Irritated with the ODP and all these threats

Welcome to the next installment of "The Liberal Approach". Some very interesting things have been happening lately, here in Ohio, and around the country. I'm just going to get a few things out there, and let you share your opinions.

First of all, this past Wednesday, the Ohio Democratic Party decided to hand out a list of endorsements. While not many of them come as a total surprise, there is one that hits close to home that irks me. As many of you may already know, I am now interning with Sean Buchanan's campaign for the Ohio House of Representatives(68th District). Now this might seem a bit biased, but I assure you, had this situation turned out in the favor of my candidate, I would still be a little irked. Like I said, this past Wednesday, the ODP announced who they would be endorsing in several statewide races. They chose to stay out of the Senate race between Lt. Gov. Fisher and S.O.S Brunner; which I am happy about. But when it came to decide whether they would endorse in the 68th District State House race, the ODP decided to go forth with an endorsement of Kathleen Clyde. Now, in my opinion, this will not have a great impact on the race, but the mere fact that I work closely with Sean Buchanan, and have a friend working for Rick Hawksley, this irks because of a particular reason. I've been told by very reliable sources up until this point, that the Ohio Democratic Party was going to stay neutral in this race, from both Sean's people and Rick's people and from some who work with the ODP. I believe this risk alienating supporters of the other two candidates. Not that I don't think Clyde would make a great candidate, because she will if she wins the primary, but the mere fact that Buchanan was told on numerous occasions by those of the Democratic caucus, that there would be no endorsement of anyone until after the primary. Also, I believe this has a chance at making the ODP look bad if Buchanan or Hawksley win the primary. And personally, if I was either of them and they won, I'd be even more ticked off with the party. But like I've already said, I don't believe this will have a big impact on the voters of the 68th District. To quote Buchanan "It’s the voters of Portage County who get to decide.” And I could not agree more.

Next point I'd like to go to is the US Senate Democratic primary here in Ohio, between Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and S.O.S. Jennifer Brunner. In the past couple weeks, there has been lots of attention paid to this race(as there should). Its due largly to the fact that Fisher petitioned the ODP to endorse him in the race against Brunner. Now, I am a Lee Fisher supporter, although I believe Brunner would be a strong candidate as well. But I felt the Fisher campaign was wrong in trying to pursue this route. It would alienate Brunner voters, whom are largely made up of women to no surprise, and it would hurt Fisher's prospects of getting those supporters on his side in the fall, if he is indeed the nominee. The ODP made a right decision in this case, and that was to stay out of the race and let the Democratic voters of Ohio decide who their candidate would be in the general election. While I am a strong supporter of the ODP and will work closely with them on numerous things, I just don't see why they didn't stay out of both these races. They seem to have contradicted themselves in this situation, by the mere fact they said from the beginning that they were remaining neutral in both races, and then go on and endorse in one race and stick to their original stance in another.

Lets move beyond the state level now, and onto the national level. Within the past week since the healthcare bill passed, there have been many threats against both sides of the aisle; those who voted for the bill and those who voted against it. I would like to condemn both sides for their hostile words and hopefully all this rhetoric will die down soon. First of all, I will address those who are threatening the Democrats who supported the bill. I would just like these people to realize, that there is a reason why many Americans(including many who are against this healthcare bill) voted Democrats into office the past two election cycles. Every Democrat who voted for this type of healthcare overhaul, CAMPAIGNED on this type of reform, or at least something similar to it. If you actually did not know a particular Democrat was for this type of reform before voting for him or her, then I guess you should of done a little bit more research and became a little more informed on the policy beliefs of these individuals. To put it simply, you should not be surprised, you should be rejoicing that the Democrats actually got something done(you cannot really say that about the Republican Party). And to my fellow Democrats threatening and harrassing Republicans who voted against the bill, please don't stoop to the levels of those who are less informed. Nobody is going to want to vote for a Democrat if they see we are making and doing the same things the disgruntled Republicans normally do. Rise above the hate and rhetoric, and celebrate in this historic feat.


Well, thats all for this installment of "The Liberal Approach". Hope you enjoyed this. My next post will come within a couple days.


Mark Miller

P.S.- Encourage all your friends to read, comment, and follow this blog.

Its time for Rush to leave for Costa Rica!

In case you missed it, and I'm guessing you already know if your reading this blog, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3590(basically the healthcare bill from the Senate) and H.R. 4872(Reconciliation bill of changes to H.R. 3590), comprehensive healthcare reform legislation. Tonight is a victory for the Democratic party and its followers, but its also a victory for the entire nation. No longer will people be denied the basic fundamental right of healthcare coverage. No longer will the hardworking men and women of this nation go bankrupt because they can't afford insurance. No longer will 45,000 Americans die each year because of a lack of health insurance. I could go on and on, but you get the point, and surely understand the impact this legislation will have on our lives.

Now, its time for most important news, and something that is not being discussed by any of the news media outlets. When will Rush Limbaugh leave for Costa Rica? Now now, most of you will probably say the sooner the better. But I think he should take his time, that way, we can all throw him a going away party. Well, more of a "don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out" send off. Check out the petition below.

Sign this petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/seeyarush
OR one of the many other petitions as well.


Mark Miller

P.S- Thanks to those who came out this past weekend to support Sean Buchanan and his run for State Rep.

Pass the Bill! A message to the left and the right

As one can probably tell, this post is going to be about the heated debate going on throughout the country, and that is healthcare reform. It has been close to a year now since the healthcare debate began in Washington, and we are finally getting close to the final up or down vote, that will determine if healthcare reform passes or dies. Neither side will stop at nothing to either kill the bill or pass the bill, and frankly, the difference between the two sides is simple: one side is full of ill-informed people, lead by the fear and scare tactics of the Republican party and the other side is full of people who know whats at stake, know that healthcare reform is essential, and frankly, are much more well informed about the issues. Lets take a look at both sides of the story, and I'll explain why I feel that healthcare reform is needed now.

The people that make up the opposition to healthcare reform, are, lets be frank, mostly white males and females of the over 35 variety. Not many of these people are well educated, and I can bet a truckload of money that these people are loyal Fox News viewers or Rush Limbaugh listeners. These people do not understand what this bill will do for them. First of all, this bill is not a government takeover of the healthcare system. This is nowhere close to be anything that could be deemed "socialist", which if you were to ask these people what socialism, communism, or fascism is, they would probably draw a blank, and continue with their pathetic nonsense about how all three are the same thing. Next, with this bill, if you like your current health insurance plan and doctor, you can keep both, whereas the only thing that would change, would be that your premiums stay the same or are lowered. Secondly, this bill would stop the health insurance industry practice of dropping people from coverage when they get sick, which, I really hope would of happened to most of these just so they can see what its like to have to decide between paying for their daughters cancer treatment or the mortgage. Third, this bill bans the practice of denying people health insurance coverage due to a preexisting condition. What these people do not realize, is that the health insurance industry is against them, not for them. The poor is this country have medicaid, the rich can afford their insurance, but its the middle class that gets the knife in the back when it comes to health insurance coverage. Majority of the people who make up this opposition, do not realize that they too, are being ripped off. And my favorite argument against this bill is that it cuts vital Medicare benefits for seniors, who when they scream they don't want a government takeover of healthcare, obviously are blind to the fact that their coverage is a government run program. Oh, and the fact that the cuts that Medicare receives will not affect them one bit, its actually cuts in the Medicare Advantage program which has been a failure and most seniors lose money from anyway. Lastly, this bill doesn't add one dime to the national debt, it actually eliminates over a 1oo billion from the national debt in ten years time. Now these are just the few reasons for those who are against this bill because of false claims, and now its time to address the far left and their worries that this bill could be a sellout to the insurance industry.

Many on the far left of the political spectrum are also against this bill, but not for misinformed reasons, but because they believe the bill doesn't go far enough. I personally believe this bill does not go far enough, I am in favor of the public option. But those who are pushing for a Single Payer type program have to realize that changing the current system to a Single Payer would be a catastrophic move to make considering the very fragile state of our economy. I am glad to say that Rep. Dennis Kucinich(D-OH) now sees this and will be voting for the bill. My far left liberal friends, you must realize that this bill is a step in the right direction and will cover an extra 30 million people when its fully enacted. Now, it might be a hard one to swallow for the time being, but it is a necessary step, and one that is far better than the status quo. And when this bill passes, and all the parts of the bill go into action, then that is the time to start thinking about the future and perhaps moving towards a public option type system. I strongly urge all my liberal friends and idealogues, urge your Congressman to vote for this bill. Stick up for this bill. Stick up for the party that shares your basic values and principles. And most importantly, stand up for the millions of Americans out there right now who just need a little help.


My next post will hopefully come this Sunday, when the House of Representatives votes on the final version of the bill. Until then, keep fighting for healthcare reform!



Mark


P.S- I strongly encourage all of you to watch this video and see what is at stake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_PX5L_v_7I

Long time no see

I have not been on here for a very long time. Its mainly due to me being a busy college student. First of all, I was promoted to Political Director of the College Democrats early last fall. I have held the position since then, and think I've done quite well. With the help of the group and citizens of Portage County, all of the candidates campaigns we worked for in 2009 won, minus the Mayor of Kent race, where we lost by a coin toss.

This semester we are working even harder to make sure Ohio remains blue and continues the path to recovery set out by the Governor and the President. This semester we have had numerous statewide officials and candidates come speak at our meetings.

The 68th Ohio House District race is turning out to be grudge match(at least on the Democratic side). In one corner, we have Rick "Flip"Hawksley, who is a former Ex-Kent councilman and the man who lost on a coin toss for Mayor of Kent in the fall. Next we have the relatively unknown, but rather bright young up and coming mind in Kathleen Clyde, who has plenty of legislative experience working in Columbus and with current 68th seat holder, Kathleen Chandler. Last, but certainly not least, we have Sean Buchanan, who is a former President of the KSU College Democrats and recently resigned from his job as being one of US Congressman, Tim Ryan's, District Counsel. The KSU College Democrats as a whole, along with the rest of the Democratic party, have decided to stay neutral in this very competitive race. Myself, I am a supporter of Sean Buchanan, but would not be sad if the people of the 68th District chose Hawksley or Clyde. I am the leader of the Students for Buchanan group at KSU. If interested in getting involved with Sean's campaign, you can go to www.buchananforohio.com or join the Students and Supporters on facebook, just enter Students & Supporters of Sean Buchanan into google and it should be the first link on your screen.

In the near future, I will be discussing healthcare reform & hopefully the passage of a solid bill sometime soon. I will be updating at least a couple times a week; as time permits, and if I don't have time to write anything, I will try to post a video or picture or link to something of great importance. Future posts will also have a little more order to them than this one.

For now; enjoy the video of Glenn Beck attacking ME! Here's the link: http://beck.cnnbcvideo.com/?rc=fb.share&fv=b548203-jV4uFFx