President Obama
this is a sincere request from a lifelong progressive is please start acting on footsteps of President Roosevelt. The time has come for you too step up in light of your incompetent and coward democratic colleagues to take bold actions in health care reform. we are nehind you if you choose to write executive order. you need to do for healthcare reform what what president roosevelt did for conservation. use those tactics. there is a higher calling in doing this than getting elected in next election (like most of your democratic colleagues) are on the verge of doing. you have super majority. what are you waiting for. republicans are never coming to this party. they are like pack of dogs. they go in packs not like idependent thinkers with any sense of realism.
you have a golden opprotunity to save this country from sinking under the burden of greed. otherwise we will be the next yes men for china and india in coming generation.
hoping for real change not just slogans
On a bright and beautiful late summer Sunday my younger sister & I created a banner, put on our tennis shoes, and headed to Upper Senate Park in DC to show our support for healthcare reform in general and more specifically, for the need for a public option. After 3 hours of marching around the fountain and listening to extemporaneous speakers we returned home disappointed and frustrated that fewer than 1,000 fellow citizens chose to attend.
For many months we have been engaged in what I'll call "passive" efforts to support healthcare reform. We have called, written, blogged, tweeted, and spoken with many on the 'net and in-person to encourage support for healthcare reform.
We support a strong public option and have been dumbfounded as the discourse has shifted from single-payer to 'a public option' to 'triggers' and 'co-ops' and ultimately, no public option. We read the newspapers and polls with chagrin as we've watched the support for even a small governmental insurance option diminish. Daily reports about the death of the public option have us asking: Will public apathy be the death of the public option?
In a city where Obama won by commanding margins one might think that more than 1,000 would come out to support healthcare reform or at least to refute the previous days "Tea Party." As we arrived at the Park a couple of leftover Tea Partiers asked if we were part of the Tea Party group, claiming that 1.6 MILLION people had been on the Mall the previous day. We inquired about their ability to count and said we were on our way to rally in support of healthcare reform. We were feeling positive and optimistic as we approached the Senate Park thinking that a at least few thousand people would be there marching and demonstrating... When we realized that fewer than 1,000 people were coming today but AND that more of them seemed to be from outside the DC region, we felt a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Where were all those who voted for Obama? Where were all those DC/MD/VA reformers who blog and tweet on a seemingly daily basis? Why such a small group of clearly committed supporters in a city of so many Obama voters?
I can only conclude that many liberals believe the mere act of putting Obama in the Presidency was all that would be needed to get a progressive agenda put in place. The scary, wacky and very vocal tea baggers and right-wingers have made it clear that a bit more effort will be required. Those who support healthcare reform with a strong public option need to get off their computers and quit blogging or tweeting long enough to make our voices heard in the REAL rather than virtual world.
Is anyone interested in Organizing for America being at this event? More details can be found at: http://www.usn.edu/events-calendar/detail/901-usn-to-hold-summer-health-festival, or see "Extended Post Text" below. It would be an excellent opportunity to put forth Healthcare Reform concepts.
Is anyone interested in Organizing for America being at this event? More details can be found at the University of Southern Nevada Website or see "Extended Post Text" below. It would be an excellent opportunity to put forth Healthcare Reform concepts.
Twenty people came to the Organizing for America Healthcare Reform Kickoff house meeting I hosted yesterday. I only regret I forgot to take photos. What an amazing group! Nobody seemed to mind the tight fit of my small condo. We were too busy sharing stories about the need for reform.
One woman shared the full time job it was getting her mother into long term care. "As a single woman, who will do that for me when it's my turn? We need an easier system." A young 25-year-old said "I have had Type I Diabetes my whole life. Yet, I've never worried about my health - only my healthcare coverage." One college graduate, in spite of a full-time job, spends $500 a month on private insurance.
Clara, 80-years-old discussed the donut hole in medicare...the gap between what is covered and what is not covered. "I thankfully have a pharmacist who helps me know which drugs to ask the doctor to prescribe to save me money. I thank her with lottery tickets...but why can't my doctor be prescribing the least expensive options? What would I do if I didn't have a good relationship with pharmacist?"
What amazed me is that so many people attended this meeting. Different ages; different stories; one goal: pass healthcare reform NOW. I can't remember the last time a newly elected president called on supporters to continue their involvement through service and civic engagement. We are honored to answer that call and work for the best policy possible.
We will keep meeting and keep working until Obama's healthcare reform is passed. All agree this is the year - we can no longer afford to sit back and let congress do its work. WE must be our own best lobbyists and stay as active as we were during the campaign.
We will meet again June 14. See events. We are planning a video library project of healthcare stories. Please contact me if you have experience with video editing. We want to capture stories from around Denver. michelle.joy@comcast.net
Thank you all!
