Health Care Reform Passes.

I wanted to write and share the great news I am sure you have already heard. Health care reform is law. This is a historical day for our country. No longer can the insurance companies abuse the citizens of this nation for profit. This has essentially been the point of the entire health care battle.

For far too long have the Insurance companies been allowed to drop coverage for getting sick. For far too long they have been able to exclude people from coverage for being born sick. 32 million more people will have insurance coverage. This is not a government take over of health care. It is a government fix to a huge budgetary and public health problem facing the people of this nation. This reform saves the government 138 billion dollars over ten years, and $1.2 trillion over 20 years according to the non partisan Congressional Budgeting Office. This bill also helps seniors on Medicare who will now pay less for prescriptions with the closing of the donut hole gap in coverage. Seniors will now have preventative care at no cost to them with Medicare. This bill provides significant tax breaks for small businesses that provide health insurance for their employees. This reform is expected to create 2.5 million jobs over ten years due to reduction of health care costs to businesses.

This battle for health care has shown just how dysfunctional and powerful the special interest have become, and how entrenched they have become in Washington. The Republicans and some Democrats have been absolute obstructionists simply for political purposes. Many are well paid by health insurance and other special interests. They were elected to do the work of the people. Yet they chose to vote no. They chose to let another 45,000 people die this year due to a lack of health coverage. The chose to let millions more live one illness away from bankruptcy. They chose to support insurance company profits over their constituents well being. Fortunately 60 Senators and 219 Representatives had the courage to pass this reform.

The Republicans continued to drag their feet in the Senate, using more stall tactics to slow the reconciliation bill of fixes that the House of Representatives demanded from the Senate in order to pass the Senates bill. It is an exercise in futility. Many are now vowing repeal. There are several state attorney generals that are suing merely to score political points from their far right base. Again an exercise in futility. By some accounts, this bill that passed is more conservative than the compromise bill the Republicans offered in 1994 during Bill Clinton's try at health care reform, and the one that Nixon tried to get passed in his first term. My thought is that if one has an employee that refuses to do their job, one fires them. It is time for these obstructionists to be voted out of office.

There is a small minority on the far right fringe of American politics, who is being extremely vocal and violent and they are being whipped up by these same far right politicians as well as media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. Since health care reform passed a number of offices of Democrats around the country have been vandalized by wing nuts who think they speak for the rest of us. Things are likely to get ugly over the next few months as these wing-nuts gear up for their "revolution." It is my belief that we will see more acts of domestic terrorism over the next few months. April 19th is especially significant in American history. April 19, 1775 beheld the battle of Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolution. This also the day of the tragedy in Waco in 1993. It was also April 19, 1995 when Timothy McVey bombed The Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

I ask my friends who are on the right of the political spectrum, please do not endorse this insanity. Form a new party. Those who are left in Washington want only one thing. Absolute dictatorial theocratic power. They care not for the American people nor those of you who voted for them. They care about the hundreds of thousands of dollars they get from special interests. They care about holding on to power, despite scandal, and criminal behavior. The entire Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has been subpoenaed in a possible election fraud case involving Nevada Senator John Ensign and possibly others. The Republican Party is dying. We need those on the right in the dialog of American politics. What we don't need are those who would seek violence for dislike of our president. We don't need those who would seek violence because their narrow vision for America includes only them. We don't need those who rail against a mostly successful stimulus package and voted against it, but get excited for a campaign photo op at a project in their district funded by stimulus money. It is time for the hypocrisy to leave Washington. Please get involved and bring some moderation to the politics. As an independent voter, a post I saw on Twitter says it best, "Democrats, the party that gets s@%t done."

Next up on the list of Congress-Do's for the American people is financial and corporate reform. It is time to reign in the to big to fail banks and the wall street firms that drove our economy to the brink of depression. Anybody in Congress or other political office needs to hear that you support strong financial regulation and bank reform. It is time they heard from you about supporting the public financing of elections. If we want fair elections we have to pay for them. If we continue we will lose more and more freedom to those who have the money to buy the power. The Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the right of free speech and effectively said that they may spend as much as they like in elections. The corporations do not have our interests in mind. They care only for shareholder profit at whatever expense to people and the environment.

We still have much work to do to take back this country from lobbyist and special interests. We have much work to do to rebuild our infrastructure and refresh our military strength. Our country has been mismanaged by politics for far too long. Health care reform is what the change we voted for looks like. Hopefully we won't have to fight so hard for it on every thing that needs to be done.

Follow this link to read:

10 THINGS EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM



Pass it on.

Have a great day.

Mississippi High School Cancels Prom Because Same Sex Couple Planned To Attend.

Think Progress is reporting that a high school in Mississippi is cancelling its prom after request from a student to bring her same sex partner. Read at http://bit.ly/bhiG89 and then write a letter to the school district asking them to reconsider their policy and reverse their decision.

Contact Email Address for Itawomba Agricultural High School: dthomas@itawamba.k12.ms.us

Glenn Beck Attacks Me.

Glenn Beck is dangerous. He is working to undermine the fabric of our democracy with his brand of hate and lunacy. Pass it on.

To The People Of Iran

To those who seek and struggle for freedom from a repressive and brutal regime in Iran, know that the world stands with you.  We are paying attention to your struggles, and we stand in solidarity with you.  We see your suffering and your martyrs such as Neda.  We see when you stand for the right of free expression, and the right to speak out against injustice in your country.  We stand with you.  When you stand against rape and torture of your fellow citizens, we see your struggle.  We stand with you.  


There is nothing more we in the west want right now than a sane government in Tehran.  Those in power have shown their true colors.  They are brutal dictators.  They are rapists, and they are torturers.  They are guilty of crimes against humanity.  They are liars, and a threat to the entire world. To the police apparatus of Iran, you must take the side of the people or you are just as guilty as the leadership of these atrocities committed in the name of holding on to power by the fraud Ahmadinejad.  It is time for the regime of Iran, and all other regimes of the world, to take notice that the people of the world stand for freedom without oppression.  


To the People of Free Persia, Many blessings.


Rev. Jeremy Cook
USA

Letter to Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Senator Bennet,

I appreciate your reply to my letter concerning campaign finance reform.  Thank you for taking the time to write me back.  I am a supporter of changing the way we finance campaigns, however I don't believe the current bills go far enough to remove special interest influence from elections, or from Washington.

In your letter you say  "Opponents of public financing question whether real or apparent corruption from private
fundraising is as serious a problem as critics claim. They argue that public financing would
be an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars and would allocate taxpayer dollars to
candidates they do not support."

My reply is this.  First the problem of corruption from private fundraising is serious.  Those who say it isn't are most likely involved in the corruption we are talking about.  Second, my tax money goes to support wars and policies, that I do not support.  My tax dollars go to pay politicians I do not support a salary.  If we truly want to have a government of the people and for the people,  we will remove money from the equation.

As I said in my previous letter we have laws to regulate influence peddling when we should have laws against what in most other contexts would be a felony.  It is time to change this.  Failure to do so is failure for this country.

When I look at Washington today I see an ineffective government that can't get things done.  Where is health care reform?  We haven't closed Gitmo.  We have no accountability for torture committed in our name. We are still losing valuable members of the military to don't ask, don't tell.  The banks are still doing their business as usual at the expense of the people of this country.  AIG owes taxpayers $185 billion, and they are paying out over $100 million in bonuses to the same people who drove the economy to the brink of collapse.  This is unacceptable.

The process of making laws is broken and we must now have super majorities to get business done in this country.  It is time for a complete overhaul of Congress.  If this can't be done, then maybe we do need to go to the streets.

I was also disappointed to get an invitation to see the President as a fundraiser for you at a thousand dollars a pop for the first reception and $15000 for the second one.  Sorry sir, I don't have that kind of money.  I can barely pay my mortgage to Bank Of Amerika and can't get them to work with me to rearrange my loan to reduce the payment.  It made me smile to see Ken Lewis and BoA charged with fraud today.

Senator,  I hope you haven't drank the water in Washington, but it appears you have.  If you and your fellow almost super majority can't get it done soon it is going to be a rough election campaign.  Good luck with that.  Please sir I implore you to do the work of the people and tell the corporations and the special interests, that we are not for sale.

Thank you,

Rev. Jeremy Cook

http://world-freedom-advocate.blogspot.com/

http://greenscene-colorado.blogspot.com/

Senator Bennet's reply to my letter.

Here is the reply I received from Senator Bennet regarding campaign finance reform.  I am amazed at how he didn't even have the decency to acknowledge lobbyist reform.

from Michael Bennet, US Senator for Colorado to ravenlaughing@gmail.com date Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 8:12 AM subject A message from Senator Michael Bennet mailed-by bennet.senate.gov

hide details Jan 27 (9 days ago)

Dear Jeremy:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Fair Elections Now Act of 2009 (S. 752). I
appreciate hearing from you.

Let me begin by saying that I am open to re-evaluating our current campaign finance
laws. I believe any changes to existing laws must strive to promote fairness,
transparency, and integrity in our federal election process. 

As you may know, S. 752 was introduced by Senator Durbin and would amend the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to allow House and Senate candidates
the choice to run for office through publically funded campaigns. Through a mixture of
base subsidies, matching funds, and broadcast vouchers, the only limit to funding would
be the number of individual $100 contributions that the public funding would match with
$400 dollars, donated per election within the district or state. 

Critics of current campaign finance laws believe that the ever growing costs of running a
campaign and the resulting reliance on wealthy donors, groups and committees to
finance campaigns have undermined the integrity and transparency of the electoral
system. Those wishing to reform campaign finance laws with efforts such as S. 752 claim
the candidates would be freed from constant fundraising and be able to better focus on
the needs of the people they seek to represent. Supporters maintain that by replacing
private funds with public money, the corrupting influence of large private contributions
could be lessened somewhat. 

Opponents of public financing question whether real or apparent corruption from private
fundraising is as serious a problem as critics claim. They argue that public financing would
be an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars and would allocate taxpayer dollars to
candidates they do not support. 

Currently, S. 752, the Fair Elections Now Act, has been referred to the Senate Committee
on Rules and Administration. Although I am not a member of this Committee, should this
legislation reach the full Senate I will keep your thoughts in mind. 

I value the input of fellow Coloradans in considering the wide variety of important issues
and legislative initiatives that come before the Senate. I hope you will continue to inform
me of your thoughts and concerns.

For more information about my priorities as a U.S. Senator, I invite you to visit my
website at http://bennet.senate.gov/. Again, thank you for contacting me.


Sincerely,

Michael Bennet
United States Senator

An Open Letter To Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO)

Senator Bennet,  


I am writing to ask you to speak out for and sponsor legislation to reform campaign finance. Now is the time to speak up for public funding of elections. Now is the time to remove the corruption of lobbyist money from Washington.


Sir, I must ask why we have laws to regulate the buying and selling of influence in Congress. Shouldn't influence peddling be banned? Now is the time!  


I am disheartened by the fact that on your contact form under message topic, you do not have a choice for campaign finance and election reform. I am also disappointed when I look you up on www.opensecrets.org.  


Senator, the only way we can remove the stranglehold of the corporations and war fascists is to completely remove the influence of money from elections and Congress. It's the least Congress can do since you can't seem to get things done for the people. We are still waiting for comprehensive health care reform, wall street regulation, and the closing of Gitmo. We still haven't been able to seek justice for those who our country has wronged with torture and illegal detention.  


Sir, I strongly urge you to take a strong public stand against this new form of corporate feudalism. I signed your petition to take a stand. If we fail in this then we may have to go to the streets.  


Thank You,  
Rev. Jeremy Cook 

http://world-freedom-advocate.blogspot.com/


This letter was sent directly to Senator Bennet from USA.Gov on 22 January 2010


Senator Bennet's petition: www.BennetForColorado.com/democracy.