What You Need to Know: 03.05.09

Obama starts big push for health care overhaul
“President Barack Obama is signaling that he’s open to compromise on overhauling the nation’s health care system. Obama told participants at the end of a health summit that although he offered a plan during last year’s campaign, he isn’t wedded to that proposal. He told Republicans and Democrats, doctors and insurers — “I just want to figure out what works.”

The president said there are some elements that all sides can agree on, such as electronic health records that will save lives and money. Other issues — such as his $634 billion down payment for expanded coverage — are certain to create deep divisions.”

California Court Weighing Gay Marriage Ban
“For more than three hours on Thursday, California Supreme Court justices aggressively challenged lawyers who sought to overturn an initiative banning same-sex marriage that was passed by voters last November.

As the hearing progressed, hundreds of supporters and opponents of the initiative, Proposition 8, gathered on the steps of the courthouse here bearing signs, banners and a sense of tense anticipation.”

U.S. Markets Plunge to New Lows
“U.S. stock markets plummeted to new lows today as investors continued to lose confidence in the financial sector and auditors for General Motors warned that the biggest U.S. automaker might not be able to keep operating.

The sharp drop came one day after a rally that broke a five-day losing streak in which major indices hit levels not seen since the 1990s.”

U.S. Launches Wide-Ranging Plan to Steady Housing Market
“The Obama administration yesterday sketched in the details of its most ambitious attempt to reduce foreclosures and stabilize the beleaguered housing market at the root of the economic meltdown.

The program has two key elements: a refinancing program for borrowers with little equity in their homes but current on their loans, and a $75 billion program to help reduce mortgage payments for struggling borrowers.”

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Rock the Vote Bio: Rock the Vote was founded in 1990 to organize artists and fight against censorship of musicians. Since then we've evolved to focus on empowering young people to get involved in the political process. We use pop culture, peer-to-peer organizing, and the latest technology to raise visibility of politics and demystify the process of registering to vote. @rockthevote Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 5th, 2009 at 3:43 pm and is filed under what you need to know. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.