Dear Americans :
Life in America is obamerican !!!
For the first time in the history of the United States of America there is a health care
initiative that will make the realization of universal health care coverage a possibility for
all Americans !!! This is the best achievement for American citizens since Social Security
and Medicare became a standard !!! We are going to be insured !!!
All of us !! Our neighbours !! The PEOPLE !!
So let's find that extra time to make calls to the Senate !!!
Let's work overtime in sending emails to our U.S. Senators to make this happen !!!
I am sure most of Obama Democrats would travel to Washington , D. C. just
to march infront of the doors of the Senate to make the health
care bill that our country needs become a reality !!! !!! !!!
So let's help President Obama make U . S . History !!!
Let's ROCK 'N' ROLL !!! !!!
Yours ,
Kai B .
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2009
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
Small Businesses and Health Insurance Reform
Washington, DC
I asked you here today to talk about health insurance reform, and why it is so critical to the success of small businesses across our country. But before I do, let me take a minute to talk about the new economic numbers that were released this morning.
I am gratified that our economy grew in the third quarter of this year. We’ve come a long way since the first three months of 2009, when our economy shrunk by an alarming 6.4 percent. In fact, the 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter is the largest three-month gain we have seen in two years. This is obviously welcome news and an affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we’ve taken have made a difference.
But I also know that we have a long way to go to fully restore our economy, and recover from what has been the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression. And while this report today represents real progress, the benchmark I use to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our GDP is growing, but whether we are creating jobs, whether families are having an easier time paying their bills, whether our businesses are hiring and doing well. And that’s what I’m here to talk with you about today.
I know many of you have come from different corners of our country to be here and looking out at all of you, I’m reminded of the extraordinary diversity of America’s small businesses. You’re owners of coffee shops, diners, and hotels. You’re florists, exterminators, and builders. Each of your shops and firms reflects different passions, different ideas, and different skills.
But what you share is a willingness to pursue those passions, take a chance on those ideas, and make the most of those skills. What you share is an entrepreneurial spirit, a tireless work ethic, and a simple hope for something better that lies at the heart of the American ideal. Businesses like yours are the engine of job-growth in America. Over the past decade and a half, America’s small businesses have created 65 percent of all new jobs in this country. And more than half of all Americans working in the private sector are either employed by a small business or own one.
Now, even in good economic times, starting a business isn’t easy. It takes moxie, gumption, and ingenuity, and failure is often more likely than success. But I don’t have to tell all of you that it’s been particularly difficult over the past few years. From the middle of 2007 through the end of 2008, small businesses lost 2.4 million jobs. Thousands have shut their doors altogether. And because of the credit crunch, banks have shrunk back from lending, making it harder to get loans to branch out, finance your inventories, or even make payroll. Maybe you’ve had to forego raises. Maybe you’ve had to do the unthinkable and lay off friends or family.
So, I know how tough these times have been for small businesses. That’s why we made sure the Recovery Act included a number of measures to help small businesses weather this economic storm. We’ve put a tax cut into the pockets of the vast majority of small businesses owners and employees. We’ve supported nearly 35,000 loans to small businesses – more than $13 billion in new lending. More than 1,200 banks and credit unions that had stopped issuing SBA loans when the financial crisis hit are lending again today. And just last week, we proposed increasing the cap on what are called 7(a) and 504 loans – some of the loans most frequently handed out by the SBA.
But given the enormous problems small businesses and all Americans are facing today, these steps are by no means enough. If we’re serious about strengthening small businesses; if we’re serious about creating a climate where our entrepreneurs can succeed; if we’re serious about giving you the chance to prosper and grow, then we need to pass health insurance reform in the United States of America.
Few have a bigger stake in what happens than all of you. Few have a bigger stake than the men and women who own a small business, work at a small business, or rely on someone who does. Few have a bigger stake in what happens because few are struggling more under the status quo.
We all know that family premiums have skyrocketed more than 130 percent over the past decade. But small businesses have been hit harder than most. A story in the paper just the other day said that many small businesses may see their premiums rise about 15 percent over the coming year – twice the rate they rose last year. And in part because small businesses pay higher administrative costs than large ones, your employees pay up to 18 percent more in premiums for the very same health insurance policies.
In one national survey, nearly three quarters of small business that don’t offer benefits cited high premiums as the reason. Is anyone surprised by that?
The bottom line is that too many Americans like you can’t afford to build the kinds of businesses you’d been hoping to build. And too many budding entrepreneurs can’t afford to take a gamble on a smart idea because they can’t give up the health insurance they get in their current job. That’s bad for our economy, it’s bad for our country, and it’s what we’ll change when health insurance reform becomes law.
Just this morning, the House of Representatives released its version of health reform legislation, and I want to commend Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic Caucus for their leadership in achieving this critical milestone. There is no doubt that this legislation – and the legislation that’s now being drafted in the Senate – would benefit millions of small businesses. It is being written with the interests of Americans like you and your employees in mind.
And yet, there are those with a vested interest in the status quo who are claiming otherwise, using misleading figures and disingenuous arguments. So, let me try and explain as clearly as I can exactly what health insurance reform would mean for small business owners like you and the workers you employ.
The first thing I want to make clear is that if you’re happy with the insurance plan you have right now; if the costs you’re paying and the benefits you’re getting are what you want them to be – then you can keep offering that same plan. Nobody will make you change it.
What we will do is make your coverage more affordable by offering a tax credit to small businesses that are trying to do the right thing and provide coverage for their employees. And we will also make your coverage more stable and more secure. Right now, if just one of your workers falls seriously ill, it could spell disaster for your entire business. You could see your premiums shoot up and you could be faced with a painful choice: Do you eat the costs and ask your workers to contribute more? Do you seek another insurance plan, without any guarantee that you’ll be able to find one that’s affordable? Or do you scale back benefits or drop coverage altogether?
Well, I don’t think you should have to make a choice like that in the United States of America. Under health insurance reform, we will put an end to the days when an insurance company could use a worker’s illness to justify jacking up premiums. We’ll crack down on excessive overhead charges by setting strong standards on how much of your premiums can go toward administrative costs and requiring insurers to give you a refund if they violate those standards. It will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. And it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most.
They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. If you get your insurance through your employer, we’ll change the cutoff on how old your kids can be to remain on your plan – we’ll raise it to 26 years old. We’ll place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies – because there’s no reason we shouldn’t be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives.
That’s what we’ll do for all the small businesses that have insurance. And for all the small businesses that don’t, we’ll finally make quality coverage affordable. Here’s how we’ll do it. One of the biggest problems in our health care system right now is that if you’re a small business owner or if you’re self-employed, you often have such a small number of workers that insurance companies aren’t all that interested in your business. As a result, you end up paying higher costs than big businesses that can get better deals because they have more workers.
So, what we’ll do is set up what we’re calling an exchange that will pool small businesses together. That will mean it’s not just you bargaining with insurance companies, it’s you and many others. With all that additional leverage, you’ll be able to get better deals than you ever could have received on your own. In fact, small businesses that choose one of the plans in this exchange could save 25 percent on their premiums by 2016. And we’ll also offer tax credits to make insurance even more affordable for millions of small businesses. Meanwhile, by expanding coverage for more Americans, we’ll help eliminate the “hidden tax” of more than $1,000 that workers pay to cover the medical expenses of the uninsured.
Now, it is true that when reform becomes law, businesses of a certain size who do not offer their workers health coverage may be required to contribute to the costs. Opponents of reform have tried to use this to mislead small business owners by claiming that you would be subject to this penalty. But the fact is, about 90 percent of all small businesses would be exempt from this requirement – about 90 percent. So, if your business is anything like the vast majority of small businesses out there, this requirement simply won’t apply to you – because I don’t think it’s fair to impose a penalty on small businesses.
That’s what health insurance reform would mean for you and for all our small businesses. It will reduce your costs. It will prevent small business owners from facing exorbitant rates. And it will make coverage affordable for all the small businesses that can’t afford it right now.
But it will also do something more. It will help remove the worry that if you have the courage to strike out on your own and open a business, you’ll be doomed from the start. It will help give entrepreneurs and all Americans the assurance of knowing they won’t go broke when they get sick. It will help ensure that no small business owner in America has to choose between being a successful employer or a decent one. It will help us be the kind of country we know ourselves to be.
What’s at stake, then, isn’t just the success of our businesses or the strength of our economy or even the health of our people. What’s at stake is that most American of ideas – that this is a place where you can make it if you try; where you can be your own boss; where the only limits to what you can achieve are your smarts, your savvy, and your dreams; where you can pass on to your children a better life than you inherited.
That’s what’s at stake. That’s what we are fighting for. And I am absolutely confident that if we do what must be done; if we can build an economy that works for all Americans; if we can promote innovation, foster growth, and build a better health care system – then not only will we ease the burdens on entrepreneurs, not only will we give our small businesses a big boost, and not only will we produce the kind of growth we so desperately need in this country, but we will secure the blessings of America for our children and grandchildren. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
Dear O F A health care heros :
300,000 calls and more have been made to Congess !!
Making health care reform work is not entirely in the hands of Congress and
the Senate , it is also in the hands of us - the people of
the United States of America !!! There were phone booth parties , there
were blogs , there were letters and there were hundreds of
thousands of unpaid , passionate calls !!!
The people want President Obama s health care reform !!!
Government by the people , for the people , of the people !!
And not health insurance by the C E O s , for the
profit , and of a few insured !!!
We will win !!! Insurance for everyone will win !!!
A new America of better health will win !!!
May GOD bless real health care reform !!! !!!
Kai
Please sign in to vote on suggestions and submit your own.
Or select from the following categories to see some ideas that have already been submitted:
For more information, visit WH.gov/CEQ
Dear Obama fans & friends :
It is a great week for the Obamas !!! The Norwegen delegation of the world-famous
Nobel Prize has given the Nobel PEACE Prize to Barack Hussein Obama !!!
I am certain this means a lot to President Obama although he stated that it was a
surprize to him !!! Politically I am sure this is a Scandinavian effort to put more
emphasis on diplomacy as a form to resolve the conflicts of the world ( No boom bomb
Iran !! ) , but also an encouragement to follow through on removing American
troops from Iraq and turning over a souvereign Iraq to an elected Iraqi
government that will be responsible for all situations and dealings on its
territory !!! I remember the brutal years of the Bush SHOCK AND AWE
bombings of Baghdad and Iraq that killed thousands of Iraqi
women and children that were innocent of any wrongdoing !!!
SHAME on George W. Bush !!!
But we have to move on ! ! !
I think the Nobel Peace Prize is a good initiative to do
just that !!! We can invest in a greater number of
diplomatic strategies and perhaps develop a diplomatic
task force to influence the diverse culture of
Afghanistan !!!
Please dear reader :
Let ' s have a united CHEER for
President Obama ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Sincerely ,
Ariel
September 28, 2009
DAILY GUIDANCE AND PRESS SCHEDULE FOR
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2009
In the morning, the President will receive the Presidential Daily Briefing, the Economic Daily Briefing, and meet with senior advisors in the Oval Office. These meetings are closed press.
Later, the President will meet with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in the Oval Office. There will be a pool spray at the bottom of the meeting.
In the afternoon, the President and the Vice President will meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in the Oval Office. This meeting is closed press.
NOTE: The President is scheduled to meet with his national security team on Afghanistan on Wednesday afternoon.
In-Town Travel Pool
Wires: AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
Wire Photos: AP, Reuters, AFP
TV Corr & Crew: CBS
Print: Tribune
Radio: CBS
Magazine Photo: New York Times
EDT
9:00AM Pool Call Time
9:30AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press
9:50AM THE PRESIDENT receives the Economic Daily Briefing
10:10AM THE PRESIDENT meets with senior advisors
11:30AM THE PRESIDENT meets with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
Pool spray at the bottom (Gather Time 11:55AM – Briefing Room)
4:30PM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT meet with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Briefing Schedule
1:00PM Briefing by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
##
Dear Obama friends :
The G-20 meeting is occuring in Pittsburg and I appreciate the fact
that there are so many around the world since the meltdown in 2008 !!
Here is my input on how Obama is doing economically and how things are
going for us recession-wise :
The big days of corporate greed and greedy corporations that operate at the
expense of the little guy are over !!! Obamanomics is stimulating
the market with competition efforts that help smaller businesses !!
All 3 key indexes on Wall Sreet are now growing again !!!
The Dow Jones industrial is near the 10000 mark which would normally
mean that there is no recession !!!
After about a year of the Gross Domestic Product receeding
we will finally see the G D P growing again this year !!!
The only concern that still makes us feel the
recession is the employment market !!
With the credit crunch having occured and the recession
having been rather severe until recently ,
unemployment is on the rise and employers are
still scared to employ !!!
This is the only point why people are saying that
we are still in a recession !!!
My prognosis is that with even better growth on
Wall Street and even more economic business growth
in the near future , things on Main Street
will improve as well !!!
This means that unemployment numbers could drop
again as early as next year !!!
LET'S ALL CHEER ON PRESIDENT OBAMA ' S ECONOMIC
EFFORTS SO FAR ! ! !
Arielius
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School EventArlington, Virginia September 8, 2009Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year. Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in. So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right. But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall. And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying. No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School EventArlington, Virginia September 8, 2009
Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today. I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it’s your first day in a new school, so it’s understandable if you’re a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you’re in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could’ve stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn’t have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday – at 4:30 in the morning.Now I wasn’t too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I’d fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I’d complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I’m here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year. Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn. I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox. I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve. But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed. And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself. Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide. Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future. You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy. We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country. Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.I get it. I know what that’s like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn’t always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn’t fit in. So I wasn’t always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I’m not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse. But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our First Lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn’t have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right. But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying. Where you are right now doesn’t have to determine where you’ll end up. No one’s written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future. That’s what young people like you are doing every day, all across America. Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn’t speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.I’m thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who’s fought brain cancer since he was three. He’s endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer – hundreds of extra hours – to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he’s headed to college this fall. And then there’s Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she’s on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren’t any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things. But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying. No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals. And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It’s the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country? Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don’t let us down – don’t let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am excited to let you know that I have arrived in Charlotte, NC as the new Regional Field Director for Organizing for America. I arrive in the midst of a historic health care debate and I can tell by the chatter in the streets that you are as fired up about health care change as I am! I want you to know that I am here to support you in your efforts to bring about the change that we all seek. I hope to help provide structure and direction to our movement so that we in Charlotte are working together as a strong and cohesive team. I want to urge you to join me for a brief informative meeting and Q & A session so that I can reveal to you much of the future that will be a part of OFA in Charlotte but also to hear from you about your concerns. Please sign up and join me at one of the following meeting opportunities next week! 1) Wednesday, August 26, 2009. Independence Library
6000 conference dr Charlotte, NC 28212
7:00 - 8:30 PM http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpffht 2) Thursday, August 27, 2009 Freedom Regional Library
1230 Alleghany Street Charlotte, NC 28208 7:00 - 8:30 PM http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpffhr
For questions or concerns please email me at brownk@dnc.org Sincerely, Kevin Brown Regional Field Director Organizing for America
Dear Bloggers and internet Obama supporters :
Now more than ever our country needs a new direction and a
recipe for change of the old Washington that has privatized health care ,
endangered the functionality of Medicare under Bush , and simply
supported corporate greed in the field of health systems and
the pharmaceutical industry !!!
Barack Obama 's health insurance reform plan is a good one ,
although somewhat ambitious !!!
We should all resist the Republican tactics of stalling this plan
in the House and Senate that as we see today have
fostered the fear that the reform is too costly overall
and that people should be critical of a government change
because it is something completely new !! We can
refer to this as xenophobia , but really it is the
uncertainties created by the Republican fear monging that
get to us and make the length of the debate so
stressfull !! SO let ' s look at the facts :
The health reform can achieve insurance for EVERYONE !!!
Millions of children in our America are still uninsured !!!
This drives families into bankruptcy if they have a sick child
and instead of the government picking up the tap in
bankruptcy court , the government CAN insure at a better
price and at the same time ensure a better health
of the child !!!
Besides Obama ' s health care reform making us look good
and civlizing our society to a higher standard in the
international arena , we will simply benefit from the
reform on a daily basis once it has been implemented !!
Chances are that the reform will be a plus for
the pharmaceutical industry in the long run because
it can make us more competative and inventive
overall !!!
ELI LILLY PHARMACEUTICALS will agree !!!
SO let ' s keep the momentum from last year
going and let ' s organize a national revolution
for America , for our health , and for
President Barack Obama !!!
A R I E L
Subject: Palin comment is the stupidest thing ever written!
KIRK
http://www.nationalledger.com/ledgerdc/article_272627336.shtml#sharethis
MUST WATCH:
Here's Howard Dean explaining why Co-Ops (baby Public Options per state) instead of a true, strong Public Option Plan are just another con tactic of the insurance/drug companies and well-bribed politicians. WATCH THEN SHARE EVERYWHERE:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Sjxj7XosAIt is of vital importance that EVERYONE learns the truth about this 'Co-Op thing'
p.s. President Obama yelled out 'I Want Public Option' during today's N. Carolina health care town hall. It is up to We The People to SPEAK OUT in unison ! Contact The Blue Dog Dems...Shout "WE MUST HAVE PUBLIC OPTION" !!!
Canadians are frustrated according Ipsos-McClatchy poll when waiting to get access to or making an appointment with a family care physician or specialist, but are satisfied with getting access at an affordable cost, and very satisfied with the level of treatment and respect they receive from their providers. Can Americans say the same? Well according to the poll Americans are more likely to get access to physicians sooner but at higher costs and not the same level of treatment and respect from their providers on coverage. President Obama said in his healthcare press conference that costs are high in part when unnecessary care or non critical care is being attended to and physicians prescribe tests or medications that don't necessarily advance treatment. Some providers don't pay or limit coverage for patients. Somewhere the playing has got to be leveled. I'm not listening to naysayers and fear-mongers like Sens.Mitch McConnell & Judd Gregg who use extremisms to claim there will be dying people in the streets if U.S. uses a single payer system like Canada or the U.K. At least (Dr.)Sen. Coburn & (Dr.)Sen. Barasso are tryiing to solicit input from their constituents in the Republican party. However, if Sen. McConnell or Sen.Gregg think that a form of "socialized" universal medicine is going to kill people endlessly waiting, then we are already doing that here in the U.S. when if you are poor, or lower income, or even middle income, and you can't afford healthcare for yourself or your family to gain access to a physician, then I say those people are already on death's door if you use McConnell's & the Republicans analogy!
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/72229.html
Watch and enjoy this commercial spot for CaliforniaOne Care , a single payer universal healthcare organization. Ernestine Tomlin as played by Lily Tomlin (" one ringy-dingy" of the generic phone co. days) clearly demonstrates what our managed healthcare is doing...or not doing in this case..that is providing full healthcare coverage for all. A single payer universal healthcare may be the way to go, especially when you have a broken system. I don't like the fact that there may be the possibility of throwing good money after bad to fix a broken system in order to reform it, especially when you have the head cheifs at HMO's and administrative heads that have been benefitting from the excess greed. Analogous to the auto industry: GM & Chrysler, the gov't couldn't continue to throw good money after bad to save a failing industry especially when the corporate head made bad decision ,and were slow to change but continued to reap in large salaries. Our healthcare deserves better management , and it needs to be affordable, accessible, and cover everyone with conditions. Take the waste & greed out, and place prevention and appropriate healthcare in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF0AJ4fp0eg
(Baucus and crew) don't need a health care option plan because they already have their own personal version of Govt. Run Health care for themselves. The American People are being held Hostage by Max Baucus and he doesn't even care that the American People are suffering and dying because they don't have, nor can they afford the cost of Affordable Health Care.
It is a game called Delay, Delayed and THEN Denied. We the American People are not moved by their tactics or tricks!! Yeah It may have been stonewalled and delayed, but when we the American People start calling, emailing, and spamming them at least 20 to 30 times a day, they will change their minds and get on the Right-side of History and stop straggling the fence and carrying water for the the health insurance companies.
