Barack Obama

Health care reform is in the home stretch, but the fools running the Republican Party and their corporate sponsors are throwing every desperate trick in the book (and some that aren't in the book yet) to try to hold it off.

Once the House acts--which could come as early as next week--it's "game over" for the opposition. The basic reform structure will be through both chambers of Congress, and the "reconciliation" package of improvements will be strucurally and politically unblockable in the formal Senate reconcilation vote. The GOP will be down to hours of obstruction time left--not years.

Monday, Feb.22nd,2010 - The White House and President Obama's announced Healthcare bill proved my worse fears - that there was never any intention by Democratic Leadership or the President to support the Public Option.
And along the way, the base of the party was once again strung along with glimmer of hope in the form of the 'Bennet letter.'
Today's Healthcare Bill not only signals an end to the Public Option, but the Bennet letter can only be characterized as the worst form of manipulation of the democratic voters by the White House.

Here is the link to the Charlotte Observer printing of it in today's newspaper. The column originally ran in the Miami Herald.

At first glance, it doesn't appear to be much different from Bush the Younger's:

With the climate legislation stalled in Congress, however, many of Obama's allies find themselves divided by the president's push for new offshore drilling, his budget's tripling of loan guarantees for nuclear power plants, and his repeated use of the phrase "clean coal," which the coal industry uses as shorthand for still unproven and uneconomic technologies that could limit carbon-dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants.

please see my following response to President Barack Obama. I'd love to hear what you think. Imagine having a governor who fights to put in single-payer healthcare! Imagine the example that Minnesota could provide for the other 49 states? In my 23 years in the state senate, I've fought for healthcare for all. As the prime sponsor of the Minnesota Health Plan, I've helped organize over 1/3rd of the legislature to co-sponsor the bill.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks,

John Marty
Candidate for Governor

p.s. Please visit our brand new website at http://www.johnmarty.org

Single Payer Solution for Obama
by Senator John Marty
January 29, 2010

"If anyone...has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know."

-- State of the Union
January 27, 2010

From CNN, this says it all, folks. Our president needs to make the speech of his life, and then make the effort of his political life afterward. It is just that simple.

Thanks, Foxtrot. This will be our open thread for tonight. James

As we all drink our morning coffee and digest what this latest change-up means for the Senate, let me be the first to say - I continue to be hopeful that the Senate will take action on climate change.

The signs of momentum for a clean energy and climate bill outweigh any signs that come from the Massachusetts special election.

Take, for example, that this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reiterated that he wants to pass the bill this spring, and that the bill has the tri-partisan support of Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman.

In a little more than 6 weeks, 1221 businesses have called for strong action on climate via American Businesses for Clean Energy.

Tell POTUS That This Is Our Moment

To me, the biggest difference between the Republican party and the Democratic party is their view of change. As I peruse various blogs around cyberspace, Republican posters holler and scream at nearly every instance where the Democratic leadership in Washington attempts to rectify known inequities in our governmental system. This, in the face of Democrats being given a huge mandate on change last November.

On just about every blog and in just about every political newspaper column and just about every TV News Program, it seems we are hearing about how democrats are gonna get the stuffing beat out of the

This article says it for me...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-westen/leadership-obama-style-an_b_39...

President Obama tonight will make the case for pouring more resources into the sinkhole that is Afghanistan. He will argue that this action is a national security priority, worthy of many more lives and billions of dollars. But by all accounts, he will not devote any of his polished rhetoric explaining how we will pay for it.

Lively debate today at Daily Kos about Obama's performance. I believe this was triggered first by the epic FAIL emerging in healthcare reform, and then by Obama's intention to "finish the job" in Afghanistan, whatever the hell that means.

You're losing me, Kossacks

You're losing me, Mr. President

You're losing me, pie.

For the record, no one is losing me. I'm already lost. Now all I need is someone to find me.

The US Catholic Conference of Bishops is telling priests to oppose health care reform in upcoming weekly masses with both leaflets and in sermons - by saying that it will provide for abortions.
This is a lie and a shame for all Catholics and people who view providing basic health care to the 47 million without health care in the US a moral obligation.

As President Obama stated in his address to Congress, the health care bill does not provide money for abortions.

Story here

Catholic pastors directed to distribute anti-health reform materials at mass
by John Tomasic

The United States Senate is starting the debate on the Kerry Boxer Bill to address Climate Change.
This bill, addresses many issues such as funding Alternative Energy sources (including billions for 'clean coal'), increasing US security, and creating jobs.
But this legislation is missing a key element : language addressing Climate Change and human rights.
For Environmental Refugees both within the United States and internationally, Climate Change means losing their homes, land and culture. And because people displaced by Climate Change have no legal status, they have no recourse for their losses.