We have a real opportunity to fix our broken health care system. Let's get the job done!
This Saturday afternoon, you're invited to a local health care rally featuring: Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Senator Kirk Watson, Mayor Lee Leffingwell, Council Member Sheryl Cole, Former State Rep. Ann Kitchen, TCDP Chair Andy Brown and others.
Our goal is to make Saturday's rally one of the biggest in the country. Spread the word!
Not to mention YES to affordable health care benefits for members of Congress.
So, it was OK to vote to burn billions if not trillions on a ginned up war. It was OK to vote for trillions in bailouts for a bunch of thieving financial crooks and sharks. Now these very same sharks are earning billions and giving themselves fat bonuses again. Hopefully someone bothered to ask them to pay back the bail out bucks.
Our tax dollars are paying for all of the above including BMW level health care insurance for members of Congress. If John McCain had to find his own health care insurance company, like so many other Americans, he would be turned down because of pre-existing conditions. If he would be lucky enough to find a willing provider, McCain would be out of pocket thousands of dollars for or bankrupted by treatments desperately needed but not covered or flat out denied by his plan.
Why are we paying for top notch care for our esteemed lawmakers when many of them are against the same for us? If they say no to us, we should say no to them and demand that the federal government rescind all taxpayer funded health care coverage for members of Congress. Let our revered leaders buy their own freaking insurance like a vast number of Americans have to do. Some may learn they cannot afford to pay for it and college tuition for their kids.
Ed. note: Ideas that are not original are appropriately cited throughout the piece. I never contacted Bill White's campaign about this story -- my observations about his campaign are just that, observations. They do not constitute any endorsement of his campaign -- by myself or BOR -- but they do reveal how, at least in my opinion, he and his campaign are prepared to win a statewide election.Also, you can follow me on Twitter here: @PhillipMartin
"Texas Democrats' First Truly Statewide Campaign of the 21st Century"
With a single press of a key, either a staffer or a volunteer for the Bill White for Texas campaign ushered Texas Democrats into the new era of internet organization. His campaign has walked across the bridge that so many people spent so many years building. I'm not sure who pressed that key, and I can't guarantee why they did it. But I can say two things for certain:
(1) I'm glad it finally happened, and (2) Not knowing who finally crossed the bridge is what makes it so wonderful.
I will get to the story of what specifically this person on the Bill White for Texas campaign did towards the end of this post. The short version of what they've done, however, may (if I'm right) be quite a story:
A Democrat running a statewide campaign in Texas has, for the first time, fully adapted to the tools and principles of online organization, therefore making it possible to run Texas Democrats' first truly statewide campaign of the 21st century.
I need to unpack that a lot more to back up such a claim, I know. That's why this post is as long (~4,400 words) as it is.
I started writing this as just a short couple of paragraphs on a simple change in the campaign's Twitter usage. But the more I thought about it, the more I began to think it was the sign of something bigger -- that it was the sign of Texas Democrats' finally catching up, after years and years of playing from behind. But to take you from here to there, it is going to take more than just a few paragraphs.
Democratic National Committee Chairman, and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, brought the Organizing for America listening tour to Dallas today where he intimated several times over that a competitive 2010 election cycle across the United States for Democrats includes the Lone Star State.
Kaine mentioned the positive dynamics of Democrats winning a gubernatorial seat here in Texas, especially if Rick Perry is the Republican nominee, and also took a moment to mention the potential of picking up a U.S. Senate seat with a special election upon the expected fall resignation of Kay Bailey Hutchison. Kaine spoke as if he was well aware of some emerging competitive statewide races on the horizon here in Texas.
Overall, Kaine articulated three goals that the Democratic National Committee has:
As you know, Obama for America has become Organizing for America.
Things are happening right here in Texas as well.
Luke Hayes is the new State Director here in Texas for Organizing for America.
With this in mind, Luke will be here in Longview on Thursday May 21 as part of his Listening Tour of Texas. Gregg County for Obama is proud to host this event as we move forward in furthering President Obama's agenda, pursuing public service, and turning Texas blue.
What: Listening Tour with Luke Hayes, Texas State Director for Organizing for America
He had some great lines throughout the speech, and ends with strong remarks for the newspaper industry.
Comedian Wanda Sykes was the one with the real zingers, though -- including a total and utter demolition of Rush Limbaugh. I've posted over five minutes of highlights from her below the fold. Our thanks to DailyKosTV for the clips and the ability to embed them on our site.
Today is a pivotal moment in Democratic politics. Barack Obama has been our 44th President for exactly 100 days.
Let's be honest, the first 100 days are an arbitrary benchmark, but a benchmark none the less. This is the day polls begin to be announced as trends. Presidential tone is analyzed and critiqued beyond the natural honeymoon of elections.
President Obama has done more than most in his first 100 days. To name just a few of the highlights, President Obama has passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, closed Guantanamo Bay, set a fixed timetable for withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq, lifted the Bush restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, expanded children's health insurance, signed laws to improve work and gender equality, diminished the role of lobbyists in the White House, and engaged world leaders in Europe, Turkey, Latin America, and the Caribbean to increase America's standing across the globe.
Not to mention, he has brought hope and a new tone to federal government which is personified by Arlen Specter's recent announcement the Republican party has abandoned him and he now intends to run as a Democrat in 2010.
The White House released this Flickr photostream to show the 44th president's first 100 days.
In addition, county parties and democratic groups across the state are throwing events to celebrate the first 100 days of the Obama administration.
In Austin, democrats, elected officials from across the state, and Luke Hayes (the new Texas State Director for Organizing for America) will be at Speakeasy's to honor Democrats locally and nationally.
Celebrate 100 Days of Change
Celebrate the first 100 days of President Obama's Speakeasy Nightclub in downtown Austin
Tonight, Wednesday April 29, 2009
6:00pm - 9:00pm Featuring live music from Frank Gomez, Leeann Atherton and DJ Mel.
Speakeasy Nightclub
412 Congress Ave.
One of the leading Economists in the country, and someone in very high demand right now because of our economic downturn has agreed to be our speaker!
Dr. James Galbraith, Professor of Government and Economics, UT Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs will be our speaker. How bad is our economic situation? Can we pull through this recession? What caused it? How effective will President Obama's stimulus and recovery plan be?
Join us Sunday, April 26th, 11:30am.
The Public Affairs Forum is held on the campus of First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover Ave., Austin.
This is a FREE event, and lots of free parking available. All are invited!
Best,
David Kobierowski
Co-Chair: Public Affairs Forum
What is the base of the Republican Party in a general election? It's around 39% statewide.
That's the total percent of the vote Rick Perry received in 2006 in his re-election. Given 4 options, only 39% would go with Governor Perry.
Clearly Rick Perry is more out of touch than the original numbers indicate.
Rasmussen has released a poll that shows Rick Perry's call to secede from the United States of America are hugely unpopular. Only 18% of those polled would vote to secede if the election to secede were held today.
Thirty-one percent (31%) of Texas voters say that their state has the right to secede from the United States and form an independent country.
However, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll in the state finds that if the matter was put to a vote, it wouldn't even be close. Three-fourths (75%) of Lone Star State voters would opt to remain in the United States. Only 18% would vote to secede, and seven percent (7%) are not sure what they'd choose.
At the most basic levels, the Reasmussen poll indicates all of the teabaggers who hollered and shouted for joy during Perry's repeated call for secession represent an extreme minority of the state at 18%. It further shows just how out of touch the organizers of this Republican press stunt really are.
With 31% of Texans saying Texas has a right to seceded and only 18% actually wanting to secede, Perry has clearly hung his re-election hopes squarely on the far right. Will this anti-American sentiment work? Sadly, it's too early to tell. However, Texans do support our country and I would be interested in seeing some polling numbers to see how people feel about the Federal Recovery and Re-investment Act and how they feel about Barack Obama. It's clear Perry does not have his finger on the pulse of the average Texans, so let's see who does.
