Anderson@Large

Diversity, Civil Rights and Broadband

The Federal Communications Commission will hold a staff workshop, “Diversity and Civil Rights Issues in Broadband Deployment and Adoption,” on Friday. The workshop will focus on the impact of the lack of access to this critical infrastructure on communities of color.

Nearly 15 years ago, civil rights activists mobilized to include affordable Internet access for schools and libraries in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. So, when you connect to the Internet at a public library, well, you can thank me and other advocates.

Today, being on the wrong side of the digital divide limits one’s educational, employment and business opportunities, as well as access to news and information.

The presenters include my longtime friend David Honig, president and executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council. David says the workshop matters because:

This is the best opportunity thus far to develop a record on the issues we all care about.

BTW, the FCC’s diversity czar, Mark Lloyd, is the coordinator for the workshop. Lloyd, who is in Glenn Beck’s cross-hairs, will moderate two of the three panels.

The workshop will be webcast, beginning at 9:00am ET. To register for the webinar go here.

You can also join the conversation via email or Twitter.

For more info, contact Mark Lloyd here.

Healthcare Rally at the White House

President Barack Obama will address a joint session of Congress tomorrow. He is expected to flesh out his plan to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system.

In the run-up to his speech, Obama supporters are rallying in front of the White House today at 12:15 p.m. to remind him that they volunteered, donated campaign contributions, voted and were fired up for change.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is circulating a petition calling for a public option:

We worked so hard for real change. President Obama, please demand a strong public health insurance option in your speech to Congress. Letting the insurance companies win would not be change we can believe in.

Their message to the President: Yes we can.

Riled Up and On the Go

In this summer of no love, a new Rasmussen survey found that 57 percent of Americans want to divorce members of Congress.

Some of those who want to replace the entire 111th Congress plan to march on Washington on Sept. 12. Indeed, the “Tea Party Express” is on a cross-country tour to rile up conservatives.

The activists will hold 33 tea parties as they head to Washington. Their message: We’re going to vote you out of office and take our country back.

The bus sponsors include the Multi-Cultural Conservative Coalition. I visited their website and it appears to be a, er, coalition of three people – a husband and wife and the ubiquitous Alveda King.

Alveda’s claim to fame is she is the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As blogger David Hart notes:

“Dr.” Alveda King does not have a doctorate. The anti-gay, anti-choice activist seems to issue a press release a week through Priests for Life. Her distance from the truth is becoming a disturbing pattern. The degree issue is relatively minor but it gives us insight into Ms. King’s self-absorption. In point of fact, she has an honorary degree. To make matters worse, her web bio states, “Alveda is also the recipient of a Doctorate of Laws degree from Saint Anselm College” which could lead some people to conclude that she is an attorney. She is not.

Having had two abortions herself, Ms. King would like to deprive everyone else of the choices that she had. In classic self-victimization, Ms. King now refers to herself as the “victim of the harsh aftereffects of abortion.” Ms. King is also unable to utter much more than a paragraph without a reference to “Uncle Martin.” Thus, Ms. King is defined by her phony doctorate, two abortions and an uncle who was a great man who died when Ms. King was a child.

Suffice it to say there are more black folks on the “Double Dutch Bus” than the Tea Party Express.

Progressives Push Public Option Resolution

It may be too late but progressives are trying to catch up with conservatives who beat them at their online game.

In fact, conservatives out-organized the Community Organizer-in-Chief. It brings to mind the Louis Jordan classic, “Somebody Done Hoodooed the Hoodoo Man.”

So, CREDO Action, Democracy for America and FireDogLake.com have joined forces to mobilize grassroots support for the public option. They are seeking citizen co-sponsors “of our resolution demanding inclusion of a strong public health insurance option in any health care bill passed this year.”

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager for CREDO Mobile writes:

All politics is local. So the work you can do in your community to fight for a robust public option can have a huge impact…

The first thing you can do to help in this effort is to become a citizen co-sponsor of the resolution. That way, when our volunteers approach local groups asking them to sign onto the resolution as well, the groups will see that the community supports them taking a strong stand.

The local progressive groups our volunteers will ask to pass our resolution are uniquely suited to pressuring members of Congress.

To sign on to the Public Option Resolution, go here.

March for Health Care

As the battle lines over healthcare reform harden, folks are taking to the streets.

On Saturday, conservatives rallied outside the offices of members of Congress to protest “socialized, government-controlled healthcare.” Protesters included seniors who are beneficiaries of government-controlled healthcare, i.e., Medicare.

When Congress returns from recess on Sept. 8, Rep. Chaka Fattah plans to introduce a resolution calling for a national march in Washington to mobilize support for a public option:

The confusion, misinformation and scare tactics about a “public option” trumpeted by the opponents of real healthcare reform have dominated the national debate long enough. It is way past time for the vast majority favoring healthcare reform with the public option to show up and speak up at the Capitol’s doorstep and make their views known to their elected representatives.

Robert Reich is to be commended for his leadership on this proposal for a Grandparents Day march. What better time and place to refute these false claims about how President Obama’s healthcare reform would threaten older Americans.

Grandparents Day is Sept. 13. If the march jumps off, the streets of DC will be real crowded that weekend.

Tea Party-goers are planning to march on Washington on Sept. 12.

Healthcare Reform’s Senior Moment

CBS News reports that 60,000 AARP members have quit the group over its support of healthcare reform.

Some AARP members may have been flower children back in the day. So, it’s better they cut up their membership cards in protest rather than burn their bras. But I digress.

While AARP has not endorsed President Obama’s plan -- or any plan -- doing nothing is not an option.

AARP CEO A. Barry Rand writes:

For over fifty years, AARP’s mission has been educating and engaging in the issues most important to you, our members. With over 40 million members we understand the importance of debate. Even when some members don’t agree with our advocacy positions, it is critical that we make sure those differences of opinion are based on facts, not myths designed to derail a long overdue effort to fix what’s wrong in our health care system.

Doing nothing is not an option. But any reform must not get between a patient and their doctor. It must not cut Medicare benefits. It must not allow insurers to continue to line their pockets by covering only the healthiest and the youngest.

Dr. Cora Christian, a member of AARP’s board of directors, underscored their commitment to healthcare reform at the CBC Institute’s Mississippi Policy Conference. Dr Christian noted:

AARP is fighting for what we know will improve health care for older Americans…Let’s fix what’s wrong and preserve what’s right. The current system is costly, wasteful and gives taxpayers too little value for the money spent.

AARP’s bottom line: Guarantee affordable, dependable coverage for Americans aged 50 to 64.

To get the facts, visit HealthActionNow.org.

CBC Stands Firm on Public Option

The public option is back from a near-death experience.

In the wake of an outcry from key Democratic lawmakers and progressives, the White House walked back Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ comment that a government-run health insurance option is “not the essential element.”

In a statement, Rep. Barbara Lee, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said:

Recent comments by Obama Administration officials regarding the public option and health reform are deeply troubling.

Any bill without a public health insurance plan like Medicare is not health reform.

Without a public option there will be no way to keep insurance companies honest and their rates down. A public health option that competes with private insurers will set standards that could help lower costs and improve access.

The Congressional Black Caucus remains committed to ensuring that health reform is meaningful and that means making sure the a public option is part of the package.”

Lee’s concerns were echoed by Rep. Maxine Waters:

I am very troubled to hear that after months of negotiations – supposedly moving toward meaningful health care reform – the public option may in fact be off the table. As I have said before, particularly in conjunction with my colleagues in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, I will not be able to support a health care reform bill that does not guarantee the creation of a public option that will provide an alternative for the 47 million uninsured Americans and millions more who face rising premiums, deductibles and co-pays.

Waters continued:

The pressure on Congress from lobbyists who represent health care reform opponents is immense: recent reports suggest there may be as many as 6 lobbyists for each Member of Congress working to defeat meaningful health care reform. I cannot and will not sit by and quietly allow outside opposition to dismantle a program meant to provide the American people with an option so that they and their families can access quality, affordable health care.

At the CBC Institute’s recent policy conference, Rep. John Lewis thundered:

Some of the opposition is cold-hearted politics. They want to see the President fail … We control the White House, the House and the Senate. If we can’t do it, we don’t deserve to be in control.

Lewis added:

We are too darn quiet. We need to make some noise.

To make your voice heard, visit WeWantThePublicOption.com.