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President Barack Obama is finally showing some backbone and telling Congress to make a decision on a health care reform bill that would provide coverage for at least 30 million uninsured people in America.
He suggested the Democratic-controlled Congress pass the bill, despite nearly 100 percent opposition from the Republicans, and work out the differences after he signs the bill through reconciliation, a tactic he said former president George W. Bush often used to pass his agenda when Republicans held the majority in Congress.
For nearly a year, Obama, a recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, tried to appease Republicans who adamantly oppose government interfering with private health care. In an effort to understand the other side, he entered the lion’s den to field questions at a gathering of Republican lawmakers. Last week, he held a bipartisan health care summit to get the Republicans’ input on health care reform.
But on Wednesday, President Obama demanded Congress make a final decision on whether to pass sweeping health care reform in the next few weeks.

Here is the letter he wrote to me and other email subscribers to his grass roots organization, Organizing for America:

Teneshia –

Last Thursday’s first-of-its-kind summit capped off a debate that has lasted nearly a year. Every idea has now been put on the table. Every argument has been made. Both parties agree that the status quo is unacceptable and gets more dire each day. Today, I want to state as clearly and forcefully as I know how: Now is the time to make a decision about the future of health care in America.

The final proposal I’ve put forward draws on the best ideas from all sides, including several put forward by Republicans at last week’s summit. It will put Americans in charge of their own health care, ensuring that neither government nor insurance company bureaucrats can ration, deny, or put out of financial reach the care our families need and deserve.

I strongly believe that Congress now owes the American people a final vote on health care reform. Reform has already passed the House with bipartisan support and the Senate with a super-majority of sixty votes. Now it deserves the same kind of up-or-down vote that has been routinely used and has passed such landmark measures as welfare reform and both Bush tax cuts.

Earlier today, I asked leaders in both houses of Congress to finish their work and schedule a vote in the next few weeks. From now until then, I will do everything in my power to make the case for reform. And now, I’m asking you, the members of the Organizing for America community, to raise your voice and do the same.

The final march for reform has begun, and your participation is crucial. Please commit to join with me to take reform across the finish line.

Essentially, my proposal would change three things about the current health care system:

First, it would protect all Americans from the worst practices of insurance companies. Never again will the mother with breast cancer have her coverage revoked, see her premiums arbitrarily raised, or be forced to live in fear that a pre-existing condition will bar her from future coverage.

Second, my proposal would give individuals and small businesses the same choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves. And my proposal says that if you still can’t afford the insurance in this new marketplace, we will offer you tax credits based on your income — tax credits that add up to the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history.

Finally, my proposal would bring down the cost of health care for everyone — families, businesses, and the federal government — and bring down our deficit by as much as $1 trillion over the next two decades. These savings mean businesses small and large will finally be freed up to create jobs and increase wages. With costs currently skyrocketing, reform is vital to remaining economically strong in the years and decades to come.

In the few crucial weeks ahead, you can help make sure this proposal becomes law. Please sign up to join the Organizing for America campaign in the final march for reform:

http://my.barackobama.com/commit

When I talked about change on the campaign, this is what I was talking about: coming together to solve a huge problem that has been troubling America for 100 years and standing up to the special interests to deliver a brighter, smarter future for generations to come.

I look forward to signing this historic reform into law. And when I do, it will be because your organizing played an essential role in making change possible.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

By Teneshia LaFaye
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President Barack Obama has tried to reach across the aisle like popular Republican presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, but it has caused his image to suffer.
By trying to compromise with his Republican opponents instead of taking advantage of the Democratic Party’s majority in Congress, Obama is viewed as being ineffective at getting his key initiatives passed, particularly health care reform.
If President Obama took advantage of his majority, he would be viewed as a socialist, which Republicans have already accused him of.
Obama is hosting a health care summit Thursday to get both sides to support his failing health care initiative. Health care reform bills have been passed in the House and the Senate, but a final version has yet to cross Obama’s desk because of uproar from Republicans and their followers and the president’s desire to reach a compromise.
I think Obama should follow the example of another Republican president, George W. Bush. Bush, the last U.S. president, used the Republican’s former edge in Congress to push through his initiatives, including three major tax cuts, and then he tried to reach compromise later in a process called reconciliation.
So Obama should be more like Bush when it comes to getting his way. He would get more done and be more respected than his idiotic predecessor.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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It’s funny how some white people have expressed to me that President Barack Obama isn’t black.
They have told me that he’s half white, which is true considering his deceased mother is Caucasian. A white co-worker even told me that he heard Obama is only an eighth black, which I explained is impossible with the president’s deceased father being a full-blooded, dark-skinned Kenyan from Africa.
Regardless, Obama is considered black by the one-drop standard of our country’s forefathers and the old Jim Crow laws that treated blacks like second-class citizens before the Civil Rights Act was passed in the 1960s.

Now many blacks, especially the elderly who suffered through the Jim Crow segregation, have more reason to celebrate President’s Day because Obama is the first official black president of the United States of America, a feat that many blacks thought they would never witness in their lifetimes. And it doesn’t make blacks racist for wanting to celebrate President Obama’s historical achievement.
Racism is treating another race as an inferior, and Obama has tried to take care of all races of Americans through a half dozen stimulus bills and efforts to pass health care reform to cover the estimated 50 million without insurance.

Any American can be proud to have the Harvard-educated Obama represent the U.S. View a photo tribute to President Obama’s critical first 100 days in the Oval Office.
President’s Day is celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor past presidents, especially George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who have birthdays in February.
And some historians have speculated that Lincoln, who passed the law that freed blacks from slavery, was a black man because of the one-drop of African blood rule and former presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge also have been accused of hiding their African heritage.

But regardless of whether the other presidents were black, Obama deserves the distinction of being the United States’ first black president because he is proud to be a black man and he is an attentive husband to his black wife and their adorable black daughters who they are raising to be proud of their African heritage.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream has mostly come true.
Not only are white children and black children holding hands, but they are hugging, kissing, marrying and creating babies together. In fact, our new U.S. president Barack Obama is the product of a black man and a white woman.
But black and white harmony was just part of Dr. King’s dream.
In his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963, the civil rights leaders mainly shared his hope that all races of people, not just blacks and whites, would share the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that our country’s forefathers outlined in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
But Dr. King thought it would be impossible for minorities to live the American dream when, at the time, they had been kept from staying in hotels, being served inside restaurants, restricted from voting and faced with “Whites Only” signs.
Thanks to Dr. King’s efforts The Civil Rights and the Voters Rights Acts were passed, and he would be happy to see that all of the aforementioned barriers have been removed so that minorities now have the liberty to pursue whatever kind of lifestyle will make them happy.
Now that’s not to say that racism no longer exists, but again, that was just part of Dr. King’s dream. For the most part, the dream is alive and the opportunity is now there for a person of any race or gender to be successful in life.
However, King’s quest to end poverty, which he didn’t mention in his famous speech, is still an issue. Dr. King was in the midst of a campaign focusing on poverty in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968 when he was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, now The National Civil Rights Museum which has preserved the room where Dr. King was shot.
Poverty is back in the forefront with daily coverage of the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that have left millions without shelter or food in a country in which 80% of the population were already living in poverty.
So while poverty still hasn’t been resolved, at least Dr. King’s dream has come true.
Click here to read Dr. King’s “I Had a Dream” speech.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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Let’s be real.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn’t say anything different than what many blacks said to each other when Barack Obama announced he was running for President of the United States. And the senator should not be labeled a racist and compared to ousted former majority leader Trent Lott.
Prior to Obama’s 2008 run for president, Reid privately said that the junior U.S. Senator’s light skin and lack of Negro dialect gave him a viable chance to be our country’s first African-American president. And of course, he was right.

Many blacks expressed the same opinion although we described Obama as intelligent, well-spoken and black, not just “light-skinned” and “Negro”, a politically correct term for African-Americans four decades ago.
But Senator Reid, who has championed for the rights of minorities on Capitol Hill, understands that for centuries light skinned, well-spoken blacks have gotten further ahead than those who have dark skin and use slang because of the continued prejudice in this country.
It’s ironic that the Republican Party that freed blacks from slavery is now causing racial disharmony in the U.S., and has labeled Senator Reid, a Democrat, as a racist and pushed for his resignation.
Senator Reid is not a racist as is reflected in his decades-old record of legislation that helps minorities. His words were meant as a compliment to President Obama and justification for the historical presidential run.
Now former Senator Trent Lott is a different story. Lott, a Republican, was forced to resign as Senate Majority Leader in 2002 after he celebrated former Senator Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party by saying the country would have been better off if Thurmond had been victorious in his 1940s segregationist run for president. Thurmond ran on a platform that pushed for separation of the races.
Now that’s racist.
Racism is when one race feels superior than another race and uses its position to hold down another race from opportunity. That is what Strom Thurmond advocated and Trent Lott celebrated.
Senator Reid is in no way a racist. It’s not racist to talk about other races, especially in the complimentary manner in which he did.
Besides, there’s nothing wrong with whites talking about blacks. Blacks talking about whites. Hispanics talking about whites. Whites talking about Asians. Asians talking about whites.
However, it is racist to say one race doesn’t have the right to talk about another race. And of course, it’s wrong to use derogatory words to describe another race.
I’ll be glad when the day comes when we can stop labeling each other and look beyond skin color to commend or criticize regardless of race. At the end of the day, race really doesn’t matter because when we die there is no Native American Heaven, Asian Heaven, Hispanic Heaven, Black Heaven or White Heaven. There’s only one Heaven, and all believers will be there.
The good news, or maybe bad news for racists is that they will be judged some day, and they won’t be in Heaven mixing with all the different races.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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The Senate approved its health care reform bill as promised on the eve of Christmas to help cover most of the estimated 50 million Americans shut out because of high premiums and pre-existing medical conditions.
The bill wasn’t supported by any Republicans, who think the government should stay out of the insurance business. But it was backed by the American Medical Association, which normally opposes health care overhaul.
However, the battle for universal health care isn’t over yet. It’s just beginning because now a committee has to merge the Senate’s newly approved health care bill and the bill from the House, which was approved in November.
A final health care bill that meets the approval of the House and the Senate is expected to be drafted and voted on by the end of January so that universal health care is officially approved in time for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.
Contrary to the lies spewed by members of the Republican party, universal health care will not be a hand out as Medicaid and Medicare have been since being passed in 1965. And those who prefer private insurance and like their job benefits can keep their current insurance.
Health care reform is for the tens of millions left without insurance because it’s unaffordable or they have been turned down by insurance companies because of their health conditions.
Participants will be required to pay monthly premiums.
Yet before universal health care can be passed, the House and the Senate must agree on the final bill.
So far, the two groups in Congress agree on the following:
-government subsidies to help families making less than $90,000 per year pay for coverage
-health insurance exchanges to create a risk pool of small business, the self-employed and the unemployed to provide lower premiums
-insurance companies can’t turn a person down for pre-existing conditions or raise premiums because of medical history.
However, the House bill costs $1 trillion while the Senate bill costs $871 million, and they disagree on where the money will come from. The House would like to place higher taxes on individuals with annual incomes more than $500,000 and families making more than $1 million. The Senate wants to increase taxes on insurance companies for their higher-end health plans and increase Medicare payroll taxes on individuals making more than $250,000 annually. Both would like to make cuts to Medicare.
So the lies about working Americans footing the bill for the new health care are untrue because it’s the wealthy who would see increased taxes under the House and Senate bills.
As a successful insurance agent, I think it’s fantastic that insurance companies will no longer be allowed to turn individuals away because of their health and will no longer be allowed to jack up premiums after someone has a major illness.
And I don’t see a problem with wealthy Americans paying higher taxes to help uninsured Americans pay for, not be handed out, health care coverage. As the saying goes, to whom much is given, much is required.
What’s the point of being wealthy if you don’t help people who are trying to help themselves. Besides, the money isn’t going with the rich when they die, so they should use it for a good cause instead of booze, fancy houses and cars and women.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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I’ve been a successful agent in the health insurance industry for the last four years, and even I have been confused by Congress’ ongoing meetings about health care reform since the summer.
But I do know this. The Democrats received the 60 out of 100 Senate votes necessary to move closer to passing a health care bill that will enable 30 million of the estimated 50 million uninsured Americans to purchase affordable health insurance without being turned away for pre-existing conditions. The final vote for the $871 million health care overhaul is on Christmas Eve.
This is huge because, over the years, I’ve seen individuals unfairly pay $1,000 a month for health insurance because of their pre-existing conditions, and I’ve seen vibrant young men turned down for coverage because of a surgery they had in their past.
Now, those people will get a break because our country is deciding to take care of the regular working class by providing affordable, accessible health care.
The poor, the disabled and the elderly have already been taken care off by Medicaid and Medicare since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed those programs into law in 1965.
And soon President Barack Hussein Obama will sign a bill to take care of the millions of Americans who make too much to qualify for Medicaid and are too young for Medicare.
Once the health care bill is passed, I hope the insurance exchanges work similar to the new Medicare Advantage program that was passed in 2003. Medicare Advantage offers dozens of plans for senior citizens to choose from to cover hospitalization, doctor visits, surgery, dental, vision and prescriptions for no premium to a low monthly premium. Enrollment is Nov. 15-Dec. 31 of each year.
I look forward to learning more about the upcoming health care exchange so I can educate uninsured Americans as I have done with the senior community to provide peace of mind that health care coverage is available when they need it.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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While working-class Americans are worried about their health insurance coverage, wealthy right-wing nuts are using scare tactics and spreading lies about President Barack Obama’s Universal Healthcare initiative.
These right-wingers are disrupting town hall meetings in which U.S. senators and members of the House of Representatives are graciously trying to explain details of proposed health care bills while gathering input from citizens.
But instead of politely cooperating, these right-wing crazies aren’t even allowing the Congress men and women to speak at their own meetings and some of the loonies have been arrested for their disruptions.
I’ve switched back to Independent by the way after being a Republican for a couple years because I no longer wanted to be part of a party with some members who spew hatred that has led to the killing of an abortion doctor and now is trying to kill the hope for the 50 million uninsured Americans to receive government-subsidized health care.
These right-wing Republican lunatics, including 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, are spreading rumors that part of Obama’s health plan calls for a “death panel” of doctors who will influence senior citizens and the chronically ill to end their lives to save on healthcare costs. But this is false.
The suggested health bill actually has Medicare foot the bill every five years if an elderly person desires to have an in-depth conversation with doctors about living wills, a health care proxy, hospice care for the terminally ill and pain medications for discomfort of chronic illnesses.
President Obama and several members of Congress have debunked the “death panel” rumors and said the bill is only an option for seniors who want a deeper dialogue with doctors to compensate for the brief doctor-patient visits that currently take place that don’t allow the elderly to get necessary answers or solutions to their illnesses.
As I’ve said before, I am a top-selling health insurance agent with a specialty in Medicare, and I support the government’s efforts to enable senior citizens to get the answers they’ve been seeking and to cover the 50 million Americans without insurance because of pre-existing conditions or the high cost of having health insurance.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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Did I miss something? Did Congress in the midst of their ire over creating President Barack Obama’s healthcare bill approve a third-term for Bill Clinton?
During the last week, it has seemed as if Clinton is back in the White House.
Earlier this week, Clinton and his former vice president Al Gore flew to North Korea and successfully negotiated the release of Korean-American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of entering the country illegally.

When the former president and vice president returned to America with Ling and Lee, there was no sight of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose job it is to handle foreign relations, or President Obama.
Now, former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are turning their attention to war-torn Somalia, where the 1993 Black Hawk Down incident under President Clinton cost the lives of 18 Americans when two U.S. military helicopters were shot down. It was a humiliating blow for the U.S. and led to the military’s immediate withdrawal after two years of occupying Somalia. Now Hillary Clinton has pledged support for Somalia’s interim government.
Bill Clinton’s involvement in U.S. foreign affairs is a reflection of President Obama’s management skills and willingness to work with others. While he wrestles with domestic issues such as immigration, the recession and health care, he sends out the former commander in chief to handle foreign relations.
Clinton, the U.S. president from 1992-2000, and President Obama, who just completed the first six months in office, make a great team. It almost makes me forget about the past eight years under former president George W. Bush that led to the current deficit, economic recession and never-ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

By Teneshia LaFaye
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A White person usually is labeled a racist when he or she behaves unkindly toward a minority, particularly a Black individual.
If a White teacher fails a Black student, that teacher is branded a racist.
If a White waiter appears to be friendlier to Whites at a nearby table than a minority customer, that waiter is also considered a racist.
A White police officer is labeled a racist if he prevents a Black family from visiting a dying relative even though the family had just run a red light.
A White police officer is also deemed to be a racist if he arrests a Black homeowner after the man shows identification that proves he lives there.

The latter has been debated throughout the country following White police sergeant James Crowley’s arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is Black, after a neighbor called to report a possible house break-in. The neighbor saw two black men, the professor and his limo driver, prowling around the house because the professor was locked out and they tried to find another way in. Crowley arrived and questioned Gates in his home and arrested him anyway despite the professor showing his Harvard identification. Gates was immediately released from jail and the charges were dropped.
Gates called the officer a racist. President Obama said Crowley and the Cambridge Police acted “stupidly”, and the president has been chastised by right-wing commentators, which is worthy of another story.
The president is correct. Sergeant Crowley behaved “stupidly”, but he certainly is not a racist. Crowley has taught classes on sensitivity and race relations so other officers can avoid situations such as the one he was in with Gates. So he’s not a racist. He’s just stupid and hypocritical for forgetting his own instruction and failing to practice what he teaches.
The officer who prevented the Black family from seeing the dying relative was also stupid, not a racist. He was right to stop the family for running a red light, but he lacked the judgment to overlook the infraction after finding out from another officer that they were only rushing to a dying relative’s bedside.
And in order to label the teacher or the waiter a racist, their backgrounds would have to be analyzed to see if they have a pattern of racism. The teacher could be married to a minority and have a multi-racial child, and the failing student could be a slacker. The waiter is probably friendlier to the Whites because they’re regulars in the restaurant.
Now, there probably are instances were waiters, teachers and police officers are being racists, but don’t be so quick to stamp the “racist” label until their history has been reviewed.

By Teneshia LaFaye

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