Good evening, Daily Kos and welcome to the third edition to ONN (Obama Nightly News).
Welcome !!! The purpose of this regular series is to promote enthusiasm and action among Daily Kos members. Willard will likely outraise President Obama. However, we believe that we can still win if (1) we can remain competitive financially and (2) we volunteer more (GOTV, canvassing, phonebanking, LTE, ...) .
You all know me as a pootie poster and garden blogger, but in my heart of hearts I am a yellow-dog Democrat and a life-long liberal. I have stayed at the Great Orange Satan through the pie wars and primary fights because I want to elect more and better Democrats. Now is the time to work to re-elect President Obama. Follow me below the fold where I talk about what President Obama has been up to, post a few pictures, and then discuss some of the things you can do to help re-elect the President.
These pictures are from whitehouse.gov.
Here you can see President Obama calling for the extension of the middle class tax cuts (on incomes less than $250K). This makes economic sense, since lower- and middle-income folks are likely to spend their tax cuts and stimulate the economy. Mitt Romney, on the other hand, would probably put his in a off-shore account.
The president is seen here signing the transportation and student loan bills. The transportation funds will put people to work and help repair our decaying infrastructure. The student loan bill is particularly important to my family. My youngest son is a college junior, and he relies on financial aid (including scholarships and federally-insured student loans) to finance his college education.
Here you see the president with one of his constituents who is far too young to vote. I love the way that President Obama relates to children. You can tell a lot about a person's character by the way s/he treats children and animals.
So, you are an enthusiastic Democrat like me, but you don't have the Koch Brothers' money. Let me make three suggestions.
First, donate, even if it is a very small amount. Small amounts add up, and every little bit helps. Here is the donation link for the Obama/Biden campaign. I sent $15 the other day. It was all I could afford because I have to write the big check for Son 3's college tuition this week.
Second, Make use of social media. Yes, I admit it. I am on Facebook. Most of my "friends" are from my past--former students and archaeological crew members, folks I went to high school and college with back in the Middle Bronze Age, and the "girls" I went to Girl Scout camp with 50 years ago (most of the "girls" are about 60 now). I mostly use Facebook to post cat pix, but I have seen a number of anti-Obama images posted by one of the girls I went to camp with in the 60s. Here is an unfortunate example:
Usually, I just ignore this stuff, but I decided to politely make a few factual corrections (e.g., there are no "death panels'). I got into a discussion with a friend of this friend. She complained that her expenses were going up and her salary was not, and she called for a flat tax. Here was my response:
[first name], average Americans have done best when there was a steeply progressive income tax. Look at the top tax rates in the 1950s and 1960s. I learned my economics from a Republican--Raymond Saulnier who was the chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under Eisenhower. The tax code has been substantially flatter since the 1980s, and nearly all the growth in income and wealth has gone to the top 10% of wage earners, and this is despite the fact that we have had substantial productivity growth in the past 30 years. If you are complaining about prices going up and your pay going nowhere, this will not be solved by a flat tax. However, I certainly approve of getting rid of the loopholes that let folks like Mitt Romney pay only 13% in taxes on an income of $20 million.
What interested me was that a number of the other Girl Scout "girls" saw and liked my comment. You never know who is listening. Never pass up an opportunity to spread the word.
Third, all politics is local. Find out what is going on in your community. We just received e-mail from the organization that was Mercer4Obama in 2008. They will be setting up tables with literature and voter registration information in Princeton on the weekends. Dad, Son3, and I did this in 2008, and it was a lot of fun. Son 3 has volunteered to work this summer, and dad and I plan to volunteer in the fall.
Many thanks for reading this. Let's move beyond the drama and work together to re-elect the president.