Wishing you the all the best for a happy, healthy and peaceful 2010!
Archive for December, 2009
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
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Mary Bio: @Rockthevote Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
Support for Reform is Non-Partisan
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009In 2009, the number of uninsured young adults climbed to 18.9 million people, which is about one third of the total uninsured population. We got involved in the health care debate with a simple premise: the status quo is broken for young people and young people should have a voice in how it gets fixed.
The facts are not disputable. Young adults are among the most uninsured people in the country. We often go without insurance because we are out of work, have a job with an employer that doesn’t cover us, are transitioning from school or from one job to another, can’t afford it, or have a pre-existing condition that makes getting insurance – affordable or otherwise – impossible. Any credible reforms would need to reduce gaps in coverage, make coverage more affordable, and improve the quality of care.
There is broad agreement that the system is busted. In fact, members of both political parties and people across the political spectrum have gone to great lengths to demonstrate that they understand the problem and want to address it. Of course, there is far less agreement about how to fix the system.
More importantly, young Americans of all political stripes – right, left, red, blue, green, pink, independent, indifferent, other – think that passing health care reform is important. A December 2009 report from the Commonwealth Fund indicates that a whooping 88% of young Americans – nearly 9 out of every 10 – think it is important that Congress and the Administration “provide affordable health insurance to all and improve health care overall.” That includes 98 percent of young people who identify themselves as Democrats, 73 percent of Republicans, and 88 percent of independents. This has always been a non-partisan issue for us . . . and for young people across the country.
As the process comes to a close, we have to keep asking: will the proposed reforms be a good deal for young people? We’re going to keep fighting to make sure that it is.
Tomorrow – on Christmas Eve – the Senate will vote on its health care bill, and then House and Senate leaders and the White House will meet to negotiate the final bill. Our commitment to you is to understand what is good and bad in the bills from the perspective of young Americans and to provide ways to have a say in order to make sure not just that health care legislation passes, but that health care legislation that is a good deal for young people passes.
Stay tuned. And happy holidays.
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Thomas Bates Bio: Thomas is Rock the Vote's Vice President of Civic Engagement. @BatesThomas Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
Our Video Response
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009The latest Rock the Vote video – as intended – has sparked heated debate and some welcomed engagement. But some of the comments posted on our blog and other sites seem to miss the point. Perhaps a little context would help… the video is satire!
It is meant to be a humorous way to cut through the noise at the end of the long slog on health care. It was, after all, written and produced by the talented team at Funny or Die. That should tell you something. It was meant to be a parody of the system, provocative, and, well, funny.
The barrage of health care ads on TV and radio and constant news coverage for nearly a year have created a bit of fatigue around an issue that is actually at the point where real participation from constituents matters. The issue of health care is one of the top issues for our members and for young people nationally. The issue is being decided right now, and whether you like the bill or not, it won’t get any better if we are sitting on the sidelines.
So, to spark conversation and get more young people to pay attention and speak out, we asked our friends at Funny or Die to make a video. They have a way of reaching those who are more likely to be surfing the web to find the latest humorous skits by SNL writers than to be tracking the health care debate on our website or CSPAN.com. We wanted to reach people . . . and have them reach right back. And, what can we say, “sex sells” – or in this case “no sex.”
The video updates the old “call your Congressman” adage in a funny, provocative, and attention-grabbing way. The video, which seems to have done its job of getting attention, then acts as a bridge to the sections of our website where you can get serious information on what is at stake, what is in the current bills, how the process works, and how to take real action.
We don’t want anyone to get “f**ked” by health care reform, so we have encouraged people to get educated and make their voice heard . . . any way they can. We want a health care plan that benefits young Americans by expanding coverage, eliminating discrimination for pre-existing conditions, and providing coverage that is affordable. That won’t happen unless young people are active and voicing their concerns, interests and needs to their members of Congress.
And if you don’t agree with the video’s suggestion of “holding out” for health care, well, lucky for you…it is the season of giving.
So, let the debate rage on, but lets also discuss how to improve the bill, what we want with health care reform, and how we are going to make our elected officials listen to us. We wish nothing more than to have young Americans pay attention to the critical decisions being made right now. And we wish you – all of you – a happy holiday.
In that spirit, I will end this post with another video for you:
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Mary Bio: @Rockthevote Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
PoliFact Lie of the Year
Monday, December 21st, 2009PolitiFact – an independent fact-checking service of the St. Petersburg Times – has awarded its first-annual “Lie of the Year.” PolitiFact combed through all of the lies told during the course of political debate in our great country and came up with the biggest whopper of them all: death panels.
The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn’t made in an interview or a television ad. Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page.
Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, “Death panels? Really?”
The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural “Lie of the Year.”
Enjoy. As the latest Rock the Vote video prescribes, the best way to deal with the lies is to lie right back . . . with facts, of course. (Before everyone gets worked up, please note that the video is part parody, part mockery, part call to action, part provocateur, and mostly light-hearted fun at the end of a long slog.)
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Thomas Bates Bio: Thomas is Rock the Vote's Vice President of Civic Engagement. @BatesThomas Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
Another step
Monday, December 21st, 2009Early Monday morning – around 1:00 a.m. eastern time – the Senate voted to move forward on a health care reform bill. There were sixty votes (the number needed) to invoke cloture (also known as “stopping the debate”) on the “manager’s amendment” (a big package of changes to the original bill). There will be a couple more votes, including another cloture vote to end debate on the whole bill (another 60 votes needed) and the Senate should wrap up by Christmas Eve.
Then, the work begins to reconcile the Senate version with the House version. For the wonks out there, you can take a look at a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate bills that the Washington Post put together.
There are still some things that need to be worked out for young people, so we’ll be fighting hard to make sure it is a good deal. Stay tuned.
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Thomas Bates Bio: Thomas is Rock the Vote's Vice President of Civic Engagement. @BatesThomas Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com |
