1) He’s received $432,102 in campaign contributions from oil and gas interests to date — and has said that we have “no option” but to continue pursuing offshore drilling.

2) He strongly opposed the DISCLOSE Act, which would have shed light on the hundreds of millions of dollars corporations and special interests spend to influence elections — and would have helped to ensure the voices of North Carolinians don’t get drowned out by corporate cash.

3) He voted against extending unemployment benefits to 200,000 Americans without jobs — including 6,500 North Carolinians — at a time when North Carolina’s unemployment rate was nearly 11 percent.

4) He refused to allow top military officials to testify in an important Armed Services Committee hearing — despite the fact that they’d flown around the world to be in attendance.

5) He vowed to “defund any effort to implement” the health insurance reform bill, which would mean forfeiting $15.4 billion in affordability tax credits to 951,000 North Carolinians and dropping $20 billion in federal Medicaid funding.

Will you join me?

http://my.barackobama.com/commitment-ar

Thanks!

http://www.changecrew07.org/?page_id=160

I have not commented on the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico since it started, but I feel it is now time to do so. What a freakin’ mess!! BP — What were you thinking? What are you thinking?

One cannot call this a spill because an overturned glass is a spill; a wrecked railroad car with its contents leaking on the ground or into a stream is a spill, a tanker run aground is a spill. Each of these is inherently limited and thus contains within itself the limits of its potential damage.

The hole in the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is an unchecked tap into a (according to BP) huge reservoir of oil and natural gas with the potential to poison a huge portion of the planet. This is the largest human-caused disaster in all of history.

As oil keeps gushing into the Gulf and the scope of this human and environmental disaster increases exponentially, I watch the people of the Gulf Coast attempting to cope with it and realize that there is no way that this is going to be stopped any time soon. Nor will a complete cleanup even be possible. The oil is not only present on the surface of the water, in fact the vast majority of it is hidden, unseen beneath the surface, like the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

We have run the ship of our oil dependency upon the iceberg of huge multinational corporations whose greed has run amok and caused them to “drill, baby, drill” without regard for safety, the ecology or the welfare of the inhabitants world’s coasts. Neither land-dwelling nor marine nor human nor plant nor animal is safe. All is at risk.

So-called “Experts” are saying that the effects of this disaster could spread as far as the Arctic. How can anyone believe that this is the limit? Is there any reason not to believe that there is no limit; that all of the world’s oceans and coastlines are at risk? If the oceans are poisoned and the food chain collapses, where will that leave us?

Please see my Facebook group, Boycott BP and join for updates and to participate in planning or taking non-violent, non-destructive, peaceful action.

http://www.facebook.com/david.both?v=info#!/group.php?gid=117870021588108

Unfortunately we will always require petroleum products, if not for fuel then for plastics, shampoo, lubricants, pharmaceuticals and many other products we use each day. Our civilization is built upon the foundation of fossil fuels. While we move our home to another foundation we must take drastic steps to ensure that events like the Gulf Disaster or the Exxon Valdeze can never, ever happen again.

Regulate the Oil Companies

We need to ensure that oil is located, drilled for and produced in a manner that is safe for the workers and the environment. In order to achieve this we need greater regulation of the oil industry and more inspectors who must be given the unalterable authority to shut down any operation on the spot and without any requirement to obtain permission from anyone. This person must be the ultimate authority on site or otherwise.

We also need to ensure that the pipelines and ships that carry oil from well to refinery to distribution centers and on to the gas stations and other outlets are also regulated and made safe.

No oil or chemical-related company or industry should be exempt.

Reducing Our Dependency on Oil

Clearly we must reduce our dependency on oil as we transition to renewable energy. There is no other way. There are many things each of us can do. Here are just a few with which we can start.

• Use CFLs.
• Purchase a fuel efficient vehicle. A REALLY efficient vehicle. To me that number starts at 35MPG and goes up. My Gen1 Prius gets 48MPG on average.
• Walk or ride a bike to the store when possible.
• Turn off lights that are not in use.
• Don’t waste water.
• Don’t leave vehicles running just to keep the air-conditioner of heater running.
• Keep tires properly inflated.
• Keep vehicles properly maintained.
• Replace old hot water heater with on-demand heaters.
• Replace old appliances with new, energy efficient ones.
• Get an energy audit from your energy company (electric or gas) and perform the actions they tell you can save energy.

There are many more but you can start with a few of these.

But remember, I am not laying all of the blame for this at the feet of the consumers. We must regulate the energy companies in order to make whatever energy source we use safe, dependable and clean.

Call your elected representatives and let them know we want clean dependable, and safe energy now and that regulation is the only way to get there. Don’t wait. Do it now! Would the BP Disaster have occurred if we had taken action after the Exxon Valdeze? We can prevent the next one.

Those who have not yet voted must vote at their polling place on Tue May 4^th.  Polls are open from 6:30 – 7:30pm. Info about the primary candidates can be found at the NC Board of Elections site – http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/content.aspx?id=29
Or check out the Indy endorsements at: http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/elections/Section?oid=1179044
Or be sure to check your County Party’s website.  For those of us in Wake County, it is www.wakedems.org

Does this violate the WCPSS Board of Education Code of Ethics, Section B,
Number 7, http://www.wcpss.net/policy-files/series/policies/1035-bp.html or offend our children, parents and teachers?

Please let me know no later than tomorrow, Saturday, if you can help. The more people we have the faster it will go and the fewer calls we each have to make.

My number is 919-389-8678

Email: david {at} both {dot} org – disguised to prevent spammers from scraping it off this page.

Thanks!!

We’ll rally at the headquarters of Blue Cross Blue Shield tomorrow morning, Friday, October 30, at 11:00 am, to protest their use of premium dollars to campaign against health care reform, and their recent mailer that included a pre-paid postcard to Senator Hagan opposing the Public Option. It’s way past time to break up their monopoly on health insurance here in North Carolina, and to create real competition that will make coverage more comprehensive and more affordable for North Carolinians. IF BLUE CROSS AND THE BIG INSURANCE LOBBY WINS, WE LOSE! Help make sure that doesn’t happen.

Here are directions to the action. We’ll look forward to seeing you there.

The BCBS headquarters is at 1700 Chapel Hill Durham Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC.

Click here for directions and parking suggestions or follow this link:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113913562430524315410.0004741526aa947acbbb7&z=19

Here also are links to a story in the News and Observer yesterday on the scurrilous Blue Cross mailer, as well as an excellent op-ed piece by Adam Searing of the NC Justice Center on how Blue Cross has strayed so far from its original mission with its current campaign against health care reform.

News story:

http://www.newsobserver.com/business/local_state/story/161886.html

Adam’s op-ed piece:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columnists_blogs/other_views/story/160952.html

STATE OF PLAY IN WASHINGTON

Today’s big news is that the merged bill in the House of Representatives has been introduced. Details remain sketchy, but early reporting indicates that the bill will contain a more moderate version of the Public Option (negotiated reimbursement rates to providers rather than rates tied to Medicare, so higher premiums for Public Option subscribers and less price competition for the private insurance industry); raises Medicaid eligibility to 150% of the federal poverty level; and retains the surcharge on wealthy taxpayers rather than a tax on so-called “Cadillac” plans as a way to pay for the overall costs (we call them “Chevy” plans given the impact this tax, which is included in the Senate bill, will have on millions of middle-class families).

The current talk is that the floor debate on the bill will take place November 4-6, with a vote before the Veteran’s Day recess. HCAN is analyzing the bill to determine how it squares with our campaign’s principles, and we will get that analysis out to you shortly.

You’ll hear from us early next week about Rapid Response phoning and e-mailing to Congress to help improve the final bill. Vital issues around affordability, competition, and financing are all TBD, so stay tuned and stay active.

The Motion to Proceed in the Senate is still expected to come up for a vote next week. HCAN and many coalition partners are working hard in states where we need to confirm votes from wavering Democratic Senators–Louisiana, Nebraska, Arkansas, maybe Indiana. Then we’ll have to fight on the cloture vote after the floor debate. More on that in our next message.  To have a look at the bill, click here or follow this link:

http://docs.house.gov/rules/health/111_ahcaa.pdf

And here’s a great animated cartoon from the Washington Post yesterday, which says it all about the outrageous role of BCBS and Big Insurance in this historic fight.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/opinions/anntelnaes/

AND A REMINDER:

That the NC Council of Churches and a number of congregations in Raleigh will sponsor a memorial service this evening for those who suffer or have died from lack of health insurance. Here are the details:

Thursday, October 29, 7:00-8:00 pm

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Raleigh
3313 Wade Avenue (2 blocks east of Meredith College)
Raleigh

Click here for the event flier or visit this link:

http://healthcareforamericanow.org/page/-/NC%20Documents/Interfaith%20Memorial%20Flyer-10.pdf

Thanks, and let’s stay strong and tough for these next few weeks!

Cordially yours,

Lynice Williams
for the NC HCAN Steering Committee

p.s.-  Please forward this to your friends and co workers who know that the public option is a necessary component of REAL health care reform.  Together, we can make this happen!