Courtesy of www.democrats.org

June 1, 2010

Leave it up to the right wingers to blame the President for the mess in the Gulf of Mexico. Rather than discussing our country’s long-standing addiction to crude oil and the impact this dependence has had on our ecology, economy and security – the right-wing would have us believe that President Obama started the leak himself. Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck would rather distract with assertions that the President hasn’t responded quickly enough to a catastrophe that they would have people believe the President’s policies fostered.

I, for one have had enough.

Yes the events unfolding in the Gulf are a horrific reminder oils spills of the past. The images of tar balls, crude covered sea fowl and dead fish remind us that we need to change our energy policy – not beat-up on our President. If we insist on placing blame on a President, how about we place blame on the President funded by big oil? You guessed it, George W. Bush and his Halliburton-sponsored sidekick Dick Cheney.

So what really caused the mess in the Gulf? It is our country’s laissez-faire approach to energy policy. A policy that has developed and been fostered by generations of oil men – oil men like George Bush, his father before him and especially their lead oil man, the former CEO of Halliburton – Dick Cheney. After all, it was Bush’s administration that issued waiver after waiver to BP and Halliburton, which allowed them to skirt safety issue and ultimately lead to the oil spill in the Gulf.

We Americans have to wake up. “Drill-baby-drill” is not a sound energy policy, nor is a policy written by big oil lobbyist. We need a policy that focuses on independence from oil and encourages development of renewal energy. American energy policy should provide a cleaner environment, new industries and freedom from the politics of the Middle East (and freedom from the politics dominated by big-oil and their Republican lackeys).

They don’t call it Texas Tea for no reason –It’s the fault of those good ol’ oil boys from Texas that we are witnessing the destruction in the Gulf. But Rush Limbaugh won’t tell you that.

Brian Wahby is Chairman of the St. Louis City Democrats and an at-large member of the Democratic National Committee.

Courtesy of www.barackobama.com.

Content courtesy of the DNC.

Consider the staggering scope of what you have just accomplished:

Because of you, every American will finally be guaranteed high quality, affordable health care coverage.

Every American will be covered under the toughest patient protections in history. Arbitrary premium hikes, insurance cancellations, and discrimination against pre-existing conditions will now be gone forever.

And we’ll finally start reducing the cost of care — creating millions of jobs, preventing families and businesses from plunging into bankruptcy, and removing over a trillion dollars of debt from the backs of our children.

But the victory that matters most tonight goes beyond the laws and far past the numbers.

It is the peace of mind enjoyed by every American, no longer one injury or illness away from catastrophe.

It is the workers and entrepreneurs who are now freed to pursue their slice of the American dream without fear of losing coverage or facing a crippling bill.

And it is the immeasurable joy of families in every part of this great nation, living happier, healthier lives together because they can finally receive the vital care they need.

This is what change looks like.

My gratitude tonight is profound. I am thankful for those in past generations whose heroic efforts brought this great goal within reach for our times. I am thankful for the members of Congress whose months of effort and brave votes made it possible to take this final step. But most of all, I am thankful for you.

This day is not the end of this journey. Much hard work remains, and we have a solemn responsibility to do it right. But we can face that work together with the confidence of those who have moved mountains.

Our journey began three years ago, driven by a shared belief that fundamental change is indeed still possible. We have worked hard together every day since to deliver on that belief.

We have shared moments of tremendous hope, and we’ve faced setbacks and doubt. We have all been forced to ask if our politics had simply become too polarized and too short-sighted to meet the pressing challenges of our time. This struggle became a test of whether the American people could still rally together when the cause was right — and actually create the change we believe in.

Tonight, thanks to your mighty efforts, the answer is indisputable: Yes we can.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

(Content courtesy of www.barackobama.com)

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!

Yesterday felt like last year.

Democrats, think about where you were and what you were doing one year ago yesterday. October 20, 2008 – we were just a few short weeks away from the most historic Election Day we would experience. Democrats were excited, we were headed to the field offices to make calls, out into the neighborhoods to canvass, talking about the election and how we could make history – how we could make things better.

So we moved through the election, on election night many of us gathered at the Chase or sat glued to our televisions and watch history unfurl. We heard the talking heads say “CNN can now say that we project Barack Obama will be elected the 44th President of the United States”. We all remember how that felt, we were tired, many of us just existing on adrenalin- but we had won. YES WE DID! Then we saw the first family-elect come out on stage in Grant Park in Chicago and we thought “wow, look what we have done, look what change we have made”.

Then we all went back to our lives, back to the kids and schools and guitar lessons, and work and …….

We didn’t think that we had to do anymore civic work; after all we had just won. We controlled both houses in Congress and the White House – our work was done. We moved through our lives, our ups and downs and watched from-time-to-time the news of our President doing great things, making tough decisions, putting together his administration, trying to reach across the aisle. And we saw the beginning of the agenda of change- the change we worked so hard for- begin to manifest itself in the President’s healthcare reform package. Sure there was the typical Washington back and forth, the constant debate on the 24 hour news shows, but healthcare reform was on the agenda. People were having serious conversations about how to fix this situation which is already too expensive and promises in the years to come to bankrupt our country. We all thought, wow isn’t grand that we can have this debate.

Then August came. Congress went back home for summer break and the OP (formerly known as GOP, but there is nothing grand about their recent tactics) riled up the most cantankerous group of Neanderthals that they could find to attack the healthcare reform initiative. Armed with mis-information (provided by shadow groups funded by big healthcare insurers) they stormed town hall meetings screaming at members of congress. They had been whipped up by the folks at Fox News and Rush Limbaugh, lead to believe that there would be “death panels” overseen by faceless bureaucrats who would determine who lives and who dies. Their tactic, though ignoble, were effective. The President’s numbers began to fall, support for healthcare reform dipped. It looked like all that we had worked for – the Change that we believed in – wasn’t enough to push back on the big moneyed interests in Washington.

President Barack Obama and Sen. Ted Kennedy participate in a national service event at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., April 21, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

But something changed. In September we started working again. I started getting calls and emails from friends from the campaign. Folks saying things like “we need to get back to work; we need to get back to work on health care”. It kept building. Not just organically, granted OFA, the Democratic Party and various affiliate groups were organizing to push back on the right wing’s attempt to gut healthcare reform. But the organizing found fertile soil, because so many of us had realized that the work that we did last year was only the beginning of our civic engagement. It was only a marker on the road of change.

So in the days leading up to yesterday we tweeted and emailed folks to remind them to call congress and tell our members that we want strong health care reform with a public option. Yesterday was much like an election day where all of the work culminates on one day – you’ve got one shot at making it happen and it is on that one day that you must do it.

Well, yesterday morning on my way to drop off the kids at school, there it was, at the corner of Kingshighway and Lindell, there it was… our people! They were there with signs and chanting and making visibility for health care reform! My twitter lit up with tweets and retweets reminding me and others that today was the day to call congress, we needed 100,000 calls to congress. As the day went on, more tweets, emails, reminders and calls came. We had to reach our goal – we had to show congress that loonies storming town hall meetings were not the majority – we were. We reached our goal – and kept making more calls. We can make 150,000 calls. Can’t we? Yes we can!

With each passing hour email messages kept coming in, updating the total calls to congress. We surpassed the 150,000; then established a new goal. We smashed through it, another goal was exceeded. Later in the afternoon on the way to pick-up the kids, our volunteers were doing visibility at Forest Park Parkway and DeBaliviere – cars honking for Healthcare reform! Wow we made 315,000 calls to congress yesterday. We reached and exceeded our goals.

We clearly moved the needle on the debate. We unquestionably made some members of congress realize what the people want. Certainly the effort had and will continue to have a positive impact on our President’s effort to reform health care.

All of that is good – no, it is great, but perhaps what is more important from yesterday is that we realized that our work wasn’t over last year. Those of us who worked to elect our President realized that our work goes on and we must be vigilant in our work for change. Remember where you were a year ago yesterday. If you are dedicated to making this world a better place you must continue working on campaigns or issues on October 20th and every other day for many years to come.

Congratulations to all who helped to get 315,000 calls made yesterday.

See you at the Halloween Party!

Brian Wahby
Chairman

Check out the event pictures and videos:

http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=675985&CategoryID=38925

http://toastedrav.com/post/6181/trav_video#0

http://stlouis.metromix.com/events/photogallery/inauguration-for-the-people/906428/content

We would love to post your pictures of the event! Please send them to citydemsparty@sbcglobal.net.

There are still event t-shirts available. These are one-of-a-kind-historic-memorabilia-kinda shirts with the Schlafly “InaugurALE” logo on the front and the event details on the back.

Shirts are $20 and sizes range from S to 3XL

A limited supply of logo bottles are also available with each t-shirt order – when they are gone, they are gone!!

Please email citydemsparty@sbcglobal.net with your order.

Special thanks:

The Pageant

Operation Food Search

Schlafly Brewery

Joe Dryer & Rosemary Watts

The Sean Holland Band

Paul Brown and the Killing Devils

DJ Tossin’ Ted

Thurman Grill & Provisions

Donna Brooks, City Cable Channel 10

Gerald Palmer

Our volunteers

http://stltoday.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=675985&CategoryID=38925

http://toastedrav.com/post/6181/trav_video#0

http://stlouis.metromix.com/events/photogallery/inauguration-for-the-people/906428/content

You are Cordially Invited to the
2009 Presidential Inauguration Celebration
Hosted by the St. Louis Democratic City Central Committee
Party for the People

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
7:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

The Pageant – 6161 Delmar St. Louis, MO

Reservations – $10 plus a canned food donation

Space is limited so click here to RSVP now

For more information, contact citydemsparty@sbcglobal.net or 314-667-3785

• Historic Inauguration Address

• Schlafly Inaugural Brew

• Non-Smoking

• Commemorative Items – one of a kind Schlafly InaugurALE shirts and event bottles, Obama/Biden signs, stickers, etc.

• Live Music – Joe Dryer & Rosemary Watts, The Sean Holland Band, Paul Brown and the Killing Devils, DJ Tossin’ Ted

•  Catered Buffet and Cash Bar

•  Come As You Are

Paid for by the St. Louis City Federal Campaign Committee, Joe P. Keaveny, Treasurer