There are some of us who can't afford to live on "hope"

[jlake]

There are those barely getting by who need to KNOW what things are going to change.
HOW they are going to change. How Programs are FUNDED.
Words are nice and inspirational - but alone, they are worthless.

And I would like to remind everyone that despite Obama's WORDS of support and inclusion of GLBT Americans, his ACTIONS
Tell a different story.

What other oratory will NOT translate into positive, progressive action?

And calling me cynical doesn't help your case - people are cynical for a reason: Broken Promises.

[DGoldman1212]

1. Hmmm

So thats why Hillary only wants to remove part 3 of Bill Clinton's famed "DOMA" and Barack wants to remove the whole thing because it SHOULD be removed??

[jlake]

2. Those are his WORDS - from his actions, I don't believe Obama.

[DGoldman1212]

3. And those are her words.

And if they are true...its not enough! Repeal the whole thing.

[Avalux]

4. There are some of us who can't live without hope.

When I was a homeless single mother with three young children, hope was all I had. Hope that if I tried, if I worked hard, things would get better.

[Barack_America]

8. Exactly true.

And a very powerful story. I hope that your hard work and hope did carry you through.

[Avalux]

20. Yes it did. I have been through hell and am finally in a good place.

:hi:

[jlake]

10. I'm sorry. Did you just hope - or did you take action?

[Avalux]

17. I took action too; but that is the point.

I never would have been able to get up every day when it was so hard to do so if I didn't have hope - if I didn't believe things would change and get better for me. Obama's words echo the internal 'speeches' I gave myself when I was at my lowest. I hope that doesn't sound too corny, but it's true.

[jlake]

22. I am not saying that hope is bad. My point is you cannot operate on hope alone.

Obama wants me to have faith and hope -- I need to know he will take action.
I am glad that he speaks to you -- but it rings hollow to me.

[Avalux]

24. He will take action. It's a dual message. You just need to listen closer. n/t

[jlake]

27. I have listened - there is nothing there.

I don't agree with his policies and he offers me less than Any of the other candidates did.
Whenever I take the "online candidate matching tests" Obama is at the bottom - just above the Republicans.
It is not my imagination - he is not right for me.

[Avalux]

37. I am sorry you feel that way.

Maybe you'll change your mind; maybe not. Best of luck to you. :hi:

[emilyg]

65. He's not right for me either.

[jlake]

72. I just don't know what to do.

It really looks like he's going to win this thing.
I don't think I can vote for him in the GE ....
Praying for a miracle.

[jkshaw]

60. That's exactly what Obama was saying tonight!

That you can't operate on hope alone, that change will be hard, it will be a lot of work. He has NEVER said that all we need is hope. Listen to what he says. Read his platform on his page. Don't just repeat things you've heard other people say.

[jlake]

63. But there was NOTHING specific.

Don't you see that those are platitudes.
Hope Hard work.... Change.... HOW IS HE GOING TO ACHIEVE IT?

[Skidmore]

83. Maybe you should read what his plans are first.

He really is calling on us to take hopeful and active steps into the future to resolve problems and rebuild the nation. Now the way I look at it is that people can sit at the sidelines and whine while they wait for the political machine to crank out the same-old same-old or they can join in and work together with this man. No politician can do it alone, as no person can. The machine will whirr away and create more rhetoric for rhetoric's sake as a ploy to maintain the status quo. It serves the machine to have the nation divided. I choose a different course. I choose to hope and to work with Barack Obama and my fellow citizens for a meaningful change and future.

[jlake]

96. I Can't trust someone who gives the stage to McClurkin.

What Obama says is of little importance - his actions show that he does not value me, nor his word.

[Skidmore]

98. So you've made up your mind. Enough said.

Since exploring his positions further is not of interest to you or perhaps contacting him and asking him about this either, you would prefer to stand in one place and do nothing?

[Barack_America]

19. Did you read the post?

Did you miss that bit about "hard work"?

Are you trying to tell me that there hasn't been a time when the only thing keeping you going was hope?

If not, you've led a seriously charmed life.

[jlake]

29. That was my point - it took more than hope to solve the problem.

[Barack_America]

32. Exactly as Obama points out in his speeches.

We will all be expected to work to make these "hopes" a reality.

[jlake]

42. Work doing what, how?

[Barack_America]

53. Being involved in government and policy decisions...

Giving back via volunteering if we expect assistance from the government.

That sort of thing.

[jlake]

55. How is that going to happen? I have not seen any funded programs or policy positions

to make these possible.

[Hailtothechimp]

5. And there are those who have never experienced "hope" before

And it feels pretty damn good.

Get Bush out, get Obama in, and everything will be soooooooooooooooo much better than it's been before.

[peoli]

6. I am sorry your canidate is losing.

[jlake]

9. My real candidate dropped out in January - but thanks.

[VotesForWomen]

102. quick! get on the bandwagon! nt

[Radical Activist]

7. No change happens without hope.

Its step one. If you start from a position of cynicism and despair then nothing will get done at all.

[Barack_America]

Exactly. Hope is the fuel of true change. n/t

[jlake]

Who is starting from a position of cynicism and despair?

I just don't want to go on Hope alone.

[Radical Activist]

41. That's fine.

And by actions regarding the GLBT community I would guess you mean sponsoring the bill that added sexual orientation to the Illinois human rights code, thus offering many civil rights protections.

[emilyg]

66. No change happens without action.

[thunder rising]

11. What? You looking for a grant or other crony handout?

[Hill_YesWeWill]

12. There are some of us who can't afford to have our wages garnished nt

[jlake]

18. That is a Republican talking point.

[Hill_YesWeWill]

21. No, no, that's my husband's real beef with Clinton nt

[jlake]

25. If you cannot afford it, chances are you would not have to pay.

If we want universal healthcare, everyone able has to pay their share.

[Hill_YesWeWill]

33. I'm not sure i agree with what you said, completely, but

I do think Universal Healthcare is important and I think Obama can make it happen!

[jlake]

38. Obama does not plan on making universal healthcare happen, so why do you

think he'll change his mind?

[Hill_YesWeWill]

43. because he'll make it cheap enough that everyone who needs it and wants it will have it

He'll do everything Hillary will but he won't mandate it and he won't give the insurance companies a free ride

[jlake]

45. That is not by definition universal healthcare though.

Not to mention the fact that it is not true.

[Hill_YesWeWill]

56. Oops, I posted my reply to OzarkDem! nt

[OzarkDem]

50. But it won't last

Obama's plan is designed with an inherent flaw - the lack of universal coverage - that will doom it to failure within a year or so. Large numbers of uninsured people cause all health care and health insurance costs to rise. He knows this, but sells it anyway.

[Hill_YesWeWill]

I don't know, I just don't agree, But I respect your opinion,

you seem really informed on this. Perhaps if he wins the nomination then Clinton would be able to advise him on healthcare? I'm sure he'll want to do what's best.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

35. I have yet to hear any clarification of how that will be determined with these mandates

What I know now is that in my state, Arizona, if I make $850 a month, I do not qualify for state health aid. I'm sure there will be some subsidies, and income caps will be raised, but to what level?

[OzarkDem]

47. Clinton's plan expands Medicaid

to include higher income people and adults w/o children. If you're earning $850 a month, you will be enrolled in Medicaid, period. You won't have to pay anything.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

59. Up to what income level?

There are people in MA right now who are paying the fines rather than the mandated insurance premiums because the fines are cheaper. Only 7% of the people signing up for MittCare are paying the full premium, the rest are subsidized. Why is that? How many people have been deemed "able to afford" the full cost, or a good portion of it, but aren't complying?

This is important to me. I'm a single, childless, self-employed person in good health. The only individual health policy I can afford is a bullshit high-deductible plan with a high premium. It doesn't cover dental, vision, or mammograms, among other things.

And the mandated premium, how is it going to be extracted from me? Will it be a set monthly amount, or will it be indexed to my (fluctuating) income? I've got enough fixed expenses as it is. If I have a slow month, will I be penalized for not paying my monthly mandate? Because I'm going to pay my rent and utilities before I hand over my hard-earned money to some damn bloated health insurance company that's probably going to deny my claim anyway.

[OzarkDem]

64. I don't think it says specifically

probably depends on what they can get through Congress. It also depends on states, who have to pick up part of the tab. Based on support for raising eligibility of SCHIP, though IMHO 200 - 250% of FPL is possible.

Federal Poverty Guidelines 2008

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/08poverty.shtml

[Jed Dilligan]

89. How intrusive will her government have to be to decide what we can

"afford"?

Does mandatory health insurance come with mandatory testing for drugs, alcohol, and tobacco?

I don't trust her enough to accept a mandate from her--call me "rightwing" all you want, but I think America-at-large agrees with me.

I want my healthcare to be "free" the way the Iraq War was "free." A country that can spend 800 million a week at will does not need my premium payment, it needs to reconfigure its priorities in a big way.

[jlake]

93. Those Evil LIBRULS!!!1!!!! GET OUT OF MY POCKET!!!11111

[Jed Dilligan]

94. Welcome to my ignore list. You are only #2!

[jlake]

95. LALALALALALA I can't hear the truth. Can I have another Kool Aid?

[Exultant Democracy]

13. Then you should know how f-ed you would be if you got another Republican POTUS, Obama can win the GE

Hillary can't.

[jlake]

14. I will bet you anything that Obama gets crushed in the GE

As soon as he clinches the nomination the MSM will turn on him.

[Exultant Democracy]

52. I'm sure you would have bet me in December that Obama would be done early feb.

You don't seem to know a winner when you see one.

[jlake]

57. No, I wouldn't have made that bet.

But is NOT a FUCKING Game where I want to pick a "Winner"
I pick the best candidate and stick by them.
I am not jumping on a bandwagon because it is "winning" or "popular"

[KittyWampus]

15. you are a broken record. Obama has policies. We tell you them. You ignore us.

[jlake]

40. The point is - he has already let me down, so I cannot trust his word.

Think about it as a larger red flag.... he claims to support the GLBT community, but uses McClurkin and others when it suits him
.... apply that to other issues that mean something to you.

[Bread and Circus]

16. There's a little thing called reading. link inside!

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

catch the fever!

[jlake]

31. But he has shown me that he is full of shit. So I take that all with a giant grain of salt.

[adapa]

39. O lowers my healthcare premiums by $2500 but they go up by $2500 every year

how's that long lasting help? That's at best a band-aid

cost saving by making americans healthier--riiiight,

[NMMNG]

23. rAmen

Hope in one hand, shit in the other. See which hand fills up first.

You can HOPE for CHANGE all you want. It's not going to do a damn thing. You have to work for it. I've been working since age 14 and haven't accomplished a damn thing through hope (not that I don't have hope or know how to do it). Sorry, but a campaign based on ephemeral things like hope and charisma doesn't do it for me. Of course that's not Obama's only shortcoming, but his pie in the sky, empty suit problem is one of the many reasons I'm not voting for him.

[Barack_America]

26. "rAmen" as in noodles?

Yummy!

[jlake]

48. Exactly. Said much better than my OP.

I am just struggling to hold to my hope - because it looks like we are heading to a very dark place.

[NMMNG]

58. Never give up hope

Although it does look rather bleak right now.

If things go other than hoped the SO and I will just channel the efforts we'd been putting into politics into other things.

:hi:

[anamandujano]

68. We are already there, with so many buying his crock.

I'm starting to feel the way I did when W was emerging.

[jlake]

70. Yeah. I think I am going to have to put politics aside and

focus on what I can do for people I know and love.
I cannot believe that so many people are swept up this kind of thing.
It scares the shit out of me... it's this "movement" that no one even knows the purpose of...
Why do these people all assume it is for GOOD?

[anamandujano]

76. I wish I had an answer. I think some project their own hopes and

good will on his empty screen.

We don't need Tweety anymore to tell us that we are voting on who we'd like to have a beer with. We have willingly decided to vote for someone to have a latte with.

Got to wonder how Jesse Jackson, Oprah and the rest of his black supporters, eh throw in Kennedy who also claims to be on the side of the most vulnerable, are going to react when we all see what Obama actually does.

He got Rezko the fancy deal to build the senior home. The seniors had to deal with horrible conditions, including no heat or hot water. One of the articles I read mentioned that they wondered what Obama was doing when all the complaints came in.

[jlake]

80. That's what I truly don't understand. I would think Kerry and Kennedy

would be astute enough to see what is going on.
I don't expect much from Oprah -- and I am starting to wonder if any of them really care - because they have to know.

[anamandujano]

88. They are all so insulated from real problems. They won't be hurt

no matter how bad things get.

[Trajan]

28. Hope is just the first step ....

Like: "I hope these silly assed commentaries go away after the convention ...."

Cmon ... Hope ... is a bad thing ?

Give us a fucking break ....

[jlake]

34. No one said hope was a bad thing. I said Obama does not offer me hope.

[islandmkl]

30. did i miss something? why call you cynical....

you apparently only see 'hope' in the candidate you support...well, i guess you can't say that because you would be basing your support on the 'hope' that your candidate's 'programs' (none of which have been lined-out in a manner whereby they don't change as soon as they are inspected closely) will cure all our ills. Do yourself a favor and go find some real hope that we can straighten this mess out....quit attacking the one thing that you cannot counter. To portray anyone who finds hope anywhere as what?...uninformed, ignorant, gullible, blind?...actually reveals your own lack of hope in your candidate or anyone else to lead us. So, we're all fools because we think someone can inspire this country to get off its ass...as opposed to just sitting on it and voting to keep things as they are, different person in charge? Maybe...don't worry...we still HOPE you'll be with us in November.

[jlake]

36. I am not attacking anyone - I am asking others to stop attacking me

for being cynical when Obama has thrown me under the bus.

[islandmkl]

49. ahhh....a case of the bus driver claiming he was thrown under the bus...

all you have claimed is that you don't trust Obama...giant leap intellectually for you. Yet, you demonstrate you have made no effort to explore his programs, or you would know your OP is a lame argument for your own shortcomings. Why don't you find the facts (both ways), state an argument based on proof, and leave this meme crap to the true sophomoric combatants. Or, better yet, try again. Hell...there's probably HOPE for you, yet.

[jlake]

54. Why should I trust someone who would give the stage to McClurkin -

and why would you? If he can compromise on one core issue - why not more?

[stillcool]

44. Does anyone really think...

that the way things are today is exactly the same way they will be 11 months from now. If you want policy specifics I'm sure you know where to find them:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
...but does it really matter?
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=3931
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=8385d348acbab84e&ex=1355806800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
http://www.illinoistimes.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3a2984

[jlake]

46. I am not asking for his stated policies -

I am pointing out that he is vague on how he will get anything done - and has shown that he is not a leader, and will cave on core principles when it is politically expedient.

[stillcool]

61. You are making predictions

based on what? I provided you some links so you could read about what he's done in the past. I have no idea of any other way you would judge a person, except but by their past.
edit to add: Does it matter, what he's done, who he is?

[jlake]

62. Based on McClurkin. It is not a prediction - it is a learned reaction.

[The_Casual_Observer]

51. Regrettably, with Obama owning the news cycle for for the last 2 months

Hope is just about all you are going to get from now on.

[calico1]

84. I guess we can hope that 4 years from now

we will have strong, experienced candidate who will not be so hated by the media.

[Occam Bandage]

67. That's nice. Obama's policy proposals are as detailed as Clinton's.

[jlake]

69. But you didn't read my post.

My complains is that I don't agree with him - and cannot trust him.
His rhetoric on GLBT issues does not match his actions - that hurts me personally - as well as serves as a red flag for future actions.

[AX10]

71. It's all the American Idol candidate can give.

[jlake]

73. Apparently. I am legitimately scared of where this is all heading.

[Indenturedebtor]

74. Powerful rhetoric

And motivating people is how things get done in politics. As he said in the speech tonight (loose paraphrasing): the best policy with the best intentions will fail without the people backing it up.

Ok you're right, there is another way to get things done. You can do it with backroom dealing and closed sessions! Yay that's what we need. More of that!

[jlake]

75. Sorry. Obama has already proven to me that he will sacrifice core principles

for political expediency. It is very hard to get my message across from under this bus.

[amborin]

77. a big disconnect

between Obama's rhetoric and the reality of his senate record and his actions....the media still give him a free ride, so these issues won't come out until after he's nominated

for me, the hypocrisy of criticizing corporate lobbyists' campaign funding, while still accepting those funds, stinks badly

[Unbowed]

78. And others who can't live without it. n/t

[jlake]

79. Only those who are disconnected from reality and don't care about GLBT folk.

[Unbowed]

99. All humans need hope. It is as essential to life as is water or food or air.

It is hope that feeds the human spirit and drives us on to great accomplishments.

“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” - Dale Carnegie

Or as Norman Vincent Peale said,

"Never talk defeat. Use words like hope, belief, faith, victory."

[HeraldSquare212]

81. Hillary attended a fundraiser for an anti-gay minister.

I hope the fact that her oratory doesn't translate into positive action will not disappoint you.

And I resent the implication that unless we're 'barely getting by' our opinions don't count.

The fact is, no one can 'know' how things are going to change or not - you can only make a judgment based on the candidates. I think Clinton is less likely to be able to get anything done; sure, she might fund school uniforms or something, the small, symbolic touches that Bill liked so much, but I doubt she actually care to or ever can do better than that.

[Skwmom]

82. There are more of us who can't live with the status quo.

[jlake]

87. on the issues Hillary equals more change and Obama equals more status quo.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

85. So you voted for Poppy in 1992.

I won't judge you for it.

[jlake]

86. Comparing a GE to a primary is kind of nuts.

[adapa]

90. Hillary gives me hope for specifics, universal healthcare, $9.50 min wage, foreign policy knowledge

I listened to Obama's teleprompter speech from Madison WI last night. I did not feel hope- rather dread, at the prospect of passing up an opportunity to actually get on the road for universal health care.

I read the Lasky article today, It may be spin but the right *will* paint Obama as a person with strong Muslim ties who will reposition us in the Mideast. Because of his ties to an extremely anti-Jewish minister, Obama will be seen as anti-Israel.
This will be enough to scare middle America into voting for McCain.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/01/barack_obama_and_israel.html

[jlake]

92. Amen. Hillary fills me with hope that she is competent and has plans.

[TheDonkey]

91. "we don't need hope we need heeeeeeelllp!" How pathetic

That was a quote from Maxine Waters and is the exact thing that hurts Hillary's campaign. We need to be inspired to step up to the challenges that face us, not scolded and talked down to.

Hillary hasn't explained everything she plans to pay for in her stump speeches so stop making it seem like she does. She goes through the same rhetoric of "experience" bs and no one calls her on it. What experience? Being first lady??? Trying to get universal healthcare to America and failing miserably at it? Great.

[jlake]

97. No, it is not pathetic. People who can see Obama for who he really is -

a corporate shill brought to you by the establishment know that he offers neither help nor hope.

[JuniperLea]

100. Yep, yep and yep!

I feel like we are electing William Hung... seriously.

I'm taking names here... when the excrement collides with the cyclical movements of the electric bladed air propelling device, and this Obama of which you speak pulls his first heinous act, I'm going to blame the list that's assembling.

[VotesForWomen]

101. yep; i need some real solutions, a.s.a.p.. nt