In his address to a joint session of Congress tonight, President Obama said,
"The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action," the president told members of the House and Senate who showed their partisanship in their reactions throughout the 45-minute speech.
"Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do," Obama said. "Now is the time to deliver on health care."
Obama was interrupted more than 50 times by applause from members of Congress, including a few bipartisan gestures of approval.
But one member, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., interrupted the president's speech to yell, "You lie!" after the president asserted his proposals would not provide health insurance to illegal immigrants.
Later, Wilson offered a written apology.
"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," he said. "While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."
Louisiana Rep. Charles Boustany delivered the Republican response to President Obama's speech on health care.

The President's Plan for Health Reform

“It will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance.
It will provide insurance to those who don’t. And it will lower the cost of health care
for our families, our businesses, and our government."
– PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

 
If You Have Health Insurance,
the President's Plan:
•Ends discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.
•Limits premium discrimination based on gender and age.
•Prevents insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick and need it most.
•Caps out-of-pocket expenses so people don’t go broke when they get sick.
•Eliminates extra charges for preventive care like mammograms, flu shots and diabetes tests to improve health and save money.
•Protects Medicare for seniors.
•Eliminates the “donut-hole” gap in coverage for prescription drugs. 
 If You Don’t Have Insurance,
the President's Plan:
•Creates a new insurance marketplace — the Exchange — that allows people without insurance and small businesses to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive prices.
•Provides new tax credits to help people buy insurance.
•Provides small businesses tax credits and affordable options for covering employees.
•Offers a public health insurance option to provide the uninsured and those who can’t find affordable coverage with a real choice.
•Immediately offers new, low-cost coverage through a national “high risk” pool to protect people with preexisting conditions from financial ruin until the new Exchange is created. 
 For All Americans,
the President's Plan:
•Won’t add a dime to the deficit and is paid for upfront.
•Requires additional cuts if savings are not realized.
•Implements a number of delivery system reforms that begin to rein in health care costs and align incentives for hospitals, physicians, and others to improve quality.
•Creates an independent commission of doctors and medical experts to identify waste, fraud and abuse in the health care system.
•Orders immediate medical malpractice reform projects that could help doctors focus on putting their patients first, not on practicing defensive medicine.
•Requires large employers to cover their employees and individuals who can afford it to buy insurance so everyone shares in the responsibility of reform. 
 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32491712

BOSTON - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the liberal lion of the Senate and haunted bearer of the Camelot torch after two of his brothers fell to assassins' bullets, has died at his home in Hyannis Port after battling a brain tumor. He was 77.

For nearly a half-century in the Senate, Kennedy was a steadfast champion of the working class and the poor, a powerful voice on health care, civil rights, and war and peace. To the American public, though, he was best known as the last surviving son of America's most glamorous political family, the eulogist of a clan shattered again and again by tragedy.

His family announced his death in a brief statement released early Wednesday.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the statement said. "We thank everyone who gave him care and support over this last year, and everyone who stood with him for so many years in his tireless march for progress toward justice, fairness and opportunity for all."

President Obama, on vacation in Martha's Vineyard, Mass., said he and the first lady were “heartbroken” to hear of Kennedy's passing.

“An important chapter in our history has come to an end. Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time,” Obama said.

Young senator
Kennedy was elected to the Senate in 1962, when his brother John was president, and served longer than all but two senators in history. Over the decades, he put his imprint on every major piece of social legislation to clear the Congress.

His own hopes of reaching the White House were damaged — perhaps doomed — in 1969 by the scandal that came to be known as Chappaquiddick, an auto accident that left a young woman dead.

Kennedy — known to family, friends and foes simply as Ted — ended his quest for the presidency in 1980 with a stirring valedictory that echoed across the decades: "For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

The third-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in May 2008 and underwent surgery and a grueling regimen of radiation and chemotherapy.

His death late Tuesday comes just weeks after that of his sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver on Aug. 11.

‘Ally and a dear friend’
Nancy Reagan, the widow of President Ronald Reagan, was one of the first to speak out from the Republican Party.

"Given our political differences, people are sometimes surprised by how close Ronnie and I have been to the Kennedy family," she said in a statement.

"But Ronnie and Ted could always find common ground, and they had great respect for one another. In recent years, Ted and I found our common ground in stem cell research, and I considered him an ally and a dear friend. I will miss him," she said.

Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose wife, Maria Shriver, was Kennedy's niece, praised “the rock of our family: a loving husband, father, brother and uncle.”

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said that both the Kennedy family and the Senate have "lost our patriarch" and vowed Congress would renew the push for the cause of Kennedy's life, health care reform.
 

It was a hot, humid night but Senator Gillibrand looked cool and comfortable at the Sweet Briar last evening. 

A small group of protesters gathered at the front entrance and were treated to the Senator walking up the hill to meet with them.

The Senator discussed issues facing local dairy farmers; jobs; and health care reform. 

Her message on health care was clear, concise and easy to understand.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand believes that the high cost of health care is a serious problem for families and for employers, who struggle with the high cost of providing health insurance for their employees. The problem is getting worse - more than 45 million Americans, and 2.5 million New Yorkers, are uninsured and millions of families and businesses are struggling with skyrocketing health care costs. In Congress, she will continue to fight to expand health care access and protect the coverage for those at risk of losing it. In the Senate, she will work with President Obama to reform our health care system and make it work for all of us.

This is a really great slideshow i stumbled upon but just had to share. I cant take any credit but for finding it.

It goes without question that these are trying times for our country, both at home and abroad. When faced with such circumstances, it is the nature of the young and newly empowered eighteen to twenty-four year old demographic to question and protest the government. With these new issues at hand, especially the war in Iraq, the protest and distrust in government by the nation's younger demographic is comparable only to that of the youth of the 1960's and 70's. With a pivotal upcoming election, one that many feel will be one of the most important in our nation's history, the youth of this nation are presented with a chance through the democratic process to make a decision that will unquestionably shape the rest of their lives. It is still yet to be seen whether they will make a sound, conscientious decision based upon what is good for the continuity of the nation and for the preservation of its morals and institutions, or will we make an immature decision that wraps itself in our instinctual fear of that which represents power?
 

This period between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four in one's life is filled with uncertainty, invoking the instinctual need for reassurance of safety. In pursuance of this safety, one attacks anything and everything that may be of some threat to their still limited power. This leads to the distrust and attack of that which holds the greatest power relative to them, shown in history to be the government. Such instances as the French Revolution and the American Revolution proved to be well-founded revolts based upon gross exploitations of political power that were of a self-serving nature. Contemporary youth, ranging from the hippies of the sixties and seventies to today's modern protesting generation have seemed to protest not which could cause the most damage to the well being of the country, but that which most threatens their own self interests. These interests range from the preservation of their own lives to their financial standing.
 

Nobody wishes for war. It is the most ugly, primal quality of man that we have witnessed throughout history. Never is it "acceptable" for a man to kill another man, not even in war. However, when the safety of one's country is in jeopardy, it is necessary to act in this manner in order to ensure peace. With the threat of nuclear holocaust ever present, any suspicion that someone who wishes death to America is in the possession of weapons of mass destruction must be pursued. If peaceful means of resolving the issue are exhausted, one is left with no choice but to resort to the use of military force in order to maintain and ensure the continuity of the safety of the world as we know it. Although poorly executed and grossly mismanaged, and also based on faulty information, it was absolutely necessary to enter Iraq, and usurp a brutal regime that was well known to be in opposition to the values this country stands for. This, in conjunction with the looming possibility that this regime was also in possession of weapons that would cause mass death and destruction to America or it's allies, it was best to be proactive and ensure the safety of the country. War is protested because everyone naturally fears death. It is both the greatest certainty and uncertainty in life. Nobody knows when their time of death will come, how it will come, and nobody can be certain what happens to one's soul after one dies. It is certain, however, that it will come. It takes a special person to think that the collective life of the country, and the safety of its citizens, is worth the sacrifice of their own life.
 

The other most important and unfortunate quality of this generation is that they expect everything to always be fair and balanced. This, in such a dynamic world, is a nice ideal, but one that is impossible to ever attain. It does not behoove the well-being of the country to nationalize health insurance, or hand out welfare checks. John F. Kennedy said it best: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country."
 

Nothing in this life should ever be socialistic in nature, because that would eliminate the human nature to compete. If everyone received the same thing regardless of how much money they made, or how much work they put forth, the nation would without doubt become extremely lethargic and the economy, sluggish. Nobody would ever hope to become anything better than average, because that's all they would receive in the end- guaranteed mediocrity. Although the gap between the wealthy and the poor is growing, it is not the fault of the federal government. Matters must be resolved by the wish of the wealthy to aid the poor, and for the poor to pursue a more affluent status. Handing out welfare checks without any questions as to whether or not the recipient is actively pursuing measures that will accelerate their accumulation of wealth is not going to be doing the recipient any good.
 

In hopes that the selection of our next president will steer our country in the right direction, it is necessary that the youth vote with careful consideration and truly know the issues at hand. We take our country into a brand new day, into uncharted territory with circumstances never seen before in history. We are at war with not a country, but with a loose affiliation of terrorist organizations. We are at war at home, growing increasingly divided as issues polarize into partisan issues. This is not the time to be arguing over such matters based on party lines. What this country is in need of is a strong, unified approach at addressing the issues. All we have to do is make the right choice- a choice based on sound contemplation, and hopefully for the betterment of the nation. We can no longer be divided into democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives. We are all Americans, and we must make the right choice next November. Not a choice that will simply pull out of every military engagement, and socialize healthcare, but a choice that will carry our country further into the twenty-first century, while still holding true to its identity.