into two women who voted for Hillary in the primary, one of them was from Pennsylvania, she was asked if she was going to vote and who she was going to vote for now, her answer, ‘well I’m certainly not voting for that McCain!” The other woman who voted for Hillary, was asked the same question, she was on the fence about voting, then her husband spoke up and stated “you know you’re going to vote for Obama.” And she nodded yea I probably am.
I noted that our town is mostly Caucasian, however, there were many non-whites who were asked if they were registered; they were, when asked if they wanted to share who they were going to vote for, ALL of those I was able to speak with were Obama supporters.
It was evident that the older generations were unwilling to share anything about how they were voting, and those approximately 35 years old and younger, were more likely to be Obama supporters.
This was a very enlightening experience for me. There is still much work that needs to be done to register more voters or sway voters to vote for Obama. Hillary received the Linn County votes in the Primaries; this was personally upsetting to me because of all the canvassing I did prior to the Primaries that showed it would be an Obama win. I did not take into account that the city of Albany proper were more likely to vote democratic, however, we live in the Willamette Valley; farming capital of our great state. These voters tend to vote republican. I believe they can be persuaded to consider voting for Obama if he can convince these voters that his comprehensive “business plan,” includes their concerns also.
I was the lone Obama volunteer at this event; I talked with 110 people, listened to their stories, and to their concerns, and gave them information about how they could learn more about the Candidates. It was a very rewarding experience for me. My only wish was that I hadn’t attended the concert alone. However, I chose not to dwell upon my situation as I looked over the whole park and saw people, lots of people, gathered in families, or with friends. Even an the elderly couple that was sitting in front of me, they were so sweet to each other, and I saw that through all their years they had obviously been together, the husband still went to get his wife an ice cream bar, then sat there enjoying the cold bars together. They sat close, holding hands and talking softly to each other. I may have been alone, but that gave me the unique advantage to see love that comes in all families; great and small, of many cultures, and from many places. This was something I would have my missed out on if I had been there with my daughter and my best friend.
On to my next event . . . I have been ask to host a voter registration canvas in my home this weekend. Step by step, volunteer to volunteer, vote by vote, our hard work over the next couple of months will show the fruits of our labors when our President, President Obama is sworn into office in January. Yes We Can, Yes Well Will, Yes He Will be our next President of the UNITED States of all Americans.
Simple Fix to all the issues - An Energy Plan:
Does anybody have more input into the outline of this very specific plan that addresses so many of our concerns? All suggestions are very welcome.
Now is there anyone in blogsville that has contacts or a way of getting this plan to the Obama Campaign? Does anyone have a connection? I certainly don’t. I am just a grain of sand on Obama’s beach, but my ideas have been swirling in my heard for years. I am grateful to finally have an opportunity to express those ideas where they may get some consideration.
I have been and still volunteering for Obama here in Oregon, and I signed on today to read that I am one of who knows how many others who will get to know the "BIG VP SECRET" before the rest of the world. Now I realize, if I am not online the moment he sends the email, then I won't get to know before the world does, but I appreciate that he appreciates all of us. So, thank you very much. I can hardly wait until November, this is the most excited I have ever been about any political campaign in my entire life! Oh, there goes those darn goosebumps again :D
If we kept the gold standard instead of creating the Federal Reserve which prints our money currently, we would be looking at vastly lower prices for oil. We need to get rid of the Federal Reserve and go back to the gold standard, where the value of your dollar would be protected. Allowing the Federal Reserve to print more money is the equivalent to letting the Federal Reserve take away value from the hard earned money in each and every American's pocket.
I'm pleased to announce that we know have a field organizer for linn county and He will be hosting an event on Sat. April 12th at 3pm. here is the link.
http://my.barackobama.com/p...
Scott McKee
Sweet Home, OR
Fellow Obama Supporters:
Here's the hyperlink to Senator Barack Obama's full speech last night in MacArthur Court "The Pit" at the University of Oregon. His "STAND FOR CHANGE" rally was absolutely inspirational and uplifting, as Americans have come to expect. And, it was every bit worth our four hour wait in line to get seats and witness such an historical event. The Eugene Register-Guard video has his whole 46-minute speech. By the way, how many of you were able to make it to one of Obama's Oregon appearances?
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=81919&sid=4&fid=1#related_video
Go Obama. YES. WE CAN.
Allen L Buzzard
Authoritative word has it that our highly esteemed Presidential Candidate Senator Barack Obama will be making appearances this Friday morning (March 21, 2008) in Portland, Oregon as well as this Friday evening in Eugene, Oregon. Please invite all fellow supporters young and old to join one another and "STAND FOR CHANGE."
YES. WE CAN.
GO OBAMA '08 :)
Thanks to Congressman Blumenauer's Office, supporters and leaders who have already begun to organize.
I'm here to help, but don't wait for me to get you started.
Mid March Organizational Call - We'll schedule another call focusing that is more work, less fun stuff.-Dealing with mapping out state, plans for offices, organizing steering committees and bigger rallies
What March 4th means in terms of Oregon's Primary- Resources and staff deployed elsewhere - importance of volunteer network- There is a major Campaign Gear Delay, we know about it and are working on it, bear with us!- We will know more about our place on the totem pole following tueday's results. Regardless, we want to carry the state strongly in November so organization is key now.
Take Attendance at every event, every time! Sign in to every event you attend-if you are an event organizer, put data in a spreadsheet and email it to me: madams.obama@gmail.com
Discuss March 2nd house Parties - Importance of taking attendance - Build Volunteer Network - NOT affiliated with MoveOn.org parties - ignore requests to host those and continue with your scheduled calls
March 4th Watch Parties! Great way to build enthusiasmGreat way to build volunteer lists.Find local bars or restaurants that are sympathetic. People will give you things on the cheap or even free, but you gotta ask. See if the venue will do some of the legwork for you, most bars have email lists that they use to promote events.If you can have a followup event planned by March 2rd, you can promote it at your house party
Phone Banking events- a million calls to Ohio.- Do it in groups, because it isn't always easy - you will get hung up on - but you will also talk to some big supporters and that will get your enthusiasm back up! - if you want a handy packet that offers tips to phone banking, shoot me an email and I'll forward it to you. It's always changing so you can email me suggestions for updates.
Volunteers to organize - if you want a project, send me an email. If you have never hosted anything before we can walk you through it, this is a first time experience for most of our volunteers. Even if only 1 other person shows up it matters. This whole grass roots effort is based on a few people getting together.-If we've had email conversations, you're already on my list of people that I will be leaning on, but the more people we get involved the better
Along with her "ready to lead on Day One" mantra, Hillary Clinton's favored line of attack against Barack Obama is the reincarnation of Mondale's 1984 "Where's the beef?" attack on Gary Hart. In Clinton's version, Obama is little more than a shallow speechifier -- he believes that words are all you need to lead.
She made it explicit in a speech in Providence, Rhode Island on Sunday:
"I could stand up here and say 'Let's just get everybody together. Let's get unified. The sky will open! The light will come down! Celestial choirs will be singing! And everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect!' Maybe I've just lived a little long, but I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and have the special interests disappear!"
Last week it was: "Speeches don't put food on the table. Speeches don't fill up your tank, or fill your prescription, or do anything about that stack of bills."
And her chief strategist, Mark Penn, summed up the "just words" meme this way: "She is in the solutions business while Obama is in the promises business."
Now, I agree with Clinton that it's important to look at how each of the Democratic candidates uses words and how rhetoric fits into how they've run their respective campaigns. And if you do, you'll see that one candidate does believe that words are like a magic wand: you utter them and reality changes. But it's not Barack Obama -- it's Hillary Clinton.
Clinton's use of words is disturbingly reminiscent of the way the Bush administration has used words: just saying something is true is magically supposed to make it true. Call it Presto-change-o Politics.
The examples are so notorious they hardly bear repeating: "mission accomplished," "heckuva job," "last throes," the endless "turning the corner" in Iraq. They were all said with the arrogant belief that merely saying these words was all that was needed: reality would literally change to fit the rhetoric.
Now let's look at Hillary Clinton's rhetoric and what is says about the campaign she's run. It started with her absurd claim that her vote for the war was really a vote to send inspectors back in. The name of the bill? "The Joint Resolution To Authorize The Use Of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq." Saying it was about sending inspectors back in doesn't mean that it is true that it was about sending inspectors back in.
And then how about the endless spinning trying to diminish Obama victory after Obama victory? Here was Penn: "Could we possibly have a nominee who hasn't won any of the significant states -- outside of Illinois? That raises some serious questions about Sen. Obama." Mark Penn calling Virginia, Georgia, Missouri, and Colorado, among others, not "significant" does not make them insignificant.
Or Clinton's "35 years of experience." She has had a distinguished record of public service, but it's not in any way 35 years of government experience, unless you want to include her time at Yale Law school, or going door to door for George McGovern in Texas, or working at the Rose law firm in Arkansas as government experience. But her campaign seemed convinced that by repeating "35 years of experience" at every stop she would magically acquire that 35 years of experience.
But as the Bush administration has shown, believing your own words and not being able to see things as they are is not a good thing -- either for a country or a campaign. The New York Times described some Clinton aides as "baffled that a candidate who had been in the United States Senate for only three years and was a state lawmaker in Illinois before that was now outpacing a seasoned figure like Mrs. Clinton."
As Matt Yglesias says:
"Whether or not you think the more 'seasoned' candidate ought to win presidential elections, it seems to me that any campaign staffer who could be genuinely 'baffled' by experience not proving to be a winning issue is demonstrating a scary ignorance of how things work. Is her staff baffled that Joe Biden didn't win the nomination?"
Or how about the Clinton campaign's abracadabra rhetoric, designed to make the reality of what they agreed to about Florida and Michigan -- poof! -- go away. They even set up a website that attempts to pull a rabbit out of the electoral hat. The site list several "facts": "FACT: Florida and Michigan should count, both in the interest of fundamental fairness and honoring the spirit of the Democrats' 50-state strategy." As Ezra Klein notes: "It's almost as if they thought putting it after... the word 'FACT,' would be like a Jedi mind trick."
Meanwhile, as the Clinton campaign was busy trying to use words to push the idea that losing is actually winning (you know, just like in Iraq), the Obama campaign was actually winning votes. To the extent that anything in a campaign is real, it doesn't get any more real than actual votes.
And, no, he wasn't winning them just because of his "words." He backed up his words with action: old-fashioned grassroots organizing. For instance, as was widely noted in the blogosphere, the Clinton campaign apparently found out only in February that the March 4th primary/caucus in Texas was sort of complicated:
"Supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are worried that convoluted delegate rules in Texas could water down the impact of strong support for her among Hispanic voters there, creating a new obstacle for her in the must-win presidential primary contest."
As publius at Obsidian Wings says:
"While they were busy 'discovering' the rules, however, the Obama campaign had people on the ground in Texas explaining the system, organizing precincts, and making PowerPoints. I know because I went to one of these meetings a week ago. I should have invited Mark Penn I suppose."
Repeat that kind of organizing throughout 23 "insignificant" states, and it turns out you get a pretty healthy delegate lead.
So let's look at how Obama uses words. Contrary to Clinton's charges, Obama never claims his words will somehow magically create change. Instead, he uses his words to ask the American people to demand change. Very little change for the better happens in Washington unless it is demanded by the people. It's instructive that, back in New Hampshire, Clinton discounted the work Martin Luther King did in creating the political atmosphere that allowed LBJ to push though the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.
Which is why Obama's constant invocation is "Yes we can" -- not "Yes I can." Obama uses words to persuade, to mobilize and to get people to imagine that reality can be changed. And based on how his campaign has been run, on the ground, in state after state, it's clear that he knows changing reality is not done through magic -- it's done through hard work.
It is Clinton who uses words to deny reality, and expects them to magically change it. Haven't we had enough of that over the last seven years?
I'm not one for blogging, but I have something I want to share. It was written by Frank Schaeffer in his book, "Crazy for God." He writes in regards to Roe vs Wade and although I agree with his writing redarding this very important issue, I would like to present it in the light of all "Politically Charged Issues." (Home Schooling, Forgein Policy, Civil Rights etc.)
He writes:
"I want to live in a society that is willing to struggle with these balancing acts. I want to be in a society that values human life, because I am human, and far from perfect, and I want to be valued. What I don't want to live in is a culture that makes sweeping and dismissive secular or religious "theological" one-size-fits-all decisions that oversimplify complex issues. And ideas of the good life based on perfection are a trap, a trap that prophetic books like Brave New World gave us warning about, and that films like Blade Runner explored. We have been warned. What kind of insanely individualistic culture do we bocome when the words "I want" trump all other considerations? What happens to all our rights in such a world? What happens to our sense of community? It seems to me that by demanding ideological purity on abortion (and other single issues as well), both parties have worked to eliminate the sorts of serious smart pragmatic people who make competent leaders. What we are left with are those willing to toe the party theological line, who are talented at kissing the asses of their party's ideologues, raising money, and looking good on TV, but not much else. But what if absolute consistency on any issue from the left or the right, religious or secular, is an indication of mediocre itelligence and a lack of intellectual honesty? What if the world is a complex place? What if leadership requires flexibility? What if ideological is a bad substitute for commen sense? What if ideological consistency, let alone "purity," is a sign of small-mindedness, maybe even stupidity?"
I believe Barack Obama is the kind of leader we are looking for and more importantly, need. I don't buy into the pundints who say he doesn't really take a stand on any real issues. My thought; perhaps he is "flexible." Oh no! A man that isn't afraid of admitting he makes mistakes. A man who doesn't kiss the asses of the "right people" or "the left". A man who admits a weakness in paperwork, of all things! Obama is our man for 08. A man who thinks outside the box and I believe a man who can be flexible in an ever-changing world.
Please listen...I am not in the slightest way suggesting that Frank Schaeffer supports Barack Obama. It is none of my business and would never think of asking him.
