Conference Call with POTUS

Copied and pasted from Yahoo headlines (but they got it wrong... President Obama was heading TO California not HOME from California): WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama warned Thursday that if Congress doesn't deliver health care legislation by the end of the year, the opportunity will be lost, a plea to political supporters to pressure lawmakers to act. "If we don't get it done this year, we're not going to get it done," Obama told supporters by phone as he flew home on Air Force One from a West Coast fundraising trip. Obama's political organization, Organizing for America, invited campaign volunteers to a midday conference call to describe a nationwide June 6 kickoff for its health care campaign. The president's message to his re-election campaign-in-waiting was simple: If volunteers don't pressure lawmakers to support the White House's goal on health care, Washington would drag its feet and nothing would change. "The election in November — that did not bring about change, it just gave us an opportunity for change," Obama said. "So now, we are really going to have to remobilize, we have all had a chance to catch our breath after election and we have gotten a lot of things done during our first four months. "But health care, that's a big push." The presidential plea came as lawmakers prepare for an aggressive schedule of work aimed at producing comprehensive health care overhaul bills in the House and Senate by August. Committee hearings — and soon thereafter votes — will start next week, as soon as lawmakers return to Washington from a weeklong recess. Many members of Congress spent the break holding town hall meetings and other forums with their constituents about health care, even as opponents and supporters of Obama's plans ramped up television and radio ads for and against. "I think the status quo is unacceptable and that we've got to get it done this year," Obama repeated, ginning up his supporters for a door-to-door and phone-to-phone canvass similar to his presidential campaign. Obama's top aides, including former campaign manager David Plouffe, told the supporters they have a challenge ahead of them. "If the country stands with the president and if the country is demanding health care reform then we'll get it done; Washington will not have any option but to follow us," Plouffe said on the call, which was not announced on the White House's official schedule. The president's conversation with his supporters was part pep talk and part a nod to political reality. Obama is looking to use his network of supporters to deliver a campaign promise, and if he seeks a second term in 2012 — an almost certainty — he hopes to keep many of those volunteers engaged in person and online. "This is our big chance to prove that the movement that you started during the campaign isn't over, we're just getting started," Obama said. The president said the costs of the nation's $2.5 trillion health care system are crushing families and businesses and pose the largest threat to the economy. The White House is leaving it to lawmakers to work out the details of a health care plan, but Obama has said it should ensure choice and lower costs, while extending coverage to the 50 million Americans now uninsured. The cost of accomplishing that has been estimated around $1.5 trillion, and figuring out how to pay is emerging as a major challenge for Congress and the White House. The Republican National Committee said Obama's approach was not the right path, arguing that Democrats are pushing for a government-run health care system that will take away individual choice. So I was on this conference call. Here is my email about the time of the call: Roberta --I want to remind you that you have signed up to join President Barack Obama and David Plouffe today, Thursday, May 28th, on a live conference call.The call will begin at at 12:45 p.m. Eastern Time (9:45 a.m. Pacific Time).Remember: You do not need to dial-in to this call. We'll call you.You'll receive a call at the number you registered with between 12:45 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time today. When you answer your phone, you'll instantly be connected to our nationwide call.Thanks,JeremyJeremy BirdDeputy DirectorOrganizing for America I got the email invitation Wednesday May 27th and responded that I was interested. Fortunately I have a flexible schedule and John was not expecting any conference calls so I responded YES sign me up. So the call did not come until about 1:03 but of course I already thought I had been forgotten. Mitch Stewart was talking when I joined the call. Then about 10 minutes later David Pflouffe came on and talked about helath care canvasing being critical now. He said something like this is the critical turning point we can look back 20-25 years from now and point to as the critical turning point for health care if we act now. Then a female voice said "Air Force 1 Operator" and Reggie answered. It was getting exciting. Then Barack Obama spoke. At first I did not believe it was him. At any rate he spoke about generally about need for health care reform includng "sense of fairness", "true to our ideals but also safe". Mentioned that we have started to make economic changes and that congress is getting the message starting from a bottoms up approach. He mentioned that cost are "crushing" and that too many Americans are spending more on health care than housing and food." He stated that in the long term this will be debilitating and make our country non-competitive. This is the year to make a difference. Then he took questions from 3 women: Mary Alice from Michigan : Her question What do we need to do? His response was saty involved, talk to your community, specifically get involved in June 6 House Party and mobilize your community this does impact the politicians. Bonnie from Portland: She has a son who recently graduated from college and can not afford health insurance and college loans. What can be done? POTUS - said he was familiar with this problem from personal experience and the recovery package does have financial aid for this issue. He also said there is a need to simplify student loan programs and eliminate the middle man. He said he is working on a program to cover students until the age of 25 specifically to address this problem. and Leann from Birmingham: her questions what can we do to be most effective. Response : keep organizing, expect Washington to take action and move. Lastly he wrapped it up by saying change comes from the bottom up. The way to be effective is to present the facts, read and get organized. He said people trust their friends and neighbors better than the "screaming talking heads on tv."