If you’re going through your day-to-day life you most likely aren’t tracking all the legislation and political moves that affect the big picture of us as a generation. Don’t worry, that’s why we’re here and all I have to say is yesterday was a huge day for young people. Huge. Why do you ask? Let me tell you:
1) The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3221) passed the House of Representatives yesterday by a vote of 253-171. Are you in college, been to college, want to go to college, know someone who wants to/would like to go to college – then this applies to you. The quick recap (but you can read all the details here)
- It will increase the maximum Pell Grant scholarship award to $5,500 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019 and linking it to match cost of living increases.
- It lowers interest rates on need-based federal student loans.
- It simplifies the FAFSA form to make it easier to apply for federal student aid.
- It expands access to low-cost Perkins loans.
- The bill invests in community colleges and college-readiness programs.
- And it ends a ridiculous policy that gives banks wasteful subsidies on student loans and use the savings — as much as $87 billion over 10 years — to help students pay for college.
You can say it – yep, that’s pretty great. Now it’s on to the Senate!
2) President Obama finally addressed young people in his rousing address on health care at the University of Maryland yesterday. I was there, imagine about 17,000 students and young people packed into the Comcast Center (where the Terps play basketball) and the President taking his 45 minute speech to directly talk to us as a generation. When was the last time you heard a speech about health care that didn’t include a huge section about senior citizens? (I’ve got nothing but love for my older friends but this health care debate affects ALL of us). Read his remarks here.
Health insurance reform means so much for us – we need it to:
- End discrimination for pre-existing conditions, stop insurance companies from dropping us if we get sick, and cap the amount of money insurance companies charge for co-pays, out-of-pocket expenses, and deductibles;
- Let us stay on our parent’s insurance until we are 26 and let us keep affordable insurance if we change jobs or lose our jobs;
- Give us choices of policies that fit our lifestyle and our budgets in a health insurance exchange (with a public option) and provide assistance to those that still can’t afford insurance.
- Cover preventative care and regular checkups at no cost.
You with us? Sign our pledge to get involved in our campaign.
3) And last but not least – in voter protection news, the Indiana Court of Appeals has struck down the state’s voter ID law. Indiana had one of the worst voter ID laws in the country that primarily affected young people and low income people creating a voting system that was not equal for all of us. It’s a victory in the long fight for equal voting rights for all.
Not bad for one day…
~Mary
Tags: college students, elections, health care, higher education, Obama, Supreme Court, voting rights
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Mary Bio: @Rockthevote Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
I am actually the mother of someone who is college age, and I was delighted to see your organization step up on this important issue, with two of favorite actors! I loved the ad. My son had a rough time in his early twenties. He had a couple of accidents that required a few thousand dollars in medical treatment, didn’t have insurance, wasn’t working at the time and couldn’t pay his medical bill. This seriously affected his credit score which set him back significantly, just as he was trying to get out on his own. I have a Masters’ degree, which I still paying off, and have barely had health insurance at all during my professional, adult life because I have had my own very small business, and couldn’t afford the premiums. Oh, and I am also a provider for several health insurance companies, and the amount they pay me to provide care for their customers has gone down while the premiums they charge keep going up. Now I work for a non-profit serving homeless youth who are also college age, and I see a lot of young people who are struggling with tragic histories, mental illnesses, no family support and no health insurance. If society doesn’t take care of them, who will?
I am totally dismayed by the hostility that has been introduced into this national debate by the those with ulterior political motives, and those being manipulated by them. Jesus said something like “as you do unto these, the least of my children, you do unto me.” How do we move this debate out of a mental battle and into the compassionate heart of the matter?
Words like yours definitely help shift the focus of the debate, Glenda. Reading what you write helps remind me why I got interested in health care reform in the first place!
If you want to do more, you could call your senator or representative (if they support real health care reform, encouraging them is useful too!) or write them a letter. I think our elected officials listen more carefully to people who are trying to help each other than they do people who are yelling and screaming. At least I hope they do!
Thanks for your response, Nick. I am calling my representatives, attending rallies and canvassing. It feels very important, amidst the misinformation and the shouting, to keep promoting the perspectives I believe matter. Thanks for doing the same!
This is very strange time in our nations history. We have a new website and is growing and will be updating frequently. I’m very concerned with the future of our country.
http://www.545out.com/
Best
Mr Simmons, Why is on of your operatives Michael S on a conference call with the NEA a tax payer funded org. Why is Buffy Wicks a white house appointee on the call also? Why are there approximately 60 artisit who receive funding from the NEA being told to push the Obama agenda? You have to know that taxpayer monies cannot be used this way. This is a violation of the anti-lobbying act 19US code 1913 and 31 us code 1352. If you want to do art for Obama, do it on your own dime. Don’t expect tax payers to fund it or shake down artist to do it the Chicago way,
This sort of dirty socialist propaganda is pitiful and embarrassing I think. The little president man and his lies are not going to persuade people to embrace third world Cuban-style health care. Doctors will quit in droves.
hehe astroturf, then a schizophrenic (who’s mr simmons?), then a sweet case of hysteria/OCD.
france has doctors dude they didn’t quit
people who disagree with you aren’t dirty or little
you far-right types speak like greek or something nowadays it’s not even your classic ‘we hate the poor’ bit it’s all conspiracies and NEA grants and future prophecies
got to say I wish mccain was still in charge of the republican party instead of palin and orly taitz. mccain spoke english and I think he might have been a human being
If this administration really wanted us to have choice and competition, they would take the public option out of the equation. We will have no choice, as the government will decide what benefits we have to take. We won’t be able to open up medical spending accounts or just take catastrophic insurance. There is no one size fits all. When you are young, you can take out catastrophic, when you have a family you can upgrade your insurance for your needs. The government will not let you have that choice. As far as competitition, the government doesn’t want that either. There are 1300 insurance companies in the US. If you open up state lines, those states that only have 1 or 2 choices will then have 1300 choices. Competition would be fierce and premiums would go down. It makes no sense to have a state with only one choice and then only adding a public option as the other choice. There is no reason for the public option. Our funding gap for Medicare is 52 trillion dollars. We need more free market with some government regulations to take care of the problem of insurance companies dropping customers and insurance companies denying for preexisting conditions. We don’t have to revamp the whole system. We just need to make it more affordable and more available. Also HR 3200 gives a 10 billion bailout to unions. Do you really think this is a wise way to spend our money?
the government is going to outlaw catastrophic insurance?
10 billion bailout to unions?
this is the AMERICAN healthcare debate, not weirdistan or freakzylvania or wherever you’re from