Archive for August, 2009

Orchestrated Intimidation: We Won’t Stand For It

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

Make an ImpactOrganized mobs of old right wing activists are disrupting town halls this first week of Congressional recess to bully other constituents and put their representatives on the defensive regarding health care reform.

ThinkProgress reported that “By delaying a vote until after the August recess, lobbyists are now seizing upon recess town halls as opportunities to ambush lawmakers and fool them into believing there is wide opposition to reform.”

But we know this is an illusion.  Young progressives will not be intimidated and we will not lay low. This generation has already proved that we are organized, engaged, and immensely effective.

Campus Progress compiled a Toolkit for In-District Action during the August recess, along with creative event ideas and info on the latest issue updates so that the Millennial generation can get out and Make an Impact this August Recess.

We are encouraging young activists and bold future leaders to get out there and make their voices heard; the time is now to ensure that the pending legislation for health care, climate, and college affordability are not weakened or threatened by conservative and right-wing obstructionists.

Many Representatives are already setting up town hall meetings in their districts. Town halls are meant to be civic meetings between representatives and their constituents to discuss the hot issues on the political front, however these industry-backed right-wing mobs are ambushing the meetings with heckling, loud chants of “Just Say NO” regarding health care reform, and are many times not even letting representatives or other constituents get one word out.

These ambush tactics are not unplanned. They are not just a one off coincidence. These activists are being organized by right-wing lobbyists and are even being fed talking points and instructions on exactly how to shut down the town halls. This video on The Rachel Maddow Show details the actions taking place and the shows the instructed memo that the activists are receiving before attending the meetings.  It’s not surprising that the talking points focus on obstructing reform instead of offering alternative solutions.

Don’t let this August recess be dominated by the familiar tactics of fear, intimidation, and lack of actual solutions – Get Out and Make an Impact this August Recess- visit our August Action Recess center today to stand up against Conservative obstruction.

Want to find a town hall near you? Click Here

Thanks to the Nation for re-posting this entry to their blog!

*Image credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathrynsdays/ / CC BY 2.0

Third House Committee Passes Health Bill Despite Opposition

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

Late into the night on Friday, the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House finally passed their health care reform legislation, only after several weeks of markups and making deals with conservative Democrats who were dragging out the debate with opposition to costs and details of the public option.

Despite the long days of debate and compromise, the bill came out nearly identical to the legislation passed out of the other two House committees with jurisdiction over health care reform, the Education and Labor and Ways and Means Committees, who passed their legislation fairly quickly last month.

This sets the stage for merging all three committee bills before a House floor vote when Congress returns from August Recess. Thus far, the House legislation, which includes a public option and affordability components, looks stronger than that of the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee has still not budged on completing their final proposal and are not expected to until after recess.

The August Recess leaves the window wide open for further Conservative and even Moderate opposition, and a strong push back expected from insurance industry lobbyists.

Reform can still be weakened – we have to take action during the recess to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Luckily some members of Congress are calling Republicans on their bluff. Those opposing the public option are using scare tactics that imply a government-run public plan will lead to socialism and “be disastrous”, but Rep. Weiner (D-NY) pointed out that if they wanted to scrap the government-run public option, they might as well get rid of Medicare while they’re at it.  Check it out below -

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