African Americans for Barack Obama Digest, October 29th

Dear friends,

The Senate is closing in on a health care bill with a public health insurance option, a key ingredient of meaningful health care reform.

But conservatives and insurance companies are fighting hard against the public option, so Senate leadership has compromised by including an "opt-out" clause, which would allow individual states to choose not to participate in the program.[1]

There's a real danger here. In the stimulus fight, we saw Republican governors and legislators refuse federal dollars for political gain. The same thing could happen with health care reform, with everday people in states like Lousiana, Alabama, and South Carolina -- states with large Black, poor, and working-class populations -- left out.[2]

That's why I've joined ColorOfChange.org's campaign calling on Congress and the White House to make the public option available everywhere. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/healthcare/?id=2376-660064

I understand the need for compromise and negotiation, but I also want to make sure that no community gets negotiated away in the process.

Including "opt-out" may be the best way to get a bill through the Senate with a public option--but that won't be the end of the process, and it doesn't mean "opt-out" will be in the final bill. The House still needs to decide exactly what will be in its health care bill. And once both the House and the Senate have passed legislation, they'll have to negotiate with each other, and the White House, to reconcile the differences between the two bills.

That's why we need to make it clear that we're watching and that we will demand a public option that's available in every state. Please join me in sending this message to Congress and the White House, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/healthcare/?id=2376-660064

Thank you.

References:

1. "So what is the 'opt-out' compromise?" Talking Points Memo, 10-26-2009

http://tinyurl.com/yjffquq

2. "Public option opt out denies help to those who need it most," Fire Dog Lake, 10-8-2009

http://tinyurl.com/yks5sxz

President Barack Obama today won the Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Obama today won the Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the first sitting American president to win the award since Woodrow Wilson. As day broke across the United States, the International Nobel Committee announced the decision in Oslo, Norway ,taking both foreign policy watchers and ordinary citizens by surprise.
The Nobel citation emphasized Obama’s efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament and reach out to the Muslim world:

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
...Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts.
...The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

The 108th annual award, which comes with a cash prize of $1.3 million, puts Obama in the company of diverse historical figures including Wilson, Anwar Sadat, Hugo Chavez, Henry Kissinger, Martin Luther King Jr., Yasser Arafat, Itzhak Rabin, former President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Al Gore.
The committee said Obama, a former state senator from Illinois, has made a remarkable leap to global prominence as the first African-American president of the United States--and has moved swiftly to establish his own brand of government and diplomacy in his first year in office.
Part of the surprise at the news stems from the domestic focus of Obama's political agenda for 2009; notably his ambitious stimulus package and plan to overhaul health care delivery in the US--and slowness to act on matters of international cooperation such as climate change. Still, hıs achıevements on nuclear securıty ıssues and engagement wıth Muslıms abroad in his dual speeches from Ankara, Turkey and Cairo, Egypt, have been well-receıved by the ınternatıonal community.

Nevertheless, just eight months into the Obama presidency, the honor may seem premature to some, including the White House, reportedly stunned when the news was delivered today.
Nobel Committee chair Thorbjoern Jagland said today: "We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do." Congratulations Mr. President you continue to make us proud and aim higher.

Peace & Blessings

Dangerously Alarming

Is What's Happening in U.S. Political Society Today Dangerously Alarming?

• Posted by Blacque Culture Keeper on September 4, 2009 at 3:00pm
• View Blacque Culture Keeper's blog

Has anyone ever before heard such ranting and rages in polite society these days as that found at constituent meetings held by Congressmen during the recent summer break all across the country? Is it as earnestly appalling to you as it is to me to see and hear the jeers, sneers, shouts, crudeness and rudeness of U.S. citizens toward their elected officials these days? They barely give them time to present or respond to inquiries. Is there anyone else out there who thinks this is a most disgusting misrepresentation of democracy in action for the entire world to see? What is more frightening is that in several venues around the U.S., there have been found people with open arms right in public, and it is considered legal for them to do so if they are registered. Doesn't it seem as if this should be illegal in a public forum? How is it that so many of the majority population are allowed to get away with this, when it most likely be another story if the gun bearers were minorities? Only time will tell. It was discussed on the radio that there were citizens bearing weapons at events where our newly-elected President was speaking. I find this dangerous and outrageous and can hardly believe this is permissible by the Secret Service and any other law enforcement agency standards, especialliay where a president of the United States is concerned.

News casters and others are suggesting that many of these so-called detractors have been paid off and/or urged to react erroneously by the affected business (pharmaceutical, hospital or insurance) companies, lobbyists, and other political agents. Many are spouting off irrational statements that show they have no inkling about what is actually taking place. Sure informed dissent is useful in a democratic society, but pushing and shoving your point of view across without regard for others' rights to speak or be heard is the first step toward anarchy. It is one thing to shout and chant raccously at a rally (I've been involved in many of them), but it is quite another very different thing to act irresponsibly in a formal social setting where a polite give and take is appropriate. Where or what does this flagrant disregard for social standards stand to gain for the dissenters? What a hideous lesson for their children to learn to see their parents acting so disrespectfully of one another. We hear people saying they have no concern for their fellowman who is sick and in trouble and cannot pay for health care. Does our religion speak to that? Why we have just heard of a white Baptist minister who openly proclaims he wants Obama dead and his two daughters to be fatherless. (He should be incarcertated for communicating threats -- just after he is thrown out of the church for fraud) We hear people discredit universal health care as Socialism. What's wrong with Socialism if it helps us help one another when they need it? What is even more appalling is that these same people will go to church on Sunday as if they have acted piously to the height of their religious beliefs all during the week.

Is there anyone else out there who sees this as a sad day for America? Is there anyone out there who believes what is needed is massive Intercessory Prayer. Are there those who believe that the Obama election machine and its supporters need to come together to help promote the cause? After all, the over 50% who voted for Obama knew he was going to deal with this universal health care issue. He was candid about it. What now must be done or must we do to help ensure his success?

Tags: congressional-constituent-h..., gun-bearing, lobbyists, national-health-care-plan, obama, pharmaceutical-insurance-co...

Dawn Smith & CIGNA 2

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm at the end of my rope. What CIGNA is doing to me is—well, it's outrageous.

I have a brain tumor. Doctors are ready to help me. But CIGNA has been blocking me from getting testing and treatment for two years, while almost doubling my premiums.

Then, this week was the kicker. CIGNA's pharmacy called to say that the co-pay on the medicine that helps control my debilitating head pain is skyrocketing from $10 to $1,115. That's not a typo. They're making me pay one hundred times what I'm paying now, in addition to my $753/month premium.

I can't afford that. So when the pain comes, I won't have any defense. I'll spend hours in the fetal position, out of my mind with pain.

When my story went public a couple of weeks ago—with the help of over 100,000 MoveOn members—CIGNA said they would pay for a test I'd been asking for at Cleveland Clinic. It was a step in the right direction. But after two years of denials, and with a long course of treatment ahead of me, I knew better than to just take them at their word.

So I asked questions. But they wouldn't offer any explanation for why they denied my coverage for so long, or any assurance that they had changed their procedures so I wouldn't face the same unjust denials again. And I began to wonder if they were more interested in just sweeping my story under the rug than actually helping me.

When I got this latest news from CIGNA's pharmacy on Tuesday, I kept asking myself, is this a mistake? Or is this happening because I went public with my case? Are other CIGNA customers receiving the same phone calls?

I used to give CIGNA the benefit of the doubt, but after years of unexplained denials, I've had enough. So I'm asking for your help again. For myself, and for everyone else who is suffering, I am asking CIGNA for answers.

And I think it would help if thousands of people like you were to join me in demanding them. I'm writing them a short letter with a simple question: Why? Can you add your name to my letter?

http://pol.moveon.org/dawn/?id=17404-9592207-NryGR3x&t=1

Here's what I've written to Dr. Jeffrey Kang, CIGNA's Chief Medical Officer:

As you probably know, your company has denied me needed care for two years while I suffer from a debilitating but treatable brain tumor. I pay my $753.47 premiums. I follow the proper procedures. But CIGNA refuses to give me the care I need.

Instead, you keep increasing my prices. First my premiums rose by hundreds of dollars, and now my prescription costs are going up by more than 10,000%.

What makes you think you can treat sick people this way? When will you stop doing this to me and the thousands of people like me who are suffering? And if you solve this latest problem, how do I know you won't do this to me again next week—that you're actually changing your ways and not just trying to make your PR problem disappear?

Please answer these questions. I need to know, for the sake of my health and my life. Many others have signed this letter too, to support me and make sure I get answers.

Respectfully,
Dawn Smith

Thanks for all you're doing. I don't know where I'd be without MoveOn members' help.

Most sincerely,
Dawn