Afternoon News: Bus Tour Edition
August 31, 2009
Here’s a look at some of the recent news coverage of the ongoing Health Insurance Reform Now bus tour:
From the Washington Post:
President Obama’s supporters hope to recapture the energy of last year’s triumphant election campaign in a bid to regain control of the health-care debate, planning more than 2,000 house parties, rallies and town hall meetings across the country over the next two weeks.
The initiative began Wednesday with a rally at a labor hall in Phoenix that featured the Obama sunrise logo and placards that became fixtures of the 2008 presidential campaign.
Organizing for America, a nationwide group of Obama supporters run by the Democratic National Committee, also brought along a colorful bus featuring the slogan, "Health Insurance Reform Now: Let’s Get it Done." The vehicle is on an 11-city tour advocating for health-care reform.
"We think that change happens with neighbors talking to neighbors, and these rallies reflect that," said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan. "That’s how we won the campaign in the fall, with grass-roots organizing, and that’s what we will see in these events going forward."
From the Denver Post:
President Barack Obama’s Organizing for America team rolled its bright- blue bus into Denver on Friday evening and was greeted by about 1,500 supporters of health care reform at a rally at North High School.
"This is easily the biggest crowd we’ve seen," group organizer Mitch Stewart said as he stepped off the touring bus at the third of 10 stops across the country.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., had already warmed up the crowd.
"My daughter has epilepsy, and she’s being discriminated against because of her prior condition," he told the cheering crowd. "We’re not going to let her get pushed aside…
Michele Tyler, 61, of Evergreen said she came to the rally because her health policy with Humana won’t cover a fourth surgery she needs for a badly broken ankle. In addition to the exclusion of her ankle, her policy has a $5,000 deductible, she said.
"My husband, who’s self-employed, has ulcerative colitis, and Humana dropped him when he turned 60 in 2007," she said. "He’s now covered by state insurance, Cover Colorado. We need to change this. This isn’t right…"
The crowd in Denver was mostly older, with varying degrees of gray hair, with many minorities and children. The rally was organized by Obama staffers and Democratic Party workers who contacted supporters through e-mail, telephone banks, robo-calls and volunteers.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Supporters of President Barack Obama’s health care plan rallied Saturday night outside the Summerfest grounds, chanting "Let’s Get it Done" and presenting more than 24,000 "declarations of support" to Wisconsin’s congressional delegation.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died Tuesday and fought for health care reform for decades, was remembered with a moment of silence and a call to arms.
"He was a giant on whose shoulders we all stood," said Meagan Holman, a Milwaukeean who worked on Kennedy’s staff for more than 10 years. In an emotional address, she said she didn’t travel to Kennedy’s funeral Saturday because she and her husband are still paying off bills from a high-risk pregnancy more than two years ago.
"Today, we buried our health care champion," said Bruce Coburn, director of the Service Employees International Union. "Tonight, we say, ‘Don’t mourn. It’s time to organize.’ This is the Super Bowl of that fight for change…"
The declarations of support were delivered to Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), as she and other members of Congress return to Washington.
Organizers told stories in support of better coverage.
Dream Gunther said she has good health insurance as a Milwaukee Public Schools teacher but remembers growing up with inadequate health insurance.
"We were the working poor," she said. "When we got sick, we didn’t go to the doctor." She described how her twin sister, Keona, who also was at the rally, became ill and didn’t want to tell their parents. "She said, ‘What could they do if we tell them?’ I felt what 47 million Americans feel every day."
Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said it’s time insurance companies changed. "Everyone else in the 20th century has had to evolve. Why can’t the insurance industry?" she asked.
And from the Des Moines Register:
As the sun began to set, Miller and Mitch Stewart, director of Organizing for America, reflected on the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat., and called on members of Congress to take up Kennedy’s passion for working in a bipartisan manner on liberal issues, specifically health care reform.
Stewart read a statement from President Barack Obama that called Kennedy “the greatest United States senator of our time,” then urged the mostly democratic crowd for its support in passing health care reform.
“The status quo is no longer sustainable,” Stewart said. “This is serious, every one of us has something to lose here…”
Afternoon News: Bus Tour Edition
Health Insurance Reform Now: On the Bus
August 31, 2009
Last Wednesday, Organizing for America kicked off a ten city bus tour to help bring attention to the work that’s been going on all month in the fight for health insurance reform. Since then the bus has traveled from Phoenix to Des Moines, and thousands of Americans have come out to demand insurance reform now. In Phoenix, people heard from Dr. Nicholas Vasquez and Linda Grady, who shared their own stories to demonstrate the need for reform:
The highlight of the evening was listening to personal testimony from two everyday folks, Linda Grady and Dr. Nicholas Vasquez. Dr Vasquez, an ER doctor, spoke about how he regularly would see patients who lack health insurance that needed some kind of treatment. He referenced one gentleman that came in six times within 10 days due to chronic migraines and no health insurance.
…Linda Grady was your average person that was suddenly afflicted with a herniated disk. She watched as the same injury happened to a professional baseball player in the same week. Linda followed his recovery very carefully and within two months he was back on the field while she was still bed ridden. When she tried to see the specialists her doctor suggested, her insurance company wouldn’t cover it, saying it wasn’t necessary. She was blessed to have a health care advocate in her family that took up her cause and got her the proper care. She ended her speech saying “God speed to this bus on its journey, because this bus is the real ‘Straight Talk Express’!”
The bus moved on to New Mexico, where a crowd overwhelmed the National Hispanic Cultural Center:
The heat in Phoenix yesterday gave way to a cool night here in Albuquerque, but the storm overhead didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Before the bus arrived, the line at the entrance to National Hispanic Cultural Center was around the block; by the time the bus pulled out, the crowd unanimously agreed that this year, we will improve health care in America, rain or shine.
Along the way, the team on the bus has been tweeting continuously through their Twitter account, @OFAOnTheBus. They next stopped in Denver, for an event that was covered by the Denver Post:
"This is easily the biggest crowd we’ve seen," group organizer Mitch Stewart said as he stepped off the touring bus at the third of 10 stops across the country.
Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., had already warmed up the crowd.
"My daughter has epilepsy, and she’s being discriminated against because of her prior condition," he told the cheering crowd. "We’re not going to let her get pushed aside."
The bus pulled into Des Moines yesterday, where Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller reminded them that the health insurance reform fight wouldn’t be easy. The people of Iowa, though, are up to the challenge:
Des Moines was a perfect example of this ethic: regular people coming together and organizing not because it’s easy, or because the odds were in their favor. The people in Des Moines—just like those in Phoenix, Albuquerque, Denver, Austin, New York, and cities all over the country this week—are here because they refuse to let the health care reform debate be dictated by talking heads on cable TV or political pundits in D.C. Iowans and others are organizing for change not because it is easy, but because the status quo is unacceptable.
Later, the bus stopped in St. Louis, and now they’re rolling on to Indianapolis—you can follow their progress on our Health Insurance Reform Now: On the Ground page. In the slideshow below, you can see some of the great photos from the trip so far:
Health Insurance Reform Now: On the Bus
LP Monday Message: Voters want more options
August 31, 2009
August 31, 2009
Dear Friend of Liberty,
Like you, most Americans are unhappy with the Republican and Democratic parties. Earlier this month, a Zogby poll found that 58% of people think the U.S. needs more than two major political parties.
LP Monday Message: Voters want more options
Lightning Round 8/31/09
August 31, 2009
In this edition of the Lighting Round Fred and Jeri talk about, California Wild Fires, Obama’s Vacation, Harry Reid wishing a paper would go out of business, The Senate deliberating giving the President power over the internet in times of crisis, and Howard Dean’s comments about Tort reform in the health care bill.
Winners and Losers 8/31/09
August 31, 2009
Today’s Loser is Diane Watson for calling Americans racist and calling Fidel Castro “One of the brightest leaders I have ever known.”
The Winners today are the two officers, Allison Jacobs, and Lisa Campbel whose observations led to the discovery of Jaycee Dugard, Now a young woman with two children fathered by her captor, was kidnapped when she was 11 years old.
Clip of the Day 8/31/09
August 31, 2009
Fred Thompson interviews Sam Donaldson.
Eulogy for a Lion
August 30, 2009
President Obama remembers the "Lion of the Senate" at the funeral mass of Senator Ted Kennedy:
Translator
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