President Obama may not have appointed a locavore to be the secretary of Agriculture, but he has ordered his administration to go after Big Agra with antitrust laws. A joint effort by the departments of Agriculture and Justice will look into business practices by seed companies, beef packers, and dairies, NPR reports. The government will begin next year “to learn about anti-competitive conduct in agricultural markets,” by hearing from farmers at workshops across the country. We bet the farmers have some whoppers.
Small Farmers See Promise In Obama’s Plans [NPR]
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obama. Show all posts
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Inaugural Address
Beautiful! Just Beautiful! Brings tears to my eyes....
Inaugural Address
By President Barack Hussein Obama
My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you've bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation -- (applause) -- as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents.
So it has been; so it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many -- and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met. (Applause.)
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. (Applause.)
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops, and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip, and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died in places like Concord and Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week, or last month, or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. (Applause.)
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift. And we will act, not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We'll restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched. But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity, on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good. (Applause.)
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers -- (applause) -- our Founding Fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man -- a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience sake. (Applause.)
And so, to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation, and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity. And we are ready to lead once more. (Applause.)
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken -- you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. (Applause.)
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. (Applause.)
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. (Applause.)
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the role that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who at this very hour patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honor them not only because they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service -- a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves.
And yet at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all. For as much as government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall; and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. (Applause.)
So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At the moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words to be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America: In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
Inaugural Address
By President Barack Hussein Obama
My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you've bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.
I thank President Bush for his service to our nation -- (applause) -- as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents.
So it has been; so it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many -- and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable, but no less profound, is a sapping of confidence across our land; a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met. (Applause.)
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. (Applause.)
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those that prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life. For us, they toiled in sweatshops, and settled the West, endured the lash of the whip, and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died in places like Concord and Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week, or last month, or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America. (Applause.)
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of our economy calls for action, bold and swift. And we will act, not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We'll restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage. What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day, because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched. But this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity, on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good. (Applause.)
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers -- (applause) -- our Founding Fathers, faced with perils that we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man -- a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience sake. (Applause.)
And so, to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born, know that America is a friend of each nation, and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity. And we are ready to lead once more. (Applause.)
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we'll work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense. And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken -- you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. (Applause.)
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. (Applause.)
To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist. (Applause.)
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the role that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who at this very hour patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.
We honor them not only because they are the guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service -- a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves.
And yet at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all. For as much as government can do, and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship. This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny. This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed, why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall; and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. (Applause.)
So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At the moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words to be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America: In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Obama Isn't the Only One Being Inaugurated on Jan. 20th
Obama Isn't the Only One Being Inaugurated on Jan. 20th
By Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is asking us to make and send our own Oath Videos (more info in article) and then sign the service pledge
By Arianna Huffington
Barack Obama is not the only one being inaugurated on January 20th. We all are.
And that's not just because Obama has promised to make a call to service "a central cause" of his presidency. It's because this moment in history demands that we stop waiting on others -- especially others living in Washington D.C. -- to solve the problems and right the wrongs of our times. Now, more than ever, we must mine the most underutilized resource available to us: ourselves.
The night before Obama is sworn in, HuffPost is co-hosting a pre-Inaugural ball at the Newseum in Washington. Just before midnight we are going to have a Countdown to a New Era. It's a new era not just because the Bush Years will officially be over, and not just because Barack Obama will be president, but because taking on the challenges America is facing will require a new era of citizen responsibility and engagement.
To illustrate this we are putting together a video that will symbolize that we are all stakeholders -- all being inaugurated on January 20th -- by having people from across America send us video of themselves taking the presidential oath of office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
The preamble of the Constitution starts with We the People. And it has never been clearer than it is now that we can't "form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity" without the active participation of millions of us. It is not just the Bush Years that should be over on January 20th, but also the expectation that a knight in shining armor will ride into town and save us while we cheer from the sidelines. Even if the knight is brilliant, charismatic, and inspiring. It's up to us -- We the People.
And Obama himself has said as much many times throughout the campaign. He asked Americans "to step into the strong currents of history, and to shape your country's future. Because your own story and the American story are not separate, they are shared. And they will both be enriched if together, we answer a new call to service to meet the challenges of our new century...."
Arianna Huffington is asking us to make and send our own Oath Videos (more info in article) and then sign the service pledge
Panetta Is Chosen as C.I.A. Chief, in a Surprise Step
Seems that there were very few choices for CIA Chief that didn't have their hands involved in all the recent torture interrogations...But I'm glad Obama chose one that didn't (even if he was Clinton's choice years ago)
Panetta Is Chosen as C.I.A. Chief, in a Surprise Step
By MARK MAZZETTI and CARL HULSE for The NY Times
*Update 1/7/09
Just read Panetta's comment in the 2008 Washigton Monthly....And all I can say is Huzzah!!
"Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground. We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that."- Panetta
Panetta Is Chosen as C.I.A. Chief, in a Surprise Step
By MARK MAZZETTI and CARL HULSE for The NY Times
*Update 1/7/09
Just read Panetta's comment in the 2008 Washigton Monthly....And all I can say is Huzzah!!
"Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground. We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that."- Panetta
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Foodies Make a Pitch to Obama
Foodies Make a Pitch to Obama
By Kim Severson for The New York Times
The fact that a Secretary of Agriculture has yet to be named has some chefs, farmers and animal welfare advocates wondering whether food and farming have been shoved to the Obama D team.
To help move the process along, nearly 90 notable figures in the world of sustainable agriculture and food sent a letter to the Obama transition team earlier this week offering their six top picks for what they called “the sustainable choice for the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.”
The hope is that the new secretary will be less aligned with industrial agribusiness and commodity farming than secretaries past. And if he or she embraces the connection between food, health and the environment, well, that’s all the better.
The letter lays out a tall order:
“From rising childhood and adult obesity to issues of food safety, global warming and air and water pollution, we believe our next Secretary of Agriculture must have a vision that calls for: recreating regional food systems, supporting the growth of humane, natural and organic farms, and protecting the environment, biodiversity and the health of our children while implementing policies that place conservation, soil health, animal welfare and worker’s rights as well as sustainable renewable energy near the top of their agenda.”
It was signed by 88 people, among them: Michael Pollan, Judy Wicks, Alice Waters, Rick Bayless, Wendell Berry, Eric Schlosser, Anna Lappe, Frances Moore Lappe, Paul Willis, Dan Barber, Michel Nischan, Ann Cooper, Marion Nestle, Peter Hoffman, Winona LaDuke, and Michael Dimock.
For those playing along at home, here’s their list of the six top picks for Secretary of Agriculture. Keep in mind that yesterday, Rep. John Salazar, Democrat of Colorado, a potato farmer, said he was being considered. (And no, the effort to nominate Michael Pollan never got off the ground):
Gus Schumacher, former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and former Massachusetts Commissioner of Agriculture.
Chuck Hassebrook, executive director, Center for Rural Affairs, Lyons, Neb.
Sarah Vogel, former Commissioner of Agriculture for North Dakota, lawyer, Bismarck, N.D.
Fred Kirschenmann, organic farmer, distinguished fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture in Ames, Iowa, and president of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, Pocantico Hills, NY.
Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State, former policy analyst in Minnesota’s Department of Agriculture under Governor Rudy Perpich, co-founder of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Neil Hamilton, Dwight D. Opperman Chair of Law and director of the Agricultural Law Center, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Obama's Tool Belt
REPAIRING BUSH’S REGULATORY WRECKAGE
from Jim Hightower's Common-Sense Commentaries
from Jim Hightower's Common-Sense Commentaries
You don’t hear it outside the Beltway, but there’s a constant roar inside Washington these days.
With time running out on the Bush presidency, wrecking balls are swinging and bulldozers are growling at full throttle as George W and crew rip through federal agencies to knock down as many regulations as they can. At the behest of their corporate cronies, the Bushites have targeted more than 90 regulations that protect consumers, workers, and our environment from corporate greed and carelessness.
One example is a last-minute change in the Clean Air Act to benefit pollution-spewing utilities, allowing utilities to pump an additional 74-million tons of CO2 into our atmosphere. That's the equivalent amount of pollutants that 14 additional coal-fired power plants would emit.
To help rush through such industry-friendly changes, agency heads are arbitrarily curtailing public participation in the process and trying to circumvent requirements for scientific review. For example, in rigging the Clean Air Act for utilities, the scientific analysis justifying the change was so weak that the analysis was simply not put out for public comment.
But, wait – what’s that other sound coming out of Washington? Why it’s the welcome hum of presidential transition!
While the Bushites have been frantically wrecking the regulatory structure to enhance corporate interests, President-elect Barack Obama has quietly been laying plans to restore the regulatory balance to enhance the public interest. He has pulled together a transition team of four dozen experts, and they've been studying the regulatory favors that Bush has done for his political backers. Already, the team has identified some 200 of these overtly-political regs that Obama can quickly reverse after his inauguration.
It looks like Obama and his team are going to come into office wearing tool belts and ready to get right to work repairing the wreckage.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Success Story of the Week
Last week the OCA alerted us (and posted here) that President-elect Obama was considering former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for USDA Secretary of Agriculture. Vilsack has been an ardent supporter of Monsanto, genetically engineered crops, and corn and soy-based biofuels. Thanks to vocal opposition from thousands of you in the OCA network, Vilksack's nomination has now been withdrawn. Although Vilsack told the Des Moines Register he didn't want to comment on why he had been sacked, sources at the Obama transition headquarters reported "a flood of calls and emails" from organic consumers opposing Vilsack's nomination. Thanks to your participation, the OCA office in Washington, DC is submitting a petition with 8,000 signatures to Obama's transition team this week, urging Obama to take a strong stand in support of organic food and farming.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
An Open Letter To Joe Lieberman
Dear Senator Lieberman,
Congratulations! You got away with it! So despite having supported and endorsed the Republican candidate for president -- and going so far as to question the patriotism of the Democratic nominee -- you've managed to keep your chairmanship. By rights, you should've been summarily ejector-seated from your committees, bonked on the head with your gavels -- cartoon-style -- and hauled from the Democratic caucus naked and on a rail whilst being pelted with wadded-up copies of your RNC address.
The aforementioned reasons for this still-lenient serving of justice fails to include the syllabus of other trespasses against you, including, first and foremost, your unwavering support for the Bush administration's unforgivable foreign policy -- a policy which has all but bankrupted our treasury and besmirched America's reputation abroad. Heckuva job, Senator!
One might be inclined to consider your conduct to date as somehow principled -- even mavericky, had it not been so transparently self-serving. Your behavior has been that of a man guided by nothing more than petty vengeance and retribution -- attention-starved opportunism not unlike grade-school instigators and gossip-mongers whose only path to relevance is to play two friends against each other. Worming your way from side to side depending on which kid or clique likes you more.
Now, I completely understand the political reasons for why President-elect Obama and the caucus ultimately chose to keep you around. Unfortunately, the Democrats need your stinky vote -- such as it is -- in order to theoretically break any future Republican filibusters. And there will be many of those to be sure. However, the closer we get to 60 votes in the caucus the better our chances of reversing the craptastical policies and legislation of your favorite Bush administration and the formerly Republican Congress.
Sure, there's no guarantee that you'll vote with the caucus, but you made it clear that you would have pitched a spasmodic, petulant fit and changed your affiliation to the Republican Party from the "Lieberman Loves Lieberman" party or whatever the hell it's called, had you been stripped of your chairmanship. Consequently, the Democratic caucus would've definitely lost your vote. It's an unenviable "possibly" versus "definitely" proposition. And with the caucus being this close to 60 against what will surely be an obstructionist Republican caucus, we have no other choice but to roll the dice with "possibly."
That is until 2010 when the Democrats will hopefully attain enough members, and thus votes, that they won't need your support anymore. Then you can storm off and mind-screw the Republicans for a couple of years until -- and it's probably not good strategy to tip our hand like this, but you know it's coming -- until you lose in 2012.
Nevertheless, you got what you wanted yesterday. Circumstances allowed you to keep your chairmanship irrespective of your weasely and contemptible maneuvering. And more than a few of us on the left actually agree with you for once: you managed to abscond off without adequate punishment.
You got away with it, despite those meddling kids, right?
Not so fast.
I submit to you, Senator Lieberman, that you were punished yesterday more than you realize. Stick with me on this. I'll explain.
I've been a supporter of the president-elect for the better part of a year now, and while I've always recognized a deep intellectualism and multilayered thoughtfulness in the man, it never fully occurred to me how he would use these strengths in a position of leadership. Until this week.
In sharp contrast to your behavior, President-elect Obama hasn't shown any predilection for pettiness or disloyalty, nor has he undermined his allies for the sake of political expedience. He's proved himself to be a man of great character. Of values. I don't need to remind anyone how he stood by Jeremiah Wright, for example, and at his own political peril when most would've tossed him overboard like political chum.
You, on the other hand, have shown an unapologetic contempt for the party that once nominated you for the vice presidency -- the party that welcomed you back to the fold even though you slipped through the system and defeated the fairly elected Democratic nominee, Ned Lamont, in 2006. You've betrayed your fellow liberals to settle a political score, Senator -- in order to exact some kind of ignoble payback against your former party, against your caucus and against the netroots for merely calling you out on your literal and figurative smooching of the president.
This is behavior President-elect Obama doesn't appear to be capable of. Because he's clearly better than you. In fact, it's not difficult to hypothesize that had you possessed a fraction of his political instincts or any small measure of his morality, you would absolutely not be in this position, Senator.
See, by allowing you to keep your precious chairmanship -- by letting you off the hook -- President-elect Obama, through his political bigness, punished you without punishing you. He beat you yesterday, Senator. He beat you because he let you be you, and underscored it with his demonstrably better angels and strength of character.
In the final analysis, the hard reality is that by not choosing retribution, he made you look...
...small.
And that, Senator, is good enough for me.
Cheers!
Bob Cesca
The Huffington Post
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Who will be the verrry 1st CTO (Chief Technology Officer)
This is very cool...democracy in action. I just got through looking at this and voted for my fav ideas!
Micah Sifry writes:
Micah Sifry writes:
While much of the tech industry and blogosphere is pondering who President-elect Barack Obama might appoint as the nation's first Chief Technology Officer--Eric Schmidt? Jeff Bezos? Larry Lessig?--a bunch of heavy-hitting public interest groups in Washington and a couple of civic-minded techies out in Seattle have each launched promising interventions in the discussion.
The first one, out yesterday, is a new site called ObamaCTO.org. The site is basically a feedback forum centered on one question: What should be the CTO's top priorities?
ObamaCTO is built on Uservoice, which enables anyone to create an account, post their own idea, comment on any idea, and distribute up to 10 votes to help rank all the ideas posted.
Who will be the next Secretary of Agriculture?
A likely turning point in history took place on November 4th with the election of Barack Obama, a politician who has consistently voiced his support for family farms and organic agriculture, among other progressive positions. Organic consumers and farmers now have an incredible opportunity to shape the future of federal farm and food policy. President-Elect Obama is in the process of formulating policy, assembling his transition team, and considering nominees for Secretary of Agriculture, among other important positions. The Secretary of Agriculture is responsible for directing the U.S. Department of Agriculture and its $90 billion annual budget, including the National Organic Program, food stamp and nutrition programs, and agriculture subsidies.
Obama throughout his campaign, and since his election, has stressed that he wants to hear from the public in order to formulate his policies. Let's all take him up on his invitation. Please sign the Organic Consumer Association's petition letter to President-Elect Barack Obama today and urge him to take a stand in support of organic food and farming. After you sign this petition, please forward it to everyone you know. We need to raise our common organic voice on a massive scale, if we are to move the new Administration and the nation in a healthy, just, sustainable, and organic direction.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
How to Close Guantánamo
How to Close Guantánamo
By Mark Kukis for Time
By Mark Kukis for Time
...Obama has vowed to close Guantánamo and reject the Military Commissions Act, the 2006 law underpinning the ongoing Guantánamo tribunals. But major hurdles stand in the way of doing so, even for a new President with a clear mandate....
First, what do you do with the roughly 255 people currently imprisoned at Guantánamo — a group of whom only 23 have been charged? If Obama wanted to move as swiftly as possible to close Guantánamo, the strongest step he could take as President would be to simply shutter the camp by Executive Order and transfer all of the detainees to prison sites inside the U.S. At that point, in theory, the detainees would face four possible fates: being charged with offenses that could be tried in federal courts; court-marshaled according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice; turned over to the governments of their native countries; or simply released...
There are no good options for trying the roughly 14 others the government appears intent on prosecuting, because the Bush Administration has held them for so many years by Executive Orders in contravention of regular U.S. criminal and military law...
Obama may consider working to create so-called national-security courts, which would essentially be a hybrid tribunal system blending military and civilian criminal law. Those who support the creation of national-security courts say that only a new, carefully constructed system can effectively deal with issues like classified evidence and other matters that sometimes snarl proceedings in regular criminal and military courts...
The emerging Obama transition team has yet to spell out its plans for closing Guantánamo officially...But there's little doubt that the Guantánamo problem Bush leaves behind for Obama will be one of the hardest the President-elect will face when he finally sits in the Oval Office.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Change Depends On Us....And the Job Begins Now
REAL CHANGE DEPENDS ON US
from Jim Hightower's Common-Sense Commentaries
from Jim Hightower's Common-Sense Commentaries
Obama elected! Job done, right?
Uh… not quite. If last week’s sweeping vote for change is to mean anything substantive, We The People have stay alert and on the move. And the job begins now.
Like fresh-poured concrete, the shape of Obama’s presidency is going to set up quickly, and we can’t be lulled into thinking that casting a ballot is all that democracy requires of us. Now is not the time to crank back in our La-Z-Boys, trusting Obama to do the heavy lifting for us. Wall Street, the war machine, Republican Congress critters, weak-kneed Democrats, and other powerful forces of business-as-usual policies will be all over him. These insiders intend to shape him in their mold.
We have to be the counter force – an aggressive and vociferous Loyal Opposition pushing insistently and persistently from the outside. We must stand up and speak out on every move the insiders make; we must propose and propel progressive ideas and ideals; and we certainly must expose and vigorously oppose any capitulations that he’ll be pressured to make to the corporate powers. If his presidency is to be worthy of the deep potential of this political moment in our history, you and I have to step up.
It’s real change we’re after, a fundamental shift in national direction and policy: Get our troops and our national reputation out of Iraq, provide good health care for all, end “tinkle down” economics, reign in corporate greedheads, reinvest in America’s infrastructure, deal with global warming, no more torture, get serious about green energy, restore our stolen liberties – and generally reinstate the Common Good as our nation’s governing ethic.
Obama himself has often said that he is not the change, we are. Through him, we opened the White House door to the possibility of change last Tuesday. Now, we must see it through.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Change.gov
Wow! This is what I'm talking about...When has an administration ever been so proactive in listening to the people??...I mean it could all be a sham to make us hope and feel better. But I honestly think that Obama is trying to be the best leader our country has ever had!
Obama's Presidential Transition Team just launched this new website Change.gov which will document the Obama administration's transition into power and solicit ideas and stories from the public. I will definitely be taking an opportunity to write to our new president and share my ideas for the future...and I hope you will do the same. Let our voices finally be heard!
Obama's Presidential Transition Team just launched this new website Change.gov which will document the Obama administration's transition into power and solicit ideas and stories from the public. I will definitely be taking an opportunity to write to our new president and share my ideas for the future...and I hope you will do the same. Let our voices finally be heard!
Obama
I finally realized today what an Obama presidency really means to the world...Not only does it mean an era of calm and peace. But it gives a sense of hope to countries all over the world that democracy does work! And that people can rise up and overcome any tyrant. To the Jews 'Barack' means blessed, to the Shi'ite Muslims 'Hussein' is the ultimate symbol of an underdog fighting against injustice, and to the world 'Obama' means believing in the American Dream once again.
Now is the time for the neoconservatives of all cultures and nations to be pushed back and a new era emerge out of the ashes of hate that has been building for the last 8 years.
I'm reposting a Thank You letter by Jamie Lee Curtis because I too want to give my thanks to Obama.
Now is the time for the neoconservatives of all cultures and nations to be pushed back and a new era emerge out of the ashes of hate that has been building for the last 8 years.
I'm reposting a Thank You letter by Jamie Lee Curtis because I too want to give my thanks to Obama.
Thank you Barack Obama.
Thank you for four years ago making me say out-loud " Why can't he be our candidate?"
Thank you for blowing away the ether of complacency.
Thank you for beating that maver-"ICK" and his running date.
Thank you for being patient with this insane process we call Democracy.
Thank you for your ambition and your drive, your mind and your gravitas.
Thank you for recognizing the needle and the damage done, the needle, our addiction to more, better, faster, greasier, dirtier, celebrity lifestyles and prescription poisons and the damage done, the Economic Crisis, the Health Care debacle, the State of Education. This is AMERICA. Health and Education should be #1.
Thank you for understanding World History, Geography, countries and cultures, religions, customs and America's tarnished reputation in those very countries.
Thank you for voting against the War and for continuing to voice that opposition.
Thank you for your brilliant campaign and campaign managers and your staff.
Thank you for choosing Joe Biden.
Thank you for leading and inspiring me.
You didn't do this alone. You knew it was going to take the three generations of black women in Ypsilanti, Michigan as well as Jose, the latino plumber in Miami or Ron Howard putting on Opie's toupee or my daughter, Annie and her friends at an Ohio college who are voting for the first time in their lives or my local friends, the busy multitasking hordes who called and knocked and walked your walk or Wendy Riva, the mother and activist in Santa Monica, who grabbed me on the street and within hours had me, t-shirted and bumper-stickered and hooked up to the Obama campaign. Me, this middle aged, privileged, white woman whose own mother was once such an ardent Democratic ( Kennedy ) supporter, that she was offered an ambassadorship in the Johnson administration. Me, who prior to this election did shit. Oh, I gave some money to Gore and Kerry and except for my husband's trip to Florida to canvas for Kerry, we just bitched and complained and did nothing.
Thank you for making me, after another dinner of political bitching by left leaning, well meaning, show off business types, say...well, what are you doing to change this?
Thank you for getting me to Michigan to see places I never would have seen and meeting people I would have never met and getting me to see the abandoned factories and businesses that can be re-tooled and retrofitted to a green technology and a green industry.
Thank you for getting us all, both sides of the Divided States of America to pay attention to our civic duty and moral responsibility.
Thank you for reminding us that this next period of time will be hard. That there are no easy answers. That there will be sacrifice. There will be blood. There will be sweat. There will be tears.
Thank you for marrying Michelle Obama and being the kind of father you are to your daughters.
Thank you for your grace.
Thank you for your leadership.
Hillary Clinton, who I supported and whom I believe you should bring in to your cabinet (see Team of Rivals) wrote: it takes a village to raise a child. I say it takes a leader to raise the village.
The village needs one leader and you, thank God and your hard work and the grass rooted folks who helped you, are that leader.
So lead us Barack Obama...We will follow you...
Thank you Barack Obama for making me believe again in the American Dream.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Obama Demands Hippies Put Down Bong, Actually Go Vote On Tuesday
Posted on Wonkette
This is a pretty hilarious Web Commercial from Mr. Sincere McDignity, “That One.” It makes the obvious point that if you are a dumb libtard who is somehow winning the race, you will comically start celebrating before you reach the actual finish line, and you will FAIL, and a terrible giant-bobble-head Walnuts McCain will beat you, the way the Desert Tortoise beat the Jackrabbit.
Your co-editor Jim Newell got in trouble with The Ladies over at the lady website today for casually saying he probably wouldn’t vote, because he lives in D.C., and what the hell, etc., and his pills run out on Sunday, so by Election Day he’ll probably just be crying in the tiny crack-pipe-filled back yard, hundreds of fat greasy rats just cold climbing over his head, for sport.
But he does at least have a semi-valid lazy-ass point, as Washington voters are so deep in the tank that most of them have drowned, yet they just keep voting. Ghouls, all of them.
And hell, something like a third of all voters may have already voted. Why not just get high now, and stay that way, so you’re “prepared” to deal with whatever happens, good or ill?
Because you must make sure your other loser friends and jobless relatives are sober enough to haul their ACORN-registered selves to the polls, dressed as Mickey Mouse, so they can vote for Communist Terror, forever.
And that is your Wonkette Public Service Announcement, until we get nervous and do another one in six or nine hours. It is kind of sad, to be in the tank when a Walnuts/Palin administration would provide so many laffes & gaffes. But we are willing to lose a few jokes [How about MILLIONS of jokes? -- Ed.] for the team, if it means not being burnt to death in the NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST which Palin/McCain would most surely cause.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Obama the Philosopher
Is the Conservatives' philosophy of possessive individualism finally on a downturn? Will Obama be able to enlighten and lead the masses towards a real social change? Yes, I believe so...With the ears and hearts of the people, Obama has the opportunity to install real ideas of social responsibility.
Obama the Philosopher
By Linda Hirshman for The Nation
October 22, 2008
Obama the Philosopher
By Linda Hirshman for The Nation
October 22, 2008
Barack Obama is finally telling Americans why enacting his economic programs is the right thing to do. Not just prudent, not just efficient, but right. For a long time in this country, talk about what's right has been the monopoly of the right...After thirty years of conservative, "greed is good" political philosophy, Obama faces the daunting task of explaining to Americans why they should once again care for one another....
...For an agonizingly long time, it looked as if Obama was not going to produce a new way of thinking. In the first debate with John McCain, Obama stuck to his centrist script of trying to sound like nothing more than a kinder, gentler tax-cutting conservative, assuring his listeners that "95 percent of you will get a tax cut." It looked as if the economic debate was going to focus at most on whether federal taxing and spending would stimulate the economy, not whether it would make a more just society.
But as the magnitude of the conservative failure has become apparent to all but the densest Americans, Obama the philosopher emerged, with an intriguing combination of new New Deal and old New Deal thinking. The new idea is that people who are now successful should care for the ones left behind, because they were once the left-behind themselves.
Obama floated this idea for the first time in the exchange with the now-infamous Joe the Plumber. Why should he pay taxes just as he became successful? Joe asked. When Obama suggested the tax increase, at $900, was fairly small, Joe was having none of it: "I mean, I've worked hard. I'm a plumber. I work ten to twelve hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American dream."
Franklin Roosevelt had one answer for people like Joe when he made the speech that announced the New Deal: "We know that individual liberty and individual happiness mean nothing unless both are ordered in the sense that one man's meat is not another man's poison." The truth is that Joe will have to contribute $900 so "another man" will not be poisoned (or starve, as FDR put it a little earlier). But Obama is reluctant to say that we are all in the American enterprise together. That would be socialism, right? Instead, he made a deft move, telling Joe that he should consider his extra taxes like a transfer not to some stranger, but to his own, former, less successful self: "Over the last fifteen years, when you weren't making $250,000, you would have been given a tax cut from me, so you'd actually have more money, which means you would have saved more, which means you would have gotten to the point where you could build your small business quicker than under the current tax code.... Put yourself back ten years ago."
This is a brilliant strategy because it takes a middle ground between asking people to act from pure altruism toward others--as any redistributive scheme must ultimately do--and the purely selfish individualism that fueled the conservative movement. While former selves are not exactly us, they are linked to us through the chain of common memories that makes our life story. Only presently rich Joe is the bearer of the memory of what it was like to be poor, striving Joe. More than anyone else on earth, only Joe, the presently rich plumber, owns the memory of what it was like to be Joe, the poor plumber of the past. So, in the best of worlds Obama's philosophy envisions, Joe should be sympathetic to helping people just like his former self. This is not news to philosophers, since John Locke described our relationship to our prior selves centuries ago. But it's a little surprising to hear it on the rope line!....
...To his credit, Obama is also starting to put his voice behind the revival of traditional liberal care for others. Here, too, he has incorporated some of the best insights of post-New Deal philosophy: that some of everyone's success is not the result of virtue but of luck. People are born talented, they find themselves in the right place at the right time, and so forth. In 1971, long after the New Deal, iconic liberal philosopher John Rawls invoked this insight in his seminal tome, A Theory of Justice, to argue that a person's talents do not support a moral claim for their reward. Talking to Joe, Obama put it more simply: "folks like me...have worked hard, but frankly also been lucky."
Putting the call for altruism in personal terms is also useful, in this era of personal politics; billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the sage of Omaha, started the process when he found out his secretary was paying as much taxes as he was, and Obama has picked up the approach, invoking Buffett's willingness to pay more and putting himself on the line. Obama's willingness to sacrifice a few marginal dollars was particularly appealing when he offered it in the last debate after John McCain, one of the richest men in the Senate, said that he did not want to pay more taxes himself...
...In his analysis of the debate, Time's Joe Klein suggested that the pundits fully expected the ideological conservative magic to work again, and that is why they initially scored John McCain on the debate so much higher than the polled public did. But polls ultimately showed that the debate watchers weren't remotely interested in the philosophy of possessive individualism this time around. By massive margins, debate-watchers handed the victory to Barack Obama, who said he wouldn't mind paying a little more. And with that payment he will buy much more than an electoral victory. He will be laying the groundwork for real political change.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Are your parents thinking about voting for McCain? It's time to have 'The Talk'
http://www.mccainfreewhitehouse.org/having-the-talk.html
Having the Talk------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK. So you've decided to talk to your parents about the consequences of John McCain. Now, how do you do it?
Find the right time. Pick a moment when your parents aren't in a rush and don't have any friends over. It's best to have 'The Talk' in person, but phone can also work if you're far away.
Speak from your heart. It may be awkward to discuss unpleasant issues like John McCain with your parents. But doing so shows you care. Explain why you think John McCain is dangerous to our future, and then lay out the fun, healthy alternative: Barack Obama. Tell them, in your own words, why you are supporting Barack Obama. They'll listen.
Be a good listener yourself. Even though your parents are potentially engaging in very risky behavior, it's important to keep the conversation substantive and upbeat. Show them you understand the pressures they feel, then calmly give them the facts. Shouting matches don't convince people. But steady pressure does.
...and then keep having it. For adults, John McCain's so-called maverick image is intoxicating and addictive. It may take a few weeks to wean them off of it. But as their withdrawal stabilizes, your parents will see a world they'd given up on years ago—a world with an intelligent, visionary leader.
What To Say--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As we said, speaking from your heart about why you're supporting Obama is the best way to start. But what about your parents' concerns? Here are the top three issues—and how to talk about 'em:
They say: Obama will raise my taxes.
You say: Actually, that's probably not true. According to the nonpartisan Center for Something Something, 95% of American families, Obama's plan lowers taxes. It's true, he pays for that by raising taxes on the very rich—but bottom line, our family will pay less under Obama than under Bush—and our tax money will go toward rebuilding the economy here, not more wars. (Even if you're very rich, Obama has said that you'll pay roughly what you did throughout the 1990s and less than you would have under Ronald Reagan.) Check out: http://taxcut.barackobama.com/
They say: Obama just isn't ready to be president.
You say: It's true, he doesn't have much Washington experience. But I don't think more Washington experience is what we need right now. And on issue after issue—from Iraq to the financial crisis—Obama's judgment has been right, and McCain's judgment has been questionable. Just think about how McCain has run his campaign: it's reckless and erratic. I don't think we can risk another president like that for another four years.
They say: Obama's a Muslim/terrorist/Muslim terrorist.
You say: Moooooommmmm (or perhaps: Daaadddd). That rumor has been debunked by countless major newspaper outlets and nonpartisan observers. Barack Obama is a Christian. He's an American. If you want to vote for McCain because you think his policies are better, fine. But please, please, please don't vote for him because you think Obama's a Muslim. Check out this video about Obama and his family: http://my.barackobama.com/4days
For more resources on talking to your parents, check out this helpful page on the Obama site: http://www.barackobama.com/thetalk/
Having the Talk------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK. So you've decided to talk to your parents about the consequences of John McCain. Now, how do you do it?
Find the right time. Pick a moment when your parents aren't in a rush and don't have any friends over. It's best to have 'The Talk' in person, but phone can also work if you're far away.
Speak from your heart. It may be awkward to discuss unpleasant issues like John McCain with your parents. But doing so shows you care. Explain why you think John McCain is dangerous to our future, and then lay out the fun, healthy alternative: Barack Obama. Tell them, in your own words, why you are supporting Barack Obama. They'll listen.
Be a good listener yourself. Even though your parents are potentially engaging in very risky behavior, it's important to keep the conversation substantive and upbeat. Show them you understand the pressures they feel, then calmly give them the facts. Shouting matches don't convince people. But steady pressure does.
...and then keep having it. For adults, John McCain's so-called maverick image is intoxicating and addictive. It may take a few weeks to wean them off of it. But as their withdrawal stabilizes, your parents will see a world they'd given up on years ago—a world with an intelligent, visionary leader.
What To Say--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As we said, speaking from your heart about why you're supporting Obama is the best way to start. But what about your parents' concerns? Here are the top three issues—and how to talk about 'em:
They say: Obama will raise my taxes.
You say: Actually, that's probably not true. According to the nonpartisan Center for Something Something, 95% of American families, Obama's plan lowers taxes. It's true, he pays for that by raising taxes on the very rich—but bottom line, our family will pay less under Obama than under Bush—and our tax money will go toward rebuilding the economy here, not more wars. (Even if you're very rich, Obama has said that you'll pay roughly what you did throughout the 1990s and less than you would have under Ronald Reagan.) Check out: http://taxcut.barackobama.com/
They say: Obama just isn't ready to be president.
You say: It's true, he doesn't have much Washington experience. But I don't think more Washington experience is what we need right now. And on issue after issue—from Iraq to the financial crisis—Obama's judgment has been right, and McCain's judgment has been questionable. Just think about how McCain has run his campaign: it's reckless and erratic. I don't think we can risk another president like that for another four years.
They say: Obama's a Muslim/terrorist/Muslim terrorist.
You say: Moooooommmmm (or perhaps: Daaadddd). That rumor has been debunked by countless major newspaper outlets and nonpartisan observers. Barack Obama is a Christian. He's an American. If you want to vote for McCain because you think his policies are better, fine. But please, please, please don't vote for him because you think Obama's a Muslim. Check out this video about Obama and his family: http://my.barackobama.com/4days
For more resources on talking to your parents, check out this helpful page on the Obama site: http://www.barackobama.com/thetalk/
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