46.3 Million Reasons for Health Care Reform

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of uninsured people living in the U.S. increased in 2008 to 46.3 million from 45.7 million in 2007. President Obama today notes a Treasury Department report showing that under the status quo, around half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years.

Breaking News on the Health Care Reform Debate

NPR's Special Series:Prescription for Change is an excellent source of news and information on this key public policy issue. There is no doubt in my mind that health care reform and health insurance reform is needed and needed now. If you are an family or individual with health care needs -- waiting for a better political environment is not an option. Providing health care for all of our fellow citizens is a long overdue obligation and moral imperative.

Details on the Plans
The Kaiser Family Foundation also has a Side-by-Side Comparison of Major Health Care Reform Proposals that may help you better understand the details of the debate

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Recovery Act Signed -- Middle Class Relief Next

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act today setting the course for the long journey to economic recovery. President Obama said this legislation represents only the first part of the broad strategy we need to address our economic crisis. Every recognizes the need to stabilize, repair, and reform the banking system, get credit flowing again, halt the wave of foreclosures and falling home values and usher in an era of corporate and personal responsibility. However I stand resolute on the fundamental need to address the systemic economic inequalities in our system that has led to the greatest disparity in wealth that this country has seen. And this is the greatest economic threat to the middle class.

As one simple example of the inequity you can look at CEO pay. According to the Economic Policy Institute in 1965, U.S. CEOs in major companies earned 24 times more than a typical worker; this ratio grew to 35 in 1978 and to 71 in 1989. The ratio surged in the 1990s and hit 298 at the end of the recovery in 2000. The fall in the stock market reduced CEO stock-related pay (e.g., options), causing CEO pay to tumble to 143 times that of the average worker in 2002. Since then, however, CEO pay has recovered and by 2007 was 275 times that of the typical worker. In other words, in 2007 a CEO earned more in one workday than the typical worker earned all year.

Another way to look at this is to examine wealth inequality. This wealth gap continues to grow larger over time. EPI says the richest 1 percent of wealth holders had 125 times the wealth of the typical household in 1962; by 2004 they had 190 times as much. These conditions are at the heart of what ails the middle class and their borrowing binge. When you're working harder and harder to just break even, then it is time to examine the rules of the game. Hopefully Vice President Biden's White House Council on the Task Force on the Middle Class will take a serious look at this problem as seek to solve our nation's economic woes.

Remember to visit www.recovery.gov for the latest progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Obama to Sign Stimulus Plan

President Obama announces Recovery.gov where you can monitor how the money is being spent. Everyone will also be watching to see if the plan saves or creates more than 3.5 million jobs.

Economic Worries Call for Bi-Partisan Approach

According to Gallup Poll Daily tracking, Americans, on average are currently spending 40 percent less in stores, restaurants, gas stations, or online as compared to the same period a year ago. Gallup says consumer confidence remains low as nearly a quarter of working Americans are worried facing cut backs in wages and hours. A Pew Center poll finds 80 percent of people that say jobs are difficult to find in their local communities. And things are likely to get worse. President Obama has said that the stimulus plan will have only a marginal impact in the short term. Now even more affluent families are feeling the pinch and they have become much more pessimistic . The survey finds that only about a third of those with family incomes of $100,000 a year or more say they expect national economic conditions to be better a year from now. That is down 22 points from 56 percent in early October 2008. These statistics point to the need for big bold action. While I support the plan going to the president's desk, I think more is needed to address this problem. In addition to addressing our issues at home we must be mindful of how other countries are responding to this global economic crisis. To succeed, we'll need to work more cooperatively with countries around the world than what was displayed in the halls of Congress this past week. We need to remind Congress that this is not the time for partisan gamesmanship.

Do You Support the Stimulus Plan?

Take my LinkedIn Poll and see the results of how others view the stimulus plan.

Now that the Senate has agreed to a nearly $830 billion economic stimulus plan, they will have to hammer out differences with the House. The two houses have taken different approaches to the stimulus. There are many good things in both bills that will stimulate public and private spending. The House and Senate differ on how much help should go to states and local governments, the degree of emphasis on tax cuts and assistance to the unemployed. The House Republicans voted against the plan and the Senate Republicans have not been on board. But despite the bitter fighting, a bill is expected to be sent President Obama by mid-February.

Listen to the President's weekly address:

Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan

In his first weekly address since being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States, President Barack Obama discussed how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan will jump-start the economy.



Read more about the plan at http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/economy/

President Obama Sworn In: We are ready to lead once more

On January 20, 2009 President Barack Obama was sworn in as 44th President of the United States and delivered his Inaugural Address.



The speech hit all of the right buttons and set a very serious and somber tone for what will continue to be a very difficult time in America. Looking back to the speeches of Roosevelt, Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton -- modern presidents who came into office facing difficult times -- the speech was very workmanlike and you saw echoes of his predecessors. However, the biggest similarity I noted among these speeches was the confidence displayed in getting America on track. Going back to the Clinton speech you are struck by how he "owned" the stage. His stage presence brought life to his words as he promised an end to gridlock and a season of renewal. You can watch many of the inaugural speeches on C-SPAN.org.

President Obama's headline was "we are ready to lead once more..." He answered Reagan in the line "The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified..."

He was FDR-like with "Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this America: They will be met..."

He channeled JFK answering the cold war's foreign policy challenge with "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy..."

And on the domestic scene you have this phrase that is Kennedy-like, "We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do..."

There were shades of Clinton with "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character than giving our all to a difficult task..."

However he also harkened back to the lofty rhetoric of campaign with " On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We remain a young nation. But in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness..."

He also set his on foreign policy doctrine with " To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist..."

All in all a very good speech that has the potential, like Kennedy's, to become more highly regarded over time.