From the Washington Post
House leaders put in motion the machinery to hold a rare Saturday vote on the most far-reaching expansion of the health-care system in more than 40 years.Many Democrats said passing the measure has become even more crucial politically after Republicans won governor's races in Virginia and New Jersey this week. So Democratic whips worked their rank and file, while House leaders tried to secure a momentum-building endorsement from the AARP, the nation's largest association of people over 50. President Obama, meanwhile, laid plans to visit Capitol Hill on Thursday or Friday to address House Democrats in a final push for his signature domestic initiative…Late Wednesday, a bill that Republicans expect to offer as an alternative to the Democratic package received its assessment from congressional budget analysts, who concluded that the proposal would barely dent the ranks of the uninsured.The measure would cover 3 million additional people at a cost of $60 billion through 2019, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The Democrats' bill, by comparison, would cover far more -- 36 million additional Americans -- at a much higher cost -- $1.055 trillion through 2019, the CBO has said…
From the Wisconsin State Journal
On the anniversary of last year's historic election, President Barack Obama on Wednesday told an audience of more than 600 at Madison's Wright Middle School that he wanted to use more than $4 billion in federal incentives to "make education America's national mission…"Stressing in his 31-minute speech that the "currency of today's economy is knowledge," Obama said states must adopt high standards for student achievement, hold teachers accountable and even be prepared to step in and take over failing schools to win competitive federal grants.To help Wisconsin qualify for a share of the $4.35 billion in "Race to the Top" stimulus money, lawmakers are expected Thursday to remove a barrier in state law to using student test scores as a factor in evaluating teachers. But a further reform endorsed by Obama - allowing the state superintendent to change the curriculum and even the personnel in failing schools - is on hold for now in the Legislature."I'm proud to say that already a number of states have taken us up on this challenge," Obama said. "In states like California and Indiana and Wisconsin, you're seeing steps taken to remove these so-called firewall laws so we can have a clear look at how well our children are learning and what can be done to help them learn better."
From The Nation
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama won 66 percent of voters under 30, increasing the Democratic share of the youth vote by 12 percent over 2004. Young people were among Obama's earliest and most important supporters; people under 30, for example, represented Obama's margin of victory in Iowa, the crucial first caucus. Rallies like this one, with thousands of young people putting their hands in the air for healthcare reform, are the most obvious indication of continuing youth enthusiasm for the president…West had never touched politics before Obama, and now she's addicted, continuing to volunteer thirty-five hours a week for Organizing for America, the DNC group that grew out of the Obama campaign….In interviews with thirty young people around the country who worked on the Obama field campaign, almost all said that they continued their activism well after the endorphins of winning wore off. Obama has been called a rock star, but this group's experiences suggest that the campaign instilled a commitment to service, not a cult of personality. Though many former campaigners are still fans and several now work for the Obama administration, most are less interested in Washington politics than they are in community organizing. As former staffer Marcus Ryan, 25, says, "Once you turn on that community organizing perspective, it's hard to turn off…”
From the Terre Haute Tribune Star
Snacking on cheese and crackers in an upstairs apartment, political activists took time to celebrate where they were this time last year. Jim Wright, a local activist with Organizing for America, hosted an informal reunion of President Barack Obama’s campaign supporters on the second floor of a former Unitarian Church carriage house at 416 S. Sixth St…We need to remember what we were doing a year ago,” he said, explaining the importance of maintaining the group’s organization and energy. Angie Heath, a Vigo County schoolteacher, said Obama’s was the first campaign in which she’d ever participated. “I got involved because of the candidate,” she said, describing health care reform as “something I’m passionate about…”Kim Danner also listed health care reform as topping her concerns. A recent biopsy scare made her wonder what might happen if she lost her existing coverage and had to conduct a search while bearing a pre-existing condition…
