Friday, September 26, 2008

Let's Organize Our Global Community

Both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin have mocked Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer. Obama was 24 years old and a recent college graduate when he decided to take that $12k a year job on the south side of Chicago instead of grabbing for a 7-figure salary on Wall Street which he could have easily pocketed.

I would think Dems and R's would agree that Barack's $12k move was an admirable career choice and not one to be mocked. And the R's seem to forget that Obama went on to become a constitutional and civil rights law professor at the University of Chicago, worked in the Illinois State Legislature, and worked in the U.S. Senate where he co-authored an impressive amount of bi-partisan legislation in a comparatively short amount of time. He was elected to the US Senate in Nov. of 2004. I don't think there's anything funny about that experience and track record. But as the "Hockey Mom" Sarah Palin mocked Obama, she said that she had "actual responsibilities" in her job as Mayor ... of a town the size of Emmaus. Tee Hee. And she can also see Russia (and President Putin's plane flying over her Alaskan airspace), so hey, case closed on her foreign affairs expertise. Obama serves on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The R's downplay Obama's legislation. Here's some of it:

Coburn-Obama Tranparency Act- legislation to stop abuse of no-bid contracts in aftermath of disaster, included in the final Dept. of Homeland Security funding Bill.

Lugar-Obama Non Proliferation Act- a comprehensive nuclear threat reduction plan

Veterans Affairs Committee Bill- Obama wrote legislation to improve veteran's healthcare.

STEP UP- summer learning plan for disadvantaged youth (please see my prior posts about Obama's education plans)

Stop Fraud Act-protects low income home buyers


See here for more About Barack Obama (scroll down to ACTIONS) and here for more The New York Times > U.S. > Image > Obama’s Record in the Illinois Senate

When Obama was a young man working with poor people who had lost their jobs, he was responsible for organizing after school programs for at risk youth, job training programs, removing harmful asbestos from a housing project, and early education programs, just to name a few. He helped ordinary hardworking people organize for CHANGE as a response to the failed policies of out of touch politicians. He says that this work "taught me a lot about listening to people as opposed to coming in with a pre-determined agenda." McCain, on the other hand, has continuously voted against minimum wage increases, SCHIP, and funding for Head Start. And Palin's positions are identical to Bush and Cheney. Very scary looking, even with lipstick. She also believes that women should not have the right to choose to give birth, or not, in cases of rape and incest.

In these chaotic and troubling times, we can't think of a better quality for our next President to have than the demonstrable and documented quality Barack Obama has to reach across the aisle and bring disparate and opposing factions to common ground. Let's give Barack Obama a mandate to organize our national community and our global community.


Mr. Dottie/Bill Villa contributed to this post.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

A very compelling post and good rundown of Obama's accomplishments. I'm dying to see these upcoming debates!

Angie Villa said...

THanks Sarina,

Looks like McCain will be attending the debate tonight.
I'm looking forward to a discussion on the important issues.

There is so much misinformation out there about Obama's experience and accomplishments.

Anonymous said...

You and your facts! What are you trying to do, get us to vote for the most qualified, honest and intelligent candidate?

Good luck! Allentownies are going to the Allentown Brew Works tonight to see the debates. Hope to see you there!

Angie Villa said...

Anon,

Sounds like a fun time at ABW. I have a terrible cold, and Bill's parents were both hospitalized yesterday, so we need to stay home and be on call. Please come back with thoughts on the debate.

Bill Villa said...

The Debate.

McSame did better than I thought he would but I think any points he scored on his surprising grasp of some of the facts were negated by his bratty interruptions and attempted misdirection cheatings in plain sight and his crabby and scared bully routine of not ever looking in the direction of his most worthy opponent. It reminded me of that scene in the movie "In The Heat of The Night" with Syndey Poitier and Rod Steiger where they confront the entitled rich guy living high up on a hill and his crotchety reaction is basically "how dare you question me and my right to the throne of power." Hopefully next debate Obama slaps the entitled rich guy harder and more frequently than he did last night, although in his restraint and cool braniac demeanor, I thought Obama came off way more Presidential than McLame ever could.

Angie Villa said...

What stood out to me in the debate was that McCain did not even look at Obama! He appeared grumpy and mean, and that creepy mocking laugh. Doesn't seem like he is interested in working with others.

He kept bringing the discussion back to earmarks and pork barrel spending and his years of experience. I must say, he did do much better on foreign policy than I had thought, but that is his strong suit. But Obama clearly understands foreign policy and sounded strong and presidential when talking about how to deal with Pakistan.

McCain sounded silly at the beginning when he tried to appear like he cares about ordinary folks on Main St. Obama could have pushed harder, and it was upsetting when he kept saying that McCain was "right." He was just too nice. I was hoping he would talk more about serious problems facing ordinary Americans,like the mortgage crisis, food prices, and stress that McCain voted against SCHIP, Head Start, and raising the minimum wage. And I believe McCain voted against veteran's benefits, right? Well, Obama wrote the legislation for impovements in veteran's healthcare. If McCain is such a maverick then why did he vote with Bush 90% of the time?

I think Obama will come out stronger at the next debate. ALthough I like the quality he has of being calm and giving credit where credit is due, these R's really play dirty and he's gotta keep stressing how 8 years of R's has gotten us into these hard times. There needs to be some regulation and oversight. McCain wants to apply the same kind of philosophy to Health Care. That could be scary for the majority of Americans.

Well, that's my diatribe for today. I don't see a winner in this debate, but McCain did appear tougher, although to me that came across as grumpy and mean.

Anonymous said...

Obama is not just a gifted intelligent speaker with great communication skills, he also has specific plans for real change.

He displays confidence and an even temper which are important qualities in a leader.

Bill Villa said...

"You and your facts! What are you trying to do, get us to vote for the most qualified, honest and intelligent candidate?"

Let's try it ;) again, the last time we did it (William Jefferson Clinton) things worked out great for 8 years ...

Anonymous said...

Let's do 8 years of Barack Obama, then 8 years of Hillary Clinton, then 8 years of Hillary's VP Michelle Obama, and so on, and so on, and no Republicans in the White House anymore ever again.

Anonymous said...

what about arnold? gop's love celebrities like reagan, fred thompson, sarah palin

Bill Villa said...

Re: Tonite's VP "Debate"

Only in America, it's sad to say, could a Presidential election "turn" on the performance, or lack thereof, of our newest reality TV show star sensation ... Sarah Palin. I hope Joe Biden slaps that moronic smirk clean off her lipstick.

Bill Villa said...

Re: Last Nite's VP Debate

Well, okay, so Joe couldn't get rid of that smirk (ignorance is bliss personified?) but he dispatched with everything else.

Angie Villa said...

Such a busy week, I have not had time to write a post about the debate. But I will say that I found it extremely innapropriate that during these tumultuous and serious times that Palin would be smirking and winking, smiling and mocking so much. She did not really answer the questions and it was a lot of repetitive BS. She would change the subject to talk about herself. All style and no substance, no specific plans, same as George Bush. And she has a "know it all" attitude. I hope the American people don't fall for this. Is this a personality contest or a serious debate about the issues? I would think even "Joe sixpack" would be more concerned about the economy. Where are these "maverick" plans? And she had no reaction at all when Joe Biden got choked up about losing his wife and daughter. I would think America's hockey mom would have a reaction. Nope, back to the script.

Oh and most shocking, the fact that she thinks the VP should have MORE legislative power. This could be even scarier than Cheney, and would disregard the constitution.