"A Threat to the Status Quo"

10 things you should know about Obama's plan (but probably don't)

The plan:
1. Makes a $634 billion down payment on fixing health care that will go a long way toward paying for a more efficient, more affordable health care system that covers every single American.
2. Reduces taxes for 95% of working Americans. And if your family makes less than $250,000, your taxes won't go up one dime.
3. Invests more than $100 billion in clean energy technology, creating millions of green jobs that can never be outsourced.
4. Brings our troops home from Iraq on a firm timetable, finally bringing the war to a close—and freeing up almost ten billion dollars a month for domestic priorities.
5. Reverses growing income inequality. The plan lets the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire and focuses on strengthening the middle class.
6. Closes multi-billion-dollar tax loopholes for big oil companies.
7. Increases grants to help families pay for college—the largest increase ever.
8. Halves the deficit by 2013. President Obama inherited a legacy of huge deficits and an economy in shambles, but his plan brings the deficit under control as soon as the economy begins to recover.
9. Dramatically increases funding for the SEC and the CFTC—the agencies that police Wall Street.
10. Tells it straight. For years, budgets have used accounting tricks to hide the real costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts, and too many other programs. Obama's budget gets rid of the smokescreens and lays out what America's priorities are, what they cost, and how we're going to pay for them.

This is the change we voted for. President Obama has done his part, now we need to do ours.
Can you pass this on to your personal network and then click here to let us know how many people you told, so we can track our impact together:
http://pol.moveon.org/budget10/?id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=1
Thanks for all you do.
–Daniel, Tanya, Peter, Justin and the rest of the team
P.S. Turns out there are way more than 10 amazing things in Obama's budget and we couldn't resist sharing just a few more.

1. Stops unnecessary government subsidies to big banks, health insurance companies and big agribusinesses.
2. Expands access to early childhood education and improves schools by investing in programs that make sure every child has a qualified, strong teacher.

3. Negotiates for better prescription drug prices using Medicaid's tremendous bargaining power.

4. Expands access to family planning for low-income women.18
5. Caps the pollution that causes global warming, and makes polluters pay to support clean energy innovation.

Sources:
1. "Climate of Change," The New York Times, February 27, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/opinion/27krugman.html?em
2. "Obama Calls His Budget Sweeping, Needed Change," The New York Times, February 28, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51201&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=2
3. "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=3
4. "Obama Expects Fight Over $3.55 Trillion Budget Plan," Bloomberg News, February 28, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51203&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=4
5. "Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness," Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=5
6. "The Economic Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan," The New York Times, March 1, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/weekinreview/01glanz.html
7. "Tax Cuts," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-tax.html
8. "Energy Budget Is Sunlight After Eight Years of Darkness," Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51204&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=6
9. "Student Loans," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html
10. "Obama unveils budget blueprint," CNN, February 26, 2009 http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/26/budget/
11. "Obama budget would boost SEC, CFTC, FBI," Reuters, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51205&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=7
12. "Obama's budget," Los Angeles Times, February 27, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51206&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=8
13. "Student Loans," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-edu.html
14. "Health Insurance Stocks Dive on Medicare Advantage Cuts," The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51207&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=9
15. "Agriculture," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-agri.html
16. "Investing Wisely in Our Children," Center for American Progress, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51208&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=10
17. "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=11
18. "Obama Offers Broad Plan to Revamp Health Care," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51202&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=12
19. "Setting 'Green' Goals," The New York Times, February 26, 2009 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51209&id=15687-8056669-KUGPgXx&t=13

Jazz game and Walking with the Dinosaurs

Working at MediaOne has some good perks! Last Monday I got to go to the Jazz game in the MediaOne suite with some co-workers and Matt. Grammy Lur and Pops watched Tyce so Matt and I could have a date night- thanks you guys!! We had an awesome time, and the suite was center court! Angelise, Tara, and meOur view from above

As I mentioned in a previous post, I also got some tickets to Walking with the Dinosaurs through my company. Tyce and Jake had such a fun time and loved the big dinosaurs! They said the cutest things throughout the show, and Tyce would clap and say "yay" during the weirdest parts. We had such a fun time and I'm glad my big sis was able to go with me!

It was almost impossible to get a good picture, so unfortunately this is the only one that turned out decent. Thanks for the pic Angelise:)

Barack Obama the 44th President of the U.S.

(This picture was taken on a beach in India)

Barack Obama took the oath of office today as the nation's 44th president, then delivered a sobering assessment of where America stands and a hopeful vision of what it can become. "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord," he said.
He is such an amazing speaker, I get the chills just listening to him. This is going to be such an historic day for the U.S. I am so glad I was here to witness this moment.
Good Ridance President Bush! :)

Walking with the DINOSAURS!

Tonight is opening night in SLC for Walking with the Dinosaurs, and through my company I scored some tickets! I'm going with Tyce, my sister, and her son. I am so excited about it! (Perhaps even more so than Tyce;) ) I will post some pictures later from the event, and maybe I will catch up on Christmas and New Years as well. I know, I suck at blogging!!

Catching up...

Halloween was a ton of fun this year. Matt decided to turn our yard into a cemetary, where he put a ton of gravestones, a fence with 'keep out' signs around our entire yard, fake rats, spiders, etc., spooky music, a fog machine, and black lights. It turned out pretty awesome! Both Matt and Tyce were pirates this year, and Tyce even went around the house saying, "Arr, matey."Tyce also turned 2 on November 27th. We celebrated his birthday at Matt's parent's house a few days early, where he got lots of fun presents. He got the new Elmo Live, a Batman tricycle, coloring books, lots of Elmo stuff, and tons of other fun toys. He definitely got spoiled by his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.Tyce with his balloon hat that Matt made for him. Matt thought it would be fun to learn how to create balloon animals, etc. for the party.

Here is Tyce at my parent's house for bday party #2. He got a Radio Flyer scooter, along with a helmet and some knee pads.


Pooped out after too much partying. He loves his Dewalt drill we got him, he helps daddy in the basement all the time:)
Party #3 came with a Spongebob Squarepants cake that Aunt Denise made for Tyce and Jake. They both loved it! We were in San Diego over Thanksgiving and celebrated both boy's birthdays there as well.

Blow hard boys!
Mmmm, Spongebob cake (Jake looks a little like Jack Nicholas in The Shining, right?) Where's Johnny??

Going to Sea World was by far the most fun thing we did while we were there. Tyce loved watching the dolphins and Shamu doing their shows. We will definitely be coming back here soon!:)

We couldn't get Tyce to stop looking at the shark, so this is how the picture turned out.

He was so mesmerized by the 'big fishies' at the show. We sat up really close in the splash zone, but luckily didn't get too wet.

Tyce dancing at dolphin show

Bet you can't guess which one of us liked Sea World the most...;)

Tyce and Jake giving each other big hugs

The last day we were in San Diego we decided to take a trip over to the beach. The kids loved playin in the sand and chasing the seagulls. The waves would push the water 50 feet or so onto the beach, so one of the times that Tyce and Jake were running around, they both got pushed down by the water and ended up getting soaked-It was pretty funny! San Diego was so gorgeous; we all decided we want to move out there one day...

Tyce playing in the sand. He loved San Diego so much, that he still asks me, "Mommy fly on airplane to San Diego?"
Matt collecting shells for Tyce
Me, Nat, and Denise relaxing on the beach (I had no sunglasses and the sun was right in my eyes.)