Archive for August, 2010:
“They’re pouring lots of money in, so we’re pouring lots of people power in”
It’s after 5:00 p.m. on a Friday evening in Austin, Texas, and the Travis County Democratic Party offices are still buzzing with volunteers making phone calls and getting ready for upcoming events.
In a room on the second floor, volunteers are making calls to turn folks out for Tuesday’s phone bank they’ve just named ‘Calling with Candidates.’ The event will have two House candidates compete for most calls made, and volunteers will finish their first round of calls to first-time '08 voters before the month of August is out. And an Austin event wouldn’t be complete without a potluck, which some volunteers are rumored to spend all day cooking for.
It’s OFA’s second day based out of this office, where they share space with several state House campaigns, Bill White for Governor organizers, and an assortment of candidates whose signs cover the building’s façade and front yard.
One of the volunteers I meet is Rosanne, an OFA community organizer who’s coordinating her team of phone bankers sitting around a table together under the iconic Obama ‘Hope’ poster. Rosanne has a team of 12 volunteers who work in state Rep. Donna Howard’s district, and this year they’re focusing on House, Board of Education, and the Governor’s races.
Education is a particularly important issue in Texas, and Austin is the place the President Obama chose to give a major speech on the issue earlier this month. “We don’t like being the laughingstock of the nation when it comes to education,” Rosanne explains. “Here we have two great candidates, women who are PhDs in education, promoting science instead of ideology.” These are going to be tough races—Rep. Howard was targeted by the GOP—but Rosanne is clear on how her team will win:
“They’re pouring lots of money in, so we're pouring lots of people power in. We are pouring our feet and fingers into keeping those wonderful women in office.”
Rosanne got involved after hearing Barack Obama speak at the 2004 Democratic Convention—when she made a bet with her husband that Provigil pharmacy this man would one day become President. Rosanne is white, her husband is older and African American. "He just didn't think our country was ready." She volunteered in California, North Carolina, and Colorado, and organized locally as a precinct chair. When Obama spoke in Austin right after announcing his candidacy, Rosanne was just returning from the funeral of her father, who had just passed away in Iowa.
“I had just buried my father, I was in the car on my way back from Iowa for my father’s funeral, and I said ‘Drop me off.’ And it was a drizzly day and it was so what I needed to do. To see him come on stage—and he was amazed—Barack goes, ‘I have to call Michelle, she’s not going to believe this.’ They were expecting 5,000 and they got 20,000—it was a very memorable day for me. That was the first time I’d seen the President. It was good.”
Vote 2010 News: While Beck and Palin speak, Obama backers knock on doors
While Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin speak in Washington, D.C tomorrow., Organizing for America volunteers will be on the ground across the country, talking one on one with the voters who'll be getting out to the polls this November. Our goal is having 200,000 conversations in 48 hours, showing that while Republicans talk a big game, we're out organizing them in communities from coast to coast leading up to this year's elections.
Organizing Order Generic Accutane Online without Prescription for America, the successor to President Obama's 2008 campaign committee, plans a response to the rally conservative superstars Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck will host Saturday at the Lincoln Memorial.
While Palin and Beck are speaking, Democrats will be out campaigning for House candidates....
In an e-mail to Obama supporters in the Washington area, OFA Deputy Director Jeremy Bird cited the Beck-Palin rally to drum up support for the effort -- which he says is needed to prevent Republicans from taking over Congress and repealing key items of the president's agenda, such as health care.
Want to join an event this weekend and help keep moving America forward? Find a canvass near you and help us meet our goal of 200,000 doors knocked this weekend.
11 “Very Reasonable” Recovery Act Projects
While Republicans continue to spread false claims about the Recovery Act’s Buy Cialis effectiveness, recent evidence shows that the investment has actually helped our economy add up to 3.3 million jobs during the last 3 months of 2010.
The Huffington Post just spotlighted “11 very reasonable” places funded by the Recovery Act that represent the thousands of great projects that were funded across the country. From investing in new battery technology to tax credits for wind-powered energy, these are exactly the type of projects that create jobs, help build our economy now, and spur growth in the long term.
Check out a slideshow of these 11 projects.
Vote 2010 News: Why Democrats Will Keep the House
Hotline On Call highlighted the four advantages Democrats have over Republicans when it comes to this year’s fight to control the House of Representatives: money, turnout, opposition research, and modeling.
House Republicans are measuring the drapes in preparation for big gains in the lower chamber, convinced that Minority Leader John Boehner is going to become the next Speaker of the House. On a macro level, that wouldn't be a bad guess -- Democrats are saddled with bad polls and unpopular leaders, and the national mood wants a change from the status quo.
But the Democratic apocalypse isn't guaranteed just yet. In fact, senior Democratic strategists say they're not only likely to keep the House, but they believe the GOP won't come close to gaining the 39 seats they need to take over.
That's not to say Republicans have no chance of taking back the House. Indeed, for every argument Democrats make about their strengths, Republicans have a counterargument. But Democrats have a compelling case. Here are the four reasons Democrats shouldn't be counted out of the majority, and Republicans shouldn't start counting their chickens, quite yet:
• Money: On both a macro level and a micro level, Republicans are seriously behind in the money chase. Most candidates enrolled in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Frontline program for endangered incumbents have huge cash leads over their rivals, and the DCCC has nearly twice as much on hand as the National Republican Congressional Committee....
• Turnout: Beyond advertising, money pays for turnout operations, another area in which Democrats have a clear advantage. The Democratic National Committee has pledged $30 million in cash and services to turn out the estimated 15 million voters who cast their first ballots for President Obama in 2008, and the DCCC has put an average of five field staffers on the ground in 75 districts....
• Opposition Research: ... Democrats have engaged in what they characterize as an unprecedented research campaign, digging up dirt on GOP candidates in hopes of driving their negative numbers through the roof.
• Modeling: Hours after the polls closed in a special election in Pennsylvania's 12th District earlier this year, Boehner was still predicting that businessman Tim Burns (R) would beat former congressional Order Generic Cialis Online without Prescription aide Mark Critz (D). Republicans' polling showed Burns would win. Their polling was wrong, and Critz is now a congressman....Republicans did not, resulting in a blown call and a self-deprecating examination of the party's polling techniques....
Republicans still have a strong chance to gain an important toehold in the legislative branch. But they should not invest in new drapes just yet; dislodging a majority is harder than it seems, and Democrats are using every lever of power at their disposal to hold on.
But Hotline left out the fifth and most important reason we’ll keep the House this November: the hard work and support of OFA volunteers across the country. Every day volunteers are out knocking on doors and making calls to elect new Democrats to Congress and help keep strong representatives in Washington. This weekend our goal is to knock on 200,000 doors to build momentum for November—find an event near you and join in.
This Weekend: Door to Door Across the Country
OFA Deputy Director Jeremy Bird just sent a message to supporters inviting them to this weekend's Moving America Forward Day of Action events:
This fall, there's a lot at stake.
For two years, the Republicans have said "no" over and over to legislation that would help Americans -- no to extending unemployment benefits, no to creating jobs, no to the Recovery Act.
But that's not enough -- if the Republicans take back Congress, they've pledged to repeal health insurance reform and pursue policies that would end Social Security Buy Accutane and Medicare as we know them.
They're convening in Washington, D.C., with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin this weekend. Palin has said that the plan for keeping taxes low for the middle class so they can stimulate the economy, while repealing fiscally irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%, is "idiotic." And Beck said last week of some of those who are unemployed, "you'd be ashamed to call them Americans."
These are the folks that the Republican party draws its energy and ideas from. But we have a much better source -- you.
That's why, this weekend, OFA volunteers are going door to door across the country to make sure your voice is heard.
There's an event in your area this weekend -- and I hope you can make it.
We're talking to folks in small towns and big cities, focusing on voters who turned out for the first time in 2008 to cast their ballot for Barack Obama.
And we're going to make sure as many as possible of these voters commit to going to the polls again this fall.
We've got an ambitious goal -- 200,000 doors knocked across the country.
You see the progress we're making every day: as new provisions in the Affordable Care Act take effect, as federal funding saves the jobs of police officers and firefighters in your state, and as the brave men and women of the armed forces return from Iraq.
But to continue this progress, we need to elect Democrats who will stand with the President and fight for change that matters, not Washington Republicans and extreme Tea Party leaders who want to repeal all our hard work.
Join us in your area to help us reach out to voters about the importance of voting this fall:
http://my.barackobama.com/MAFevent
Let's get to work,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America
Why Sue’s Working to Elect the Next Governor of Illinois
Every week from now until November’s election, OFA volunteer Sue A. is taking time out of her busy schedule to help elect Democrat Pat Quinn as the next governor of Illinois.
Despite the long drive, Sue comes in to the Chicago office as often as she can to call voters and ask them to make their voices heard this year.
OFA Illinois shared why Sue’s passionate about electing Pat Quinn for governor and Sheila Simon for lieutenant governor:
"I'm Buy cheap online Provigil a lifelong Democrat, and I think that Pat Quinn is a very solid politician. I also had the opportunity to have lunch with Sheila Simon… I liked her father, and I think she's got a good background. I think she's very pro-women, pro-education, and has a good head to evaluate issues as they come up."
Sue’s commitment also comes from a realization of just how much is at stake this November. She's concerned about the election, especially the prospect of Republican Bill Brady becoming governor.
"His ideas on women's issues are scary. He's an extremist in my opinion."
Pat Quinn is moving Illinois in the right direction—signing the state’s first jobs bill in a decade and successfully getting companies like Ford and UPS to expand their local business. Thanks to the Governor's actions, the new fuel-efficient Ford Explorer is being built exclusively in Illinois, which will create 1,200 new jobs.
OFA Illinois will be out this weekend asking supporters to commit to vote for Pat Quinn, Sheila Simon, and other great candidates in November. Join in and find an event in your area.
OFA Supporter Sets the Record Straight on Boehner’s Small Business Claims
Following yesterday’s economic speech by Republican Rep. John Boehner, OFA supporter and Ohio small business owner Elizabeth Lessner set the record straight on some of the most harmful proposals the Republican Majority Leader put forward. Lessner owns Betty's Family of Restaurants outside of downtown Columbus, and is scheduled to open up two more restaurants soon.
In his speech Boehner claimed that the Recovery Act hasn’t worked—despite clear new evidence out yesterday—and proposed extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich and repealing health insurance reform.
On "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," Lessner explained that Boehner’s proposed tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans wouldn’t help her or other small business owners. “In central Ohio,” she said, “We don’t earn $250,000 a year, and neither do any of our staff, so the tax cuts that Boehner proposes really has absolutely no bearing on my business.” In response to Boehner’s assertion that government regulations should be looser, Lessner said that strong regulations—like FDA regulation of eggs and meat—are necessary for survival as a restaurant owner. “The quickest way for me to go out of business would be to give one of my customers E. coli or salmonella” she said.
And when asked about what government could do that would help her restaurants thrive, Lessner said that the recent increased lending and Recovery Act funding have helped her to open three businesses with new loan options.
Additionally, health care reform has made it easier for Lessner to compete on a level playing field:
“Health care reform enables me to compete with larger corporate restaurant chains for the same talent. In the past I wasn’t able to afford those same benefits, Cheap Accutane and now I can offer the same benefits that a larger conglomerate can, and I’m able to attract better employees, which has been fantastic.”
While Boehner argues that his plans would help small businesses, entrepreneurs like Lessner know first-hand how these proposals would hurt the small businesses owners working hard to make it each day.
Sí se puede — ¡este fin de semana! (Yes we can — this weekend!)
and across the nation were an integral part of the tide of first-time voters who elected President Obama in 2008. That’s why reaching Latinos again this year for the midterm elections is so important to Organizing for America-California. This weekend, OFA-CA Buy cheap Accutane Online hosted two Camp OFA trainings for Latino organizers and allies in Oakland and Southeast Los Angeles. Armed with the tools from the weekend, volunteers are ready to recruit, canvass and implement OFA’s small business outreach program across the state. Spicy chicken tamales greeted participants early on Saturday morning as they checked in for the training in Southeast LA, while the Northern California HQ in Oakland struggled to find enough chairs for everyone who wanted to attend. As the day proceeded at both trainings, presenters and facilitators encouraged participants as they developed and articulated their personal stories and reasons for getting involved.
Jose 
was born in a small town in Mexico and attended school through the 6th grade – at which point he had exhausted the educational opportunities in his village. As a young man he worked on his parents’ farm, and eventually he came to the U.S. to help support his family back in Mexico. He is now a small business owner in East LA.
“Many people in my community don’t think their vote matters,” Jose told the organizers assembled on Saturday in Spanish and with the help of a translator. “But it does, and I want to let them know that it does.”
He left clutching an envelope full of literature in Spanish, commitment cards and a “VOTO 2010” poster for his own business.
After hours of presentations and work in small groups, Camp OFA participants got to flex their organizing muscles by phonebanking a list of Latino potential volunteers for this weekend’s Moving America Forward Day of Action on August 28. In Oakland the OFA-CA HQ buzzed with eager phonebankers as they put into action some of the tricks of the trade they had learned earlier in the day.
To close out the Southeast LA Camp OFA, one of the participants shared his family’s story. Brian came from a family of immigrants, and he attended the training to make sure that immigrant families like his continue to have a voice in the American political process.
Want to make a difference this weekend, just like Jose, Brian and others at Camp OFA? Join us for Moving America Forward, a national day of action this coming weekend, as we talk with voters across CA!
Así se mira el cambio. This is what change looks like.
How New Credit Card Rules Help You
For too long, credit card companies have taken advantage of customers with unfair fees, rate hikes, and a lack of clear information. But over the weekend we saw an end to some of the worst credit card practices, thanks to new legislation signed by the President that went into effect on Sunday.
President Obama signed the CARD Act last year, which puts a stop to deceptive practices and makes sure credit card companies are accountable to their consumers.
Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, highlighted the key new rules that will help you:
Limits on the size of late fees: Credit card issuers will no longer be allowed to charge you a late payment fee that is larger than your minimum payment. Banks also cannot charge a late fee higher than $25 unless one of your last six payments has been late or if the bank can show that the costs associated with the late payment justify a higher fee.
Ban on multiple penalty fees for single violations: You cannot be charged more than one penalty fee for a single violation of your credit card agreement. For example, you cannot be charged both a late fee and a returned payment fee based on a single botched payment.
Ban on inactivity fees: Card issuers will no longer be allowed to charge you a fee for failing to use your account enough or for terminating your account. Your account can still be closed for inactivity by your card issuer.
More information about why your rate is going up: Since August 2009, card issuers have been required to give 45 days notice before raising your interest Buy cheap Cialis Online rate on future purchases. Now they must notify you of the reason they are imposing a rate hike, such as market conditions or a reduced credit score.
Read the full article here.
200,000 Doors to Knock
200,000. That's our goal for doors to knock on this weekend Cheap Cialis in support of Democratic candidates up for election on November 2nd.
To protect the gains we've made and keep making progress, we'll need everyone to get out and take part in local events. Join a Moving America Forward Day of Action event near you.
Former Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe sent an email inviting everyone to join in this weekend.
He writes:
In 2008, volunteers like you broke every record in politics -- you knocked on more doors, made more calls, and had more conversations with voters than any campaign in history.
Those conversations are what brought 15 million people to the polls for the first time, propelled Barack Obama to the presidency, and won majorities in the House and Senate.
In 2009 and earlier this year, Organizing for America volunteers like you used the lessons learned in 2008 to win historic victories reining in Wall Street and reforming a broken health care system.
But now we need to protect those gains and keep moving America forward -- which means we've got to get back on the doors, talking to voters about how important it is to vote this fall.
So we at OFA and others working to elect Democrats to Congress circled next weekend on the calendar and set a big goal: 200,000 doors knocked across the country in 48 hours.
If Republicans win back control of Congress, we know what will happen: endless investigations into ginned-up controversies, non-stop attempts to repeal the progress we've made, and a complete drive to stop us from moving this country forward.
But we cannot go backward.
Health reform took a century-long fight to win. Its benefits are starting to help make sure families have the health care they deserve -- and you can bet this movement is going to protect what it's won.
Wall Street reform places the strictest new regulations on banks that they've faced since the Great Depression -- no wonder the Republicans are already saying they'll fight to repeal it, to make life easier for their special-interest friends.
To protect what we've won and keep the change coming -- from clean-energy legislation to immigration reform to putting more Americans back to work -- we're not done.
Which is why we need to keep fighting to get folks to the polls this fall.
We know -- from our own experience and research -- that nothing has more of an effect on voter behavior than real conversations. That's why OFA volunteers getting people to commit to voting -- on doorsteps and on the phone -- could well be the deciding factor in close races across the country.