Back in 2008, Candidate Barack Obama, invited average American Citizens, to provide their thoughts, on what should be INCLUDED in the 'New' Democratic Platform for Change.
Here is one such reply, that made it to the 'final draft':
Citizen Statement - (pg 10)
"I worked for a manufacturer for over fifteen years. My wages stayed the same for six years as I found myself paying more and more for health care. Co-pays went up, deductibles went up.
In late 2006, the company sent my production job to Mexico and China and I was laid off. I could not afford COBRA premiums. I am two years away from Medicare and unemployed and on the 'faith based' health care system -- meaning I just pray I don't get sick.
Oh yeah, and I'm a cancer survivor and I haven't done the yearly checkup in 3 years."
-- Listening to America - National Hearing
I realize it's a strange title, and an even stranger theory, but bear with me a minute. If I'm completely wrong, please let me know. I'm more than willing to accept it if everyone thinks I'm all wet. I would like to let everyone reading this know beforehand that there won't be any links or anything like that. This is strictly my own pondering on the subject. Follow me below the fold for more.
(some possible strategy... - promoted by poligirl)
I just saw on the news that President Barack Obama has just appointed Governor Huntsman of Utah as his new Ambassador to China. Some of you may be wondering why this is so brilliant. Follow me below the fold for this short diary explaining how President Obama is playing chess while the GOP is playing checkers.
(a rant for your morning... - promoted by poligirl)
About 35 years ago, I bought a book called Diet for a Small Planet. It discussed land use efficiency with regard to the production of protein. There now needs to be a movement that promotes Politics for a Small Planet. This is necessary because Earth is the only fully livable--and truly accessible--piece of real estate for many light years around. This politics combines the Golden Rule (do unto others as you would have done unto you) with my just-coined the "Green Rule" (you can continue to indulge in a given activity, so long as that activity would not harm the planet if everyone were to do the same for a few decades).
(the state of the Israeli Government... - promoted by poligirl)
In some prior open threads, I've been reporting on the political developments in Israel. Now, it seems that Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, is running into far more difficulty with regards to forming a government.
Howdy to all you fine folks out here surfin' the Progressive Blue today! Now that the longest election season in American history is over, it's time to get back to some basics, and keepin' and eye on those shifty Congress Critters is necessary. So welcome to the Critter Watch! We do it because, of course, we all know that we have to keep a close eye on those Congress Critters of ours; you never know what they'll vote forsellauction off give away next...
(photo by Cam in Van on Flickr)
The first order of business is to give you the two links to everything Congress, both of which are excellent sources of information:
The first link is for The Library of Congress, affectionately called THOMAS after Thomas Jefferson. Here you can look up just about anything that Congress has done (even previous Congresses.)
The second link is to the GPO Access site regarding Legislative Branch Resources. This page has quick links to many Legislative documents, including Rules, Procedures, Calendars, Reports, etc...
However, since this week is inauguration and a holiday (and a travel week for me), the Critter watch will return next week when they're all done with their hangovers and start actually doing the people's business (with the exception of the Bailout Bill part deux, which they had a chance to turn down last week, but didn't...)
Howdy to all you fine folks out here surfin' the Progressive Blue today! Now that the longest election season in American history is over, it's time to get back to some basics, and keepin' and eye on those shifty Congress Critters is necessary. So welcome to the Critter Watch! We do it because, of course, we all know that we have to keep a close eye on those Congress Critters of ours; you never know what they'll vote forsellauction off give away next...
(photo by Cam in Van on Flickr)
The first order of business is to give you the two links to everything Congress, both of which are excellent sources of information:
The first link is for The Library of Congress, affectionately called THOMAS after Thomas Jefferson. Here you can look up just about anything that Congress has done (even previous Congresses.)
The second link is to the GPO Access site regarding Legislative Branch Resources. This page has quick links to many Legislative documents, including Rules, Procedures, Calendars, Reports, etc...
In this week's Critter Watch: Well, as expected, they didn't do a whole lot of anything past the formalities of a new Congress, but the festival of Roland Burris continued, and there was a notable hearing not about appointments. Also, a couple of good bills passed the House and the Senate had some cloture. ;>
Well well guys! Howdy to all you fine folks out here surfin' the Progressive Blue today! It has been a while. Now that the longest election season in American history is over, it's time to get back to some basics, and keepin' and eye on those shifty Congress Critters is necessary. So welcome to the Critter Watch! We do it because, of course, we all know that we have to keep a close eye on those Congress Critters of ours; you never know what they'll vote forsellauction off give away next...
(photo by Cam in Van on Flickr)
The first order of business is to give you the two links to everything Congress, both of which are excellent sources of information:
The first link is for The Library of Congress, affectionately called THOMAS after Thomas Jefferson. Here you can look up just about anything that Congress has done (even previous Congresses.)
The second link is to the GPO Access site regarding Legislative Branch Resources. This page has quick links to many Legislative documents, including Rules, Procedures, Calendars, Reports, etc...
In this week's Critter Watch: Not much this week except a brief introduction to the D-newbies and a couple of other notes on what to expect this week (hint: a lot of bloviating and not much actual work; oh and you'll hear the word "economy" a LOT...)
I do most of my writing at the Iowa progressive community blog Bleeding Heartland.
Last year at this time I was scrambling to make as many phone calls and knock on as many doors as I could before the Iowa caucuses on January 3.
This week I had a little more time to reflect on the year that just ended.
After the jump I've linked to Bleeding Heartland highlights in 2008. Most of the links relate to Iowa politics, but some also covered issues or strategy of national importance.
I only linked to a few posts about the presidential race. I'll do a review of Bleeding Heartland's 2008 presidential election coverage later this month.
The opportunity is before us to bring focus to [energy and global warming] across campaigns, across the United States, and make Energy/Global Warming a winning issue come November and a higher priority for serious Congressional and Administration action come January 2009.
The Energy Smart Act Blue page worked on the philosophy of supporting underdog challengers, who were not "expected" to win when added to the page. And, most importantly:
The challenger understands energy / environmental issues and will bring a radically different perspective to the Hill compared to the incumbent.
Join below the fold for a recap of the 2008 candidates and the Energy Smart list and a look forward to 2009.
No, I'm not dead. College and upcoming finals have eaten away at my time, but after next week I'll have a few weeks to get back into the swing of things. Now to business. It's no secret that since winning the recent presidential election, the left has been in an uproar over president-elect Barack Obama's right-wing administrative-cabinet picks. Complaints have been all over the blogosphere as well as mainstream news web sites such as Yahoo.
Obama's creatures are pushing back, essentially telling people to shut up, drink the Kool-Aid, and line up behind the Obamassiah. From the second link:
Responding to rising discontent on the left to President-elect Barack Obama's centrist cabinet picks and early policy decisions, deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand has told progressive critics to take a deep breath.
With a long list of tasks ahead of him, Obama needs liberals to stand by him as he deals with a faltering economy, home foreclosures, an auto bailout and two wars, Hildebrand wrote Sunday on Huffington Post. Even so, Hildebrand added, Obama was elected "to be the president of all the people - not just those on the left."
'This is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House appointments that President-Elect Obama is making," Hildebrand wrote. "Some believe the appointments generally aren't progressive enough. Having worked with former Senator Obama for the last two years, I can tell you, that isn't the way he thinks and it's not likely the way he will lead. The problems I mentioned above and the many I didn't, suggest that our president surround himself with the most qualified people to address these challenges."
I'm inclined to tell fellow left-wingers to shut up and stop complaining as well, although for very different reasons. It was obvious to many independent left-wing voters that Democrat Obama would govern no differently if elected than his Republican counterpart, John McCain. More competently, perhaps, and with smarmier rhetoric, but such differences are in style, not actual policy substance. Too many liberals, fearful of another four to eight years of GOP domination, cast their ballots for the first politician with a "D" after his name that looked like a winner, either in spite of, or many cases, ignoring, the Democratic nominee's actual record as a legislator.
Well, guess what ladies and gentlemen: you got the president and Congress you wanted. You who voted for Obama have no right to complain now that he's doing the exact opposite of what you deceived yourselves into thinking he'd do. YOU voted for this. YOU are responsible for making it happen.
This is not to say that all is lost, or that because people voted for a right-wing Democrat he cannot be pressured into fulfilling the false hopes placed in him. Everybody makes mistakes, and mistakes can be corrected. The time for complaints is over. The time for action, for marching on Washington and demanding genuine change, for not going away until we get it, is now.
