Quicky: YEAH, my precinct chair stationary is in!

Back in action!

Returning from hiatus
You may wonder, "Hmm, I haven't seen any Precinct 463 blogs in a while. Where has my favorite precinct blogger gone to?" (...or not.) Well, I spent 2 weeks in beautiful Italy visiting Rome, Florence, and Venice/Murano with stops at Pisa, Vernazza and Lido. I could spend the rest of this blog going on about how amazing the experience was, but... I'll refrain.

Instead, here's a lil slide show of food my honey and I enjoyed on our travels.


It was great to be away for that long! But then I spent all last week recovering from jet lag -oi! Now, I'm back and ready to get democracy growing in precinct 463!

Shot in the Dark
Me, red state with dreams of turning blue.
You, curious and willing...
to turn Texas blue by volunteering a minimal amount of time to the democratic party.

We need folks interested in filling vacant precinct chair positions or signing-up as co-chairs.
As a first step, contact me or click on the Travis County Democratic Party link to the left. Second, come out to next week's (9/30) Travis County Democratic Party's meeting. It's relaxed and takes only an hour out of your evening.

What: Travis County Democratic Party Meeting
When: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 6 PM
Where: AFL-CIO 1106 Lavaca Street


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Achoo!
As you know securing health care reform isn't in the bag, but there are concrete steps we can all take to insure our voices are heard loud and clear!

First, the fun stuff... The video below has gone viral, but if you haven't seen it, check it out and pass it on to others. It's a nice break from all the seriousness and a cheeky way to get the message across.

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Second, write a short letter or make a quick call to your US rep. Even if we know that Cornyn is opposed to reforming the broken health care system, it is critical that he hear from as many of us as possible --let him know that Texans want health insurance reform, and we want it NOW. Let him know that a public option should be included.

Senator John Cornyn
Phone: 202-224-2934

About the Public Option, excerpt from MoveOn.org email:

• Some people say they don't like me because I'm too expensive, but that's just a flat-out lie. Keeping me around will actually save money—I'd cost 10% less than the typical private plan.
• I'm the best way to keep insurance companies honest. Like my friend Senator Jay Rockefeller has said, "Without the steady, positive influence of a public plan option in the marketplace, we will never truly solve the health care crisis in this country. Private health insurance has a long history of cutting people off or charging too much for too little."
• Over 60 House progressives have publicly pledged to only vote for a bill that has me in it.

Sources:
Letter to Rep. Charles B. Rangel, Congressional Budget Office, July 14, 2009
"Rockefeller Unveils Public Plan Option," Office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, June 10, 2009
"60 Members of Congress Say 'No Public Plan, No Conference,'" Firedoglake, August 17, 2009