We Did It For Creigh and For The Commonwealth!

We did it! With your help Creigh Deeds won the Democratic Nomination to become Virginia's next Governor.

Hats off to Brian and Terry for a well run race. The party is stronger and more energized after a healthy statewide debate. Now for the real test, Bob McDonnell.

Bob will only take our Commonwealth backwards. We need Virginia to continue on a progressive track that helps the lives of the middle class. It is time to unite and see the huge disparity between Creigh and Bob.

Click here to make a contribution today and give Creigh's campaign the resources we need to win in November.

Thank you for all of your support and let us keep our momentum up through November.

Major Announcement from Sam Rasoul

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3/19/2009

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Announcement from Sam Rasoul

On Monday, March 23, at 1:00 PM, 2008 Democratic Nominee for the 6th United States Congressional District Sam Rasoul will have an important announcement regarding the 17th Virginia House of Delegates seat being vacated by the Honorable Delegate William Fralin.

The 17th Virginia House of Delegates District is entirely within the 6th Congressional District. Rasoul knows the people, the territory, and the economics of the 17th House of Delegates District very well from growing up in the region and from his vigorous, door-to-door campaign here last fall. Rasoul understands the need for good jobs in the district. Young people who grow up here should not have to move to find good jobs. People of all ages in the 17th District need economic opportunities to enjoy the same prosperity and high quality of life that previous generations of Virginians have enjoyed here.

Location: Roanoke River Greenway parking lot at intersection of 13th Street SE and Bennington Street SE, Roanoke, VA, 24014.

Date & Time: Monday, March 23, 2009, 1:00 PM.

U.S. business, big and small, hurting because of our current health-insurance system

Column by Sam Rasoul

The practice of work-related health insurance began as a way for employers to get around the wage controls of the Second World War. The idea worked then, providing companies a way to attract the best workers in a time of labor shortage.

Today, though, corporations find providing health insurance for their employees too costly. Since 2000, health-insurance premiums have risen 87 percent. The average employer-based premium for a family is more than $11,000 (more than a minimum-wage worker can earn in a year). Faced with such exorbitant premiums, employers have felt the pressure to switch to plans with high deductibles for their employees or to eliminate health plans entirely. They also have had to cut jobs. Chrysler announced it would close two factories and do away with 13,000 jobs to reduce their health-insurance costs.

Some companies, General Motors, for example, have cut benefits but still find their costs so high they cannot compete in today’s global economy. Their very existence is in danger. Ford Motor Co. carries insurance on 570,000 people, including past employees and current employees and their dependents, spending $3.5 billion last year. Those costs add $1,200 to every vehicle they produce, creating a serious disadvantage in competing with companies in countries with a national health-insurance plan. Beyond any doubt, high insurance costs hurt American industry.

Small businesses that offer their employees health insurance suffer also. Some businesses face 50 percent premium increases yearly. In order to cover exorbitant health-insurance expenditures, they often cut staff in order to keep the business running. Cutting staff, though, means more responsibility and more stress for the remaining workers. Small businesses that do not offer insurance have a profit advantage over those that do, but because of the disadvantages around hiring and retaining reliable, good workers, they too want to fix our broken health-care system.

With both big and small business, the money spent on health insurance is money not spent on growth, innovation, or higher wages.

A single-payer system, such as HR 676, Improved Medicare for All, will benefit business in general. The plan will contain and stabilize costs and eliminate the waste generated by the for-profit system (which I will examine in another article) while providing health care for everyone. Costs for employers would drop dramatically and benefits would improve. Those lower costs would go into profits, profits that could be used for capital improvements or adding more employees or improving salaries. With everyone insured, business could expect healthier employees and higher productivity, less absenteeism, and lower employee turnover. United States business could once again be competitive.

Valley Character Seeks Board Nominations

As you may know, I am a member and a new Board Member of Valley Character which is an organization committed to character development in the greater Roanoke Valley: www.valleycharacter.org

Valley Character is responsible for programs such as the Sportsmanship Awards, Ethics in the Workplace, Hope Follows Work, and Character Counts in our area schools.

Valley Character is seeking 5 new energetic board members to expand our involvement in the community.

Board members are expected to have a strong belief that character development is essential to our community, and be willing to work for it. If you or someone you know is willing to work hard to improve the character development in our valley, I encourage you to nominate yourself or someone you may know by emailing me at sam@samrasoul.us.

Please respond with your full name and contact information (and the contact information of your nominee if necessary) and someone will contact you shortly. Please have your nominations in by February 24th.

My participation with Valley Character has been enjoyable over the years and watching this organization help our community has been my pleasure. I hope you will consider becoming active in helping Valley Character.

We Did It For Yahiya From Gaza

As you may know, I work with and am now a new board member of an organization called The Hope Fund (http://www.thehopefund.org) which provides scholarships for Palestinian refugees to come and study in the United States and obtain a 4-year college degree. This is a great opportunity to help educate the Palestinian youth in need.

Today I have good news. Last month I asked for your help for a young man named Yahiya from GAZA to attend Roanoke College, a private liberal arts college in my area and WE DID IT! We needed to raise $8715 by February 15th and we raised $10,015 with more checks still coming in!

The balance will go towards Yahiya's 2010 account balance with 2009 being the first of four years he will spend at Roanoke College obtaining a Bachelor's Degree. Roanoke College has graciously agreed to pay for the tuition (the most expensive part, over $30,000) every year. The Hope Fund pays for travel, books, health care and other expenses, and I find donors to cover the room and board expenses for Yahiya.

The Hope Fund has helped dozens of young Palestinian refugees start a new life by obtaining a college degree in America that helps these students escape the violence in Palestine and dream of something bigger. If you would like to help by sponsoring a student or just learn more about The Hope Fund, please contact me by email or by phone at 540.312.9449.

Da'Mes Appointed To The Planning Commission

I am honored to announce that MuAwia Da'Mes has been appointed to the HarrisonburgCity Planning Commission by the new city council.

MuAwia is a tireless worker who impressed so many this past election cycle workingfor Sam Rasoul For Congress and other candidates. Some of you may only know me because of this young man with four kids. MuAwia wrote to me:

"As you know, my disposition is to become completely committed to what I get involvedin without any intention of personal gain. I can only hope to live up to the expectationsafforded me by Council's selection as its my understanding they had 8 requests forconsideration with only two openings and they took extra steps in the vetting processby interviewing the candidates, most of which were highly qualified and whom I respectand know for their community activism. As you can imagine their selection was humblingand I consider it an honor."

MuAwia's parents immigrated from Palestine many decades ago and he has grown up in Harrisonburg. A special thanks to his loving wife, Heather, who allows him togive so much back to his community.

Best of luck to MuAwia and look out in years to come for him to make a strong impactin the Valley.

Healthcare In Crisis: Virginia Public Forum

Please try to attend.