Repower America

On 07.25.10, In blogging, politics, United States, By Dan Calloway

I just want to yell at somebody.

We’re in the middle of the one of the worst environmental crises in the history of our country. And a minority of Senators in the pocket of fossil fuel interests are blocking any action in the immediate future on a bill that limits carbon pollution and helps solve the climate crisis.

Instead, it looks likely that the Senate will vote on a narrow oil spill response bill that only includes minor energy provisions — and completely fails to address the underlying causes of the climate crisis and fossil fuel catastrophes like the oil spill.

Make sure your Senators know that band-aid measures are unacceptable — and that you’re disappointed and not going away. Join me and pledge to call your Senators this Tuesday when they’re back in Washington. Tell them that you and millions of supporters won’t give up until our country takes leadership on climate change and clean energy.

This disappointing announcement from the Senate follows what could only be described as a shock and awe campaign by corporate polluters. The oil and gas industry spent $213 million lobbying in this Congress alone.

Apparently, that’s what it costs to block action on this crucial issue.

But stopping debate doesn’t just benefit big oil and dirty coal. It also robs Americans of the opportunity to reap the benefits of clean energy, including

  • Creating millions of new American jobs
    • Ending our addiction to oil and dirty fossil fuels
    • Addressing the threat of climate change
    • Strengthening our national security
    • We need to change this storyline.

This is not the future you to want leave your kids and future generations. Like every parent, you want to provide them a world with better opportunities — and a healthy, prosperous planet is non-negotiable.

Remind our leaders of our priorities, our values and our resolve. Join me today in pledging to call your Senators.

Dan Calloway

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Obama’s Socialism aka Democratic Socialism

On 04.03.10, In blogging, Office of the President, politics, Society, By dancalloway

by DAN CALLOWAY
Published 3 April 2010

WEAVERVILLE, NC – What is democratic socialism? Socialism in its essence is a state of society in which all people work cooperatively as equals for the common good of all. In recent times people who hold this principle have been describing this principle as democratic socialism, to distinguish the principle from authoritarian and undemocratic states which have wrongly described themselves as socialist in character.

Democratic socialism implies certain other values in human conduct:

  • No person should exploit any other person. This principle of opposition to exploitation is especially important in labor relations.
  • Natural resources should not be exploited or wasted.
  • Changes in society and its governments should be made by free and open elections. Thus, democratic socialism ought to be achieved through the ballot box.

Widespread and full public education is essential to guarantee the equality of people. People must have information and be allowed to communicate their ideas.

Public Enterprise in some economic activities is necessary to help people attain economic and social equality. The government should undertake to do for them what people cannot do well for themselves.

Public enterprise leads to the common definition of socialism found in dictionaries: “the public or collective ownership of the means of production and distribution and the democratic management thereof.”

Democratic socialists support the principles of democratic collective ownership of the basic means of production and the priniciple of democratic management. Therefore, democratic socialists support not only public ownership, but cooperative ownership of economic functions.

The definition of democratic socialism can be summed up in the definition of the British Labour Party, which was printed on the back of every card carrying member. After Tony Blair’s ascendency to power in the mid-1990s, Clause IV of the Labour Party was rewritten by Blair to read:

The Labour Party is a democratic socialist party. It believes that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve more than we achieve alone, so as to create for each of us the means to realise our true potential and for all of us a community in which power, wealth and opportunity are in the hands of the many, not the few.

There are as many exact definitions of socialism as there are socialists. Yet they do have common characteristics. Love of big government, nationalization of industry, massive taxation, wealth redistribution, etc. all point towards socialism. Someone like the president would not even have to say he was a socialist in Western Europe; it would be assumed quite normally, without any fuss or conspiracy.

However, when people on the right start being “concerned” about describing Obama as what he clearly is, in part due to the hysteria that both sides of the political spectrum exhibit when the word “socialist” is used, then it damages the effectiveness of opposition to him. Instead of being able to define what Obama’s aims are in his presidency, those on the left and on the right keep pushing Obama into a slightly left-of-center, non-ideological fog. Such a political move is deceitful, and it does not allow the American public to get a clear perception of just what they have voted into the White House.

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Health Reform Bill Clears Hurdle

On 12.22.09, In Healthcare, News, politics, Uncategorized, United States, By dancalloway

by DAN CALLOWAY
Published 22 December 2009 @ 14:06 UCT

WASHINGTON, DC – Early this morning, the Senate made history and health reform cleared its most important hurdle yet — garnering the 60 votes needed to move toward a final vote in that chamber later this week.

This marks the first time in our nation’s history that comprehensive health reform has come to this point. And it appears that the American people will soon realize the genuine reform that offers security to those who have health insurance and affordable options to those who do not.

I’m grateful to Senator Harry Reid and every senator who’s been working around the clock to make this happen. And I’m grateful to you, and every member of the Organizing for America community, for all the work you have done to make this progress possible.

After a nearly century-long struggle, we are now on the cusp of making health insurance reform a reality in the United States of America.

As with any legislation, compromise is part of the process. But I’m pleased that recently added provisions have made this landmark bill even stronger. Between the time when the bill passes and the time when the insurance exchanges get up and running, insurance companies that try to jack up their rates do so at their own peril. Those who hike their prices may be barred from selling plans on the exchanges.

And while insurance companies will be prevented from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing conditions once the exchanges are open, in the meantime there will be a high-risk pool where people with pre-existing conditions can purchase affordable coverage.

A recent amendment has made these protections even stronger. Insurance companies will now be prohibited from denying coverage to children immediately after this bill passes. There’s also explicit language in this bill that will protect a patient’s choice of doctor. And small businesses will get additional assistance as well.

These protections are in addition to the ones we’ve been talking about for some time. No longer will insurance companies be able to drop your coverage if you become sick and no longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts out of your own pocket for treatments that you need.

Under this bill families will save on their premiums; businesses that would see their costs rise if we don’t act will save money now and in the future. This bill will strengthen Medicare and extend the life of the program. Because it’s paid for and gets rid of waste and inefficiency in our health care system, this will be the largest deficit reduction plan in over a decade.

Finally, this reform will extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who don’t have it.

These are not small changes. These are big changes. They’re fundamental reforms. They will save money. They will save lives.

And your passion, your work, your organizing helped make all of this possible. Now it’s time to finish the job.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

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U.S. Offers Long-term Aid To Keep Climate Talks Alive

On 12.17.09, In Energy, Europe, Government, politics, World News, By dancalloway

by DAN CALLOWAY
Published 17 December 2009 @ 20:14 UCT

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK – Secretary of State, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, spoke at the Copenhagen World Climate Conference on Thursday where she represented the United States’s position on global warming in reaching an agreement on greenhouse gas emissions by backing a proposal to create a global cache of money for developing countries that has been estimated to be worth roughly $100Bn a year within a decade.

senatorhillaryclintonThe European Union has also agreed to create a similar fund amounting to well over one-hundred billion Euros in support of developing countries in the next decade to assist those countries with the effects of global warming caused by humankind.

Shortly after her announcement, the global climate chief of the UN, Yvo de Boer, remarked that diplomatic and political pressures to come to an agreement on climate control by the end of the week were having dramatic effects on the talks themselves as they entered their final hours.

EU negotiators were battling to get the U.S. and China to come to an agreement on how they would monitor pledges to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, and Chinese vice foreign minister, He Yafei, was insistent on no foreign government interference into his county’s affairs.  However, He Yafei did compromise by stating that China would consider international exchanges on a voluntary basis with other countries on the monitoring of emission levels within their countries.

The two-week Copenhagen Conference is expected to wrap up on Friday, but the sessions could carry over into Saturday if negotiations are still being hammered out.

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President Obama Presses Senate to Pass Health Bill

On 11.10.09, In History, Issues, North America, politics, Presidents, Society, By dancalloway

by Sheryl Gale Stolberg
Published 8 November 2009; NY Times

Sheryl StolbergWASHINGTON — The White House, growing concerned that the Congressional timetable for passing a health care overhaul could slip into next year, is stepping up pressure on the Senate for quick action, with President Obama appearing Sunday in the Rose Garden to call on senators to “take up the baton and bring this effort to the finish line.”

Mr. Obama’s remarks came just 14 hours after the House narrowly approved a landmark plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and extend insurance coverage to 36 million uninsured Americans; the president called it “a courageous vote.” But the votes had barely been counted when the White House began turning its attention to an even bigger hurdle: getting legislation passed in the Senate.

In the Senate, where proposals differ substantially from the House-passed measure on issues like a government-run plan and how to pay for coverage, the bill is stalled while budget analysts assess its overall costs. The slim margin in the House — the bill passed with just two votes to spare, and 39 Democrats opposed it — suggests even greater challenges in the Senate, where the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, is struggling to hold on to all 58 Democrats and two independents in his caucus.

Mr. Obama has staked his domestic agenda on passing comprehensive health legislation, a goal that has eluded presidents for decades. While Democrats were forced to make major concessions on insurance coverage for abortions to win House passage of the bill, they were nonetheless ebullient on Sunday, with many saying the vote gave them momentum to push the bill forward.

“For years we’ve been told that this couldn’t be done,” Mr. Obama said in the Rose Garden. Of the American people, he said, “Moments like this are why they sent us here.”

But for all the exultation, there was a sense inside the White House and on Capitol Hill that the hardest work is yet to come. The House debate highlighted the pressures that will come to bear on senators as they weigh contentious issues like federal financing for abortion, coverage for illegal immigrants and the “public option,” agovernment-backed insurance plan to compete with the private sector.

In the Senate, Mr. Reid has merged two bills into one. The fine print is not public, but the broad outlines are known. Unlike the House bill, which pays to extend coverage by taxing individuals who earn more than $500,000 a year and couples who earn more than $1 million, the Senate bill imposes a 40 percent excise tax on so-called Cadillac plans that cost more than $8,000 a year for an individual or $21,000 for a family.

And unlike the House bill, which includes a national public plan, the Senate measure would allow states to opt out. But even that is too much government involvement for moderates like Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, a Democrat-turned-independent, who pledged Sunday to wage a filibuster to block any plan with a public option in it.

“If the public option plan is in there,” Mr. Lieberman said on “Fox News Sunday,” “as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote.” (more…)

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