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Final push for a good healthcare bill - Pelosi is the key link in the chain!
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 12 Mar '10

12 Mar '10

Friends, As you may have been aware of, the "public option" has been a major issue in the healthcare fight. The public option would offer a public, non-profit alternative to private insurance, and if done correctly, could offer real competition and choice. Without the public option, I personally oppose the bill, as it forces everyone in America to buy insurance from private companies, without offering them an affordable option -- a windfall for insurance companies. The White House, while claiming to support the public option, has actually been trying to remove it from the bill. But due to a bold and effective campaign by progressive organizations, refusing to believe the excuses and equivocations (on behalf of insurance companies), the public option has repeatedly been revived. There's a real chance now to push this through with enough pressure. As the final bill comes to a vote, Speaker Pelosi is now the key link in the chain, and being residents of her district, we have a real chance to influence the outcome. Call Speaker Pelosi and ask her to put the public option in the healthcare bill. Click here to download a flyer and deliver it to Pelosi's office at 7th and Mission. Thanks, Rob

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Time for the Democrats to Step Up!
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 20 Jan '10

20 Jan '10

Friends, I'm sure many of you have heard that the Republicans won a Massachusetts Senate seat in a special election yesterday. Prepare yourself for a wave of propaganda, as corporate media and conservative Democrats try to convince progressives that the Democrats were simply too far to the left, and that's why they lost. Could it be? Democrats simply tried too hard to help out middle class Americans? They simply were too hard on the banks and insurance companies? They tried too hard to stop climate change? And they simply didn't escalate the wars in the middle east sufficiently? And that's why they lost?! I don't think so. Democracy for America had Research 2000 poll voters immediately after yesterday's election ended: Even those who voted for Republican Scott Brown want Democrats to be bolder and they want healthcare reform that includes a public option. By a margin of three-to-two, former Obama voters who voted for Republican Scott Brown yesterday said the Senate healthcare bill "doesn't go far enough." Six-to-one Obama voters who stayed home agreed. And to top it off, 80% of all voters still want the choice of a public option in the bill. Massachusetts didn't suddenly become a conservative state. Obama won Massachusetts with 62% of the vote, by speaking up for much more progressive change than what he actually fought for once in office. What happened was the Democrats, after winning power, continued down their foolish path of thinking that they can outflank the Republicans by becoming more like them, instead of repudiating them, and fighting for regular people, thus channeling populist outrage into a victory for Republicans. Please sign this petition by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, asking Democrats to truly fight for progressive change, not capitulate further to corporate interests, both so progressive reform can happen, and so that they don't hand the keys of government back to the Republicans: http://act.boldprogressives.org/cms/sign/reconciliation/? akid=243.250069.-geW6B&rd=1&source=e1&t=2 Here is another interesting article on this topic: http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7724#more – Rob Arnow

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Change we CAN'T believe in?
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 19 Dec '09

19 Dec '09

Friends, this week was a major tipping point in U.S. politics. The Obama administration finally moved so far to the right that all the liberal organizations, web sites, blogs, and grassroots erupted in rebellion. It started off with the administration deciding to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan -- thereby bringing the military budget HIGHER than it was under the Bush administration. Then, at the climate change talks, Obama continued the US pattern of obstructing the signing of a binding treaty. While he made a nice sounding speech, there was great frustration from the rest of the world on the US continuing to be a major roadblock to reform on this ticking time bomb. Then, to make matters worse, almost all the progressive and, quite frankly, useful, portions of the healthcare bill were stripped out, supposedly to appease moderate lawmakers, but in reality were not particularly favored by the administration all along. What is left in is a major gift to the insurance industry -- forcing all Americans to buy insurance from private companies -- while removing the public option, which would have offered us an affordable, non-profit choice. While very little pressure was being applied to moderate lawmakers from the administration for their obstruction, press reports came out of Obama personally making political threats to those on the left who were criticizing his plans. While the administration and Harry Reid claim that 60 votes are needed to pass anything in the Senate, this is mere cover. The healthcare bill could be passed through a process called reconciliation that only requires 51 votes in the Senate. In addition, constitutionally, the filibuster could be ended altogether with a vote of 51 Senators. The filibuster never stopped any crazy right wing bill, but it's now being used an excuse to do nothing of a progressive nature. But, with a re-energized progressive movement, there is much positive momentum that can turn this around. It won't happen through mindless praise of Obama because of his charisma and rhetoric, when his actions increasingly seem to be leaning the opposite direction. It will come through keeping informed through such web sites as commondreams.org, alternet.org and more. It will come through getting on the lists of national political organizations such as boldprogressives.org, democracyforamerica.org and moveon.org. And, in the end, it will come through voting and participating in a effective and strategic way, not simply voting for whoever happens to call themselves a Democrat in the general election. The Wall Street interests who have been getting bankrolled by taxpayers under this adminstration have not achieved their success by accepting mere marketing-speak and token concessions. They condition their support on real actions, and progressives must do the same if we are ever to get our country moving in the right direction. While I too had hoped Obama's election would mean a substantial break from the past, the last week has finally convinced me that Obama is not the one who will turn our country around. Rob Arnow

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Interesting political news locally and nationally....
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 18 Jun '09

18 Jun '09

Hey all, a couple interesting issues have arisen both locally and nationally, and both have interested in articles on beyondchron.org this week. The reason I think they're interesting is that they're both indicative of wider political trends. On the national level, the fight for healthcare is shaping up to be a bellweather of whether real change is coming to the United States. As argued in the article below, should Obama, along with progressive and liberal forces, be able to push through his version of the plan, it would be a major victory that could lead to a series of other victories, by giving confidence to progressives, and perhaps even more, by giving Obama massive political capital earned by regular Americans seeing a difference in their lives. The "public option" is the key to this plan, as it would offer a government plan to compete with private plans. A government plan, with massive negotiating power, and no need to skim profit off the top could offer much lower rates and could ultimately open the door to true "single-payer" healthcare... http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7039#more At the local level, our mayor is again showing his true colors by proposing a budget that massively cuts healthcare, parks, and almost everything else, while offering INCREASES to the police and fire departments! The mayor has always been a conservative self-promoter, who through slick media campaigns has gotten San Franciscans to believe he's a liberal champion. He's betting on the fact that San Franciscans aren't paying attention to the budget.... http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=7037#more Rob -- Robert Arnow Design Studio www.robarnow.com <http://www.robarnow.com> 415-552-2229

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Gavin Newsom takes credit for the work of his rivals...
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 27 Apr '09

27 Apr '09

San Francisco friends, I thought the following video might be of interest to you. Gavin Newsom is a political and economic conservative who represents the interests of big business -- yet, he's trying to reinvent himself as a crusading liberal, by taking credit for the accomplishments of his political rivals, the progressives who have been pushing most of the positive change in the city for the past few years. This video points out some of the more obvious examples of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvJeWLvYWiM It's interesting that Newsom has been doing everything in his political power to remove these progressives from office, even as he tries to take credit for their accomplishments. The largest example of this, is the program to provide universal healthcare to all San Franciscans. If you're interested, there's also an article in the SF Weekly from a few months ago that has some great background on the progressive politicians and the powerful (yet largely unreported) movement that has been transforming the city over the past several years: http://www.sfweekly.com/2008-10-29/news/the-class-of-2000/ Peace, Rob Arnow

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petition link...
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 25 Feb '09

25 Feb '09

Sorry folks, for some reason the petition link in the other email wasn't working quite right, but here it is.... http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/75?m=41ea12d9&recruiter_id=127851…

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Obama gives rousing speech – and another trillion to CEOs...
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 25 Feb '09

25 Feb '09

Friends ~ If this were Bush-Paulson we would be storming Washington. The Obama giveaways to Wall Street are starting to get ridiculous, and could dwarf the amount of money being put into the stimulus package. And for all this, economists don't even think this will help much. My point is not to denigrate Obama's character, or the many good things he has promised to do, but simply to make sure that we're informed and doing our best to hold him accountable. *Here is the latest example: *A new $1 trillion program would subsidize hedge fund profits with taxpayer dollars. Compare this to the far smaller program to help people avoid foreclosures. In essence, the government will put up almost the money for consumer loans. But instead of loaning it directly, they loan it to an investor at a bargain interest rate, who loans it at a much higher interest rate to consumers. And if the loan defaults, the government would eat the loss! Investors only have to put up and risk 8% of the overall loan. Under this scenario, they're expected to see 20% profits, conservatively! And guess what, you can't participate in this program, only private equity funds can! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20lend.html?hp In the meantime, while the government continues to seize ("nationalize") smaller bankrupt banks, they refuse to do this for the large banks, even though they're completely bankrupt (BTW, seizing bankrupt banks is not a new idea, it's how our system normally works). So, in order to keep them afloat, the government is continuing to pump tens of billions into them, but because they're so far into debt, the money is just going to pay off debt, rather than to be loaned out. There's no end in sight. The solution is to temporarily nationalize the banks. Not only would this be fair to taxpayers, but it would actually stabilize the economy. Once these banks were put on solid footing, by wiping out the shareholders, the debt, and replacing management, they could resume normal lending operations. Depositors would be protected. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/23/opinion/23krugman.html?ref=opinion Can you please sign this petition in favor of nationalizing the banks, pass this around, and/or write Obama and your representatives? This is truly the only workable and fair solution the economic crisis. And it's picking up a lot of steam -- lots of famous economists, powerful Senators, and even Alan Greenspan, came out in favor of this! Unfortunately, Obama, so far, is still listening to the fools who got us into this mess in the first place... http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/75/invite?m=4cd8e387&step=1 Rob

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Obama giving free money to Wall St.? Crackdown on Bay 2 Breakers?
by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 13 Feb '09

13 Feb '09

Friends ~ a couple of things, one local and one national. Please read up, and please take action. *1. I was extremely disappointed to read in the New York Times today that President Obama is planning to follow the Bush administration course of giving money to Wall Street with NO strings attached. * Please read the article, pass it around, and most of all, please write to Obama at Whitehouse.gov and let him know that you object to this course of action. Not only would this be terrible for the country, as it will rob taxpayers, and diminish the financial resources available to mitigate the financial crisis, but should this go forward, it will tarnish Obama's reputation and make it more difficult for him to pursue a progressive course on other issues. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/business/economy/11bailout.html?hp "In the end, Mr. Geithner largely prevailed in opposing tougher conditions on financial institutions that were sought by presidential aides, including David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the president, according to administration and Congressional officials... And for all of its boldness, the plan largely repeats the Bush administration's approach of deferring to many of the same companies and executives who had peddled risky loans and investments at the heart of the crisis and failed to foresee many of the problems plaguing the markets." * 2. Crackdown on Bay to Breakers* This one has really got a bee in my bonnet. The City, in particular, the Mayor, along with the complicity of the Board of Supervisors have decided to ban drinking, floats, and nudity from Bay to Breakers. This, because a few dozen neighbors have lodged complaints, even as tens of thousands show their support by attendance at the event. The problem is that cranky neighbors are loud, while fun loving partiers don't often express their opinions. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/11/MN5J15SA27.DTL So, please express your opinion by writing the mayor, the event sponsors, and the board of supervisors. It really will make a difference. info(a)ingbaytobreakers.com gavin.newsom(a)sfgov.org ross.mirkarimi(a)sfgov.org david.chiu(a)sfgov.org bevan.dufty(a)sfgov.org chris.daly(a)sfgov.org david.campos(a)sfgov.org eric.mar(a)sfgov.org Peace, Rob

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by San Francisco News by Rob Arnow 01 Nov '08

01 Nov '08

test 2 from jmc -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc(a)sfgreens.org) http://sfgreens.org/

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