The reality is that Senator Ted Kennedy's legislative record is unmatched by any other politician who has served during his tenure and that the breath and depth of his social legislation has and will continue to positively impact millions upon millions of Americans and that, if not directly, not one American is more than one or two degrees of separation removed from someone they personally know who has directly benefited from his legislation.
Senator Ted Kennedy made a few regretful personal mistakes during his life but throughout it the better angels of his nature prevailed and our country is a better place as a direct result.
Rest In Peace Senator Ted Kennedy
Let us not pretend that the large private health insurance companies are motivated to provide the best care at the least cost. Indeed, the opposite is true...they are are motivated to provide the least care at the highest cost and do so by denying coverage while increasing premiums. Thus the phrase "Private affordable quality healthcare insurance provided by private healthcare insurers driven to maximize profits" is by definition an oxymoron. Furthermore, the idea that private health insurance corporations will go out of business given the establishment of a public insurance option is simply ludicrous. Instead, with a public option these major health insurance companies will necessarily do what they have not had not to do in a very a long time which is compete in a competitive public market place. Rather than meekly go silently into the night, they would fight to provide the best quality comprehensive healthcare insurance at the lowest cost to the greatest number of people and meanwhile, the public option would serve as a safety net providing affordable basic healthcare coverage to the growing number of us who can least afford it.
President Obama will have sold out to the health insurance industry special interests if he compromises on and drops the public insurance option and more importantly he will have compromised the future of his presidency having handed the Repudiated Republican Party of No the rights to loudly claim Yes We Can!
And Democrats and President Obama will be left with meekly admitting……
no we can’t
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-06-11-wright-obama_N.htm
Sorry to say, as was Barack Obama, I was a defender of Reverend Wright when the national spotlight was first put on him for his infamous 9/11 comments due to the fact that having heard and read them in full context, I knew that they had been quoted and rebroadcasted without any context provided. At that time, I gave him the benefit of doubt until no doubt was left the next time he opened his mouth during last year's National Press Breakfast when full context was indeed provided. Reverend Wright's ignorant public comments today are nothing but the further self-repudiation of himself. He is obviously out of touch with today's social reality, is happy to remain stuck in our nation's past, and it is apparently beyond him to imagine or hope for a better future for anyone including himself. Thus, like for any publicly self-professed extreme left or right wing religious ideologist, it would not bother me to have Reverend Wright closely monitored in sad anticipation of him going beyond hateful words and speech to even sadder actual hateful actions. Nor do I believe would Barack Obama disagree with this assessment.
No Doubt Wright Wrong!
On Monday, former Secretary of State and always a member of the Republican Party Collin Powell stated:
"I think what Rush does as an entertainer diminishes the party and intrudes or inserts into our public life a kind of nastiness that we would be better to do without."
On Wednesday, the "Voice of the GOP" Rush Limbaugh responded with:
"What Colin Powell needs to do is close the loop and become a Democrat instead of claiming to be a Republican interested in reforming the Republican party."
----------------------------------
It is ironic that Colin Powell is one of the very few remaining life-long Republicans whose opinions on critical issues would at least be respectively listened to by the majority of non-Republicans without automatic rejection and that the old/new de facto "leader" of the GOP Rush Limbaugh is calling for the General's ejection from his political party instead.
If the Repudiated Republican Party of No wants to stop the bleeding and begin to broaden its support beyond its diminishing core, former Secretary of State Colin Powell has provided it with the perfect opportunity to do so by first repudiating Rush Limbaugh.
But of course, the chances that the Repudiated Republican Party of No will follow suit are slim and none.
As for Rush Limbaugh's contention that Powell only voted for President Obama because both are black, it follows that he would also contend there were a great many white-faced black people that voted for Barack Obama as well. One contention is as nonsensical as the other unless you are Rush Limbaugh of course. Nastiness indeed.
And as for the great growing number of non-supporters of Rush Limbaugh's fast fading political party are concerned........
Long Live Limbaugh!
To paraphrase Vice President Joe Biden's most famous comment during the presidential campaign, the Republican Party's unified ideological solitary response to our deepening economic recession/depression is...."A noun, a verb, and tax cuts".
For practically all House and Senate Republicans, tax cuts (and particularly those geared toward corporations and the wealthy) are the only practical solution to creating jobs and stimulating our economy. According to Republican Senator McCain and as reflected in his Senate Republican supported but thankfully voted down Senate Economic Stimulus Proposal......
( http://www.usatoday.com/news/mmemmottpdf/McCain-stimulus-plan-1-17-2008.pdf )
....anything else but tax cuts for corporations are 'pork spending" and/or "make work" earmarked projects. And surprisingly or perhaps not, Republicans in general are happy to take their inspiration for their unified opposition to anything else but tax cuts from Taliban insurgents.
If not for the seriousness of the economic crisis, I would enjoy the cluelessness displayed by the Republican Party in their response to this critical issue. Cluelessness as in not understanding that it is the spiralling decline in consumer demand and spending for finished products (as a result of the housing bubble bust) that has resulted in product inventories stacking up, no new supplies being produced, people being laid-off, less consumer income being earned, growing unemployment, and thus less and less money being spent by consumers in the economy and around and around we go.
Simply stated, common sense tells you you can not change the above disasterous circular economic equation by simply cutting corporation tax rates and/or giving corporations and the wealthy additional tax incentives to invest when the demand for their existing products is in decline in the first place.
In other words, we have to put people back to work and put money in people's pockets so that they can in turn spend it and thus stimulate an increase in the demand for products before any sensible business or individual will invest in increasing and building the supply of products.
And at this point, only the government, not the private sector, has the incentive and the ability to increase the demand for products thus putting people back to work fullfilling demand and as a direct result putting money in people's (i.e. consumers) pocket and also cutting their taxes for them to in turn increase their spending for additional products and services.
This should be an easily understandable economic theory and common sense approach for reversing our economic downturn. Unless that is you are a member of the Republican Party whose thinking and speaking is ideologically limited to....
A Noun, a Verb, and Tax Cuts!
As posted in response to CNN’s David Gergen article "In the midst of celebration, darkening clouds" in which he accurately summarizes our existing economic financial crisis without offering any economic advice toward the resolution of it:
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/22/in-the-midst-of-celebration-darkening-clouds/#comment-536524
Resolution of the economic financial crisis starts with accounting for the public bail-out funds already spent; discounting and buying the “bad’ home mortgage assets held by these banks at 50%; allowing existing housing prices to drop down to the point that they are affordable to 60% of the population wherein 40% of their monthly income is spent on housing as opposed to 70% of the population spending in excess of 50%; likewise building new housing at an affordable price by reducing the over-inflated value of the land they are built on, reducing the time, fees and permits required to build affordable housing, and using best practices to cut the material and labor cost required to construct them; and ends with re-regulating the financial industry to ensure that the second half of the TARP funds are actually focuses on funding new mortgages and on extending credit to companies and small businesses actually manufacturing and building viable products rather than simply given without oversight to those companies focused on providing added-on fee income generating financial services.
YES WE DID! YES WE MUST:
Þ Protect him from harm both verbal & phyiscal
Þ Stay "FIRED UP" by staying active
Þ Work Bi-Partisan to bring "Change" together
Þ Don't just bitch, get active and stay engaged
Þ Start and join a local "Change" group
Þ Be philanthropic, serve your community, state and nation
Þ Stick by Obama, STOP smears on the Right & the Left!!!! Hold yourself responsible as you hold Barack!
Join the future of this movement!!
http://change.gov/joinus
http://www.communityorganize.com
http://www.ourpresidency.com
http://www.usaservice.org
http://www.whitehouse.gov
Barack's DNC 2004 Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0&feature=PlayList&p=B1939005B8A4D4ED&index=188
Barack's DNC 2008 Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ato7BtisXzE&feature=channel
Barack’s Election Acceptance Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wJ-2Zu_Iic&feature=channel
Barack’s Inauguration Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjnygQ02aW4
What is Team Change?
Obama community activists, artists, farmers, organizers, educators, doctors, veterans and business leaders wanting to bring hope, change and action to the California Democratic Party, because change brings with us! We are continuing the advocacy of the Obama campaign with a strong and personal commitment to our communities and our issues. With Team Change, You get more than a votes, you get PROVEN & EFFECTIVE WORKER BEES FOR POSITIVE CHANGE!!!
What does Team Change stand for?
¨ Single payer/universal healthcare
¨ Federal & State Funded Stem Cell Research
¨ Fully funding education
¨ Protecting the environment and our natural resources
¨ Equality for all
¨ Taking care of our veterans and their families by honoring our commitments, providing highest level quality programs and services and capacity building to new veterans needs
¨ Greening of business, green energy and products through incentives and regulations
¨ Growing our economy through WPA like programs, small businesses and get Californians back to work with living wages and benefits
¨ Community and national service
¨ Affordable housing, increasing homeowership, government intervention to help individuals and families from foreclosures
¨ Bring more programs and services to our Region
Why come to the Caucuses and vote for Team Change?
To continue the advocacy of the Obama campaign with the leaders who made our movement so successful here locally and nationally. Team Change activists and organizers did not stop on November 4, they continue the fight for positive change everyday in their personal lives, careers, community and philanthropic endeavors. It is important to have these leaders lead the fight for change at the state-level. That’s why we respectfully ask for your vote! This vote is just as important as Nov. 4th, because President Obama will need strong leaders and worker bees for change inside the California Democratic Party to move our Platform foreward!
Where to vote for Team Change?
AD 73 – South Orange County & Oceanside – Saturday, January 10 at 10 am
San Clemente Community Center – Fireside Room
100 N. Calle Seville
San Clemente, 92672
AD 74 – North County San Diego – Sunday, January 11 at Noon
CWA Local 9511
1525 Simpson Way, Escondido, 92029
AD 75 – Central San Diego – Sunday, January 11 at 11 am
SpringHill Suites – Scripps Room
12032 Scripps Highlands Drive
San Diego, 92131 (Scripps Ranch)
AD 76 – Downtown San Diego & Beaches – Saturday, January 10 at 9 am
Belmont Park Community Room
3115 Mission Blvd
San Diego, 92109 (Mission Beach)
How to vote for Team Change?
Pre-register for the Caucus at www.cadems.org on the right side of the page. Come to the Caucus meet Team Change delegate candidates and they will hand you a slate card. Then proceed to the Registration Table to get your ballot.
Team Change Delegate Candidates
AD 73
Erin Gilligan-Morin
Raad Ghantous
Anna-Maria Mannino
AD 74
Benjamin Bates
Martha Sullivan
Rachel Rott
Carla Mays
Charles “Charlie” Imes
Fabio Marchi
Gabriel Mendez
Nanci Oeschle
Rebecca Leo
Rick Hall
AD 75
Michael "Mickey" & Holly Foster
Drs. Robert and Yvonne Frisby
Maurice and Roma Weaver
Gerold Firl
Gerry Senda
AD 76
Dr. Michael McQuarry
Gail Mackler
Mike Russell
Larry and Donna Dawson
Greg Bolian
Brian Polejes
