Archive for June, 2010:
“Keep building a stronger future”
Today President Obama traveled to Racine, Wisconsin, to hold a town hall meeting on the economy—a chance, he said, to “talk with all of you about what’s on your mind and all of our minds.”
The President told the 1,300 people assembled that the economy is now headed in the right direction, but the work isn’t finished. The President outlined the additional steps he is fighting for to help the economy to keep growing—extending unemployment benefits, helping small businesses get access to loans, and providing relief to states to keep their teachers and law enforcement personnel employed.
But he noted that a number of Republican senators are using their power to prevent these measures from coming up for a vote:
They still believe that, even after the Wall Street crash, even after the BP oil well blew, that we should just keep a hands-off attitude. They think we should keep doing what we did for most of the last decade leading up to the recession. So their prescription for every challenge is pretty much the same—and I don’t think I’m exaggerating here—basically cut taxes for the wealthy, cut rules for corporations, and cut working folks loose to fend for themselves. Basically their attitude is, you’re on your own. ...
So I just want everybody to remember, we've tried the other side’s theories. We know what their ideas are. We know where they led us. So now we've got a choice. We can return to what we know did not work, or we build a stronger future. We can go backwards, or we can go forward. And I don’t know about you, but I want to move forward in this country.
In the spirit of moving forward, the President noted that we are on the verge of passing the strongest financial reform since the Great Depression, with measures that would help prevent another economic crisis from happening—but most Republicans are planning to vote against reform, including John Boehner, House minority leader.
The leader of the Republicans in the House said that financial reform was like—I'm quoting here—“using a nuclear weapon Cheap Cialis to target an ant.” That’s what he said. He compared the financial crisis to an ant. This is the same financial crisis that led to the loss of nearly 8 million jobs. The same crisis that cost people their homes, their life savings.
He can't be that out of touch with the struggles of American families. And if he is, then he’s got to come here to Racine and ask people what they think. Do you think we should fix—I mean, maybe I'm confused. Do you think that the financial crisis was an ant and we just needed a little ant swatter to fix this thing? Or do you think that we need to restructure how we regulate the financial system, so you aren’t on the hook again and we don't have this kind of crisis again?
When you ask men and women who have been out of work for months at a time, who talk about how they’ve been barely hanging on, they don't think this financial crisis was something where you just need a few tweaks. They know it’s what led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. And they expect their leaders in Washington to do whatever it takes to make sure a crisis like this doesn’t happen again.
And in the face of the worst environmental disaster in American history, moving forward means moving toward a clean-energy future.
The President said:
Some of these same folks want to maintain the status quo, where we just rely on oil and other fossil fuels for all of our energy needs, even though we know that our dependence on these energy sources is a problem because they’re finite. They’re going to run out, and that jeopardizes our national security and our prosperity and our planet.
So I want to move forward. I believe it is time for this country to embrace a clean energy future. I don’t want clean energy jobs to go to China. I don’t want them to go to Germany. I want those industries to take root right here in the United States of America. ...
That’s why we need to pass legislation that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses. We’ve got to have a national mission to change the way we use energy and produce energy. And you know what, it will be good for our economy. It is going to drive our economy in the 21st century.
It is not time for us to look backward, it’s time for us to look forward.
Urgent Votes on Wall Street Reform
Today the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a final, combined House-Senate Wall Street reform bill.
Yohannes Abraham, political director of Organizing for America, sent an e-mail out to supporters today, asking them to write a letter to their members of Congress to support the Wall Street reform bill.
Yohannes wrote:
Congress is expected to cast its final votes on historic Wall Street reform as soon as today.
So much has happened in the past year that it's easy to forget how much OFA supporters have done to get to this point.
In key districts Provigil online No prescription around the country, we organized to win a 223–202 vote in the House last December. OFA supporters poured in nearly tens of thousands of calls to Capitol Hill offices the day before last month's vote to get it through the Senate.
This is your bill—the strongest and boldest overhaul of the financial system since the aftermath of the Great Depression. It's the change we fought the big banks to make—and we've almost won.
What happens before these final votes will determine if this once-in-a-generation legislation makes it to the President's desk. That's up to us. We need to make sure the champions in Congress who've worked with the President to pass this bill know we're supporting them—and that those in opposition hear our call for reform.
Tell your representatives you strongly support Wall Street reform—and that they'll have your thanks if they do the same.
Reform will increase security for all Americans by forcing credit card, mortgage companies, and predatory lenders to play by the rules instead of exploiting consumers with hidden fees and pages of fine print.
It establishes a new, independent agency—the Consumer Financial Protection Agency—whose sole job is to protect consumers. And it ensures American taxpayers will never again be asked to bail out the big banks that are "too big to fail."
But these changes will only happen if the President can sign it into law. We all need to get the bill to him.
Open for Questions on Energy and Climate Legislation
UPDATE: The web chat has now ended.
Today President Obama hosted a meeting with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss comprehensive energy and climate legislation.
Following the meeting, Heather Zichal, deputy assistant for energy and climate change, will answer your questions in a live web chat at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Provigil pharmacy You can submit questions here or through @whitehouse on Twitter.
Elena Kagan on the Supreme Court’s Promise: ‘Nothing less than a fair shake for every American’
Yesterday kicked off the first day of Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing to become the next United States Supreme Court Justice. Watch Kagan’s opening statement and read some highlights of her testimony from the White House blog:
“Mr. Chairman, the law school I had the good fortune to lead has a kind of motto, spoken each year at graduation. We tell the new graduates that they are ready to enter a profession devoted to “those wise restraints that make us free.” That phrase has always captured for me the way law, and the rule of law, matters. What the rule of law does is nothing less than to secure for each of us what our Constitution calls “the blessings of liberty” – those rights and freedoms, that promise of equality, that have defined this nation since its founding. And what the Supreme Court does is to safeguard the rule of law, through a commitment to even-handedness, principle, and restraint.
…
“The idea is engraved on the very face of the Supreme Court building: Equal Justice Under Law. It means that everyone who comes before the Court – regardless of wealth or power or station – receives the same process and the same protections. What this commands of judges is even-handedness and impartiality. What it promises is nothing less than a fair shake for every American.
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“[T]he Supreme Court is a wondrous institution. But the time I spent in the other branches of government remind me that it must also be a modest one – properly deferential to the decisions of the American people and their elected representatives. What I most took away from those experiences was simple admiration for the democratic process. That process is often messy and frustrating, but the people of this country have great wisdom, and their representatives work hard to protect their interests. The Supreme Court, of course, has the responsibility of ensuring that our government never oversteps its proper bounds or violates the rights of individuals. But the Court must also recognize the limits on itself and respect the choices made by the American people.”
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“I’ve led a school whose faculty and students examine and discuss Order Generic Accutane Online without Prescription and debate every aspect of our law and legal system. And what I’ve learned most is that no one has a monopoly on truth or wisdom. I’ve learned that we make progress by listening to each other, across every apparent political or ideological divide. I’ve learned that we come closest to getting things right when we approach every person and every issue with an open mind. And I’ve learned the value of a habit that Justice Stevens wrote about more than fifty years ago – of ‘understanding before disagreeing.’
‘Not since FDR has a president done so much to transform a country’
While visiting with friends and family over the weekend, a common question kept coming up when discussions turned to the Obama administration: "What has the President accomplished?" Maybe people in your life are wondering the same thing as well.
There are many lists out there already, but on Friday night Rachel Maddow did a segment clearly laying out what President Obama has accomplished in under two years in office, and it's worth checking out and passing along. She explained that the Obama Administration has achieved an uninterrupted series of changes that are “the biggest, the first, or most important in generations.” And Maddow agreed with CQ Politics reporter Taegan Goddard, who said that “not since FDR has any president done so much to transform the country.”
From the just-finalized Wall Street reform agreement to historic health reform, President Obama has made progress for the country that other leaders have tried—and failed—to Buy Cialis make for decades. But the list goes further—including bringing our economy back from the brink of collapse with the Recovery Act, signing a nuclear arms deal with Russia and keeping nuclear weapons away from terrorists, ensuring fair pay for women with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and signing the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
It’s a great reminder of how much we’ve accomplished in the last 17 months and the historic nature of the work we’re doing every day.
‘Show Congress that Americans want Wall Street reform’
OFA Director Mitch Stewart just the following message to supporters, asking them to stand with the President and show Congress that Americans want Wall Street reform:
After more than seven months of work and a prolonged effort by Organizing for America supporters, House and Senate leaders just agreed on a final Wall Street reform bill. They're moving fast toward final votes.
This is the final hurdle to enacting the toughest financial reforms since the Great Depression -- and delivering another historic accomplishment for the American people -- so we're going all-in in the next few days to make sure it passes.
Many in Congress are fighting hard alongside President Obama for Wall Street reform -- they need to hear our support. Others are standing with the special interests -- and it's even more important that they hear from us too.
To start, we need to reach our representatives somewhere we know they'll be looking -- the letters page of their local newspapers.
Write a letter to the editor today -- and show Congress that Americans want Wall Street reform.
Using our letter-to-the-editor tool is easy -- and it's one of the only surefire ways to get a message through directly to your senators and representatives. For some, it's the first thing they read every morning.
We need Congress -- and all Americans -- to know that reform doesn't just help create a more stable economy, it would actually improve the lives of everyday American families. Here are five benefits we want to make sure everyone knows:
1) Reform forces credit card and mortgage companies to play by the rules. No more hidden fees or pages of fine print.
2) Families who are hoping to buy a home or pay for college are put on a level playing field with lenders. Reform ensures they'll get the information they need presented clearly and concisely so they can make good decisions. The same goes for small businesses and community banks that play fair and deserve to see their businesses grow.
3) The legislation cracks down on predatory lenders looking to mislead people into taking on irresponsible debt.
4) Wall Street reform establishes an independent agency -- the Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- with one job: to protect consumers and enforce the new consumer financial protections, which Order Generic Cialis Online without Prescription would be the strongest ever enacted.
5) Finally, American taxpayers will never again be asked to bail out the big banks that are "too big to fail." Let's be absolutely clear about this, no matter what our opponents in Congress say.
Passing Wall Street reform -- on the heels of the Recovery Act and health reform -- would be historic, and it will help improve the lives of everyday Americans. It will show once again that this movement can go toe-to-toe with lobbyists -- and win. You've been instrumental in keeping this bill from being watered down by special interests.
Now we need to cross the finish line -- take a few minutes to write a letter to your local paper today:
http://my.barackobama.com/FinalVotesLetters
Thanks,
Mitch
Mitch Stewart
Director
Organizing for America
Kagan Confirmation Hearing Begins Today
After meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill over the past few months, today Elena Kagan’s confirmation to become the next Supreme Court Justice begins in earnest. Starting at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins opening statements, with Kagan expected to speak around 3:45 p.m. ET. After the Judiciary Committee votes on Kagan’s nomination, it then goes to a vote by the full Senate to confirm her to the Supreme Court.
You can watch the hearings Buy Accutane live on CSPAN.
The White House blog detailed two things we'll likely see during Kagan’s confirmation process. The first is Elena Kagan, a brilliant and trailblazing lawyer who has dedicated her life to public service. The second thing we can expect is some “good old-fashioned politics”—baseless claims that Kagan would be an “activist judge,” and attacks on her independence despite support from across the political spectrum.
Already, hundreds of thousands of supporters have signed on in support of the President's nominee for the Supreme Court. Add your name today to stand with President Obama and his choice of Elena Kagan.
Finishing the Job on Wall Street Reform
In today's Weekly Address, President Obama explains that "we are on the cusp of enacting the toughest financial reforms since the Great Depression."
"I don’t have to tell you why these reforms are so important. We’re still digging ourselves out of an economic crisis that happened largely because there wasn’t strong enough oversight on Wall Street. We can’t build a strong economy in America over the long-run without ending this status quo, and laying a new foundation for growth and prosperity.
...Getting this far on Wall Street reform hasn’t been easy. There are those who’ve fought tooth and nail to preserve the status quo. In recent months, they’ve spent millions of dollars and hired an army of lobbyists to stop reform dead in its tracks.
But because we refused to back down, and kept fighting, we now stand on the verge of victory. And I urge Congress to take us over the finish line, and send me a reform bill I can sign into law, so we can empower our people with consumer protections, and help prevent a financial crisis like this from ever happening again."
Both the Senate and the House could conduct their final votes on Wall Street Reform as early as next week.
‘Getting stuff done’: Congressional Committee Reaches Agreement on Wall Street Reform
Members of the House and Senate came to an agreement on sweeping Wall Street reform early this morning—setting up final votes next week, with a possibility the bill could become law by the 4th of July. The final agreement puts forward a strong bill that protects Americans from abusive financial practices and sets new rules that will help prevent another financial collapse.
As Politico wrote, today's step—combined with the health care reform passed in March—"cumulatively make clear Obama and Democrats are governing in consequential ways."
The agreement to approve the conference committee's report passed with no Republican support, by a vote of 20 to 11 on the House side and 7 to 5 on the Senate panel.
In remarks this morning, President Obama noted that the bill agreed on today contains 90% of the provisions the President originally proposed:
The reforms making their way through Cheap Accutane Congress will hold Wall Street accountable so we can help prevent another financial crisis like the one that we’re still recovering from.
We’ll put in place the toughest consumer financial protections in our history, while creating an independent agency to enforce them....
Credit card companies will no longer be able to mislead you with pages and pages of fine print. You will no longer be subject to all kinds of hidden fees and penalties, or the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.
Instead, we’ll make sure that credit card companies and mortgage companies play by the rules. You’ll be empowered with easy-to-understand forms so you know what you’re agreeing to. And you’ll have the clear and concise information you need to make financial decisions that are best for you and your family.
Today's news represents progress on another major challenge that President Obama had pledged to address. As Time's Mark Halperin said this morning:
"The president said he'd do certain things when he ran, and he's getting a lot of them done. ... That is a LOT of accomplishments in half a term. And you can bet the president's going to talk about that come September, when he's trying to rally the country behind the Democratic Party, saying: We're getting stuff done."
Have an iPhone or iPad? OFA’s Got Apps for you.
To help supporters stay connected and get involved—wherever they are—Organizing for America today is launching iPhone and iPad apps as part of our ambitious effort leading up to November.
On the new app, you can call your members of Congress directly and make your voice heard on issues that matter to you, as well as find local events and connect with others in your area. You'll also get access to the latest photos, videos, news and talking points. And we've implemented a new platform, 'AirMail,' where users will have an action inbox where they'll receive the most up-to-date ways they can take action with Organizing for America.
These features are a key part of our strategy to connect with voters, supporters, and volunteers around our Vote 2010 campaign, which focuses on turning out first-time 2008 voters in support of the President’s allies in House, Senate, and governor’s races this fall.
These apps take the Obama '08 app and improve it—and there's more still to come. Look out for exciting new features Buy cheap Accutane Online we'll be rolling out as part of our ambitious effort leading up to Election Day.