Archive for December, 2009:
A Message for the New Year from the President
Before leaving Washington for Hawaii, President Obama recorded a special message for the New Year:
"Tonight, as Americans across the country gather with family and friends, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.
This is always a hopeful time, as we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. And while 2009 was difficult for many Americans, we must also look back on this year with the knowledge that brighter days are ahead of us – that although our challenges are great, each of us has the courage and determination to rise up and meet them.
It is that spirit that has kept the American Dream alive for generations, and it is that spirit that will keep it alive for generations to come. Happy New Year, everyone.
A Message for the New Year from the President
Before leaving Washington for Hawaii, President Obama recorded a special message for the New Year:
"Tonight, as Americans across the country gather with family and friends, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year.
This is always a hopeful time, as we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. And while 2009 was difficult for many Americans, we must also look back on this year with the knowledge that brighter days are ahead of us – that although our challenges are great, each of us has the courage and determination to rise up and meet them.
It is that spirit that has kept the American Dream alive for generations, and it is that spirit that will keep it alive for generations to come. Happy New Year, everyone.
2009
From OFA Director Mitch Stewart:
Looking back at 2009, it turns out you were right.
Early this year, millions of you chose to keep working together and create Organizing for America, to build on the momentum of the Obama campaign, take on the defenders of the status quo, and make change happen.
Special interests thought they could steamroll you with hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying and attack ads. Meanwhile, you built a massive organization, driven by local leadership, that reached out to millions of fellow Americans and made your voices heard to Congress in record numbers.
This has been a remarkable year for the movement you've built from the ground up, and I wanted to take a moment at year's end to reflect on everything you've accomplished.Beth Kimbriel, a mother of four from Richmond, Virginia, has no formal political experience. But every week, as an OFA "Community Organizer," she trains and manages other volunteer leaders to organize effectively around the President's agenda. Hundreds of her fellow OFA Community Organizers around the country have already volunteered more than 200,000 hours doing similar work. Thousands more have taken on other leadership positions in every single state. And we're still growing -- nearly a million people who had never volunteered for the presidential campaign have signed up with OFA this year.
Supporters spread the word throughout our communities, with more than a million conversations with neighbors on the phone and at the doorstep, and 250,000 letters to the editor about how President Obama's policies would help ordinary Americans.
And when Congress was making crucial decisions, you spoke out more powerfully than the special interests ever could. In the last few months, you've made more than 1 million calls to Congress -- including more than 300,000 on one amazing day in October that created huge momentum for health reform. Thousands of supporters attended town halls to counter the shouting mobs and speak out in person. And you even held 37,107 events in every congressional district -- bus tour rallies, phonebanks and forums to inform your neighbors.
These incredible efforts have powered victories on a wide range of issues. OFA volunteers provided a huge boost to help pass the Recovery Act, President Obama's historic budget, an expansion of children's health care, credit card and student loan reform. Your voices helped pass a historic green jobs and energy bill in the House, and the confirmation of the nation's first Latina Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, in the Senate. And of course, you were instrumental in passing comprehensive health reform through both houses of Congress for the first time in American history.
With every phone call to a member of Congress, every door knocked on a rainy day, every event held in a town center, you've helped to push this country forward.Thanks for making it all possible,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America
Here's a look at just some of the incredible events that OFA supporters took part in this year:
2009
From OFA Director Mitch Stewart:
Looking back at 2009, it turns out you were right.
Early this year, millions of you chose to keep working together and create Organizing for America, to build on the momentum of the Obama campaign, take on the defenders of the status quo, and make change happen.
Special interests thought they could steamroll you with hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying and attack ads. Meanwhile, you built a massive organization, driven by local leadership, that reached out to millions of fellow Americans and made your voices heard to Congress in record numbers.
This has been a remarkable year for the movement you've built from the ground up, and I wanted to take a moment at year's end to reflect on everything you've accomplished.Beth Kimbriel, a mother of four from Richmond, Virginia, has no formal political experience. But every week, as an OFA "Community Organizer," she trains and manages other volunteer leaders to organize effectively around the President's agenda. Hundreds of her fellow OFA Community Organizers around the country have already volunteered more than 200,000 hours doing similar work. Thousands more have taken on other leadership positions in every single state. And we're still growing -- nearly a million people who had never volunteered for the presidential campaign have signed up with OFA this year.
Supporters spread the word throughout our communities, with more than a million conversations with neighbors on the phone and at the doorstep, and 250,000 letters to the editor about how President Obama's policies would help ordinary Americans.
And when Congress was making crucial decisions, you spoke out more powerfully than the special interests ever could. In the last few months, you've made more than 1 million calls to Congress -- including more than 300,000 on one amazing day in October that created huge momentum for health reform. Thousands of supporters attended town halls to counter the shouting mobs and speak out in person. And you even held 37,107 events in every congressional district -- bus tour rallies, phonebanks and forums to inform your neighbors.
These incredible efforts have powered victories on a wide range of issues. OFA volunteers provided a huge boost to help pass the Recovery Act, President Obama's historic budget, an expansion of children's health care, credit card and student loan reform. Your voices helped pass a historic green jobs and energy bill in the House, and the confirmation of the nation's first Latina Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, in the Senate. And of course, you were instrumental in passing comprehensive health reform through both houses of Congress for the first time in American history.
With every phone call to a member of Congress, every door knocked on a rainy day, every event held in a town center, you've helped to push this country forward.Thanks for making it all possible,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America
Here's a look at just some of the incredible events that OFA supporters took part in this year:
“It starts with you”
Earlier this month, Organizing for America held more than 200 volunteer trainings across the country in one weekend. Local volunteers gathered in living rooms, community centers, and coffee shops to learn the skills needed to step up and become leaders. It's the kind of story that rarely registers on the national news radar, but it's this kind of tireless, methodical organizing that is the foundation of OFA.
“It starts with you”
Earlier this month, Organizing for America held more than 200 volunteer trainings across the country in one weekend. Local volunteers gathered in living rooms, community centers, and coffee shops to learn the skills needed to step up and become leaders. It's the kind of story that rarely registers on the national news radar, but it's this kind of tireless, methodical organizing that is the foundation of OFA.
Merry Christmas from the President and the First Lady
For the first time in a weekly address, the President is joined by the First Lady as they celebrate Christmas. They both honor those serving overseas, those who have sacrificed for their country, and the families that stand by them.
You can find ways to lend our troops and their families a home through DOD’s Military Homefront, OurMilitary.mil, and of course the USO.
Merry Christmas from the President and the First Lady
For the first time in a weekly address, the President is joined by the First Lady as they celebrate Christmas. They both honor those serving overseas, those who have sacrificed for their country, and the families that stand by them.
You can find ways to lend our troops and their families a home through DOD’s Military Homefront, OurMilitary.mil, and of course the USO.