Health Care Reform Passes in the House

I am so happy to read this news this morning. Thanks to Jim Cooper, my representative from the 5th Congressional District in Tennessee, who voted for the measure. I placed many calls to Rep. Cooper’s office the past few months. I just emailed him a Thank You for his positive vote.

Obama Victory Celebration Bash

We attended an Organizing for America party last night which celebrated the 2008 victory for Obama. There is much work to do to pass healthcare legislation. Please call Jim Cooper’s office today to encourage him to vote the health care reform bill. It is reported that Bart Gordon, another Democratic Tennessee congressman, is voting against the bill. So much for blue dogs.

It is rumored that AARP will openly endorse the bill. Yeah, AARP. Although we are watching our spending due to unemployment, I renewed my AARP membership. I’m glad I did. I had heard that some over 50s had canceled their membership due to AARP’s push for health care reform this year. I did not want my not renewing be construed in that camp. Plus I enjoy their benefits and publications.

Vote for health care for all.

Letter to Lawmakers

This morning I sent a version of the following letter to my federal lawmakers: Rep. Jim Cooper, Sen. Lamar Alexander and Sen. Bob Corker. I am awaiting their response. I know that I will receive a canned letter. In sending the letter to Cooper and Alexander, I noticed that unemployment was not listed on the pull down menu for subject of the letter. Only for Corker could I write in my issue, unemployment.

Both my husband and I are unemployed. John lost his job in September 2008; then six weeks later, I lost my job in November.

We have benefited from unemployment, the stimulus package and extensions to unemployment. I have benefited from the government picking up part of my payment for COBRA coverage. My husband has no insurance. When the government COBRA coverage expires, I will need to find an affordable option for insurance.

Collectively, we made over $XXXXXX in 2008. We have a fixed rate mortgage which we are paying through my retirement savings. We paid in federal taxes last year about what we are making this year with unemployment checks. Aren’t you as a legislator concerned about that tax deficient? There are many others like us.

I’ve tried to sell promotional products on commission and have just opened a pet sitting service for our neighborhood. I will probably net a negative income after expenses.

We need help. As a fifty-something, I sense that my age and my former income are detriments to me getting a job. My husband is in his late 40s. He cannot find employment because of his degree, although he has been willing to do unskilled labor jobs.

We have good health for now. We are not homeless. We have college degrees. What we do not have is confidence for our future.

Are there federal training programs available to us to help us get new employment? We want to be taxpayers, not government recipients.

Jim, We Need Your Vote

From the morning Tennessean:

Especially important for the White House was the reaction of several conservative Democrats, who will be critical to passing a health-care bill in the House and Senate and who cheered the president’s pledge to ensure a health overhaul would not add to the government debt.”If the details live up to the quality of the speech, then it’s a good plan,” said Tennessee Rep. Jim Cooper, a conservative Democrat who has been critical of the liberal health-care bill developed by House Democratic leaders.

Nashville Community Organizers Honor Jim Cooper

Yesterday, we attended a brunch at Ombi on Elliston Place to honor Congressman Jim Cooper who was one of the first significant Democrats in Tennessee to support Barack Obama. My support for Obama was early, but I’m not a significant Democrat. My endorsement probably just influenced my husband.

Rep. Cooper was home sick, but his wife Martha Cooper accepted and spoke on his behalf. We brunched with Mrs. Cooper, as well as a former diplomat who resigned when Bush was re-elected, and our young friend Ben, who is a constant volunteer with the Tennessee Democratic Party. Nationally, Rep. Cooper will be advising President Obama on healthcare.

I enjoy attending the get-togethers, sponsored by Nashville Community Organizers, Organizing for America and the Tennessee Democratic Party. We need to get involved locally. Our state legislature in Tennessee is more concerned right now with giving gun owners the right to carry their loaded weapons into restaurants, bars and nightclubs than the high rate of unemployment in our state. Too many of our residents are malnourished and do not have health care.

The group will be volunteering in Murfreesboro over the next few days helping with the tornado clean up. This is a great way to spend a few hours in your community aiding those who have lost their homes and in some cases their loved ones.

From the Morning News

Although I heard this rumor previously, The Tennessean is reporting this morning on my congressman’s chance to be part of the Obama Administration. While I don’t agree with my congressional representative on every issue, I’d like to see him as part of the new administration. He is a good man.

But more bad news for small businesses in the area.