Rep. Betty Sutton Recess Protest in Cleveland" is tomorrow, Thursday, September 3, 2009 5:00 PM

From Diana of the Cleveland 9.12 Group --

• What: Rep. Betty Sutton Recess Protest in Cleveland
• When: Thursday, September 3, 2009 5:00 PM
• Where: Crowne Plaza City Center Hotel
  777 St. Clair Ave. at East 9th St. Cleveland OH 44114

I'll see everyone there!

Obama’s Team Crosses the Rhetorical Line

(Update: The website cited below has been suspended by barackobama.com. The screenshot to the right is the original page, but the embedded links will no longer work. Click on the picture to the right for a full-screen view.)

Many Americans took off work and sacrificed family time this past August to attend congressional town halls, where they voiced opposition to a government-run overhaul of their personal health care choices. They hand painted signs, grabbed their children and drove to their local church or school gymnasium for valuable lessons in community organizing and democracy. While they lived the Rockwellian version of American discourse, they were called names, labeled as ‘too organized’ or “un-American”, and likened to mobs, Nazis and Fascists. And now President Obama’s team has designated September 11 as the day to liken conservatives to Al Qaeda terrorists.

Today, President Obama’s campaign organization “Organizing for America” sent out a notice to its “grassroots” supporters. It asked them to wage a coordinated phone campaign for health care by calling their U.S. Senators on September 11 – also known as Patriot Day in honor of the thousands of Americans killed by Al Qaeda terrorists eight years ago. It goes on: “All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.” Please read that again.

Typically when this type of outrageousness is unleashed on the American public, the appropriate response is to recall the webpage and explain the gray area, with phrases such as ‘that was taken out of context’ or ‘we didn’t mean that conservatives were actually terrorists’ or ‘that was written by a junior staffer who has been admonished’. But that should not be sufficient this time. There are several lessons America must learn from this:

Bipartisanship: Rather than rally our nation, which is certainly more divided than ever, they seek to make those divisions even more distinctive this September 11. The President often talks about reaching across the aisle, working with people of differing viewpoints, but that rhetoric is not matched by this reality.

Zealots: This type of irresponsible rhetoric can make dissent against the President seem dangerous. Down the road, the President could paint his detractors as nothing more than right-wing zealots bent on destroying his vision for the nation. Remember, these ‘zealots’ are not smuggling weapons, they’re smuggling poster board and markers. They’re not flying planes into buildings; they’re flying to see their parents for Thanksgiving.

Free Press: How does it help our nation to rally against a free press? If Fox News doesn’t report the story as the White House sees it, does that make them a “propaganda network” as it says on today’s release? Who are the “treacherous leaders” that Fox News is reporting to by the way? These questions need answering.

Memorial: September 11 should be a day to grieve and remember, not a day to lobby for government-run healthcare. It certainly should not be a day to demonize fellow Americans. America’s enemies are violent extremists, bent on bring this nation to its knees, not soccer moms, dads and senior citizens who may disagree with one’s political or policy views.

Results: Will a single American become more enamored with the President’s health care plan, if they are called a terrorist? Will the country become more unified? This is not a strategy that will build consensus, rather it will end health care reform. All Americans want reform; they differ on the details. No reform will be possible in this toxic political environment.

President Obama has a way of deflecting the bad behavior of his subordinates. It is certainly true that he does not get up every morning and write all of his own press releases, and refresh his own website. But he is responsible and accountable for its content. It is time for the President to stop campaigning. He should eliminate his “Organizing for America” website immediately. He needs to stop embracing the rising sun seal of Obama/Biden ‘08 and instead embrace the great Presidential seal of the White House 2009.

On September 11, 2008 then-Presidential candidate Barack Obama said: “Americans across our great country came together to stand with the families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that.”

Let us renew that indeed. We should never degrade that day’s events to call those who oppose a policy “terrorists.” Mr. President, this September 11; remember the heroes, remember the victims, remember the families who wept that evening and pray for America’s continued resolve and wisdom, because together we are stronger. Divided we fall.

(Update #2: Several readers have asked us whether this posting on barackobama.com was “user-generated” rather than a staff posting. From what we can tell, this may have been the case. Nevertheless, members of ‘Organizing for America’ in Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan and possibly other states were invited to this event without filter. Anything under the ‘Organizing for America’ banner that is distributed en masse is accountable to those who run the President’s perpetual campaign.

Which is the problem with a perpetual campaign. When you have campaign organizers attempting to assist the White House message, you end up in this situation. If one American received one email that led them to believe that the President shared these views, that is one too many.

This was not an ill-advised comment on a blog, but rather an organizing activity that used hateful language to describe the opposition. The President and his political advisors should immediately denounce this language and continue to remove it from their website. And they should immediately discontinue the use of the ‘Organizing for America’ website to remove any suspicion that the President shares these views. There is a time for campaigning, and a time for leading. Now is the time for the President to lead.)

Screen shot

Obama campaign org politicizes 9/11 - calls protesters ‘right-wing domestic terrorists’

The link.

Posted by Dan Spencer (Profile)

Tuesday, September 1st at 4:00PM EDT

President Obama’s campaign organization, Organizing for America, goes way, way too far.

Team Obama wants to use 9/11 to push back against protesters, referred to as “Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists” by calling Senators in support of the Obamacare public government option.

Today, the Obama campaign folks sent out a notice to “grassroots” supporters about the planned 9/11″health care organizing event”:

What day? Our US Senators return to DC the Tues after Labor Day. That next FRIDAY, Sep 11, is Patriot Day, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the 9/11 attacks.

All 50 States are coordinating in this – as we fight back against our own Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists who are subverting the American Democratic Process, whipped to a frenzy by their Fox Propaganda Network ceaselessly re-seizing power for their treacherous leaders.

The offensive notice has been scrubbed from the Organizing for America website, but I was able to get the following screenshot

How dare they? Don’t contemplate the nearly 3,000 innocent souls murdered by the
terrorists. Instead, politicize a day of remembrance. Whatever happened
to what presidential candidate Obama said on September 11, 2008:

Americans across our great country came together to stand with the
families of the victims, to donate blood, to give to charity, and to
say a prayer for our country. Let us renew that.

What happened to all that hope?

Don’t let team Obama get away with hijacking Patriot Day, a day that should remain a day of remembrance. Don’t wait until the Obamatons launch the planned Senate assault. Call your Senators and your Representatives now. Let them know what you think about this despicable effort to politicize 9/11. Tell them what you think of the president’s campaign organization calling protesters terrorists. Do it now.

Your student might need a sick day on Sept 8th!

President Obama’s Address to Students Across America September 8, 2009
(Let the brainwashing begin-can you say Indoctrination?)

PLEASE, CONTACT YOUR STUDENT'S SCHOOL/SCHOOL BOARD AND FIND OUT IF THEY WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THIS!

The speech will be broadcast live on www.whitehouse.gov at 1 p.m. EDT.

Please read what other American parents are saying at the following links:

http://www.thewoodlandsteaparty.com/2009/08/31/president-obama%E2%80%99s-address-to-students-across-america-september-8-2009/

http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?t=1621571

U.S. Department of Education
Office of Communications & Outreach, Press Office
400 Maryland Ave., S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202

MEDIA ADVISORY

EVENT DATE:
1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009
Contact: Sandra Abrevaya
(202) 401-1576 or sandra.abrevaya@ed.gov

PRESIDENT OBAMA TO DELIVER NATIONALLY BROADCAST ADDRESS TO STUDENTS ON SEPT. 8

The President will deliver a speech about the importance of persisting and succeeding in school on Sept. 8, the first day of school for many children across America. The Department of Education is encouraging educators, students and parents to use this opportunity to help students get focused and begin the school year strong. The speech will be broadcast live on www.whitehouse.gov at 1 p.m. EDT. The Department of Education has also asked a group of U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellows to develop some suggested classroom activities around the speech to help engage students and stimulate discussion on the importance of education in their lives. The suggested classroom activities will be available on www.ed.gov.

Here's how the President described the speech in a recent interview with 11 year-old reporter Damon Weaver yesterday: "On Sept. 8, when young people across the country will have just started or are about to go back to school, I'm going to be making a big speech to young people all across the country about the importance of education, the importance of staying in school, how we want to improve our education system, and why it's so important for the country. And so I hope everybody tunes in."

WHO:
President Obama

WHAT:
Presidential Address To Students

WHEN:
1 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009

WHERE:
Broadcast live at www.whitehouse.gov
PreK-6 Menu of Classroom Activities:
President Obama’s Address to Students
Across America
Produced by Teaching Ambassador Fellows, U.S. Department of Education September 8, 2009

Before the Speech:
Teachers can build background knowledge about the President of the United States and his speech by reading books about presidents and Barack Obama and motivate students by asking the following questions: Who is the President of the United States? What do you think it takes to be President? To whom do you think the President is going to be speaking? Why do you think he wants to speak to you? What do you think he will say to you?

Teachers can ask students to imagine being the President delivering a speech to all of the students in the United States. What would you tell students? What can students do to help in our schools? Teachers can chart ideas about what they would say.

Why is it important that we listen to the President and other elected officials, like the mayor, senators, members of congress, or the governor? Why is what they say important?

During the Speech:
As the President speaks, teachers can ask students to write down key ideas or phrases that are important or personally meaningful. Students could use a note-taking graphic organizer such as a Cluster Web, or students could record their thoughts on sticky notes. Younger children can draw pictures and write as appropriate. As students listen to the speech, they could think about the following: What is the President trying to tell me? What is the President asking me to do? What new ideas and actions is the President challenging me to think about?
Students can record important parts of the speech where the President is asking them to do something. Students might think about: What specific job is he asking me to do? Is he asking anything of anyone else? Teachers? Principals? Parents? The American people?

Students can record any questions they have while he is speaking and then discuss them after the speech. Younger children may need to dictate their questions.

After the Speech:
Teachers could ask students to share the ideas they recorded, exchange sticky notes or stick notes on a butcher paper poster in the classroom to discuss main ideas from the speech, i.e. citizenship, personal responsibility, civic duty.
Students could discuss their responses to the following questions: What do you think the President wants us to do? Does the speech make you want to do anything? Are we able to do what President Obama is asking of us? What would you like to tell the President?

Teachers could encourage students to participate in the Department of Education’s “I Am What I Learn” video contest.

On September 8th, the Department will invite K-12 students to submit a 2 video no longer than 2 min, explaining why education is important and how their education will help them achieve their dreams. Teachers are welcome to incorporate the same or a similar video project into an assignment. More details will be released via www.ed.gov.

Extension of the Speech: Teachers can extend learning by having students
Create posters of their goals. Posters could be formatted in quadrants or puzzle pieces or trails marked with the labels: personal, academic, community, country. Each area could be labeled with three steps for achieving goals in those areas. It might make sense to focus on personal and academic so community and country goals come more readily.

Write letters to themselves about what they can do to help the president. These would be collected and redistributed at an appropriate later date by the teacher to make students accountable to their goals.

Write goals on colored index cards or precut designs to post around the classroom.
Interview and share about their goals with one another to create a supportive community.

Participate in School wide incentive programs or contests for students who achieve their goals.

Write about their goals in a variety of genres, i.e. poems, songs, personal essays.
Create artistic projects based on the themes of their goals.

Graph student progress toward goals.

PLEASE, CONTACT YOUR STUDENT'S SCHOOL/SCHOOL BOARD AND FIND OUT IF THEY WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THIS!

Five Major Faults with the Health Care Bills

Five Major Faults with the Health Care Bills

by Nina Owcharenko

WebMemo #2599

Current efforts by Congress to "reform" the health care system are centered on several flawed policy initiatives that will transfer more power and decisions to Washington and away from patients and families.

Rather than create a massive government-based health care system and dislocate people from their existing private coverage, policymakers should focus on putting the health care system on a path where individuals and families are in control of their health care dollars and decisions.

Shortfalls of the Health Care Bills

The following five provisions are the cornerstone of the House and Senate bills and unavoidably result in legislation taking health care reform in the wrong direction.

1. New Public Plan and Federal Exchange. Both the House and Senate bills would create a new government-run health care plan through the establishment of a federally run national health insurance exchange. The result: widespread erosion of private insurance and substantial consolidation of federal control over health care through the exchange.[1] As is evident in the details of the House bill (H.R. 3200), there is no level playing field for competition between the government plans and private health plans. Plus, the incentives in the legislation guarantee that millions of Americans will lose their existing employer-based coverage.

2. Federal Regulation of Health Insurance. Both the House and Senate bills would result in sweeping and complex federal regulation of health insurance. Moreover, it would take oversight away from states and concentrate it in Washington.[2]

3. Massive New Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies. Both the House and Senate would expand eligibility for Medicaid, but they would also extend new taxpayer-funded subsidies to the middle class. Such commitments would result in scores of Americans dependent on the government to finance their health care.[3] This is unfortunate because Congress could have reformed the tax treatment of health insurance to enable people to keep their existing private coverage and buy better private coverage if they wished to do so.

4. Employer Mandate. Both the House and Senate bills would impose an employer mandate for employers who do not offer coverage and for those whose benefits do not meet a new federal standard. An employer mandate would hurt low-income workers the most and would also stifle much-needed economic growth.[4] Employer mandates are passed on to workers in the form of reduced wages and compensation. This is exactly the wrong prescription for businesses, especially during a recession.

5. Individual Mandate. Both the House and Senate bills would require all people to buy health insurance. There is no doubt that such a mandate would result in a tax increase on individuals and families whose health insurance does not meet the new federally determined standards. This means that Congress will, for the first time, force Americans to buy federally designed packages of health benefits, even if they do not want or need those benefits.

It also means that health benefits will tend to become increasingly costly as powerful special interest groups and representatives of the health industry lobby intensively to expand the legally mandated health benefits, medical treatments and procedures, and drugs that all Americans must buy under penalty of law.

A Better Direction for Health Care Reform

Congress should stop and take a step back from these divisive House and Senate measures. Instead of trying to overhaul one-sixth of the American economy and seize an unprecedented amount of political control over health care decisions and dollars, policymakers should consider proceeding with smaller, incremental improvements. Policymakers need to proceed slowly and deliberately, making sure that the initial steps they take are not disruptive of what Americans have and want to keep, actually work, and do not result in costly and damaging and unintended consequences. There are three broad areas where Members can and should find consensus:

1. Promote State Innovation. Congress should preserve the states' autonomy over their health care systems and give them greater legal freedom to devise solutions that meet the unique characteristics of their citizens. In addition, individuals should also have the freedom to purchase coverage from trusted sources and not be restricted by where they happen to live. This means that Americans should be able to buy better coverage across state lines. Congress should respect and encourage personal freedom and diversity.

2. Establish Fairness in the Tax Treatment of Health Insurance. There is little disagreement that today's health care tax policy--which favors coverage obtained through the workplace--distorts the market and is inequitable. Instead of expanding government-run programs like Medicaid, policymakers should offer tax relief to those individuals who purchase private health insurance on their own, regardless of where they work.

At the same time, Congress should make sure that tax relief goes only to taxpayers. Congress should also devise a voucher program, giving low-income citizens the opportunity to get private coverage if they wish to do so. There is a broad bipartisan consensus that Congress should help low-income working families with direct assistance to enable them to get health insurance.

3. Get Serious About Entitlement Reform. Medicare and Medicaid, the giant health care entitlement programs, are not only increasingly costly, but they are also not delivering value to the taxpayers. The best way to secure value to patients (not government officials) is to compel health providers to compete directly for consumer dollars by allowing seniors and the poor to choose the coverage that is right for them using the money that is already available to them in these programs. This will "bend the cost curve" while at the same time allowing private-sector innovation to flourish.

Consumer-Driven Reform

Americans want to fix the problems in the health care system--but not at the expense of their own coverage. It is time policymakers recognize the lack of support for a major overhaul. But instead of continuing to protect the status quo, Congress should advance improvements that put the health care system on a path to reform.

Such improvements should be focused on increasing choice and competition not by turning control over to Washington but by empowering individuals and families to control their health care dollars and decisions.

Nina Owcharenko is Deputy Director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

Divorce agreement.

Divorce Agreement..
>
>
> PURPORTED TO BE WRITTEN BY A YOUNG LAW STUDENT.
>
>
> DIVORCE AGREEMENT
> THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY WELL PUT AND I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE
> IT'S BY A YOUNG PERSON, A STUDENT!!! WHATEVER HE RUNS
> FOR, I'LL VOTE FOR HIM.
> OUTSTANDING.
>
> Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives,
> socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:
>
> We have stuck together since the late 1950's, but the
> whole of this latest election process has made me realize
> that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other
> for many years for the sake of future generations, but
> sadly, this relationship has run its course. Our two
> ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever
> agree on what is right so let's just end it on friendly
> terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable
> differences and go our own way..
>
> Here is a model separation agreement:
> Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by
> landmass each taking a portion. That will be the
> difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a
> friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively
> easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly
> divide other assets since both sides have such distinct
> and disparate tastes.
>
> We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.
> You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.
> Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the
> cops, the NRA and the military. You can keep Oprah,
> Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell (You are, however,
> responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough
> to move all three of them).
>
> We'll keep the capitalism, greedy corporations,
> pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You
> can have your beloved homeless, homeboys, hippies and
> illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms,
> greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and
> give you ABC, CBS, NBC and Hollywood ..
>
> You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll
> retain the right to invade and hammer places that
> threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war
> protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under
> assault, we'll help provide them security.
>
> We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome
> to Islam, Scientology, Humanism and Shirley McClain. You
> can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying
> the bill.
>
> We'll keep the SUVs, pickup trucks and oversized luxury
> cars.. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can
> find.
>
> You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any
> practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare
> is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep "The Battle Hymn
> of the Republic" and the "National Anthem". I'm sure
> you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to
> Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the
> World".
>
> We'll practice trickle down economics and you can give
> trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so
> offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our
> flag.
>
> Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to
> other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and
> if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of
> friendly parting, I'll bet you ANWAR which one of us will
> need whose help in 15 years..
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John J. Wall
> Law Student and an American
>
>
>
>
> P.S. Also, please take Barbara Streisand & Jane Fonda
> with you...

Democrats start push to name Health Care Reform after Sen. Ted Kennedy

Well, we knew it would only be a matter of time.... the Democrats want to rename the Health Care Reform after Senator Ted Kennedy...

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.V.), one of the few to have served in the Senate longer than the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, said in a statement today that health care legislation should be named in his honor.

Kennedy famously called health care reform "the cause of my life." He set the tone for the current health care debate in Congress and worked to pass a number of monumental health care-related bills while in the Senate.

"In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American," Byrd said in his statement. (CBS News)

Huh, I though the 'cause' of "Off the Bridge" Ted's life should have been making scuba gear mandatory for all automobiles.