After reading this post at Talking Points Memo; I can tell you that not one penny of mine will go to the Democratic Party in the next election cycle. I may donate to my local candidate, IF he takes the pledge before Obama's speech next week. If not, then he hasn't done enough to advance true health care and insurance reform or push the President to do so and my donations will have to go to my increased premiums.
So please step up and lead President Obama! We got your back!
Thom Hartmann played FDR's speech to his party from 1936, after his first term.
He said,
"The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something."
The money quote was,
"I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master."
Obama needs to seize the day, show courage and invoke not only Franklin Roosevelt, but Teddy as well. He needs to leave a legacy of good for the welfare of the citizens, even if he has to accept Rahm Emanuel's resignation or piss off a few Blue Dogs to do so.
As Teddy Said,
"While president I have been president, emphatically; I have used every ounce of power there was in the office and I have not cared a rap for the criticisms of those who spoke of my 'usurpation of power'; for I knew that the talk was all nonsense and that there was no usurpation... I have felt not merely that my action was right in itself, but that in showing the strength of, or in giving strength to, the executive, I was establishing a precedent of value."
President Obama should postpone the speech and give it on September 13th the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the thousands of health care advocates cheering, and guarantee that the public option will be the central piece of the Teddy Kennedy Health Care Reform Act of 2009!
Step up and lead President Obama! We got your back!