The Very Latest

  • Field Update—February 3rd, 2012

    By Laura on

    Supporters in Dayton, Ohio enjoyed one of the biggest and most action-packed office openings in the country last night. Ashley reports:

    Over 300 campaign supporters joined together in support of our newest office opening in Dayton! As we continue to open offices across the state, Ohio State Director Greg Schultz said it best:

    “We want this to be your home away from home!”

    Supporters and volunteers packed the office elbow to elbow just for a chance to be a part of the 2012 journey here in the state. We heard from many of the campaign staffers and neighborhood team leaders here in Ohio, and mingled amongst food, friends, and fun!

    Follow @OFA_OH on Twitter and the state blog for more.

  • “I’d Give 110 Percent”

    By Grant on

    Amanda, chair of the College Democrats at the University of Michigan, was on campus last week when President Obama stopped by to talk about his proposals for making college more affordable.

    “People waited in line for 14 hours to get tickets to the speech,” Amanda said. “Students are remembering how much they like him and how much support he needs, so we’re hoping to use that momentum to grow our volunteer base for what we’ll be doing next fall, and to grow the amount of people who will be with us when we’re canvassing, knocking on doors, registering voters on campus, and making phone calls.”

    Facing a pile of student loans herself, Amanda said the President’s message was right on target:

    "It was great to have the President here talking about college tuition—something that so specifically affects all of us."

    Muriel, a county organizer, was sitting right alongside the students for the President’s speech.

    “I had been reading a lot about the rising cost of education, especially at the University of Michigan, and what impressed me the most was him talking about keeping tuitions real, cutting funding to universities that don’t follow tuition guidelines, and making sure our colleges and universities are teaching what they need to in order to prepare students for the jobs that are out there right now. And of course that really hit home with all the college students in attendance.”

    Muriel was also struck by the President’s focus on one issue of particular importance to Michiganders.

    “The biggest thing for us in all of Michigan is that the automotive industry touches just about every family in some way,” she said. “He stood up for the auto industry and said yes, we do need to support them. So many people had said, ‘No, let them fail. Manufacturing is dead.’ But he believed in us, and GM is now back to number one in auto sales in the world. They were down so low, and now they’re back—so the President made the right decision to continue to help the auto industry and small businesses.”

    Energized by the President’s speech, Muriel reiterated her support for him in 2012.

    “We’ll be busy organizing our volunteer teams in Livingston County—we’ve got so many volunteer opportunities that there's something for everyone,” she said. “I’d give 110 percent for this President.”

    Join Amanda and Muriel—step up to volunteer in your community.

  • Putting More Veterans Back to Work

    By Laura on

    Speaking at a Virginia firehouse this morning, President Obama laid out his new proposals for getting our veterans back to work:

    In my State of the Union address, I proposed a new initiative, called the Veterans Job Corps, to put veterans back to work protecting and rebuilding America. And today, we’re laying out the details of this proposal.

    First, we want to help communities hire more veterans as cops and firefighters … Over the past three years, my administration has made it possible for states to keep thousands of first responders on the job. But today, we’re announcing that communities who make it a priority to recruit veterans will be among the first in line when it comes to getting help from the federal government.

    The second thing we want to do is to connect up to 20,000 veterans with jobs that involve rebuilding local communities or national parks … They’ve already risked their lives defending America. They should have the opportunity to rebuild America. We’ve got roads and bridges in and around our national parks in need of repair. Let’s fix them.

    Of course, Congress needs to fund these projects. Congress should take the money that we’re no longer spending on war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building here at home, to improve the quality of life right here in the United States of America and put our veterans to work.

    And for veterans who want to do something else—maybe put their leadership skills to use starting a small business—we’re going to start offering entrepreneurial training to our veterans. We want service members prepared for battle—and for professional success when they come home. So we should do all that we can to support our troops and our veterans—in helping them start a business, in helping them get a foothold in a fire station like this one, and start moving up the ranks.

    Read the President’s full proposal for getting veterans back to work here.

  • Friday Facts: Helping Responsible Homeowners

    By Laura on

    This week’s Friday Facts looks at the work President Obama has done to help America’s homeowners and strengthen the housing market, and his new plan to help families save as much as $3,000 a year through refinancing.

    • 33 percent: Amount home prices have fallen since their high in 2006

    • 962,000: Number of families President Obama’s Home Affordable Refinance Program has helped to better afford their mortgages and stay in their homes

    • $3,000: Average savings a family could see from refinancing under the President’s new program

    Download the complete fact sheet and share it with your friends and family.

  • Did You See: “Seniors Are Saving Money Today and Tomorrow”

    By Emily on

    A new report shows how the Affordable Care Act is creating real savings for people with Medicare, and the progress that is being made to close the “donut hole” in prescription drug coverage by 2020. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius explains:

    [Yesterday] we announced that in 2011 about 3.6 million people with Medicare benefited from donut hole discounts—saving a total of $2.1 billion, or an average of $604 per person.

    And a new report … finds that these discounts and other parts of the Affordable Care Act will lead to even bigger savings in the years ahead. According to the report, the average person with Medicare will save approximately $4,200 from 2011 to 2021, while those with high prescription drug costs will save much more—as much as $16,000 over the same period. This is especially good news for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure who must take their medication every day for many years.

    Read Secretary Sebelius’ blog post in full on healthcare.gov and learn more about how the Affordable Care Act is helping all of us.

  • Women's Health and Contraception

    By Lauren on

    As part of the Affordable Care Act, starting August 1st, many insurance plans will be required to fully cover contraception without co-pays or deductibles as part of women's preventive care. This step will help more women to make health care decisions based on what's best for them—not their insurance company—and could save them hundreds of dollars every year.

    Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced that certain religious organizations, including churches, will be exempt from paying their insurers to cover contraception.

    Here's a look at how the new contraception policy will affect women and religious institutions.

    Support for contraceptive coverage
    • More than half of all Americans already live in the 28 states that require insurance companies to cover contraception.

    • Most women—including 98 percent of Catholic women—who have had sex have used contraception, according to a study by the Guttmacher Institute.

    • Some religiously-affiliated hospitals and universities already provide birth control coverage to their employees.

    • A majority of Americans support including contraception coverage in health plans at no cost to women.

    • Health care experts like the American Medical Association and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommend contraception as a preventive service.

    Protecting women's health
    • Under the new provisions in the Affordable Care Act, women will have access to the care and family planning services they need without worrying about the cost.

    • Women using contraception reduce their risk of developing ovarian and endometrial cancers to about half the rate of the rest of the population.

    Religious employers
    • Churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the new law.

    • Other non-profit organizations, like religiously affiliated hospitals and universities that employ or serve people regardless of their faiths may qualify for a one-year transition period to prepare for the new law.

    Protecting individual religious beliefs
    • No individual health care provider will be forced to prescribe contraception.

    • No one will be forced to buy or use contraception.

    • Drugs such as RU-486 that cause abortion are not covered by this policy. The President remains committed to maintaining strict limits on federal funding for abortions.

    Reducing costs
    • While the monthly cost of contraception for women ranges between $30 and $50, insurers and experts agree that the savings would more than offset the costs.

    • It will also save employers money. The National Business Group on Health estimated that employers would pay 15 to 17 percent more not to provide coverage than they would to provide it.

    Let us know how the new policy will impact your life.

  • Karl Rove Tweeted About You

    By Lauren on

    Deputy Campaign Manager Julianna Smoot sent an email to supporters this morning about Karl Rove's reaction to the Two-Term Fund:

    Karl Rove tweeted about you.

    When he heard about our Two-Term Fund, he tweeted:

    We often ask people for $3 because we believe as many people as possible should take ownership of the political process. It's easy to understand why that might not compute to the guy doing a lot of the selling for a party bought and sold by special interests.

    Since we launched the Two-Term Fund, more than 40,000 people have stepped up and chipped in an average of $40 each. Can you help—with $3 or whatever you can afford?

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