Organizing for America Deputy Director Jeremy Byrd sent out an interesting email a few hours ago. I assume this went to anybody who has volunteered with the Obama campaign or attended any OFA rallies about healthcare.
I thought I'd post the email and my reply. It touches on a lot of important points. People want the facts. We want to know, specifically, what the President advocates.
And yes, we want to change the world. In fact, we expect the world to change. We expect that the Conventional Wisdom will give way to evidence-based policy that values the real world as it exists outside the Beltway.
First is the OFA email, then my response. I very much hope to get a response. The intent isn't to complain; the point of dialogue is to get answers, to understand other people's positions. Perhaps other people have similar questions, as well.
[me]--
You and Superman can both change the world -- and it starts in a phone booth.
Last week the President laid out his health reform plan and challenged Congress to act. OFA volunteers leapt into action, generating hundreds of thousands of signatures and calls to show grassroots support. Now we need to reach out in our communities, spread the facts about the President's plan, and bring new voices of support into Washington.
If you can spare your lunch hour (or a couple of hours whenever you're free), you can make it happen. Here's how: Organize a "Health Reform Phone Booth" in your area.
It's simple: Just grab some friends and set up in a public spot where lots of folks will pass by. You'll distribute fact sheets about President's plan and ask people to call their members of Congress on the spot and voice their support.
We'll give you all the materials, phone numbers, and step-by-step instructions you need to make it a success -- and when you register your Phone Booth online, other OFA volunteers can join you to lend a hand.
Create an event
Click here to run a Health Reform Phone Booth near you:
http://my.barackobama.com/...
Passing health reform won't be easy -- they've been talking about it in Washington for almost a century. But we know what it takes to make history. And we know that when ordinary people who believe in change reach out, spread the facts, and help folks from all walks of life make their voices heard, we can accomplish something... super.
Thanks for making it happen,
Jeremy
Jeremy Bird
Deputy Director
Organizing for America
****
Dear Mr. Jeremy Bird and OFA staff,
I read with interest your email on changing the world. I very much agree much needs to be changed, and can be changed, in our healthcare market. Few areas touch upon as many personal and economic decisions as how we allocate our healthcare resources. As the OFA bus rallies demonstrate most recently, there is widespread energy for healthcare reform from coast to coast.
Specifically, the OFA communication referenced fact sheets about the President's plan. I am hoping you can help me get access to some facts about the President's plan that can help us communicate the President's vision of providing quality, affordable healthcare to all Americans.
First, does OFA and the DNC speak for the President on this issue?
Second, does OFA and the DNC agree that healthcare is an absolute human right, something all Americans are entitled to regardless of race, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, income, age, relationship status, employment condition, criminal history, or any other factor?
Third, does OFA and the DNC recognize the position of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, specifically, that a single payer, universal, 'Medicare for all' kind of system is the ideal ultimate goal of healthcare reform efforts, and any plan lacking at minimum a robust 'public option' fails to qualify as healthcare reform at all?
Fourth, does OFA and the DNC recognize that the majority of the American people want government involved in guaranteeing healthcare to all Americans?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, I would very much appreciate hearing an explanation. As the Administration has not as of this date released a detailed plan, it is difficult to communicate support, both to Democrats and to Republicans. If we at least had guidance on the above specific values, that would go a long way in addressing the desire for people to have the facts on what, exactly, the Administration, the Democratic National Committee, and the Congressional Leadership are advocating.
Respectfully Yours,
****
As the standard OFA disclaimer explains
Paid for by Organizing for America, a project of the Democratic National Committee -- 430 South Capitol Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
it's certainly worth finding out just which Democrats, exactly, the DNC is backing, and which plans, exactly, it advocates. The more facts that get out, the more information available, the better decision-making becomes.
Update: This raises an interesting sociological question. Have you ever used a phone booth; an actual, glass, enclosed booth? Personally, I never have. The college in my home town has a vintage English red phone booth. It is decorative, I assume, not functional. I used a pay phone once at an airport in Detroit to call somebody picking me up when I was 16 or 17, but the panel of phones in the corner hardly qualified as a booth. My mother, bless her heart, saved a voicemail I left her from Mills Lake in Colorado on her phone for weeks. She just thought that was so cool I was calling her from a mountain. She does have a cell phone of her own now, one of those fabulous cell owners who don't turn their phone on when they're doing things like driving across the state and you might want to reach them. I'm sure nobody else experiences that when trying to reach family...