*************URGENT ACTION NEEDED NOW!!! ******************

[bobbolink]

I was assured that the Edwardians here were very concerned about poverty issues, and wanted to do everything they can to turn things around for poor folk.

Well, here is something simple to do, and to pass on to others.

Will you take the time?

Letter urging Congressional Leaders to enact and extend moratoria on Medicaid regulations
Deadline Extended: Tuesday, February 19 by COB

View letter: http://www.chn.org/pdf/2008/medicaidregsletter.pdf
Sign only if you are authorized to represent a national organization.
To sign email Allison Orris at [e-mail]

Letter Overview: The Administration has issued a number of regulations over the last year and proposes more in its FY 2009 budget that will force states to make significant changes to Medicaid and will cause significant harm to children, seniors and people with disabilities. The letter urges Congress to enact and extend legislative moratoria to prevent these harmful regulations from taking effect. For more information about regulatory restrictions to Medicaid by the Bush Administration see: http://www.kff.org/medicaid/upload/7739.pdf.



Letter urging Congress to support a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill.

View letter text and list of organizations already signed on at: http://frac.org/pdf/NutritionTitleSign-OnLetter.pdf.

Sign only if you are authorized to represent a national, state or local organization.
To sign email Etienne Melcher at [e-mail] or Eleanor Thompson at [e-mail]

Letter Overview: As Farm Bill negotiations continue to heat up in the House and Senate we urge anti-hunger allies at the national, state and local level to sign on to a joint letter in support of a strong nutrition title in the Farm Bill.

THANKS!

Toll-Free Numbers:
TOLL FREE:
these are TOLL FREE numbers to the capitol hill switchboard
1 [phone]
1 ( 800) 459-1887
1 [phone]
1 [phone]
1 [phone]
1 [phone]
1-[phone]

[saracat]

1. I will call but I can't sign because Idon't "represent' a national organization.

[bobbolink]

2. Please pass it on to those who DO represent such organizations!

And thanks for calling.

Oh, and maybe your secret club would be willing to take action, too.

Or not.

[saracat]

3. Bobbi, You can post there and there is also another Edwards blog mentioned on this Forum

where it could go.

[bobbolink]

4. YEah, I can post lots of places and get ignored.

I"ll stick with DU, cuz at least SOME respond here... and I don't get hypocritical crap about how they really DID respond, or some such.

Oh, and I just LUV being called mentally ill by the righteous ones. Where are they, by the way? I thought they were ever so supportive of poverty issues?

[saracat]

5. They are in lots of places doing lots of different things. There is more than one

way to Rome. It might not be my way or yours but different people approach matters differently. It is just Like John and Elizabeth having a big house but making poverty their cause. Some say they should "live poor" as well in order not to be hypocritical. I do not agree. They do a lot just as they are.Again, different strokes I wouldn't necessarily think I was being "ignored" if I didn't get a lot of post response. many times I read stuff, act and don't post. Just the act of posting sometimes gets more attention than you think. I forwarded your post to my LD. If I think of others I will do so.

[bobbolink]

6. same old, same old. When everyone is greeted with friendliness,

and YOU get emails saying there is a response to you, but they are talking right past you, it HURTS. Whether you want to admit it or not. So, I'm really tired of that junk.... just say the truth, and be done with it, instead of this crap.

As for "everyone has their own way".... another piece of junk. I was promised over and over and over just how much people wanted to help. All I had to do was post some of my story, and people would post ideas of how to best fight some of the issues facing homeless people. So, I painfully (yes, it was PAINFUL!) wrote my story, and ..... very few responses, and it went NOWHERE.

So, again, just be honest... this isn't a concern with the DU Edwardians... they are much more concerned with having their mutual stroking society, and leaving out those who actually NEED TO DO SOMETHING. Just be honest about it, and stop putting it on the shoulders of those who are hurting.

Oh, and you noticed how many Edwardians here actually responded to the thread on homelessness posted here by another Edwardian? It showed CLEARLY the lack of interest.

Just be honest about it. And stop laying it on me, like I'm some kind of idiot. I'm just the group outcast, because none of you actually want to be bothered... you just want to play the part and sound good.

[balantz]

7. Bobby,

Me and my son are pretty near homeless right now. Thankfully I am able to work for my rent. I spent ten years shooting up poison and living in washes, abandoned houses, peoples' floors, and often eating out of dumpsters and at soup kitchens. Just a few years ago I washed up on this shore where I am learning to live. Sadly I am a semi-skilled laborer who hasn't had a steady job for over a decade. At 46 it is hard to get good work with a resume like that. There is no federal retraining aid that I am aware of. I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do. This computer is borrowed. But having said all that to let you know I am not a middle-classed haughty person, I must say that I have a hard time answering your posts when they are so filled with bitter emotions. I would guess that most people on the Edwards list, here or elsewhere, are good people. There is an overwhelming amount of work that needs to be done for poor people that I think most Edwards people are willing to do on one level or another. It is hard for those who do not have such mean experiences to actually know what it is like. How can they relate? I would guess though that some of them are willing to help in their own small ways. Everyone is different. I don't think it is fair to them, or to us, to lump them all into some kind of high-society group. I hope we can find ways to communicate and work together, and have some patience and understanding about the fact that each one of us has a different experience of life. Hardship comes in many flavors.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. I'm giving you a hug, balantz...

"Hardship comes in many flavors." Such wise words.

:hug:

And, bobbolink, here's a hug for you, too. I hope you will acccept it. :hug:

[balantz]

25. Thanks for the hug!

Hugs are grand!

[saracat]

11. "Hardship comes in many flavors" Wise words indeed.

Hugs all around:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[bobbolink]

12. dismiss me however you want. I was promised support, and then

abandoned, and it hurt.

If you don't like hearing that, feel free to put me on ignore.

[balantz]

17. Maybe you could please remind me how I promised to support you

and then abandoned you, and hurt you? I don't recall what it is I did, or didn't do.

And how is it that I dismissed you?

I have made it a practice thus far at DU to put no one on ignore. I wouldn't want to miss anything.

[bobbolink]

19. They know who they are, and what they did. They KNOW they hurt me, but it doesn't matter.

If you don't want to put me on ignore, then DEAL with what I say, instead of trying to put me down.

Or... maybe you're one of those who come to DU because you like to diss people...?

[balantz]

20. I see.

Thanks for the information Bobby.

:hi:

[OneGrassRoot]

8. You've created this image in your own mind of you being the outcast...

ignored...everything else you've labeled yourself. No one has done that but you at these forums.

You're pissed at the world - and it seems like you have every right to be - yet most of us have come to feel we just can't win with you. You attack us no matter what we do or say. I don't know what to do or post in one of your threads that wouldn't result in an attack that I'm being a hypocrite or "laying it on you like you're some kind of idiot." Action items like this I wish I could do more than make a call (which I did); like Saracat said, if we don't represent a national organization, we can't do this particular thing.

And if you don't see the results you want from every action item ASAP, you seem to blame the people at the forum for not doing what you asked.

You label most of the people here as liberal elite and such, but most Edwards supporters couldn't be further from that label.

Sorry we haven't lived up to your expectations.

[bobbolink]

13. the friends I thought I had here left for their own private club.

If I was as bad as you say I am, why would I have this many hearts?

HMMMMM??????

When people say they care and are going to do something, then I believe them. Or, I guess that's just me having "expectations", eh?

Yeah, it hurt.

Clearly that doesn't matter.

You're welcome to walk in my shoes, and discover just how hurtful it is, or you can look down your nose and sneer.

Put me on ignore.

You'll be happier.

[OneGrassRoot]

21. All I can say is you are beloved, and I'm glad you realize that...

given all your hearts. It's very good you realize that. :)

Good luck in all you do.

[saracat]

9. I am sorry you feel that way. I have never thought of you as an idiot.

I can assure you I am not playing any part or appearing to be "good' Right now all i can do is work on my husband's campaign and hopefully do some good in my corner of the world. I forward and post issues as I can when I am made aware through posts such as yours.

[bobbolink]

14. Then don't talk down to me.

I get so tired of the same old DU dismissals.

They're so predictable.

Thank you for passing things on. You notice how few are willing to do that. They could use this whole thread to take ACTION on a very important issue, but the same as the previous thread on homelessness, it just doesn't rate.

Good luck on your husbands campaign.

I do notice you posting a lot, though, so.......

[saracat]

16. Thanks. Right now I am on the net a lot working on net stuff. So Icheck in.

I also am an insomniac so I post a lot late at night.

[dajoki]

28. Yes, Bobbie, you nailed it again...

I am so sick and tired of being talked at, talked down to and being patronized, that I would rather just be ignored. I have said many times that SOME people who call themselves "progressive" or "liberal" just look down their noses at us poor folk and don't give us an ounce of respect, like we are something less than human.

I never, and I know you don't either, expect much in the way of help, the CAUSE is bigger than us. But is it too much to ask to be treated like a walking, breathing HUMAN BEING? I don't think that is asking too much. I have come to the realization, with your help, that we only have each other, and to me that is much more important than these people who pretend to care or even do care only only so they can feel good about themselves.

And I want to make this clear, I am NOT talking about everybody, there ARE many people around who really do attempt to take action, but it is hard for them because this issue is so shameful to us as a nation that those in power try to keep us in our place and downplay poverty to the point of sweeping us under the rug, like we don't exist or that the problem isn't as bad as WE KNOW it is. But until they have walked in our shoes, they will NEVER get it.:shrug: :hug:

[bobbolink]

30. Nailing it, and understanding what is REALLY being said, and what is REALLY happening

make people very uncomfortable.... you are disturbing their comfy denial.

So, be careful, dear dajoki, or you'll be called...

MENTALLY ILL!!

:rofl:

:yourock: :hug: :yourock:

[Two Americas]

31. that is the key thing

"I am so sick and tired of being talked at, talked down to and being patronized."

Exactly. I think people are oblivious to doing this. They think that if they are "nice" and "caring" that they therefore could not be possibly doing anything wrong, or that if they have been poor they therefore "understand." It is a matter of attitude, not of dollars. Being nice and caring are patronizing and condescending.

Poverty and homelessness are not some "cause" to put on the to-do list liberals keep. I have heard all sorts of criticism about the way this is discussed - "you aren't going to win anyone over to your cause by being that way." WTF? What sort of person needs to be won over to the cause?

Clearly, once a person admits they are in trouble or homeless, they lose all right to be treated as an equal or even to be heard. They become an object of pity and charity - as though the problem of poverty in this country would be remedied by fixing the poor people - and they are discussed rather than what they are saying.

What is wrong with this country is the way that the wealthy act, the way we define "winners" and the "winner" attitudes that so many people take, and the way that so many self-described progressives and liberals embrace the attitudes of the wealthy and favor them while looking down their noses at the less fortunate. There is nothing wrong with the poor people, and trying to fix them as though they were the problem is why poverty persists and why liberalism fails.

[dajoki]

32. Very well said...

You ALWAYS seem to be able to speak so eloquently, and I thank you for that. We need more people to be able to do the same as there is such passion in this subject that some people get caught up in the emotion, so eager to criticize that they don't realize or don't care about the hurt they can cause. Please keep it up, it is appreciated. Thank you Two Americas.

[Two Americas]

33. you are very generous

You are very generous and courageous.

What people do not want to face is that it is not the "right choices" that lead to success, it is the wrong choices. It is not the wrong choices that lead to suffering and poverty, it is the right choices. We are living in an upside-down world in modern America. Our generous and noble and self-sacrificing impulses are punished, and our selfish and greedy impulses are rewarded.

Some have never known poverty. I had a partner once who grew up in a wealthy family, all the best schools, then a good college and right into the corporate world with a starting salary of $70,000. He never had to scramble, never had to fend for himself. He cannot understand why anyone would not have a roof over their head, or food on the table. He was a good boy, followed all the rules, made all of the clever choices. Anyone who is suffering must not have done the right things, in his thinking. He would never do anything that would put himself at risk, no matter the cause, no matter the stakes, with no regard for principles. He can't conceive of anyone caring about anything that is not clever and self-serving. To him, that seems stupid.

Others have had brushes with poverty, but to climb out of it they paid a heavy spiritual price. Any and all help available comes with a price tag. One must fully accept the notion that their old impoverished self was bad, or inferior, or defective, and one must agree that the solution to the problem of poverty must be seen as "making better choices" or "facing reality." The problem then, is with the impoverished person, not with the conditions that caused their suffering. To get out of this condition, one must become a "winner" with the attitudes and lifestyle of a "winner."

But poverty is being caused by the "winners" - the the attitudes and assumptions that we associate with the winners in society. One becomes a winner to the degree that one is willing to be a bully, and we reward and admire people according to how much of a bully they are. There is nothing wrong with the poor people that needs fixing, there is something wrong with the winners; there is something wrong with how we define winners.

So those who were once poor can be the least compassionate toward those who are poor. They have embraced the modern idea of being a winner.

If the price for escaping poverty is to harden oneself, to give up a part of oneself as "unrealistic," to bully oneself and then to bully others - "all they need is a kick in the ass! That is what worked for me!" - then we become part of the problem and the cycle is perpetuated.

But it is not about us, if life is to have any value and meaning at all. It isn't about us when we are desperate, and it isn't about us when we are thriving or successful. If it is all about us, we are insuring that others will suffer.

We are bombarded constantly with the message that our own desperation and need and poverty are a result of our own faulty thinking. We aren't "thinking like winners," we are told, we aren't emulating and admiring the predatory and domineering and selfish among us. we are not imitating the "habits of the successful."

But it is not the thinking of the desperate and the poor that is causing poverty and suffering, it is the thinking of the "winners" that is causing poverty and suffering.

That is what people do not want to face. The modern "winner" ethic is like a drug, and people are addicted to it. They react like addicts being deprived of their fix when you challenge this winner ethic.

[balantz]

34. I see nothing wrong with poverty in itself. But it should be brought up to lower middle-class levels

I live in poverty. But poverty needs to be brought up to a place of easy-breathing so it is not just a struggle for survival with no hope of relief.

Minimum wage needs to be increased at least double-fold.

An Edwards health care system needs to be set in stone.

Public education must be pumped up and expanded.

Innovation for new jobs should be a priority.

And homelessness needs a big federal focus.

What am I missing here?

[Two Americas]

35. absolutely balantz

Yes, yes. I agree with you. We need to go even further than those patch-up solutions, and aggressively attack the wealth and power imblanace in the country that is causing poverty and destroying democracy. That is what politics has always ben about - power and economics. The left has always gone to the root cause, and seen the accumulation of massive wealth and the behavior of those doing that as the problem, not the behavior of the poor and left behind.

You are talking about alleviating the conditions - fixing social problems, and that can lead to poliical solutions. That is good. That is very different than fixing the poor people themselves. Alleviating the conditions will require sacrifice from those who are more fortunate. Achieving that requires us to change our attitudes so that we are not inadvertently working against that by reinforcing the premises and assumptions that defend the greedy and blame the less fortunate.

[balantz]

36. What I should have said is poverty sucks.

But if the burden of poverty is greatly lessened and the many of us living under the poverty line are able to have our needs fairly met so we can breathe and focus on options to bringing ourselves out of poverty, then I could say that "poverty" is okay. Then poverty would be just a lower rung of middle class, sort of what I experienced in the 60's and 70's when growing up in a lower middle-class family. Often times we were near poverty, but living was relatively easy. The gap between rich and poor was less.

[Two Americas]

37. yes

Yes, poverty sucks. But when millions were in poverty before, in the 30's, something was different. "Man does not live by bread alone."

Worse than poverty is the way people are treated when they are in poverty. In the 30's people were not forced to blame themselves, were not treated as though they were mentally ill or defective, were not punished for being poor, were not patronized under the guise of being "helped," did not need to carry the additional emotional burden of being seen as a "loser" or morally deficient in some way. People could band together for mutual defense and support, people could organize for effective political action. Today, each person is seen as an individual that needs to be fixed. Only the defective person would fail to prosper, and with a little "help" they too should be able to have that white picket fence and corporate job - in other words, there is nothing wrong with the system, there is something wrong with you as a desperate and poor person. Of course, if you don't submit to the help and behave the way we think nice doggies should behave when we are only trying to help them, well then you have no one to blame but yourself and we wash our hands of your problems.

[balantz]

38. We must also remember that in the 1930's

the population was much smaller, many still lived rural and could eek out a living by their skills passed down from forever. Growing gardens and raising chickens was common-place. Electricity was a new thing when many of those people were born. And so on.

When the shit hits the fan here it will not be comparable to the 1930's at all. From the hints I am seeing there will be a whole lot of poor folk in the near future. Can you imagine the crying and gnashing of teeth? The bewilderment? The confusion? If this is going to happen you know the powers that be have seen it coming. If they are not in the business of helping us after completely robbing us, then what do they have in store for us?

We need major reform NOW!

[dajoki]

39. Only stating the obvious...

Once again, in your response your statements need nothing added or changed. You have hit the nail on the head as usual. Thanks again, your words are very much appreciated!!

[bobbolink]

41. "Any and all help available comes with a price tag."

Exactly right.

I just spoke with a woman last night whose abusive husband recently left her. (good riddance...?? He took up with her best friend) She went to a shelter with her two young kids, and they had her so mixed up that she doesn't even know who she is anymore. :( She is VERY down on herself, and asked, no, *pleaded* with me to please come back and see her tonight, because she is so starved for a pleasant word. She is hurting so much, and rather than let her have some time to catch her breath, when she lost both a husband and a best friend, and the father of her kids (he isn't paying any support), they jumped on her and pushed her and left her feeling worthless. NOt a very good place from which to raise children.

The price tag that was levied on me was also high.... I'm now ready to tell the people who were "helping" me that they were right...I'm indeed so worthless and useless and ...just plain an awful human being, that I clearly don't deserve to take up room and oxygen on this planet.

[bobbolink]

15. Now, would you all like to take action on this important issue?

[balantz]

18. Okay, I'll call, since I can't write. I will ask to use the phone.

Perhaps you would be interested in taking action with this: http://www.nlchp.org/news.cfm?id=1

[saracat]

22. That should be post on GDP too!

[balantz]

24. Oops! you said GDP.

I put in GD. I guess that will be okay there, no?

[saracat]

26. Yes. Oops! I meant GD!

[balantz]

27. I must have thought that's what you wrote.

It surely would have gotten more quickly swallowed in that other dragon's mouth.

[pamela]

23. Thanks for this info.

I'm going to have to put my congresscritters on speed dial soon. :hi:

Thanks for the work that you do. Your voice here is so valuable and I have learned a lot from you.

[ChiciB1]

29. I'll Call... But I Don't Represent A National Organization. I'm Barely A

member of the Democratic Party anymore. I'm still with Code Pink though!

[bobbolink]

40. Thanks for calling! It always helps to keep reminding our Reps!

Have you bugged Code Pink about this? They ARE a nat'l organization, and it would do them good to respond to this. "If you want peace, work for justice."

And, pass it on to others, please, and also others who are members of national organizations.

But........first of all, thanks for calling. If all DUers would, it would make a huge difference!

:hi: :hug: :hi:

[ChiciB1]

42. No... Haven't Talked To Code Pink... Will Try... Sorry For The Late

reply. Comcast said I didn't have an IP Server on and off yesterday!! Weird, only had this account for 5 years!!

They're "watching" me!! I don't know!!!Right back at ya!! :hug:

[bobbolink]

43. PPPpfffhhhhttttt! On Comcast! (I'm not in a corporate-charitable mood right now...) ^_^

Thanks for being willing to talk with Code Pink! That means a lot to me.

(sidebar) I've pretty much given up on ANY issue except poverty, which is a completely different direction from the rest of my life, when I rallied and marched and protested for ALL issues.

But, since now other groups don't consider me important, and my pain is discounted and dismissed and just plain DISSED, I have thrown in the towel. I'm willing to be they will tell you it isn't a concern of theirs, so I suggest being ready for that and speaking up.

Again, I appreciate you talking to them!

:hug:

edited to say: My "isp" wasn't working yesterday, either. The library is closed on holidays. How DARE they! :)