Senator Claire McCaskill invites you to join President Barack Obama, with special guest, Missouri’s Own, Neal E. Boyd, winner of 2008’s America’s Got Talent for a Grassroots Fundraiser.

The event will take place on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.

Tickets for the event start at $25.00

Visit www.claireonline.com/potusevent to purchase tickets before they sell out!

By Brian Wahby
March 3, 2010

Do you need a job? Every ten years our government is required to count every American. The Census is important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that federal dollars are often tied to the population in a city. People from many walks of life use census data to advocate for causes, rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases, research markets, and locate pools of skilled workers. When you do the math, it’s easy to see what an accurate count of residents can do for your community. Better infrastructure, more services, a brighter tomorrow for everyone depends on getting an accurate count. In fact, the information the census collects helps to determine how more than $400 billion dollars of federal funding each year is spent on infrastructure and services.

Census Bureau recruiters are calling many leaders in our community asking for assistance in hiring temporary census workers. Apparently recruiting in St. Louis City has been more challenging than some other areas, and the city is flagged as needing additional positions filled to meet the hiring goals of the Census Bureau. What’s best for St. Louisians is that the Census Bureau prefers to hire individuals who actually live in the region, because being forced to bring in people from the outside lowers census taker effectiveness, and perhaps more importantly depriving St. Louis residents of employment they could have had.

Even if you have a job or are not currently looking, please talk to your friends, family and neighbors encouraging anyone interested to apply for these jobs! And also, don’t forget to be counted, the Census Bureau will be mailing a packet of information and a 10 question questionnaire to you home – fill it out, send it back and be counted.

The U.S. Census Bureau is currently hiring temporary census takers to help conduct the 2010 Census. Hours are flexible, with a maximum of 40 hours per week. Pay is $15.25 to $17.00 per hour, plus mileage. Full details, including a practice test, are found at: www.2010censusjobs.gov. Call the St. Louis Census Bureau at 314-800-0660 to sign up for a test session near your home. Don’t wait; the Census is just around the corner.

On January 30, the world lost a great activist named Melanie Shouse. She died Saturday January 30 at the age of 41 from breast cancer at her home in Overland. Melanie spent the last 4 1/2 years fighting tirelessly for health care reform and also to send Barack Obama to the White House. She lived to see the latter dream accomplished but died before a healthcare bill was signed into law.

I had the pleasure of meeting Melanie during the presidential primaries and campaigning alongside her for our nominee, Barack Obama. I can say unequivocally that she was one of the hardest working and most dedicated volunteers on the campaign. I will never forget Melanie’s speech on the Arch grounds in days before the historic election that sent Barack Obama to the White House. Melanie, speaking on the subject of healthcare reform, said we must “take on the big insurance monopoly and liberate American families form the slavery of skyrocketing insurance premiums and canceled coverage, which leave millions of us in a state of perpetual fear and insecurity …” Last year, we came closer than ever before to passing the kind of healthcare reform Melanie mentioned in her speech. Now, healthcare reform is in limbo because our congressional leaders do not have the courage to make tough decisions and send a final bill to the President’s desk.

This past weekend, during a speech to the Democratic National Committee, the President mentioned Melanie and used her story as an example of why we must continue working for healthcare reform. I will quote the President in full, because no one can articulate this message as well as he can. The President said:

“Think about this: She was fighting that whole time not just to get me elected, not even to get herself health insurance, but because she understood that there were others coming behind her who were going to find themselves in the same situation and she didn’t want somebody else going through that same thing. How can I say to her, “You know what? We’re giving up”? How can I say to her family, “This is too hard”? How can Democrats on the Hill say, “This is politically too risky”? How can Republicans on the Hill say, “We’re better off just blocking anything from happening.”

That can’t be the message that the American people are delivering. Yes, they’re nervous, they’re anxious, they’re in a tough time right now. The thing they want most are jobs. They really don’t like the process in Washington, the sausage-making. That part I understand. But I know that they don’t — but I know they don’t want to just offer nothing to the millions of people in America who are in the situation that that woman was in. That’s what we campaigned on. And we are going to keep on working to get it done -– with Democrats and I hope with Republicans and everybody else in between -– to bring down costs, to end the worst practices of the insurance industry, to finally give every American the chance to choose quality, affordable health care. We are going to keep on working to get it done.”

The President is right, we have come too far to quit. Melanie and the millions of Americans that cannot afford healthcare or are being denied access by greedy insurance companies deserve better. Congress and the White House should work around the clock to pass a bill that will extend coverage to the 31 million uninsured, put an end to some of the insurance industry’s worst and most abusive practices.

Democrats promised to deliver healthcare reform during the campaign cycle and now a year has passed. It is time to deliver on the promise – for all Americans, but particularly for our fallen friend Melanie. Let’s not let her work be in vain. Put pressure on our Federal representatives tell them not to back down, Melanie didn’t.