President Obama

I found this recent article from Newsweek rather telling. In sum, it asserts that Americans - when made aware of the details of the Democratic Party's proposed health insurance reforms - show significant support for most individual pieces of the package. This is intriguing when those same persons, before they are educated about the components, are fire-hot opposed to the reform package as a whole. Apparently, the Tea Party folks and some insurance corporate types and some Republicans (those who'll vote for anything that builds up corporate persons while tearing down actual breathing persons) have won the battle over handling public relations on this issue ... but not the war, whose outcome is yet to be determined. Stay tuned.

At a time when the Democratic Party is taking a lot of heat from the left I felt it an appropriate time to state why the party still has my support. On the local level, we have just this year narrowly elected a democratic, progressive, & first openly gay mayor of Chapel Hill by about 100 votes (& there were other democratic wins across the state in November). On the statewide level the Democratic Party fought off the anti-marriage equality constitutional amendment keeping North Carolina as the only southern state without one. On the back of democratic legislators & signed by the governor we passed the anti-bully bill (which included lgbt kids, something the republicans strongly opposed) by just one vote, & we passed the comprehensive sex ed bill. And the governor used her first veto to keep transparency in government. On the national level it’s a little more dicey, but given the options, the democratic party is the better one. Sure my preference is to end the wars sooner than later without more troops, but the building capacity plan to get out on the 2011 time-table (a word progressives fault for & conservatives opposed during the last administration) isn’t completely unreasonable.

President Obama in no uncertain terms called out the insurance industry for the deceptive and dishonest hacks that they are today. It is a thing of beauty.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/us/politics/18address.html?hp

President Obama mounted a frontal assault on the insurance industry on Saturday, accusing it of airing “deceptive and dishonest ads” to derail his health care legislation and threatening to strip the industry of its longstanding exemption from federal anti-trust laws.

President Obama today took his healthcare overhaul message to those that currently have health insurance and told them that nearly half of all Americans under age 65 could lose their health coverage at some point in the next decade.

The President is trying to back up his speech from Wednesday night to a rare joint session of Congress by not only talking to those without health insurance or with junk health insurance, but to those that now have decent health insurance at this time.

From NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/health/policy/13address.html

While the Census Bureau reports that 46.3 million people living in the United States currently lack health insurance, Mr. Obama cited a new Treasury Department analysis that aims to buttress his case that Americans are in danger of losing their coverage — whether they know it or not.

Do you want healthcare reform that really matters for your family, yourself, your friends and your fellow American citizens? If so, you are going to have to force the Democratic majority in Congress to make it so. The opposition group, commonly referred to Republicans are going to lie, obsfucate and lie some more regarding what real reform includes. They are doing a great job so far.

Today, the President in his Saturday address to the nation once again laid out the fact that the opposition is lying, in so many words. The opposition then said NO! Like always. The President is lying! Straight up.

From CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/22/obama.health.care/

Facing a recent erosion of public support for health-care overhaul, President Obama lashed out at his opponents Saturday for spreading "outrageous myths" on the Internet, television, and at town hall forums.

{Originally posted at my blog Senate Guru.}

"Birther" has entered the parlance as someone who doubts or flat-out denies President Obama's natural born citizenship. It turns out that a sizable chunk of southern Republicans are birthers.

Public Policy Polling tested North Carolina voters to find out how prevalent the birther phenomenon was in the Tar Heel State. As for the results, wow:

Only 54% of North Carolina voters say with certainty that they believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, with 26% saying they think he was not, and 20% unsure. ...

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5647742/

President Obama is scheduled to attend a "Health Care Event" in Raleigh on Wednesday, 7/29/9. I am really hoping that it is an open public event. I would love to hear him speak in person again. If anyone hears any information on this then please let me know. I will update when I have more information as well.

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 2, 2009

Statement by the President on Health Care Reform Bill Released by Senate HELP Committee Today

The Political Debate is heating up in Washington DC and around the country. The Good News is the Republican Party's True Leader has finally shown himself. The Bad news is that there leader is probably one the least liked men in America. I'm not surprised at the Direction the Republican Party has decided to go. When they lose they always go HARD TO THE RIGHT. Right Now in the United States Rush Limbaugh embodies that Far Right Movement. Unfortunately for them the Members of this Movement are out of touch with the American People and out of touch with reality.

The President has announce what the entire world has been waiting to hear, that there will be a end to this useless and unneccesary war in Iraq. Although there will be a residual force in Iraq up until the end of 2011, I believe this is a huge step towards regaining the respect of our neighbors around the world.

In a report that anyone who's not brain-dead could have predicted, it appears that large swaths of the North Carolina coastline would be underwater if the sea-level rises by as little as two feet over the next century.

The report says if the sea level rises 3 feet during this century, some barrier islands will break apart. The report says the Outer Banks are especially vulnerable. Carteret County shore protection officer Greg Rudolph says people accept that the sea level is rising. But Rudolph says planning for something over decades is hard. He says people tend to focus on issues over the typical four-year election cycle.

President Obama's first act (President Obama ... I love the sound of that) is more symbolic than functional, but there's something hopeful about it.  His first act as president was to establish this day as a national day of renewal and reconciliation.  I know, it's a purely symbolic gesture and may mean little in the long run, especially once the partisan bickering cranks up again, as it surely will.  But it sets a tone that, if followed through, would be a refreshing change for Washington.