Jackson County Democratic Committee

Hat tip to Sean over at FiredUp

I have had the privilege over the past month to attend three separate Town Hall meetings held by Missouri’s federal legislators. I wrote this piece on the 9th of August, after attending Rev. Cleaver’s Lee’s Summit meeting, and posted it on my Facebook site. I offer it now as a contrast to my notes on Senator Bonds’ closed-door, invitation only meeting.

Once a month since he was elected to Congress, Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri’s 5th District has held public coffees to meet with constituents and address their concerns. He has a set format. He’s been doing it for four years: long before heath care reform became a hot-button issue.

I met Congressman Cleaver the first time I ran for office. The Coordinated Committee of Jackson County candidates met in his campaign headquarters across from the Uptown Theater. I found Rev. Cleaver both reasonable and pragmatic. This is one reason why—even though he is not my representative—I chose to attend his monthly coffee August 8th.

I received multiple announcements of the coffee. One came from the DNC sponsored “Organizing for America.” They included downloads of signs we could print. I also received Face Book invitations. It had been on my calendar for over a week without me committing one way or another.

Earlier this week some people I know through FaceBook attended Rep. Russ Carnahan’s Town Hall meeting in St. Louis. I had seen some of the literature some of the pro-Big-Insurance-profits group had distributed to drum up attendance. It implied everyone for Health Care reform was a) ACORN-sponsored and b) welfare leeches too lazy to get out of bed for an early meeting but sure to be bused in en masse for this one. That kind of race-baiting vexes me.

Members of the Service Workers union organized to make a show of support at Carnahan’s meeting. (They are another group which sends me regular emails.) My St. Louis friends who went are dedicated health care reform activists, not union members. Like many others, they had reserved a spot at the meeting ahead of time. My understanding is Rep. Carnahan’s office provided this service and many pro-Reform people took advantage of it. So—and you may have read this in a conservative blog or seen it in the conservative media—after the doors were shut people walked past the Tea-Partiers and gained admittance to the meeting.

[Don’t even get me started about this movement hijacking that symbol from the American Revolution, the Boston Tea Party. That they should even try to equate their movement with that action betrays such a gross ignorance of history it embarrasses me for American schools. However, I find the other term by which they call themselves—you know, the product Lipton™ sells to make a single cup of tea—so rude and sophomoric that I refuse to use it.]

There were clashes after Carnahan’s meeting, outside the building, after the congressman left. You may have seen grainy video on the internet. You may have seen it reported on television. The narrative I’ve heard is different from the one normally accompanying those images. Police allegedly assaulted my friends, a claim I don’t find too far-fetched. In my 50 years on this planet I’d be hard-pressed to list a handful of occasions where police were actually helpful to anyone I know. I could probably name 1000 off the top of my head where the opposite was true. What I will grant is that no one alive knows the complete, absolute, Objective truth of what happened that night. “There is no truth, only perceptions.” My friends spin the story according to their experience. The grainy cell-phone videographers spin it according to their perceptions. My belief is that violence is always wrong and if, by showing up in sufficient numbers, we might discourage some bully’s violence, then that is what I’m going to do.

My FaceBook invitation gave a 7 AM starting time. It actually started at 8. I arrived about 7:15 and had no problem getting inside. I’ve read that people a quarter hour behind me could not enter. Had the media with their bulky cameras left another 20 people could have crammed in. The media gave me another reason to be there. Not that I wanted on television, but because the news coverage has shown huge crowds of people protesting against helping sick people. It’s past time to counteract the erroneous implication that those protesters are in the majority. It’s my patriotic duty to show visible support for Reform.

I have a degree in TV & Film-making. I know how to photograph 5 people and make it look like they are filling a room, or a city block. It’s all framing and editing. I thought some of Us needed to be in the frame.

So I arrived a bit after 7 and the shop was filling. I got in line for some coffee, wondering if it was all that great an idea to distribute cups of scalding liquid to the crowd. Partisans were wearing their hearts on their sleeves. There were pro- and anti-Obama t-shirts and buttons. There were Pro- and Anti-Health Reform signs. I had considered wearing something political, but in the end wore my Monty Python “Your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberry” t-shirt. “I didn’t want to be confrontational,” I told the local Fox reporter.

Rep. Cleaver arrived and stood on a chair in the middle of the shop. He began to address the crowd. He reviewed the history of his monthly coffees, indicating this was the largest turn-out ever and encouraging people to buy a cup of coffee. Then, saying he disbelieved media reports of protesters being organized by outside agitators, he lauded the American tradition which made peaceable assembly and free speech and petition for grievances possible. (I’m paraphrasing.) Cleaver told an anecdote of his own organizing experience—when being a Life or Death matter was not hyperbole—when Dr. King insisted demonstrators be disciplined and respectful.

At one point the congressman declared “There is no Health Care bill.” He held aloft an unbound tome the approximate size of the Oxford English Dictionary entitled “H.R. 3200” and continued, “This is the report from 3 separate committees. It has not been introduced on the floor yet!’ Assuming public education’s dropped mantel, he attempted a rudimentary civics lesson. He might have been better served popping in a Schoolhouse Rock DVD.

In the opposite side of the room from me someone yelled (repeatedly), “Did you vote for it?” thus proving two things: 1) He was working from the FreedomWorks script that suggests shouting questions to unbalance the speaker. 2) He’s a moron; how could Cleaver vote on a bill not introduced on the floor.

When Cleaver indicated he was now going to meet with constituents one-on-one, as is his wont, rather than take questions from the floor, one of the Christian patriots thundered, “That’s a bunch of f—ing bullsh–!” He was among the few present whose mommas hadn’t raised them right.

Across the room Mr. Did-you-vote-for-it began chanting “NObama Care! NObama Care.”

Some of the Organizing for America folks countered, “Yes we can! Yes we can!”

It being difficult to maintain a solo chant amidst a chorus of counter-chants, the fellow fell silent. From that point the main event was over. Various people, myself among them, circulated through the shop and then outside where the congressman was, encouraging the like-minded and debating the opposition.

By far the majority of anti-reform people I met were willing to agree to disagree. I don’t know how much of this is me getting better at framing an “It’s great to be in America where we can disagree without ending up dead” exit strategy. I’m getting too old to be shouting back and forth at people who disagree with me. I’d rather exuberantly bolster my positions with people who agree with me.

That’s the question Steve Glorioso keeps asking.

I have some feelings on the matter, mainly I think the opposition is bought and paid for by the greedy corporate interests of some of these health insurance companies.

I am an American.  Quality, affordable health care is a right!

I don’t know about you, but I have had it. I have had it with the vocal minority that is hijacking this conversation. I think about what Senator Ted Kennedy said last year at the DNC;

” For me, this is a season of hope, new hope for a justice and fair prosperity for the many and not just for the few, new hope. And this is the cause of my life, new hope that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American — north, south, east, west, young, old — will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not a privilege.”

Senator Kennedy is right. What type of America do you want to live in? Isn’t this the very change we have worked so hard for?

While the Democrats in Congress continue to host open town forums and engage in dialogue about Health Care, the Party of NO continues to shut regular American People out of the process. Well I am sick of it!I am sick of a vocal few dictating what is going to happen in my country. This is what we worked so hard for. The time is now!

Please Join with me and other progressive and passionate advocates for change on Monday at 10:30 at Children’s Park at 27th and Cherry with your signs and banners. Please spread the word.

What: Health Care Reform Forum with Senators Kit Bond, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell & John McCain
Where: Children’s Mercy Hospital, 2401 Gillham, Kansas City, MO
When: Monday, August 31, from 11am to 12:00pm (Please arrive no later than 10:45am)

-McConnell, McCain and Bond are hosting a health care reform forum at Children’s Mercy on Monday, August 31, from 11-12noon.
-The event is closed to the public.
-Those attending have been hand-picked by Bond’s office and include people from various backgrounds and affiliations.
-They are expecting to invite between 75-100 people.
-Everyone attending has to have their names on the list and bring with them a photo id for security at the event.
– McConnell is apparently going around the country to tout his health care reform plan, and this is one of the stops.
-The 75-100 people will be there to hear about the Republican plan for health care reform.
-Not sure of the format yet. We’re not sure if attendees will be allowed to ask questions or weigh in on what they are looking for in healthcare reform.
– The event will be held on the 2nd floor in a conference room. They are expecting “tons” of press – national and local.

This is an attempt by this party to return to the politics of the elite and divisiveness.Wish I could say I was surprised!

“Bough ripped the by-invitation-only arrangement, calling it “just a return to the Bush era of bringing in only your supporters and excluding anybody who has a different opinion.

“For me, that’s not democracy.”

Added Bough, “It’s insulting.”

Stand with us for Health Care. Stand with us.

Congressman Roy Blunt just doesn’t get it (any of it).  Missourians want a Senator that they can count on.  They want someone who will be there for them not their friends on K street.  Let’s not forget that Rep. Blunt was second in command to my new favorite DWTS contestant, Tom Delay, a man whose corruption knows no bounds… ( google Delay and the word corruption…yikes).

Now this from Chairman Michael Steele...I love politics.

From OFA Volunteer Sarah Starnes

Urgent Action:

“This Saturday, August 8, 8:00-10:00 a.m.,

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II will host a Cleaver Coffee at J.P. Coffee,

3390 SW Fascination Drive, in Lee’s Summit.

Map

The topic of health insurance reform will undoubtedly come up.  We would like as many supporters of President Obama’s Health Insurance Reform Principles as possible to be present, to thank Congressman Cleaver for his steadfast support of health insurance reform, including a strong public option.

The President’s Principles are–
1)  Reduce Costs
2) Guarantee Choice
3) Quality, Affordable Health Care for all Americans

At many Congressional Forums across the country, the teabaggers have shown up to disrupt the meetings.

We would like to have as many Cleaver and Obama supporters as possible at this event–to have a polite, intelligent, and civilized presence.

The attendance of health care professionals and people who have been negatively impacted by problems with the current health care delivery system is especially important.  
But we need as many supporters as possible–people of all backgrounds–to make a strong statement by their dignified participation, that we cannot wait for real health care reform!

If you can attend, please contact Sarah Starnes at 816-522-5584, or starwal@aol.com

More information about President Obama’s health insurance reform principles is available at www.barackobama.com People who are passionate about creating the change we need can sign up to volunteer for events via the website.”

We have all seen the “angry mobs” attending townhalls recently, the tea partiers, the crowds almost implacable in their fury.  I keep asking myself, about this loud and vocal minority.  What drives them? Where are they from? 
Now I know why:

Do you want to sit back and wait for the vocal minority to undo all of the work we have done to change this country?

Special Thanks to Steve Glorioso for giving us permission to reprint…

“The right wing is now engaged in the politics of chaos on the Obama health care initiative.

As liberal Democrats we have to do our individual part to fight back.

In our generation no domestic issue is more crucial than health care reform. If Obama cannot get it done it will languish for another quarter century before someone tries again.

You have seen the outrageous assault on Democrats holding town hall meetings. One of the worst was in Philly with Kathleen Sebelius on the platform which is linked below. They use the internet and talk radio to mobilize their crazies.

Each of us should consider doing some or all of the following actions:
1—if Moore or Cleaver or Claire hold a town meeting go in force, get there early and speak up;
2—write letters to ALL the newspapers in our area. Not just the Star but the weekly papers. The more the better. For example, the Star has been known to publish a representative sample of the total letters/emails they receive on a topic. So if they get missives in a 2 to 1 proportion supporting the President you can usually expect to see twice as many supportive letters/emails selected for publication. And now the hardest suggestion;
3–talk radio and not just KCUR. The obvious is KMBZ (980 on the dial) from 2pm to 6pm each week day with Mike Shanin and Scott Parks. They are conservatives but they do try to conduct a civilized discussion. The right wingers now call that show in number and there is little balance unless we engage.

We cannot let the right wing mobilize in a vacuum to create the impression “everyone” is against health care reform.

If you need any motivation, just watch some of the attack on Kathleen on YouTube.”

Steve Glorioso

I have not shopped at Wal-Mart in years, my son has never even been in one of their stores. I abhor the way they treat their employees and have made a conscious effort to by American and buy local whenever I can.So imagine my surprise when I can across this little gem today.

Even Wal-Mart gets it.

Congressman Blunt has very little about the issues facing Missourians on his website.  In fact you can’t find his platform for running anywhere on the site.  It’s pretty, in a vapid sort of way, obsessed with utilizing the social networking tools that worked so well for President Obama;  forgetting of course that the reason his use of technology worked was in large part due to the accessibility of his positions on the issues and his plan to solve the problems facing this country. While visiting the father’s website, I am reminded of the son’s website…both full of conciet and light on substantive details. The GOP just doesn’t get it,  we are not interested in having one of the most corrupt and hypocritical politicians of our time as our Senator – no thanks.

Congressman Blunt is the Group Chair for the “Health Care Solutions Group”- don’t let the name fool you, this group has no desire to see any real solutions for working Americans and their families.  Here are the facts, the votes that Congressman Blunt has cast regarding Health Care in this country.  Is that who we want for our Senator?  Do those votes represent Missouri Values?

You make the call.

For too long there have been perceptions that Democrats can’t or won’t work with “Big Business”.  Not true.  Democrats are problem solvers.  Democrats are compassionate and realistic.  Democrats realized along time ago that to solve the complex issues of our time, we must work together to build a consensus.  Most Republicans just don’t get it.  Instead of working with the Governor and with business to create a solution that would work for Missouri the GOP under the leadership of Speaker Ron Richard (R-Joplin) are just plain obstructionists.

Do they even have one viable legislative accomplishment regarding health care this year???

I cant help but feel frustrated.  The evidence is there.  The people of this state want heath coverage. they want it now.  1 in 3 Missourians are not insured. 1 in 3.   The hospitals get it, big business gets it, the Democrats of this state get.  When will the GOP get it?

Jackson County its time to stand up.

Health care costs are a major cause of economic downturn. We may have lost a major manufacturing facility because our health care is so expensive. Health care costs are driving the “big 3” out of business.  Un-insured and underinsured Missourians are raising the rates for all Missourians.  The fiscally responsible theing, the morally responsible thing would be to work with the Governor to bring healthcare back to the table to ease the burden on our companies and hospitals.  Having a progressive hatlh care solution will drive an economic recovery for the state and attract business not drive it away.

Stand up Jackson County.

Last week was spring break for the Missouri General Assembly, let’s hope that the Missouri GOP enjoyed their break.  While they were on vacation,  over 150,000 of Missouri’s children remain with out health care.  Those numbers are not abstract.  They represent real Missouri families, who struggle to afford the care that their children deserve.

Frustration is an understatement.  These republicans are the same ones who fight tooth and nail to restrict abortion access.  The “value” life, but what about the “quality of life” that they purport to value so much.  The number of uninsured is rising.  During these tough economic times families are having to choose between insurance and their homes, between insurance and food.  Where is the compassion for their fellow Missourians?

Governor Jay Nixon, made no secret of his plans to restore the devasting cuts of 2005, that was a major platform of his campaign.  When he was elected in Novemebr the people of Missouri endorsed his plan to insure our most vulnerable.

But once again the Missouri Grand Obstructionist Party is standing in our way.  The Jackson County Democrats and our elected officials will continue to fight for affordable health care for all of Missouri. That is common sense, that is a Missouri Value.

States that have expanded their SCHIP insurance:

Kansas

Arkansas

If this is important to you please contact Rep. Allen Icet Chairman of the House Budget Committee at 573-751-1247  or allen.icet@house.mo.gov

Recently somebody asked me what re-energized my Democratic passion.  I could have said John Edwards, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. All three have inspired me this past year, but that is at a national level.

At the state level John Dean and his 50 state strategy allowed me to believe for the first time in years that the Missouri Democratic Party is really working to be inclusive and to expand beyond a cadre of political professionals and a few long time political families.   There really is room for regular folks like you and me in our state party.  It’s true.  Missouri Democrats are increasingly open and inviting.

I have to admit,  however, that locally I was re-energized by Sam Graves stance on S-Chip.  During the battle it became obvious that Graves’ decision to support President Bush’s opposition to S-Chip on purely ideological grounds is a perfect example of what is wrong in Washington.  Out of touch “fly over” Republicans like Graves are simply willing to sacrifice the health and welfare of other peoples’ children on the altar of discredited and outdated ideology.  Sam was perfectly willing to sacrifice the health of thousands of his youngest constituents to please both failed President with a 25% approval rating and the high priests of conservative ideology spinning fact free in Washington think tanks.

A lot of people think Sam is such a nice young man.  If you look close you see he isn’t.  He might have a nice smile, but unless you have written him a big campaign check, he doesn’t give a rip about you or me. He is not the Congressman we who live in Eastern Jackson County need or deserve.

Here is an older ad from AmericansUnited featuring Sam and S-Chip.  It helped energize me. It just might inspire you. If it does give Kay Barnes a hand.