“President Obama addresses the House Democratic Caucus and says that the time is now to vote for health care reform for America.” Tomorrow is the day, let’s do it!
UPDATE: Crew of 42 reports, “Rep Glenn Nye’s office puts out statement he will vote NO on health care bill.” Not surprising, but what a @#$@#$@!.
I didn’t go to the JJ Dinner this year (I went in 2005-2008, attempted to go in 2009 but had major transportation problems) but here are some tweets by people who were there.
Rich Anthony:
*”Sen. Amy Klobuchar rocks. The people of MN should be very proud.”
Vivian Paige:
*”Sen Amy Klobuchar has taken the stage. V. Funny, humble, cracking Palin jokes.”
*”Grabbed @GlennNye & asked about the AP story. He shook his head &wouldn’t confirm. Others say he told them he’s still undecided.”
“@tomperriello is a rock star!”
“Had a great conversation with @tomperriello just before he went on stage to speak. Awesome, just awesome. I’m writing a check tonight.”
Shawn O’Donnell:
*”Who said Democrats are having a down year … over 1,300 folks are filing into dinner in the Richmond Convention Center”
*”DPVA Chairman Cranwell does a quick intro … Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones says hello and speaks about core values”
*”Gerry Connolly from the 11th District gets a standing ovation for passing health care remark…”
*”Tom [P]erriello from the 5th District is getting a standing O … tomorrow I’ll be casting my vote for reforming health care”
*”Webb speaking now about economic fairness and social justice … now changes in the criminal justice system reform”
*”Warner … financial reform will happen this year …. two quick bills … energy sector “home star” … 500k jobs over a 2 month period”
*”Warner … w/o those stimulus check VA would look like CA”
Gordon Simonett
*”Sen mark warner tells #dpva that sen. republicans are abusing fillibuster and holding up 64 appointees. Time for up or down vote 14 mos in”
Frank Anderson
*”Warner: Responsible Republicans ‘a lot harder to find in Washington.'”
*”Klobuchar … when the GOP leaders are wrong we must “call them out”…”
David Englin
*”thinks America needs more Tom Perriellos – leaders with spine.”
Jon Bowerbank
*”1300+ here at JJ enjoying speeches from our Congressional delegation and they’re excited about tomorrow’s health care vote. Thx BS; TP; GC!”
*” Sens Webb and Warner did their usual superb job (thx for recognition MW) and keynote speaker Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn) is doing good work!”
Marc Broklawski
*”The energy in the room for Periello was nothing short of amazing. A video of the crowd at the end of his speech” http://tiny12.tv/CVXM0
*”Sen. Warner says tomorrow we pass the health bill in the House and later in the week in the Senate.”
Scott Surovell
*”Lots of talk tonight from Virginia’s federal delegation on the podium tonight about making history passing healthcare tomorrow.”
Mark Keam
“Jim Moran & Rick Boucher not at JJ tonight. Many General Assembly members here, as well as most ’09 statewide candidates. All good folks”
*”Webb reminds me again why I love this guy. Warner and Perriello close seconds. Connolly, Scott, Nye… We have good public servants in VA.”
Aimee Fausser
*”Why is glenn nye here??”
*”I just gave gerry connolly a standing ovation. There’s a first time for everything.”
Sean Holihan:
*”Tom Perriello just gave the keynote. Can’t beat that. He owns this party.”
*”Wow – bit of a difference between Connolly and Nye here. Connolly voting for health care.”
Kyle Blankenship
*”Connolly steps all over Nye at JJ. Conolly’s first line ‘tomorrow I’m going to join Obama and pass health care'”
See Talking Points Memo for full coverage of this shameful afternoon. Why is this not surprising? And where are the Republican “leaders” to denounce this disgraceful behavior? AWOL, of course.
Like many people who are involved in the political process, I get tons of emails everyday and many of them are simply emails sent out to their lists either asking for money or some sort of other action. A candidate that has a good communications team in place will send out emails every now and then that simply provide updates on the campaign. Some campaigns even try to use their lists to send out information to their supporters before it makes the info available to the general public (a prime example of this is how the Obama campaign had people sign up to receive a text message announcing who his VP pick would be prior to it being announced). Although the finance shop in some campaigns would like the list to be utilized almost like an ATM and constantly send out requests for donations, I strongly believe that in the early stages of a campaign the list can be more valuable in getting information out about a candidate and including bits and pieces about how people can also get more information.
It appears as though someone on Jeff Barnett’s campaign didn’t think of this concept as he sent out an email with the subject line “Please allow me to introduce myself.” When I saw this, I was expecting a good email that included some of his positions on the key issues facing the 10th and perhaps some information about his own background. Now he did point out that he was a 26 year veteran and that he’d lived in Northern Virginia with his wife for a number of years, but what struck me as odd was that while he didn’t lay out how his background qualified him to work on these topics while trying “to introduce” himself, he did manage to ask for money three times. That’s not sticking with the spirit of trying to use an email list to truly interact with grassroots supporters.
I have enough commonsense to know that email lists are designed to spur people into action. Heck, I’ve even advised campaigns on how to use their email lists more efficiently in the heat of campaign season. The email the Barnett campaign sent out suggests that they are placing more emphasis on trying to get money out of the people on the list rather than actually giving them information and trying to engage them on the grassroots level. This doesn’t rule out the possibility that the campaign might change it’s focus later in the campaign, but it definitely isn’t a great way to make an introduction.
As someone who has knocked on thousands of doors and made thousands of phone calls into the 10th Congressional District in support of various candidates, I know first hand that it will take a large grassroots effort to defeat Frank Wolf in November. While I’ve seen Rich Anthony spending the time reaching out to the grassroots and expressing an interest in getting more people involved in the political process, I haven’t see the same enthusiasm so far from Barnett. Although I haven’t made an endorsement in this race, this has raised some concerns for me about Barnett’s chances of winning and the style of leadership he would show if elected to Congress. So while people might try to dismiss this as one email, I think it really represents a much bigger picture that I’m seeing from his campaign.
Add another Virginia Democrat to the “yes” list on health care reform legislation. Now, we just need Congressmen Boucher and Nye. C’mon guys, you can do it!
WASHINGTON – Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11) said today he will vote for the historic health insurance reform legislation scheduled for a vote Sunday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“For the past year, my constituents have told me they want health insurance reform, but only if it meets certain tests,” Connolly said. “Will it bring down premiums for families and small businesses? Will it reduce the deficit? Will it protect their choice of plan and doctor? Will it improve access to care?”
“The answer to each of these questions is ‘Yes, it will’,” Connolly said in a statement to be delivered on the House floor.
More after the “flip”
“I and many others in the House may have reservations about elements of this Senate bill, but after carefully reviewing the reconciliation bill before us today I am confident that this final reform package does still meet those tests outlined for me by my constituents,” he said.
“Make no mistake. This is not an easy vote for any of us,” Connolly said. “We are tackling an issue that Congresses before us have been struggling with for the better part of the past century since Teddy Roosevelt first called for comprehensive health care in America.”
Calling the vote a “historic crossroads,” Connolly said, “We can choose to set our nation on the path to improving the access to and quality of health care for millions of Americans, young and old, and finally containing the costs of that care, or we can continue the status quo. Doing nothing threatens to leave more families without the basic care they need and bankrupt our small businesses, the engine of our economy, as they buckle under the costs of providing insurance for their employees.”
Connolly said the legislation will safeguard Medicare benefits for another generation, close the so-called doughnut hole to lower drug costs for seniors, protect guaranteed benefits, and cut waste, fraud, and abuse in the program. “Without reform, AARP says millions of seniors and their families will be at risk of bankruptcy because of skyrocketing costs for long-term care services.”
In the 11th Congressional District of Virginia, Connolly said the legislation will: lower premiums by 14 to 20 percent for the self-employed and others who purchase their own insurance, provide tax credits and other assistance to help 87,000 families and 16,800 small businesses afford coverage, and protect more than 1,400 families from medical bankruptcy in the next year alone.
“These are meaningful reforms for which Democrats, Republicans, and the American people can be proud,” he said. “Contrary to what some might contend, this is a bipartisan bill. The House and Senate bills include distinct Republican ideas and amendments. In fact, 147 of them are in the bill before us today. But rather than engage in a rational, thoughtful debate on this complex and critical reform, the organized opposition has preyed on the public’s fear and anxiety and repeatedly fallen back on bumper-sticker slogans.”
“Right now, 14,000 Americans lose their health care coverage each day because of out-of-control costs. We cannot afford to delay any longer,” Connolly said.
Ken Cuccinelli proves that he’s back in the Stone Age, or maybe the “Father Knows Best” 1950s, when homosexuality actually was considered a “a detriment to our culture.” Of course, Cuccinelli has no evidence to back this up. It’s also ironic that he makes this claim, as his pal “Sideshow” Bob Marshall argues the opposite, that “gay individuals seem to have more income, to attend more cultural events, to take more vacations than the rest of us.” Last I checked, having more income and attending more cultural events didn’t make someone a “detriment to our culture,” but since when did these haters care about facts or logic? Take the “debate” on health care reform, for instance, where people on Cooch’s team have been screaming about phony “death panels” and “government takeovers of health care” and other falsehoods. The only questions are, why does anyone listen to these people, and of course why does anyone in their right mind vote for them?
h/t Not Larry Sabato
The right-wing noise machine is in high gear, spewing out “hyperbolic rhetoric” and “outright falsehoods.” In other words, just another day at the office for Glenn, Sean, etc.
Thanks to Tom Whipple for the first-day-of-spring Saturday “Clips.”
1. MCDONNELL SEEKS REDRAWN MAP FOR OFFSHORE DRILLING
2. MCDONNELL HAILS HAMPTON ROADS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ANNOUNCEMENT…
3. MCDONNELL REAPPOINTS GOP FUNDRAISER TO LIQUOR BOARD
5. ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS TAKE STEPS TO LEGALLY OPPOSE CUCCINELLI EPA SUIT
9. AG REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH BEACH LENDER
10. STATE CUTS MAY CRIPPLE MANDATED REFORMS
13. VA.’S CONNOLLY A KEY VOTE ON HEALTH CARE’S FATE
14. VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS READING HEALTH CARE BILL “A DEMOCRATIC CHRISTMAS TREE OF GOVERNMENT EXPANSION”
15. AS HEALTH CARE VOTE APPROACHES, NYE REMAINS UNDECIDED
17. PERRIELLO SAYS HE SUPPORTS HEALTH-CARE REFORM PACKAGE
22. GERMANY PETITIONS TO MOVE SOERING
24. DEMOCRATS TO GATHER IN RICHMOND FOR LOW-KEY JEFFERSON-JACKSON DINNER
The full transcript is here. Here’s an excerpt:
…these reforms include a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to prevent predatory loan practices and other abuses to ensure that consumers get clear information about loans and other financial products before they sign on the dotted line. Because this financial crisis wasn’t just the result of decisions made by large financial firms; it was also the result of decisions made by ordinary Americans to open credit cards and take on mortgages. And while there were many who took out loans they knew they couldn’t afford, there were also millions of people who signed contracts they didn’t fully understand offered by lenders who didn’t always tell the truth.
This is in part because the job of protecting consumers is spread across seven different federal agencies, none of which has the interests of ordinary Americans as its principal concern. This diffusion of responsibility has made it easier for credit card companies to lure customers with attractive offers then punish them in the fine print; for payday lenders and others who charge outrageous interest to operate without much oversight; and for mortgage brokers to entice homebuyers with low initial rates only to trap them with ballooning payments down the line.
This is the last 9:52 of President Obama’s speech earlier today; I’ll post the rest of the video when it finishes uploading to YouTube. The video isn’t the greatest quality, but I think you can feel the crowd’s energy. Also, it was great being just 15-20 feet away from Obama as he gave his speech. Hopefully, Obama’s GMU speech will kick off a weekend in which Congress finally – after decades of trying – passes comprehensive health care reform and it is signed into law. At least, that’s the plan!
UPDATE: The rest of the video is now available, after the “flip.”
