Texas Democrats

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Comment by Peggy Capwell on February 13, 2010 at 5:20pm

FYI...The following report is an event that all political parties and every voting American citizen will find informative. February 25, 2010 President Obama will appear in a televised event regarding healthcare reform with senior members from both houses and parties in Congress. This will satisfy a request made by republican leadership and President Obama's fulfillment of his campaign promise of transparency. See you there...:

http://www.huffingt onpost.com/ 2010/02/12/ health-care- summit-see- th_n_460801. html
Health Care Summit: See The Official Invitation, Format, Attendees (See Take Action List Following This Article)

Sam Stein
stein@huffingtonpos t.co

Updated: 02-12-10 05:36 PM
The Obama administration has officially invited bipartisan leadership in Congress to attend a health care meeting at the Blair House on February 25. And as part of the process, they have asked Republican congressional leadership to produce "their own comprehensive bill" and place it "online as well."

In a letter from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to the top ranking Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, the broad ground rules are set for what is sure to be a closely-watched summit.

The session will begin at 10:00 a.m. and be broadcast live in its entirety. Although it is impossible to include every House Member or Senator who has played a pivotal role in the health care debate, the President is inviting the most senior House/Senate bipartisan leadership, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of the committees that oversee health insurance reform legislation in both chambers... The President would like each of you to designate an additional four Members to attend the meeting and be available to participate. It is also important that each of you have one staff member specializing in health care policy in the meeting.
We will have a representative from the Office of Management and Budget to provide technical assistance, and hope that representatives from the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation will also be able to attend.

In addition to the President, attending and participating on behalf of the Administration will be the Vice President, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, Director of the Office of Health Reform.

The President will offer opening remarks at the beginning of the meeting, followed by remarks from a Republican leader chosen by the Republican leadership and a Democratic leader chosen by the Democratic leadership. The President will then open and moderate discussion on four critical topics: insurance reforms, cost containment, expanding coverage, and the impact health reform legislation will have on deficit reduction.

The rest of the letter contains the usual talking points and framing about the need to finalize reform. What seems worth watching is how GOP leadership responds to the request that a comprehensive counter-proposal be presented and posted online. House Republicans produced a short plan of their own. Senate Republicans have yet to do so.

Here is the formal letter:

And below is the list of the House and Senate lawmakers formally invited to the summit:

(Everyone: Please Contact These Politicians and Express Your Views Soon)

Senator Harry Reid, D-NV, Majority Leader

•Senator Mitch McConnell, R-KY, Republican Leader
•Senator Richard Durbin, D-IL, Majority Whip
•Senator Jon Kyl, R-AZ, Republican Whip
•Senator Max Baucus, D-MT, Chairman of the Finance Committee
•Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA, Ranking Member of the Finance Committee
•Senator Tom Harkin, D-IA, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
•Committee
•Senator Mike Enzi, R-WY, Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor and
•Pensions Committee
•Senator Christopher Dodd, D-CT, Member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
•Committee
•Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA
•Representative Steny Hoyer, D-MD, Majority Leader
•Representative John Boehner, R-OH, Republican Leader
•Representative James Clyburn, D-SC, Majority Whip
•Representative Eric Cantor, R-VA, Republican Whip
•Representative Charles Rangel, D-NY, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee
•Representative Dave Camp, R-MI, Ranking Member of the Ways and Means Committee
•Representative Henry Waxman, D-CA, Chairman of the Energy and Commerce
•Committee
•Representative Joe Barton, R-TX, Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce
•Committee
•Representative George Miller, D-CA, Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee
•Representative John Kline, R-MN, Ranking Member of the Education and Labor
•Committee
•Representative John Dingell, D-MI, Chair Emeritus of the Energy and Commerce
•Committee

Comment by Peggy Capwell on February 11, 2010 at 10:38pm

Surely we have enough records with enough data to be able to simply input the data, and a computer somewhere can spit out a report or map of districts redrawn to show the correct number of districts with the number of citizens, according to law, in each district.

Keep out humans and their agendas as much as possible.

Comment by Peggy Capwell on February 11, 2010 at 4:42pm

Re: The Last Time Around

I got a little sick to my stomach when I read this article. I've watched Perry in his campaign shots and heard him say that we have billions in surplus. I took it to mean that since he decided to take the stimulus money under the recovery act, we have billions in surplus. I put him in the same category as so many members in the republican Congress - condemning the stimulus and, thereby the Obama administration, but accepting it and taking credit for any recovery in the state.

What do we know for sure about the billions. Will we wake up to the shortfall like we did with Bush and his Wall Street "Have-More" buddies?

Comment by Peggy Capwell on February 11, 2010 at 4:28pm

I'm becoming more concerned about the makeup of SBOE issues. As far as I know the two running in Texas is Craig and Rives, both republicans. Since there has been talk of teaching Christianity and along exclusive conservative planks, I'd like to know that there are more liberal candidates passionate for education reform. We need people who can be sure that church and state remain separate and that we the people enhance our global standing by teaching science, math, and the arts while including all peoples(the melting pot?).

Can we get a liberal movement started right here and now to reform the SBOE?

Comment by West Texas Left on October 5, 2009 at 9:00am

Some apps are okay, most are kinda nonsense. I expect that more will be introduced as the Ning platform grows.

Comment by the.shrubinator on October 3, 2009 at 5:49pm

HAS ANYONE TRIED TO ADD AN APP TO THIS SILLY THING?

Comment by West Texas Left on October 1, 2009 at 5:24am

Welcome fellow Democrats in Texas. It's nice to finally have a voice.