Archive for September, 2010:
Ben Harper is Committed to Vote—Are You?
The stage is set for the Moving America Forward rally in Madison, Wisconsin. With curious fans and students milling around, Ben Harper took a moment during his sound check to talk about why he’s committed to vote in 2010.
“I’m here in Madison to beat back my own apathy and be proactive,” he said. “It’s crucial to get out and vote. If you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain.”
Harper added:
“I pledge to vote. I always vote. It’s one of the great American opportunities. And although I can’t sit here and tell you to vote, to be an active member of the community you’ve got to vote. Direct action beats bureaucracy nine times out of 10.
“Imagine if you didn’t have the right to vote. One of the most crucial social and political statements you can make is to take the time to put pen to paper or to punch the paper.“
Ben Harper will be performing before President Obama takes the stage tonight at the Moving America Forward rally in Madison.
Buy Cialis Watch the live stream beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Commit to vote in this year's elections.
Vote 2010 News: Excitement builds for Obama visit at University of Wisconsin-Madison
With just five weeks to go before the November 2nd elections, the President will be at the University of Wisconsin today to get supporters fired up and lay out the critical choice voters face this year.
There are a few great ways to join in and watch tonight:
1) Join a watch party near you. Organizing for America is holding more than 200 gatherings across the country tonight, where people will get together for an evening to watch the President and organize heading into November.
2) Watch the event live online beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time—RSVP for a reminder here.
3) If you’re in the Madison area, the event is free and open to the public, and gates open at 3:30 p.m. Central Time. Tickets aren’t necessary, but RSVP’ing here is encouraged.
The State Journal reported on the goings-on in Madison leading up to today’s rally:
Library Mall buzzed with activity Monday in preparation for President Barack Obama's visit Tuesday, a rally intended to excite Democrats for the November election.
On an autumn day bright with sunshine, workers put up risers, lights and a sound system at the site of the UW-Madison rally, wedged between Memorial Library, the Wisconsin Historical Society and State Street....
Thousands are expected to attend the political rally, which is organized by the Democratic National Committee. It kicks off a four-event Order Generic Cialis Online without Prescription series where Obama will visit swing states, those with hotly contested statewide races.
The event hearkens back to Obama's 2008 campaign rallies, and the choice of Madison as a location for the event speaks to both the political importance of Wisconsin and the Democratic Party's hope of recapturing the enthusiasm of young people, which helped sweep Obama into the presidency.
More than 100 "watch parties" are being organized to watch the speech on TV across the country, said Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
"He's going to talk about the clear choice between Democrats and Republicans and why it's so important for people to vote," Kaine said.
Joining Obama at the event will be Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Tom Barrett, Milwaukee mayor and Democratic candidate for governor.
"Wisconsin treated him awfully well in 2008, both in the primary and general election," Kaine said. "The races in Wisconsin he views as very important."
“Cheeseheads 4 Change”
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It’s a beautiful, and in many ways, typical fall day on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison. On Library Mall, a high-traffic quad in the heart of campus, fraternity and sorority members are blasting music while promoting the school’s upcoming homecoming. Students are stretched out on benches and steps, catching up on homework. But in the center, bleachers and a stage are going up in front of the campus library—because the President of the United States is arriving tomorrow for the nation’s first Moving America Forward organizing rally.
In one corner of the mall, with red, white, and blue paint, the UW College Democrats are creating double-sided signs to be passed out before the rally, with slogans like “Cheeseheads 4 Change,” “Change We Still Believe In,” “Badgers Moving Forward,” and in a nod to the University of Wisconsin badger mascot, “Bucky Loves Barack.”
This is the biggest event that the University of Wisconsin will see in the lead up to the November 2 elections, Evan Giesemann, chair of the Madison chapter of the College Democrats, noted. In the past four days, the College Dems, who have about 60 active students and an e-mail list numbering in the thousands, have pulled out all the stops. They’ve been flyering the big lecture halls, chalking the sidewalks, talking one-on-one with fellow students and passersby, and knocking on doors across campus—all in an effort to build excitement for tomorrow’s rally. They’ve used Facebook and Twitter to invite students to the rally. And tonight they’ll hold Midnight Madness—another round of storming the campus with flyers and chalk, making sure that when students wake up, they know that it’s the big day.
Their hard work is paying off. All across campus, the buzz is palpable. But after the bleachers are gone and the President is back in Washington, the work of the College Democrats has just begun.
Liz Gilbert, a senior elementary-education major and a “super-volunteer,” says, “Having President Obama come to campus is really going to resonate with students. As the College Democrats, it’s our job to follow up.”
Fellow student Bryon Eagon agrees: “We have to translate the energy and excitement of this rally into organizing that turns out voters.” Eagon, who in 2008 served as Wisconsin chair of Students for Obama, says they’ll make use of commitment cards and e-mails and recruit as many volunteers for GOTV efforts as possible.
Gilbert notes that on a college campus, it’s crucial not only to register new voters (for many freshmen, this will be the first election in which they’re eligible to vote) but also to get 2008’s first-time voters back to the polls.
“Seniors in college were first-time voters in 2008,” says Gilbert. She was one of them. She cast her first ballot ever for Barack Obama in the 2008 primary election. “We have to remind everyone how important the student vote is. In 2004, Kerry took Wisconsin by about 4,000 votes. That’s equivalent to one graduating class at the university.”
They’ve got their work cut out for them, and in the next 36 days, the College Dems have a lot planned. Next week they’ll be walking alongside Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, who is up for re-election, in the university’s homecoming parade. They’ll host tailgates before home football games. They’ll likely host a gubernatorial debate between Democrat Tom Barrett and Republican Scott Walker and welcome other Wisconsin candidates like Senator Russ Feingold to campus. And of course, “we’re going to do as much canvassing as possible,” says Giesemann. “Nothing beats face-to-face contact on campus.”
A Call from the President
In March, Gail O’Brien was diagnosed with high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma—and at the time, she had no health insurance. But through the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan established under health reform, she’s finally Buy cheap online Provigil gotten insurance and the care she needs, and is responding well to treatment.
On the six-month anniversary of health reform’s signing, President Obama made a surprise phone call to Gail at her home in New Hampshire.
Watch:
New Help for Small Businesses
Today President Obama signed Cheap Accutane into law a bill that extends credit and tax breaks to small business owners across the country. Historically, small businesses have accounted two thirds of all American jobs, and this law will provide small businesses with new opportunities invest and expand—helping to ensure that they remain an engine for job growth.
Joined by small business owners as he prepared to sign today’s bill, the President explained why he fought so hard for its passage:
“Now this is important because small businesses produce most of the new jobs in this country. They are the anchors of our Main Streets. They are part of the promise of America – the idea that if you’ve got a dream and you’re willing to work hard, you can succeed. That’s what leads a worker to leave a job to become her own boss. That’s what propels a basement inventor to sell a new product – or an amateur chef to open a restaurant. It’s this promise that has drawn millions to our shores and made our economy the envy of the world.”
As we wrote last week, the bill will:
* Eliminate all capital gains taxes on small business investments during 2010 – helping 1 million small businesses;
* Increase the amount of investments that small business can write off – helping 4.5 million small businesses;
* Allow the self-employed to deduct health insurance costs – helping 2 million people;
* Reduce the expense for entrepreneurs to start a business;
* Limit the penalties for reporting errors that affect small businesses
Rally with the President in Wisconsin Tomorrow: Join a Watch Party Near You
President Obama will be at the University of Wisconsin tomorrow—headlining a rally with thousands of supporters to build momentum heading into November.
Organizing Buy cheap Accutane Online for America supporters will be holding more than 200 watch parties across the country tomorrow night—join in for a fun gathering to watch the President get supporters fired up for the final five weeks before November 2nd. You'll also get to see live music from Ben Harper, who will be joining the crowd in Madison.
If you're in the Madison area, the event is free and open to the public—gates open at 3:30 p.m. Central Time. No tickets are required, but RSVP'ing is encouraged.
If you can't make it to a Watch Party, you can watch live online here at BarackObama.com, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Fighting for Change that Matters
The history of America is a history of change. The history of Democrats is the history of change that matters for America.
Watch the video and then check out the new Democrats.org:
Crossroads on the Economy
In his weekly address, President Obama responds to the Republican "Pledge to America" that was unveiled on Thursday:
"The Republicans who want to take over Congress offered their own ideas the other day. Many were the very same policies that led to the economic crisis in the first place, which isn’t surprising, since many of their leaders were among the architects of that failed policy.
It is grounded in same worn out philosophy: cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires; cut the rules for Wall Street and the special interests; and cut the middle class loose to fend for itself. That’s not a prescription for a better future. It’s an echo of a disastrous decade we can’t afford to relive.
...They want to put special interests back in the driver’s seat in Washington. They want to roll back the law that will finally stop health insurance companies from denying you coverage on the basis of a preexisting condition. They want to repeal reforms that will finally protect hardworking families from hidden rates and penalties every time they use a credit card, make a mortgage payment, or take out a student loan.
And for all their talk about reining in spending and getting our deficits under control, they want to borrow another $700 billion, and use it to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires.
Six Reasons to Join a Vote 2010 Event This Weekend
As Friday afternoon becomes evening and thoughts turn to the weekend, consider adding a Vote 2010 event to your Saturday or Sunday plans. Now’s a great time to join in and support Democratic candidates—there are 39 days until November 2nd and many reasons to get involved. Here are just six reasons to join in now and help Democrats keep making progress this election season:
- Yesterday, new provisions of health reform took effect—barring insurance companies from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions, prohibiting lifetime limits on care, and allowing young people to stay on their parents plans for longer. If Republicans take control this November, the hard-earned progress we’ve achieved with the Affordable Care Act could be in jeopardy.
- President Obama has asked for your help to help keep moving our country forward. In a video message this week, the President said, “I need you guys to make Provigil online No prescription those phone calls, knock on those doors, to volunteer for candidates, to write whatever checks you can.” We’ve gone through the first quarter, he said, but the game is still on and your involvement now is critical.
- As Republicans showed with yesterday’s ‘Pledge to America,’ their plan if they take control this November includes policies like cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires, which would add almost a trillion to our national debt without helping middle-class Americans.
- Unlike these guys, you don’t have to travel from Spain to volunteer at a canvass or phone bank—there are events happening in every state across the country.
- On Wednesday, Republicans blocked the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the DREAM Act, showing their continued willingness to put politics before commonsense policies that are backed by a majority of Americans.
- There are great events happening everywhere—like the "They Have Tea, We Have Wine" phone bank in Los Angeles and the Fight for Ohio bus tour.
Find a weekend event near you here.
On “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the DREAM Act: Fight Back
Republicans have had quite a week. In one fell swoop, Senate Republicans prevented debate on legislation that would have finally allowed gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, as well as blocking a bill that would have offered undocumented young people who are willing to work for a college degree or serve in our armed forces a chance to become citizens.
As OFA Director Mitch Stewart wrote in a message to supporters yesterday, “I'm hearing from people who are upset -- and I'm angry too. But the best Provigil pharmacy way for us to fight back is to make sure our communities know what's at stake in these elections.”
This week’s vote is even more proof of how Republicans would govern—and a reminder of how hard we need to keep fighting to make sure our country heads in the right direction this November.