Archive for July, 2009
Friday, July 31st, 2009
Despite the panic, last week’s news contained nearly no mention of the Senate Finance Committee, the committee in the Senate that is holding up the legislation process because they have yet to complete their health care bill, but not for a lack of trying; Chairman Max Baucus (D-Montana) and a group of five other Senators (which, including Baucus, divides into 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans) on the Committee had locked themselves in Baucus’ office, chatting health care reform behind closed doors while reporters eagerly waited just outside, cameras and notepads readied in case this was the time that the Senators revealed to the public what exactly was going on. The progressive members of the Committee, completely excluded from the talks, have complained along with several prominent bloggers about these back door discussions. Eventually, Baucus let reporters in for several minutes before kicking them back out.
This week began with the breaking of the floodgates: Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) finally gave the public some details of what exactly is being worked out in the antechamber. Not much has changed since we last reported on the Committee’s bill: it still has a health care co-op scheme in place of a real public plan option, and creates a “free rider” initiative requiring employers to pay for those receiving Medicare or government subsidies in place of a employer mandate. These substitutions just won’t cut it: the co-op initiative was tried during the Great Depression and failed, and the “free rider” initiative could discourage employers from hiring single workers or workers from low-income families. Nate Sloan from Fivethirtyeight declared that “the math on this bill is so bad I doubt it will survive intact.”
So much for holding our breath for what will come out of the Senate Finance committee. We’ll be best off if the HELP bill’s public option and employer mandate components win out when these bills are combined before the floor vote- which is now delayed until September, at the earliest. (more…)
Tags: health care
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Thursday, July 30th, 2009
 Conservatives in Congress have already stated their opposition to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, but it appears they’re willing to do more to defeat the bill in the court of public opinion. Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the Senate Budget Committee’s senior Republican, requested that the CBO adjust its score on the bill to account for “market risk,” the risk that student-loan defaults will be greater than the standard rate used by official CBO reports.
Representative George Miller, chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor, responded immediately, charging that the bill opponents “didn’t like the truth – that our legislation generates almost $90 billion that could be used to help students, families, and taxpayers – so they shamelessly decided to have a little fun with the numbers.”
Miller then proceeds to show why the “alternative” estimate is simply wrong:
This alternative estimate ignores current student loan market conditions, under which the federal government is currently supporting 60 percent of all federal student lending. This estimate assumes normal credit market conditions, under which the federally guaranteed student loan program functions entirely independently, as it used to. It does not reflect today’s reality: that the federally-guaranteed student loan program is on life support. The federal government, through both the Ensuring Continued Access to Student Loans Act, and the Direct Loan program, is now financing 60 percent of all federal student loan activity. . . If this alternative estimate was based on this current reality, it would likely show a higher market-risk adjusted subsidy rate for the Federal Family Education Loan Program – again reflecting that the program is on life support.
Even so, the alternative estimate still finds that the switch from FFELP to DLP saves taxpayers enormous amounts of money: only $47 billion as opposed to the $87 billion in savings the original estimate predicted. It looks like the alternative score is less an evil plan and more a cheeky shenanigan.
Don’t let the hackery get to you: keep writing your Senators and help us put students over banks.
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
- Post written by Andre’ Cotton, Advocacy Intern at Campus Progress
MSNBC ran an alarming piece about extreme weather conditions that have been happening across the country. Over the weekend, two tornadoes touched down in western New York while southeastern states are battling with record breaking drought conditions. Texas is being hit especially hard having over 70 counties that have been classified as having exceptional drought, conditions that are almost unprecedented. However, as usual in the mainstream media, the connection between these disastrous events and the global climate crisis wasn’t made.
(more…)
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
 The time has come for Congress to return home from the bustling capital and enjoy a summer recess in their districts. They will be in their local offices for the month of August, while all of us are left waiting and fretting over pending health care, climate, and student aid legislation. Well, now is not the time to wait and wonder what the future will bring – we have to get out and take action!
Don’t let your Reps and Senators enjoy their vacation too much; call them, write them, but most importantly set up lobby meetings[pdf] with them in their local offices. Congress members will be hearing from plenty of lobbyists and conservative naysayers while they are home in their districts, we can’t let them be swayed from the progress they have made thus far. Get creative and make your voice heard.
In order to spice up your in-district action this August recess, Campus Progress is suggesting a few creative events that can accompany lobby meetings with your Reps and Senators and make your time a little more memorable:
Creative Event: Aerial Photo
We already took a bird’s eye view of things when we decided to fight for clean energy, college affordability and healthcare reform, now it’s time to share what we saw. Show your representatives and community members that there are tons of people (literally) spelling out our demands with an aerial photo. Aerial photos are a fun and engaging way to mobilize your volunteers and will certainly get you some good media. You can even turn your creative action into a flash mob by having people converge in a crowded room wearing similarly colored shirts and freezing in place in a formation spelling out your message of change. Just make sure you have a way of taking the picture from above!
Climate Crisis Example
Fact: The American Clean Energy and Security Act is the first piece of climate legislation to be passed in the House of Representatives, but its chances of being passed in the Senate are getting slim.
Scenario: You and your group of friends run an online/offline campaign to build the buzz about an upcoming flash mob happening in the atrium or in front of your legislator’s in-district office; the only instruction given is to wear green and to meet at a nearby park 30 minutes ahead of time. When they get there you hand them a piece of paper showing where they need to stand, then have them walk in at random intervals and freeze when they get to their spot. When all of the 100 participants freeze, your group’s photographer will take the shot of them all spelling out “Stop Climate Change” and yell out “Climate Action Now”. At that point everyone unfreezes and joins the chant that is then picked up by all of the participants.
Creative Event: Pranks
One idea is to conduct “pranks” at your Congress members’ local offices. Now we don’t mean wrap their toilet seats in plastic or super-glue their phone receiver down. We mean go in there and get your point across in a memorable and humorous way (well they may not think its funny) but they will certainly catch the irony of your actions and it may just open their eyes to how ridiculous they will be if they choose not to vote for the economic opportunities you are demanding as their constituent!
A “prank” would be an intentionally ironic or witty way of approaching your Congress members’ local office to demand health care for all, clean energy jobs, or college affordability. There are many opportunities for this creative event that could work for any of the issues you will be pushing for, please see below for one such example:
Health Care Example
Fact: Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) recently answered a constituent’s concern about not receiving good health care benefits by saying the constituent should come work for the federal government in order to receive the same great health coverage as he receives.
Irony: Senator Grassley sits on the Senate Finance Committee; responsible for drafting health care legislation right now, yet he has been opposed to real reform from day one. Despite the fact that he could help his constituents receive quality, affordable health coverage by voting for strong reform, he apparently thinks the solution is for everyone to work for Congress if they can’t receive health care otherwise.
Scenario: You dress up for an interview, prepare your resume, have a cover letter ready and call your Rep/Senator’s office to schedule a meeting. You show up at your meeting fully prepared to “apply for a job with Congress” in order to receive the health care benefits that they receive, especially since so many conservative and moderate members of both parties are blocking real reform by delaying the legislation and/or voting against the public option and other components of health care reform that will prevent you from receiving the same quality, affordable care that your Rep/Senators receive. It is important to ensure you have talking points about health care reform (included in the toolkit[pdf]) so that other than the obvious “prank” your Rep/Senator realizes your demand for reform.
Creative Props 
It’s what Yorick’s skull, Bond’s stylish gadgets, and Holmes’ pipe have in common. Bringing something really big to your meeting—like a giant version of a student loan statement—or even something really small—like a grain of rice carved with a message, like “maxPellin2020w/oSAFRA”—can help you get across your message in a memorable way. It can also help you show  broad support. For example, getting people to sign a costume arm cast in support of health care, borrowing a friend’s old crutches, and hobbling into the office.
Now get out there and make your voice heard!
Tags: august recess, climate, college affordability, health care
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
 The seeds of the Great Health Care Panic of 2009 were sown in early July, when GOP strategist Alex Castellanos sent out a memo offering poll-tested language Republicans could use to destroy Obama’s plans for health care. “If we slow this sausage-making process down, we can defeat it,” he reasoned.
Rep. Jim DeMint sounded the war cry on Friday, stating that “If we’re able to stop Obama on this it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” The GOP immediately charged:
Tags: health care
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Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
 This post was written by Erica L. Williams, Deputy Director of Campus Progress
As a young person dealing with a dramatically depressed economy, I wish that I had the luxury of viewing our current crisis as simply a matter of dollars and cents. As a member of the most diverse generation in American history (the Millenial generation) who voted on a platform of unity, I wish that I could discuss the solutions to the crisis as equally beneficial to all Americans. And as an unabashed supporter of large, progressive investments in our education, health, and energy sectors, I wish that I could judge the success of Obama’s work in these areas, particularly as it pertains to job creation, only in numbers.
But as a person of color, the staggering statistics released daily about the state of our national economy become that much more disheartening when viewed in color and through the lens of race.
The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, issued a report last week analyzing racial and ethnic jobless rates in the 50 states. It said the 18-month recession has erased many recent gains for minorities because manufacturing, construction and trade jobs, often the easiest for them to obtain, are melting away.
(more…)
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
 On Tuesday, July 21, Campus Progress hosted a frank discussion with Governor Howard Dean about the state of health care in this country and the many challenges that lie ahead in fixing a broken system. As Governor Dean argues in his new book “Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform,” the time is now to make our voices heard in this critical debate.
The discussion was moderated by Campus Progress Advocacy Associate Natasha Bowens with Governor Dean taking questions from the audience, as well as off the internet where the discussion was being live streamed.
Governor Dean touted his support of the Obama health care plan to a packed room and stressed that the inclusion of a public option was absolutely essential to the plan’s success.
Governor Dean also opined that conservative dissent seemed to be aimed at discrediting the Obama administration rather than criticizing the proposed plan. With that in mind, he urged Congress to push hard for a complete health care plan rather than compromise in the name of bipartisanship.
Several news outlets covered the event including The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The New Republic, and the popular blog Jezebel.
Be sure to check out video of the event on our YouTube page and pictures on Facebook!
Tags: health care reform, howard dean
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Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009
In a bold editorial today, The New York Times threw its support behind the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), which was passed by the House Education and Labor Committee yesterday. Despite bi-partisan support for the bill in committee, many Republicans in Congress and in the Senate are gearing up to fight tooth and nail to defeat the bill and protect the interests of banks and student loan companies. As the Times says in the editorial:
“The arguments for passing this bill and ending the subsidy program are powerful. But the Republican leadership has distorted the debate by describing the bill as a plan for pushing private capital out of student lending. It would be more accurate to describe it as a plan for pushing corporate welfare out of student lending.”
Read the full editorial here, and then take action to tell Congress why we need to pass SAFRA now!
Tags: college affordability, congress, News, SAFRA, student loans
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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
 Today the Navajo Nation Council voted in favor of enacting the Navajo Green Economy Commission, bringing members of the Navajo Green Economy Coalition to tears after working for months to pass this historic piece of legislation. Today’s victory will lay the groundwork to the creation of plenty of good jobs aimed at increasing access to clean energy within Navajo lands and previously impoverished communities.
As you can see in the picture, young people were front and center in pressuring Navajo leaders to support this legislation. Multi-generational supporters wearing green t-shirts with clean energy messages marched a quarter of a mile to the Navajo Nation Council Chambers where they encouraged and ensured that their community representatives would vote in favor of a clean energy future. Chelsea Chee, the Campus Climate Challenge Coordinator at Black Mesa Water Coalition had this to say:
“Youth played a tremendous role in the enactment of this legislation from it’s beginning to this victory. We helped to create the language for the legislation, helped to get community support resolutions, helped to build awareness on and off the reservation via new communication methods (texting, Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook), and were present at the actual voting of the legislation. More importantly, the youth exercised their voices throughout the entire process.”
After years of campaigning against strip mining, coal power plant development and other destructive practices on and around their lands, Navajo citizens concerned with the impact of dirty forms of energy have finally been able to celebrate a victory that lays out a different, healthier path.
(more…)
Tags: climate
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Tuesday, July 21st, 2009
 In a 30-17 vote, the House Education and Labor Committee passed the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA, HR 3221) today, making it likely that it will reach the full House within the week.
The bill would represent the largest investment in student aid in US history. By cutting wasteful subsidies to student loan companies, this legislation would save $87 billion over ten years that would be reinvested in increasing student aid, investing in college access and completion programs, supporting community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), and minority serving institutions, and other programs that would increase educational opportunities for low and middle income families. It would also commit $10 billion to reducing the deficit.
There were several important changes to the bill, including: (more…)
Tags: college access, college affordability, congress, ffelp, hbcu, pell grants, SAFRA, student debt
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