Monthly Archives: February 2010

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the President’s Plan … 2010


THE PRESIDENT’s PROPOSAL  puts AMERICANS FAMILIES and Small Business owners in control of their own HEALTH CARE

Over the past year the House and the Senate have been working on an effort to provide health insurance reform that lowers costs, guarantees choices, and enhances quality health care for all Americans. Building on that year-long effort, the President has now put forth a proposal that incorporates the work the House and the Senate have done and adds additional ideas from Republican members of Congress. The President has long said he is open to any good ideas for reforming our health care system, and he looks forward to discussing ideas for further improvements from Republicans and Democrats at an open, bipartisan meeting on Thursday.

The proposal will make health care more affordable, make health insurers more accountable, expand health coverage to all Americans, and make the health system sustainable, stabilizing family budgets, the Federal budget, and the economy:

  • It makes insurance more affordable by providing the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history, reducing premium costs for tens of millions of families and small business owners who are priced out of coverage today.  This helps over 31 million Americans afford health care who do not get it today – and makes coverage more affordable for many more.
  • It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.
  • It brings greater accountability to health care by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
  • It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
  • It puts our budget and economy on a more stable path by reducing the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years – and about $1 trillion over the second decade – by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

Key Provisions in the President’s Proposal:

The President’s Proposal builds off of the legislation that passed the Senate and improves on it by bridging key differences between the House and the Senate as well as by incorporating Republican provisions that strengthen the proposal.

One key improvement, for example, is eliminating the Nebraska FMAP provision and providing significant additional Federal financing to all States for the expansion of Medicaid.  For America’s seniors, the proposal completely closes the Medicare prescription drug “donut hole” coverage gap.  It strengthens the Senate bill’s provisions that make insurance affordable for individuals and families, while also strengthening the provisions to fight fraud, waste, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid to save taxpayer dollars.  The threshold for the excise tax on the most expensive health plans will be raised from $23,000 for a family plan to $27,500 and will start in 2018 for all such plans.  And another important idea included is improving insurance protections for consumers and creating a new Health Insurance Rate Authority to review and rein in unreasonable rate increases and other unfair practices of insurance plans.

Summaries of Key Elements of the President’s Proposal:

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Weekend wrap-up …


SUNDAY …

Team USA .. played and out scored the Canuks in a win for Team USA 5-3, it was obvious Miller, the goaly was truly the msvp  of the evening, blocking over 40 shots from Canada. It’s well known that Team USA has quite a few young players and was not expect to win tonight. In the last 4minutes Canada managed to score but it just wasn’t enough for the night game. The rink was very quiet as Team USA celebrated on the ice. This is just one more game toward the gold, woo hoo Team USA.

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Posted on February 21, 2010 at 3:54 PM;complete article at http://www.king5.com

Washington State News …For years, federal law at National Parks allowed people to bring in unloaded weapons as long as they were stowed away. But starting Monday, that will change. Now anyone with a legal permit can bring in a loaded gun, concealed or otherwise, as long as it concurs with state laws.For years, federal law at National Parks allowed people to bring in unloaded weapons as long as they were stowed away. But starting Monday, that will change. Now anyone with a legal permit can bring in a loaded gun, concealed or otherwise, as long as it concurs with state laws.For years, federal law at National Parks allowed people to bring in unloaded weapons as long as they were stowed away. But starting Monday, that will change. Now anyone with a legal permit can bring in a loaded gun, concealed or otherwise, as long as it concurs with state laws/by ROBERTA ROMERO / KING 5 News.

Point/Pounterpoint: This news is very disappointing; only time will tell what impact this decision will have on the people using our Great Parks here in Washington State …

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Bills would make it easier to force mentally ill into care.

Washington State … complete article on seattletimes.nwsource.com

Legislation before a state Senate committee would make it easier to commit and treat potentially dangerous mentally ill people under the controversial Involuntary Treatment Act.

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news of Republican Senator Mitch McConnell still …trying to deny that Republicans are engaging in the art of obstructionist behavior on the Foxnews Sunday interview; i’d say he is well seasoned at what he does and practices obstructing quite often

…and

Terry Moran of ABC news interviewed Governor Schwarzenegger of California, who calls out the GOP for stating the stimulus money didn’t create jobs; as stated by our President and some reporters the GOP not only spent the money given to them; they went to ribbon cuttings, handed out some giant checks,  took credit for it and some even went back for more. I find it disturbing that so many people are so willing to condemn the so-called back room deals Democrats did for Jobs and  HCR when the Political Party of NO 110 of them have kept THEIR STIMULUS Money SPENDING a SECRET ; where is the outrage? It’s even more of an outrage to me that mainstream tv stations and cable news have conveniently avoided reporting the Republican Hypocrisy until people like Rachel Maddow and Keith Oberlmann actually showed pictures of various Republicans in action, such as:  Gov Bobby Jindal, Eric Cantor, Kit Bond, mike Castle, Mark Kirk, John Boehner

Apparently, Gov Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania stated that President Obama botched the Stimulus  Sales Job; Appearing on ABC’s This Week; Huffington Post reports that the Pennsylvania Democrat said it was ironic that “the best communicator in the history of political campaigning turned out in his first year in office to not communicate very well.” He was referring, specifically, to what went wrong when it came to selling the president’s stimulus package … read more on  Huffingtonpost.com

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Some online reporters say they have low expectations on whatever will come out of the health-care summit; though the summit has yet to meet; everyone has a right to their opinion but it seems a bit cynical to be a naysayer before the fact, though it probably will likely get them more viewers; especially if they do a lot of cable and get paid; people need the facts not a whole lot of speculation and last, the tea party movement is discussed and analyzed further by R rep Tom Price.

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what is and was on CSPAN this weekend …

Sec. of Education addresses Governors at Winter Meeting

Sec. of Education Arne Duncan will address education policy in the Obama Administration at the afternoon session of the Governors Conference. This year’s meeting is also focusing on health care issues facing the states and the morning plenary session will discuss health care and the economy.

watch NGA, Starting Shortly on C-SPAN
visit NGA website

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Health care and tea party movement focus of Newsmakers

This week on Newsmakers, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) will discuss the upcoming health care summit and the his party’s perspective on health reform. He is a former orthopedic doctor. Rep. Price will also address the influence that the tea party movement has had on the GOP.
watch C-SPAN at 10AM & 6pm ET    watch entire program

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Weekend round up …


SATURDAY

CSPAWN … i mean CPAC ended their 3day conservative conference today. The 10,000 conference attendees, though, conservatives are calling themselves activists came together to i guess bash everything democratic and possibly everything right of center, maybe close to fringy.  Personally, i do not believe true activists practice exclusion and worse.We all saw the CPAC speakers, it was not positive, it was not uplifting the only thing i saw was a lot of people talking at the issues, no solutions, no numbers and not much in the way of wanting bipartisanship.  The group is of differing attitudes and by all accounts are practicing exclusion, discrimination , racism and embraced the party of NO slogan as a whole. On this 3rd and final day of Cpac, the number of participants being about 10,000; the group of what some say are the fringy, more violent and disturbing part of the Republican Party. There were Republican Politicians at this conference, which, makes you wonder exactly what liabilities should these Republican Politicians be forced to face or do we assume that everything said and done over the last three days are covered under our Constitutions 1st amendment. The last day brought these people together to make a final decision about who they want to run for President  in 2012; and Ron Paul won their straw poll at CPAC, Mit Romney came in 2nd and Sarah Palin, who, chose not to even be there was came in 3rd. It was reported that a significant  number of Ron Paul supporters were at this conference and made their voices heard, Ron Paul received 31% of the votes.  i am not a supporter of CPAC or what they stand for; however, it is important that democrats; anyone to the left of center be well informed of all things CPAC  and or the tea party movement.

Beck wraps up CPAC conference and part of his speech can be seen below,there are 6parts,see his speech for yourself …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVaegVlDUPs

Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter highlight the last day of the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The three-day meeting promoted the conservative movement and advocated for conservative policies. This year’s conference also brought attendees and speakers who have been active in the Tea Party movement.watch Afternoon Session: Now on c-span.org

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Health Care Main topic of Governors Meeting

The nation’s governors gather in Washington, D.C., this weekend for the 2010 National Governors Association (NGA) Winter Meeting. The bipartisan group of governors from the U.S. states, commonwealths and territories will hold three days of meetings on a host of issues and challenges facing states. Today, First Lady Michelle Obama speaks on childhood obesity.

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White House to publish healthcare proposal Monday 2/22

By Ross Colvin and Jeff Mason Ross Colvin And Jeff Mason – Sat Feb 20, 3:20 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will unveil its latest healthcare reform proposals on Monday ahead of a bipartisan summit that President Barack Obama hopes will advance the stalled legislation, a senior administration official said on Saturday.

Obama urged Democrats and Republicans on Saturday to find common ground at a summit he will host on Thursday to help rejuvenate efforts to overhaul the $2.5 trillion healthcare system, one of his top domestic policy priorities. (complete article on REUTERS)

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Long lines at Canadian border crossings

by KING5.com

Posted on February 20, 2010 at 11:22 AM

Updated yesterday at 4:49 PM

SEATTLE – For the first time since the start of the Vancouver Olympics, the Department of Transportation reported long lines at border crossings.

Wait times at the I-5 Peace Arch crossing and SR 543 (Pacific Highway) in Blaine stretched to two hours at times in the morning and early afternoon.

Drivers who chose to cross the border using SR 539 (Guide Meridian) or SR 9 in Sumas faced much shorter wait times.

By 2:30 p.m. wait times had decreased to less than a half hour at all of the crossings.

Pres. Obama's Weekly Address President Obama delivers his weekly address.

Washington, DC : 4 min.
watch Pres. Obama’s Weekly Address
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TGIF News … what’s on CSPAN today & some weekend reminders


listening to various Media whine, cry and complain about not getting access to Tiger, well, they need him more than he needs them. The only news you can find this early Friday morning seems to be Tiger Woods, the Media keeps throwing stones, badgering his family, follow his wife around, call him names, judge him and still say he owes the people and the Media even after the Press conference. I say BS, the only people who truly care is in fact the Media, contrary to what the Media states, the general public have lives to live and would like to be informed about more important issues in the news.  The Media wants him to speak again, stating Tiger’s choice of no questions was phony, scripted and continue to verbally abuse him, it’s damned if you do damned if you don’t. So, it’s the Media vs. Tiger, is it just me or is the Media just flying off the edge of verbal insanity? MSNBC did an interview with Buzz from VanityFair, first of all. He and his magazine have questionable behavior when it comes to people of colour. I just recently decided to boycott this mag, hearing him say Tiger deceived us; come on, it’s magazines like his and the Media who put Tiger on a pedestal, unfortunately people believed mags like VanityFair, shame on him and others in the Media who have put such an importance on Tiger, it’s pretty obvious that it has probably cost his magazine money as maybe a couple of stocks associated with Tiger, get over it; not once did he talk of Tiger’s family, the kids and how that was the most important thing, even the jerk on Cnn, waiting for Tiger’s statement sounded like he had stones ready to throw …still? The Media needs to stop pushing their personal ideals on the public. Tiger gave his speech though many are still bashing him and will continue to do so. I am glad he controlled what the Media got and hopefully Tiger, his cubs and wife will bounce back. So, my advice to the Media? It’s over done…move on. It would be nice to see more on Haiti, that Public Option is still alive and why it will help all Americans… facts over fiction or gossip from the Media would be nice.

and while Tiger is on every single station  …

The President is stumping for Senator Reid as well as providing great information on what needs to be done to get America back on track; gotta say this guy, Reid has been a tough character, has devoted his entire life to politics and with all of his controversy he seems like someone we need in the Senate; the town hall mtg should give people a better view of Senator Reid and make the right choice, we need democrats to correct what the house of Bush did …

So, does Iran have nukes? Reports say there was some knowledge of something going on in 2007, maybe even before that, ok, so why didn’t the house of Bush do something about it then? Why did the Bush admin let it slide? here we are, it’s 2010 and the deception by Iran about how close they are to nuke power seems like such a surprise now, really?  …  or did the last admin just ignore the warnings?  just one of many issues left by the last admin for President Obama to clean up and with possible sanctions coming to Iran, which, btw includes other countries cooperating with each other; definitely a big difference from the last admin… cooperation… novel idea right?

and other stuff in the news …

**Olympia Washington’s Mayor Pro Tem Joe Hyer has decided to take a leave of absence amid allegations of drug trafficking. But local Republicans insist he should resign.

**Tim Pawleny said at CPAC “let’s get the 9iron, like TWood’s wife and smash the windows of gov’t, i kind of wonder if there was more to his comment than meets the eye, just askin

**CPAC … We all need to see and hear what these people are up to-watch for yourself  the 2/18/2010 and 2/19/2010 sessions below

watch CPAC Day 1 watch CPAC Day 2

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What the Recovery Act did for us All …


Just over a year ago, thanks in part to your organizing, President Obama was able to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law.

The Recovery Act wasn’t a silver bullet, but it’s very good policy. It cut taxes for 95% of working families to give them a leg up as they fight to get by. It invested in our nation’s infrastructure and clean energy. it gave tax breaks to small businesses to help hire workers, and it helped out state and local governments — including local police departments like the one in Englewood, Colorado, which was able to hire officers like Eddie B., whose story is below.

We’ve got a lot more work to do. But as many as 2.4 million Americans are working now who would otherwise be unemployed, and we’re breaking the back of the recession.

We put together a video explaining where we were just one year ago, and what the Recovery Act has done for our country. Watch it here.

Road to Recovery: Watch the video

In the three months prior to the Act, the nation lost 2.2 million jobs. The financial system was collapsing, and the “Great Recession” was being recognized for what it was — the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

But since the Act’s passage, Americans of all stripes have been able to get back to work. One example of what the Recovery Act made possible is the story of Eddie B., from Englewood, Colorado.

He graduated from police academy in 2009. Without the Recovery Act, he and his classmates would have had to wait for two years before being hired into the police department — but stimulus funds led to him being hired immediately. In Eddie’s words, “the President, with the Recovery Act, gave me the opportunity to serve my community and help the people I live with.”

The success of the Recovery Act is composed of millions of stories like Eddie’s — of folks getting to work who wouldn’t otherwise be in their jobs, families able to buy their first home because of the homeowner’s tax credit, and much more.

Please check out the video we put together, and pass it along to 5 friends:

http://my.barackobama.com/RecoveryVideo

Thank you,

Mitch

Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America