Posts Tagged ‘obama’
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
 “We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it”- President Barack Obama
The President gave this quote at the end of his joint address to Congress on health care last night. He was referring to the apprehension by some to move forward with a bold health care plan and maybe to the opponents who have been reverting to the usual fear-mongering in an attempt to block reform. Well, Obama made it clear last night that he is not backing down.
“I am not the first President to take up [health care], but I am determined to be the last.” – President Obama
Americans around the country tuned in to watch the joint address last night (while some childish members of Congress did their best to tune out). It was a long awaited speech, not just for reform supporters this year, but for health care reform advocates that have been fighting for decades to fix our broken health care system.
Last night we saw the President step firmly into the health care debate and bring clarity to the madness that has begun to encircle health care discussions.
Obama clearly discussed what his health care plan means for Americans:
- Security and stability for the insured
- Choice of quality, affordable coverage for the uninsured
- Choice and competition in an insurance exchange, including a government-run public plan option
- Lowering costs with subsidies to low-income Americans and tax credits to small businesses
Obama also firmly stated that “he will not sign a plan that adds one dime to the deficit.”
In a letter delivered posthumously from Senator Ted Kennedy, a life-long health care advocate, he wrote “You will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society.”
The President not only outlined his solid plan for health care reform, but he aggressively set the record straight on the lies and misleading information being spread by reform opponents. The childish antics of those opponents were proven once again during his address, as Rep. Wilson(R-SC) yelled out “You Lie!” while Obama spoke of the false information circling the issue of immigrants gaining coverage under reform. Other members behaved as if they were in a 5th grade classroom and held up signs, heckled and booed, and waved around copies of the health care bill…Speaker Pelosi looked as if she were about to jump over the podium and ream someone out.
 Rep. Gohmert (R- TX) acting childish during the President's address However, we didn’t hear any mention of young people in Obama’s speech (at least not in a positive light!), heard nothing about addressing racial and ethnic health disparities, and unfortunately directly after he (thankfully) mentioned the demand for a public option, he slightly back stepped saying it could be in the form of co-ops or only implemented in certain markets. That’s not going to be good enough.
But overall, Obama kicked ass and probably gave the best joint address to Congress we’ve seen in a while.
It was quite the way to kick off Congress being back in session. Members have already delved right back into work, with word from the Senate Finance Committee today that the Chairman’s mark on their reform bill was released. Unfortunately, the bill does not look so great and will still have no GOP support even though Baucus has been bending over backwards to work with Sen. Grassley, the ranking Republican on the committee, to gain support.
These next couple months may be tough, but as Obama indicated, we’re not scared – we’re ready to shape things up. It’s time to pass health care reform and change the future for our generation. Let’s get to work.
Tags: health care, obama
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Monday, July 13th, 2009
 Pell Grant Purchasing Power Graph According to an article in the New York Times, the House Committee on Education and Labor will be introducing legislation this week along the lines of President Obama’s proposal to cut wasteful subsidies to student loan companies and use the $87 billion in savings to make college more affordable for low and middle income students.
Loan companies circulated at least 13 different plans on Capitol Hill, lobbied furiously against the President’s proposal, and finally (almost) uniting around a single “Frankenstein” counter-proposal. It now looks like these efforts have failed to influence the shape of the legislation that will be considered in the House Education and Labor Committee. (more…)
Tags: college affordability, congress, lobbying, obama, pell grants, student debt
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Thursday, June 11th, 2009
 So, you know that letter I mentioned in my last blog? The one written by nine Republican Senators and sent to Obama to passionately object a public health plan?
“The signatories argued that creation of a so-called “public option” will undermine private insurers and eventually limit provider and treatment choices for consumers.”
Well I did a little digging and came upon this curious finding:
It seems as though the nine Senators that signed the letter each racked up close to $2 million in donations from health insurance and health care interests , totaling to $17.7 million.
All nine Senators sit on the Senate Finance Committee, which is actively engaged in debating health care reform. The nine signers include Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Mike Crapo(R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KS), John Ensign (R-NV), Mike Enzi ( R-WY), and John Cornyn (R-TX).
$ 17 million?! If you ask me, that’s one expensive letter. But I guess to the insurance industry, the money is worth it. It’s obviously being put to good use, right? I am sure the private insurance fat cats are analyzing the pros and cons of bribing Congress and what that means at a time like this. Maybe their analysis goes something like this:
- Strongly worded letter to the President opposing his public health insurance option = $2 million
- Using fear-mongering to convince Americans that a public option would mean government take-over and therefore they should trust the industry instead= $17 million
- Winning the health care debate (thanks to those Members of Congress that had our backs!) and continuing to make ridiculous profits while Americans struggle to pay for their asthma inhalers = Priceless
So that’s the industry side of it, but what about Congress? Are our Senators there to represent us or the money?
This kind of campaign financing is not OK. This kind of back-door influencing is not how decisions on our future should be made. If we are ever going to get real health care reform, real climate change solutions, and affordable access to higher education, we have to Change Congress. Check out the great site on campaign finance reform that has to happen now!
Tags: $17 million, obama, Public option, senators
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Monday, June 8th, 2009
 I have an idea: When we realize we have a debilitating problem with our health care system and our medical bills are causing families to go bankrupt, why don’t we draft a reform proposal that actually does nothing to reform the system, but includes a procrastination clause that states that maybe later when the insurance industry is not sticking to their promises and millions of Americans are still uninsured and bankrupt- we might then decide to provide a solution. That way we can call it reform but really it’s just delay and avoidance. Sounds good right?
Well I can’t take credit because I didn’t come up with the idea – the conservatives and health insurance executives concocted that brilliant proposal. Yes, this ridiculous scheme – a fall back option for the public health insurance plan – actually does exist. It’s called the “trigger” and it is quickly spreading through Congress.
A public health insurance plan, either in the form of Medicare or an insurance pool that provides a choice of coverage for all Americans, has been the main topic of discussion in the health care reform debate thus far (unfortunately more progressive options such as single-payer health care are just getting laughed off of the stage by industry and conservatives – but hey, maybe one day we will get there.) The “trigger” is basically a way to kill the public health insurance option before it even gets out of the gate. The proposal calls for a public option to kick in a few years down the road, only if “triggered” – in others words, when private insurance companies fail to bring down health care costs and expand coverage. Well, we all know that in legislative terms “a few years” means never and that the private industry has already failed at cutting costs and expanding coverage. So why delay the inevitable need for a real solution?
But there is hope for health care reform, in fact, President Obama is not backing off of his stance for a public health insurance option. The President met with a group of senators last Tuesday and wrote a letter to Senators Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Baucus (D-Mont.), both chairmen on the leading health reform committees, that was wrought with a sense of urgency and insistence on a public choice for all Americans. See a clip from the letter below:
I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.
(more…)
Tags: Baucus, CPR, Grassley, HCAN, Health Care Kick-Off, health care reform, Kennedy, medical bills bankruptcy, medicare, obama, public health insurance, rick scott, single-payer health care, trigger
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Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
 This is the week of markups and cut-downs when it comes to climate. Monday began the first day of committee markup on the climate bill, which is a week-long session the House Energy and Commerce Committee will use to debate the Waxman/Markey bill. So far, the markup has displayed continued moderate Democratic support and repetitive complaints from GOP members, along with a whopping 450 possible amendments written by Republicans. However, Rep. Barton (R-Texas) stated that he only expects the GOP to focus on about 150 of the amendments. Some proposed amendments include expanding renewable energy sources to include nuclear or carbon-capture, proposed by Rep. Whitfield (R-Ky), and terminating the bill all together if unemployment reaches 10%, proposed by Rep. Upton ( R- Mich.).
Democrats have offered their own amendments as well, including a revised bill from Reps. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Markey (D-Mass.) and a call for a Clean Energy Investment Bank from Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.).
The markup is expected to be completed before the Memorial Day recess – while some of us wait with our fingers crossed, other students and young people are calling their Representatives and participating in sit-ins at the Capitol to demand a strong climate bill.
Also big news for this week – Obama will announce a plan to cut tailpipe emissions nationally, a huge and history-breaking step for the United States. Check out this Progress Report article for more:
Today, President Obama will unveil “the first-ever national emission limits for cars and trucks,” a move that Sierra Club President Carl Pope says is “one of the most significant efforts undertaken by any president, ever, to end our addiction to oil and seriously slash our global warming emissions.” Daniel Becker of the Safe Climate Campaign calls it “single biggest step the American government has ever taken to cut greenhouse-gas emissions.” The Obama administration will also raise fuel efficiency targets so that by 2016, cars and light trucks will have an average mile requirement of 35.5 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2016.
(more…)
Tags: climate bill, emissions, obama, waxman/markey
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Thursday, April 30th, 2009
 We would like to extend our thanks to the hundreds of Representatives and Senators who voted to carry out the promise of true change that so many of us voted for in November. The final budget resolution, passed last night in the House and Senate, represents a foundation for moving forward with legislation that supports the goals laid out by President Obama’s budget: providing quality health care for all Americans, investing in clean energy and making education more affordable and accessible.
Finally, we have a Congress in power that realizes fixing this economy means addressing the fundamental problems that got us here in the first place and building a foundation for long-term growth and prosperity – from the ground up.
The budget resolution agreed upon by the House and the Senate preserves the President’s priorities to ensure a sound and swift economic recovery – while still cutting the deficit substantially. It also includes reconciliation instructions that will protect health care reform and education from a minority block in the Senate.
If young people are negatively impacted by our nation’s economic crisis, young people of color and those with limited access to resources are hit especially hard. We are extremely pleased that Congress has taken this much-needed step to make dramatic investments in these communities so that everyone has equal access to affordable health care, higher education, and the new jobs that come from greening our economy.
Members of Congress from every corner of America came together to pass the budget resolution, yet none of them were Republicans. In this economic crisis, we cannot afford more partisan bickering. It’s time we all come together to solve our nation’s problems.
The new budget is the first step, now we must seize the economic opportunity we have to invest in smart choices for our future.
As President Obama noted yesterday in the press conference marking his 100 days in office, “I think we’re off to a good start, but it’s just a start”.
Tags: budget, budget conference agreement, obama
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Monday, April 27th, 2009
“They are gearing up for battle. So am I. They will fight for their special interests. I will fight for…American students and their families. And for those who care about America’s future, this is a battle we can’t afford to lose.”
– President Obama responding to the “army of lobbyists” gathering to combat proposed student loan reform in the budget.
Tags: budget, college affordability, congress, News, obama, reconciliation, student loans
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Friday, April 24th, 2009
Today at the White House, President Obama met with a family struggling with student loans, reaffirming his commitment to making college more affordable. Here is a highlight from his remarks:
“…in a paradox of American life, at the very moment it’s never been more important to have a quality higher education, the cost of that kind of that kind of education has never been higher. Over the past few decades, the cost of tuition at private colleges has more than doubled, while costs at public institutions have nearly tripled. Compounding the problem, tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family’s income, putting new pressure on families that are already strained and pricing far too many students out of college altogether. Yet, we have a student loan system where we’re giving lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies that could be used to make college more affordable for all Americans.”
“…I am confident that if all of us here in Washington do what’s in the best interests of the people we represent, and reinvest not only in opening the doors of college but making sure students can walk through them, then we will help deliver the change that the American people sent us here to make. We will help Americans fulfill their promise as individuals. And we will help America fulfill its promise as a nation.”
Read the President’s full remarks here.
Tags: budget, college affordability, News, obama, Perkins
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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
A story today in USA Today talks about what many college students and their parents already know: tuition is creeping higher and higher:
“Though 2009-2010 tuition rates have not been set for most public universities, increases of at least 5% to 6% — and in many cases higher — are expected as university administrators struggle to maintain quality education amid state budget cuts.”
And, the money quote:
“U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan stresses the importance of affordability amid the budget and fundraising crises. ‘Colleges that go the wrong way on this — I think they’re going to see students walk away.’ “
You can read the full story here.
Now, more than ever, we need to make sure that we are giving money to students, not banks, and that the grants students are receiving are as generous as possible. Obama’s budget plan would do that. Take action today and tell your elected officials why we need to back Obama’s budget proposals for higher education!
Tags: budget, college affordability, congress, News, obama, Perkins, student loans
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Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
In an op-ed published in today’s Inside Higher Ed, CP’s Pedro de la Torre and USSA’s President Carmen Berkley advocate on behalf of students over banks, arguing that “Our country faces too many challenges for us to be providing pointless corporate welfare to loan companies.”
Here is an excerpt:
“The president’s plan will save taxpayers $94 billion over 10 years by ending pointless subsidies to loan companies and using government funds to lend directly to students. Because loan repayment is guaranteed by the federal government, private lenders assume very little risk under the FFELP and yet are rewarded handsomely — a subsidy that makes little economic sense. Much of the savings from the move to direct lending would be used to increase the maximum Pell grant award to $5,550 for the 2010-11 school year, and make the Pell grant a mandatory government program guaranteed an increase — inflation plus 1 percent — every year.
There are other important reasons to make the change. For one, the FFELP program is prone to corruption. A 2006 audit of the student lender Nelnet by the U.S. Department of Education’s inspector general revealed that the company had received more than $1 billion in taxpayer subsidies by gaming the system. Another investigation in 2007 led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo found that lenders were lavishing gifts, payments, and other inducements on college financial aid officers in order to encourage them to recommend their loans to unwitting students.”
Check out the full op-ed here!
Tags: budget, college affordability, congress, house, lobby, News, obama, press, student loans
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