I'm making phone calls, sending e-mail messages, connecting with volunteers from the campaign to REMOBILIZE the campaign effort for the passage of real, lasting health care reform THIS YEAR. I am serving as the OFA Regional Lead for part of the 4th Congressional District and the 7th Congressional District in Virginia. Staff will be in state soon, but for this effort it is up to us volunteers to take the reigns and restart the campaign to fix our health care system.
If you have not signed up to host a Health Care Organizing Kickoff meeting for the first weekend of June, please do so.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/create
Even having five friends sitting around your kitchen table for this would work. We will be working on this project all summer and until an acceptable health care reform package is passed and signed into law. We will be canvassing, making calls, and reaching out to our communities. Please reconnect with your campaign friends to INSIST on a new health care system that will provide health care to ALL at an affordable price and allow patients to choose their own care providers.
If you cannot host a meeting, please sign up to attend one.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/search_simple?source=sidenav
Bobbie, Tara, Ty and I attended the 3rd meeting of OfA on the East End, at the Southold Unitarian Universalist Church today, Sat., 2/28/09. Their group is about the same size as ours. Counting the four of us, there were 52 people in attendance. In a previous meeting, OfA East End established several committees: leadership, service, environment, youth and economy. Today we heard reports from all the committee leaders. They have a very ambitious agenda, and a lot of energy. It was great to see. Their service group is taking a similar approach to ours; looking for opportunities for their members to volunteer with existing local organizations. The economy group is already planning to start lobbying local politicians to get behind the Obama stimulus plan, and bring it down to the local level. The head of their youth group is an organizer for Communities that Care, which we heard about in our last meeting, and may be involved with the Springs group.
Dear friends in Obama-ites:
After the great surge of elected strength which put Barack Obama into office to lead us through this tough time of recovery, we in Mendocino County (check it out, 3 groups already!) are interested in sustaining a viable base of Obama supporters who can keep the "hope alive" and remain an active force both on the internet and in our County. The easiest way to do this, I believe, is the continue to gather informally to discuss all things Obama, to learn each others names, to volunteer for community events as a block, and to be a support for each other. I created the Mendobama Coffee Club, last Fridays of the month, 3:30pm (tea time, actually) to meet at the Coffee Critic on N. State Street & Scott in Ukiah, for that very purpose.
I hope you will join me - and comment to me here online about what you would like to see happen, your ideas on inplementing change and most importantly, supporting the President on a grassroots level. Hope to see you at a meeting sometime!
Katharine Cole
Dear Friends at "Change Begins with YavapaiC";
I'm logging in "Organizing for America" (my.barackobama.com) at least twice daily to find postings by our group members. To my disappointment there are practicaly no postings available. I thouht that this would be the wall that we would all visit from time to time as a bulletin board as means for our communication.
Chip and Lou Ann, also Keren Clark do inform us via email as events are being planned, but I think our group members are missing out by not sharing thoughts as deemed necessary for good exchange prior to any gatherings.
I propose to agree on some form of exchange of thoughts regarding the unfolding of these historical times with Barack. There must be lots of ideas, questions, unknowns, doubts and the like that we together could get some light shed on or questions answered, anxieties calmed. We are missing out here and since we all want the Barack Obama Administration to succeed, we must have a closer tie to be developed amongst our like mindset.
I hope I'm not coming on too strong, but really want to get beyond wishful thinking or just waiting for the next gathering.
Another observation; we have to get to that website, desktop, laptop or mobile and read those posts. I see posts that are begging for replies but there are NONE.
I'm looking forward to see you guys March 1, Sunday at Casa Bonita! See you there.
Great opportunity (Economic Recovery Meeting)
Friends, neighbors, and family coming together to accept the challenge to get involved in eliminating waste in local government that ultimately affects our economic climate.We will target schools and local government offices to identify and eliminate wasteful spending. We will commend and recommend changes for more effevtive use of public dollars.
Calling All Artists, Creative Types, Fun People and Other Superheroes Meeting at Specialtys Cafe in Santa Clara was enlightening. We turned the corner in the cafe into the meeting area to see a bunch of tables covered with butcher paper, crayons and miscellaneous other stuff: big fluffy brushes, cat musician statues, pine cones, press-on lights and turkey feathers. All tools to inspire and motivate brainstorming. Our host Janet, AKA Jon, got our creative juices going.
Meet with like-minded friends and neighbors for an lively brainstorming session on what we can do to start creating the change we want. Expect to come away with specific, achievable and fun objectives; small steps and short term goals with long term results.Our first event was a lot of fun, and people came away with a better sense of where they wanted to contribute their time and energy. Since we have a mix of new people and people who were at the first meeting, we will blend the same kind of brainstorming with coming up with at least one small, easy step we can each take toward achieving our contribution goals. We will stick with things that personally intrigue and energize us, to make it easier to take those steps.We need all of us, with all our various interests, abilities and experiences to make this a great nation and a good world, whether times are good or bad.
Meet with like-minded friends and neighbors for an lively brainstorming session on what we can do to start creating the change we want. Expect to come away with specific, achievable and fun objectives; small steps and short term goals with long term results.
Our first event was a lot of fun, and people came away with a better sense of where they wanted to contribute their time and energy. Since we have a mix of new people and people who were at the first meeting, we will blend the same kind of brainstorming with coming up with at least one small, easy step we can each take toward achieving our contribution goals. We will stick with things that personally intrigue and energize us, to make it easier to take those steps.
We need all of us, with all our various interests, abilities and experiences to make this a great nation and a good world, whether times are good or bad.
It kind of worked. By having people write their notes in crayon on the tables, it put most of the group on the same wave length. Silicon Valley, the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, United States of America and the bay area in general, have over 100 active BarackObama.com active groups. Most groups are within an hour drive of each other. We are concerned that ideas and work may be duplicated because each group is isolated. We could strategize more efficiently and work towards results if people interested in the same topic connected.
We broke into four groups of 4-5 and brainstormed together. My groups spent the part of the 20 minutes or so talking about how we could find out what other regional groups are working on. How to merge interests and resources? We also discussed specific ideas people want to champion such as converting from oil to solar energy.
After 20 minutes, everyone got up and switched groups. So by the end of the meeting, you talked with at least 12 people, a majority of folks who showed up. Many had participated in the Santa Clara economic recovery meeting at the library mentioned in the San Jose Mercury News article, "Weekend 'Stimulus Parties' Bring out Obama Faithful Across the Nation" by Denis C. Theriault. The group plans to meet monthly, so it'll probably get a lot done over time.
Over 20 humans and 3 dogs met the first Saturday of February to talk about the Obama Administration's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, at that time known as the economic recovery plan.
fixing the economy is like our getting our new puppy. you get an older one to help entertain the new guy. she takes off gets hit and you gotta pay the vet bills. Plus all the normal puppy work.But now you're obligated, so bear down and learn to enjoy it. No turning back. It'll get better. So come see our new dogs, and we'll watch barack.Most People are talking about shooting for noon. and hanging out for an hour or two. my original idea was an open house, but maybe that defeats the purpose of networking between y'all. Anyway i'm excited to network. My ideas on the stimulus plan line up with Obamas call to winterize homes. I'm into energy policy, This seems like this is a good way to flex this Organizing for America system and see if it works.
fixing the economy is like our getting our new puppy. you get an older one to help entertain the new guy. she takes off gets hit and you gotta pay the vet bills. Plus all the normal puppy work.But now you're obligated, so bear down and learn to enjoy it. No turning back. It'll get better. So come see our new dogs, and we'll watch barack.
Most People are talking about shooting for noon. and hanging out for an hour or two. my original idea was an open house, but maybe that defeats the purpose of networking between y'all. Anyway i'm excited to network. My ideas on the stimulus plan line up with Obamas call to winterize homes. I'm into energy policy, This seems like this is a good way to flex this Organizing for America system and see if it works.
Our host, Tod, started us out by playing Governor Tim Kaine Answers Economic Recovery Questions video. The next few hours we spent talking issues important to Silicon Valley in specific and America in general.A couple of the action items we took away was to contact (e-mail, phone, snail mail) our US Congress representatives and other influential congress people in other states.We could focus on whatever topics interested us most but the main goal was to encourage them to support the stimulus bill. Most non wealthy people can afford to wait out the bad economy without work from our government.
Below are pictures of some human participants and a couple dogs. The long haired Dachshund puppy was the host dog and the black terrier, Culo, was the visitor dog.The meeting ended with a homemade berry and oatmeal dish, salad and pulled pork. A very nice Mountain View CA meeting all around.
Though we were small in number we were large in ideas and heart. Below are the policy issues and that we developed.
Policy/Issues (Education, Healthcare, Environment,
& Economy)
Education
1) Fully invest in teachers
2) Increase standards for school infrastructure
3) Better defined federal standards & oversight
4) More funding
5) College initiatives for low & middle income families
Healthcare
1) Universal Healthcare Access
a) Prevention
b) Maintenance
2) Cost control
a) Less control by insurance companies
b) More emphasis on medical decisions by providers
3) Increase Nurses/Doctors
a) Educational opportunity
b) Incentive to practice in low-income & rural areas
Environment
1) Education-awareness/marketing
2) Better regulations on industries
a) Manufactures
b)Transportation
c) Oils
d) Mining
3) Green energy/solar-tax incentives
4) Incentive to use local goods
5) More widespread incentives for recycling
Economy
1) Higher expectations for businesses
a) Auto industry
b) Banking & Mortgage industries
c) Health insurance industry
d) Media
2) Incentives to keep jobs on U.S. soil – no “outsourcing”
3) More outreach and information for small business development and success
4) Education/Information for current and future homeowners
The Pickens Plan: For those who would like to become an active participant in a solution for our nations energy needs I urge you to join with T.Boone Pickens in his quest for a cleaner planet through alternative energy.
Also see Green Wave Energy: Green Wave was founded by Mark Holmes and was formulated for viable alternative energy solutions. Green Wave Energy is promoting state-of-the-art energy-saving products and services throughout the country.
Green Wave Energy understands alternative energy technology will become “main stream” when
Call 949.645.1701 for information on how Green Wave Energy can help you save the planet.
Alternative EnergySource: David Apperson
url: http://veterans.barackobama.com/page/community/tag/alternative-energy
Bush & Obama met in the Oval Office today. Just 71 days to go!
The Amarillo4Obama Grassroots organization will be holding our weekly meeting Monday, October 13, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at our regular location.
Purpose: to discuss our progress and plan for upcoming events (phone banking, canvassing, park rally).
If anyone has any other ideas that they'd like to share with everyone, please email us ASAP so that we can include your ideas on the agenda!
Amarillo4Obama Grassroots Office address is: 6141 Amarillo Boulevard WestPhone number is 331 - 6299
The office is just southwest of the Veterans Hospital a few blocks and across the street from the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center. There is a large red, black, and white for sale sign on the street, and some Obama signs too!
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=6141+amarillo+blvd+w+amarillo+tx+&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=52.020054,78.75&ie=UTF8&ll=35.200841,-101.907152&spn=0.006619,0.009613&t=h&z=17
Thanks for all your support,
Tony & Jane Raphael 373 - 7884 Amarillo4Obama Grassroots Office Obama/Biden '08
Last night, my husband and I went to the Owens River Democratic Club meeting at the Pizza Factory. My first thought when we entered the room was "wow, there are a lot of old Democrats!" I'm embarrassed that this is the first thing I noticed, and not the fire in their eyes or their feisty activist personalities, but after sitting in the meeting for a while, those things came forward as the most memorable about the group, not their ages.
I've been a little uncomfortable with all the ageist jokes about McCain - even though I laugh at some of them, I make sure to take a bath afterwards - ha. But I love seeing the elders in action! Some of these people have been progressive activists since before I was born, and I'm 50!! There were some real characters, and some funny folks, and mostly very passionate people who have managed somehow in this cynical world to retain their idealism through the decades. There is much to learn from their example!
We left feeling uplifted and generally happy - I'm just glad there are Liberals in Bishop! I met some others through my Yoga class, but they just aren't the people you meet in town, in general.
I am very much looking forward to the Obama Rally on October 11th here in Bishop at the Park! I also hope to get involved with phoning undecided voters or helping get folks registered.
From: Anthony Raphael <tnjraphael@suddenlink.net>Subject: Obama Grassroots Meeting Notes & Upcoming EventsDate: Monday, September 29, 2008, 11:17 PMAttached [below] are the minutes from tonight's Obama Grassroots Office meeting, which had a great turnout. Please make sure to review for current events as well as those that are in the planning stages. All volunteers are welcome at any event and are encouraged to bring others! All events are joint efforts with the Obama Grassroots office, the Amarillo Area Democrats, and the Panhandle Young Democrats.
Thank you all for your continued support,
Tony Raphael
Obama/Biden '08 Fired Up, Ready To Go!
<<...>>
Attendees: 28
Anthony Raphael-Host
Special Attendees:
Randall County Chair Jim Otto
Potter County Chair Abel Bosquez
I. UPDATE - 36 days to go
Questions/Issues are to be addressed at these weekly meetings, each Monday through November 2, 2008.
Thanks for the great work these past few weeks. Registered over 500 new voters.
II. Office hours. – until the election the office will be open every day during the week from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 30, the office will be closing early due to the Amarillo Young Democrats fundraiser at Beef O’Brady’s at 5.30 p.m.
III. Moving forward!
IV. Discussion/ Ideas!
Jim Otto: Poll Watchers must be designated by County Chairs.
Randall Co. Poll watcher training on Wednesday, Oct 29, time TBD.
Poll Watchers must stay at the polls at least 5 hrs.
Duties- make sure things are conducted properly according to FEC Regs
From: Anthony Raphael [mailto:tnjraphael@suddenlink.net] Sent: Sunday, September 28, 2008 1:20 AM Subject: Obama Headquarters Meeting.
The Amarillo4Obama Grassroots organization will be holding a meeting Monday September 29 from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Purpose: to Discuss our progress, and plan for upcoming events. Lots of exciting news to share with everyone.
The address is: 6141 Amarillo Boulevard WestPhone number is 331 - 6299 The office is just southwest of the Veterans Hospital a few blocks and across the street from the Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center.
I have a suggestion concerning the finical rescue plan that may relieve the strain from for the government from directly adsorbing all of the debt. First of all, I think we need to immediately act before our economy implodes. Would it be feasible to allow the government the bail out banks by purchasing the shares (or debts in whatever form) first. Then, Instead of letting the government hold the blunt of the debt or letting the very elite private sector purchase the debt. (which may be sold to other countries or overseas private companies) How about letting U.S. Citizens purchase shares in the form of low cost Bonds. that way the government will not have to bear the entire blow of this debt, and if they are inexpensive and accessible, the government will be able to recover more of those funds by exposing it to the masses instead of the elite minority. If the people are paying for this mess, how about letting individuals Americans own a share of what we are trying to save. Also, like many share holders, share ownership will create an initiative to purchase goods and services to those companies wich is also good for America.
*i reserve this idea*
9/21/08
All BWA/CTFO Voter-Reg-Drive-at-WT Volunteers!
Let's meet, if you can, tomorrow, (if you can't, there's another meeting scheduled for Tuesday), Monday at 7:00pm before the next meeting of the Potter-Randall Democratic Club. That's Sept. 22, (the Dem meeting starts at 7:30pm), the BWA/CTFO meeting starts at 7:00pm at Carpenter’s Union Hall, 702 S Madison St., Amarillo, corner of Madison and 7th St., downtown. I’ll be there until the Dem meeting is over, so come on out as you can!
Please bring ALL ideas and suggestions you’d like to help implement, any supplies and resources you’d like to pool and share, and any questions you’ve wanted to ask.
If you can't make Monday's meeting in Amarillo, there's a second meeting in Canyon, Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7:00pm at the Hastings Hard Back Cafe coffee shop at 205 N. 23Rd St., just as you come off the highway from Amarillo right next to the United Supermarket.
Please let me know in response if you can make either meeting.
If you can’t make either of the meetings, and you want to know what was discussed, please call me, 655-1508.
Hope to see you Monday and/or Tuesday, but certainly Thursday, Sept. 25, at the drive!
Thank you all so much for helping to promote the Black Women's Association at WT, and for helping to elect Barack Obama our next President!
Sincerely,
Lisa
655-1508
lcaidalphabravo@yahoo.com
If you are a Veteran or Military Family Member, please join us this Saturday at 3:00 at the Virginia Beach campaign office. http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gpl2vb
Find out what you can do to help Senator Obama become the next President! We will be discussing our Veterans Outreach efforts for Hampton Roads. Please join us to share your ideas and let us know how you want to help.
We are still looking for local Veteran leaders and volunteers so if you are interested in helping call Stephanie Marushia at 757-650-6393 or email me at LearningInspire@gmail.com.
Thank You!
Stephanie Marushia
