Not to be outdone by the other candidates in CA-10, John Garamendi also released a new ad today. And although his first ad, "Proven," is what's still airing on local cable, John Garamendi's campaign is now promoting this third commercial entitled "On Health Care."
I guess the galloping-up-on-the-horse thing is working so well for "rancher" John Garamendi that he decided to devote both the beginning and the ending of his ad to the horse footage. Yee-haw! The rest of the commercial consists of Garamendi offering the following earnest, if incoherent, message:
Voiceover: Lt. Governor and Congressional candidate John Garamendi on health care.
Garamendi: We know that the more we spend, the more uninsured we have. We know that we're not getting the efficiency or the effectiveness that we must have to have the health care that all of us need so our families can thrive, so that our children can get educated, and so that this environment that I grew up in will be here for the next generation.
I'm John Garamendi and I approved this message. And I'll fight for quality health care.
What an epic non sequitur. You know, I support health care reform as much as the next progressive, but even I think it has its limitations. Maybe I just have a stunted imagination, but I fail to see how improving health care will educate our children or protect the environment. But I guess that's why John Garamendi's running for Congress -- because he's got the big vision. Health care Garamendi-style: it will teach the kids and save the trees. But can it rope a cow?
I just got an email today from MoveOn talking about the increasingly violent outbursts at Democratic town-hall meetings across the nation:
All across the country, right-wing extremists are disrupting congressional town-hall meetings with venomous attacks on President Obama's plans for health care and clean energy.
Last night in Tampa, Florida, a town hall meeting erupted into violence, with the police being called to break up fist fights and shoving matches.
A Texas Democrat was shouted down by right-wing hecklers, many of whom admitted they didn't even live in his district.
One North Carolina representative announced he wouldn't be holding any town-hall meetings after his office began receiving death threats.
And in Maryland, protesters hung a Democratic congressman in effigy to oppose health-care reform.
Now, you might think that we'd be immune to this kind of activity here in the Bay Area. But you'd be wrong. Yesterday the Contra Costa Times' crack political reporter, Lisa Vorderbrueggen, noted that for the first time in, well, ever, she'd had numerous calls demanding to know why Congressmen Jerry McNerney and George Miller were not holding town-hall meetings during the August recess (the answer is that they're doing tele-town-halls). In the comment thread of her post, one of the writers for the right-wing Halfway to Concord blog noted that he'd had over 70 google hits yesterday from people searching for town-hall meetings in the area. And even the right-wing wackos over at the infamous Americans for Prosperity are targeting the East Bay.
So who do they have in their sights? Well, it's Rep. Pete Stark, who serves on the Ways and Means Committee and as the Chair of its Health Subcommittee, which is responsible for oversight of Medicare. Stark is holding six town-hall meetings in CA-13 over the course of the August recess.
Now, Pete Stark is a good friend to progressives, and there's little danger that his votes will be affected by hostile crowds at his town-hall meetings. But those of us Bay Area progressives who support health care reform and clean energy owe something to our representatives who stand tall on these issues. We also have an obligation to stand up to the right-wing extremists who are hijacking these town-hall meetings in an attempt to influence the media narrative on reform.
All of which is a sort of long-winded way of saying we need to have Pete Stark's back. We need to fill these town-hall meetings with progressive voices.
Last month, the health care crisis in America was the subject of a special forum held in Oakland.
"The lack of health care is a major and significant crisis in this country, in this state and in this community," said Mayor Ron Dellums, who hosted the event. "We must join together in a mighty coalition to bring health care to this community."
Five proposals are pending in Sacramento, including one from state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, which was referred to several times as the "gold standard" and received loud cheers from the audience, mostly made up of union members. […]
Assemblyman Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, said the number of uninsured Americans — estimated at 50 million people — is the great civil rights issue of our time. "It is a moral challenge," Swanson said. "We must take advantage of this opportunity, and all this attention."
Over the last few days we've talked at great length about Vicki and John Cosgrove and the health issues they are facing. Always thinking as a progressive activist, Vicki has asked us at TPC to use her personal situation to shine a light on the need for health care reform, specifically State Sen. Sheila Kuehl's SB 840.
