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.

Greatest Dangers Are From Within

Eventful as the last few months may seem, the infamy of this era may live on in the history books as marking the demise of our great Republic. With the massacre in Gaza, unrest in Africa, and world economic recession at the top of our minds, American citizens must realize that the greatest threat to the world would be a rapid deterioration of the United States as the world’s lone remaining superpower.

Contrary to neo-conservative views, while terrorism is of utmost importance for the federal government, economic and political instability are the greatest threats to our nation’s long-term viability. Under attack, our political and economic freedoms are in danger due to the abuse of our financial systems and widespread political corruption.

Economic Woes

Our economic solution must focus on how the stimulus package is spent, should include health care reform, and needs to be mindful of inflationary dangers. Obama has recently announced $300 billion in tax cuts as part of his economic stimulus package, which will account for some 40% of the projected $800+ billion stimulus total. As he continues to craft a centrist image, these tax cuts for the middle class have pleased conservative congressional leaders.

The problem with these tax cuts lies in the in the lack of focus on the spending of these funds. Not only is the impact not immediate with the tax cuts, but most of the tax cuts will not be spent on projects with the optimum multiplier effect throughout the economy. Consider the $150+ billion stimulus passed last spring; our economy felt a very minor positive impact and for only a few weeks.

Last month I spoke about 10 points to help rebuild our economy, but critical in the short-term is helping states and cities with their budget shortfalls. Even directing a small portion (7-10%) of the stimulus funding to states and cities will help to secure millions of jobs and ensure that vital services are not interrupted. As for the long-term, if the money is going to be spent, Obama’s choice of infrastructure investment for much of the remaining balance is a good one.

Missing from the conversation completely is comprehensive health care reform, which has been mischaracterized as too expensive. The reality is that a reform package like the bill H.R. 676, which has 91 co-sponsors in Congress, would actually save our nation health care dollars by eliminating inefficient health care insurance while maintaining a privately delivered health care system. This will allow for American businesses to operate with a similar cost structure to the rest of the developed world.

Inflation is a problem pushed to the back burner with the recent decrease in oil prices, but will be a serious issue facing our country in the next 12 to 24 months. With the Fed’s target rates near zero (increasing the money supply) and a massive stimulus package being passed in the coming weeks, we must be concerned with flooding the system with dollars. An abundance of dollars brings the value of the greenback down, raising prices and potentially triggering a downward spiral where we have inflation and low economic growth, or stagflation.

Political Challenges

In the midst of this “change” transition, Democratic Governor Blagojevich has highlighted the corruption that plagues our political landscape with his “pay-to-play” games. Sadly, the Blagojevich saga has become more the norm than an anomaly. Without question, we have a leadership crisis in America and in my opinion this presents the most dangerous threat to the long-term viability of our country. One of the most important steps our republic can make to counter this threat is to enact public financing of our federal elections.

Our partisan hats must be put aside when we confront political corruption because ethical double-standards do nothing but make a mockery of our political system and create increased apathy amongst our citizenry. Whether it be Democratic Congressman Jefferson or Republican Senator Larry Craig, our nation must begin to weed out these elected by having strong bipartisan condemnation of irreprehensible acts and pushing for public financing of federal elections. We must work on political reforms at this level so we can begin to elect leaders and statesmen again and not just corrupt partisan powermongers. If we hope to ensure our status as a premier superpower, we must change the way we bring our leaders to be.

Our greatest challenges are from within. With our economic hurdles needing to be met with a long-term approach, to our political shortfalls requiring systemic change, our nation must look within our borders to ensure long-term political and economic stability.

10 Points to Help Rebuild Our Economy

December 5th, 2008
10 Points To Help Rebuild Our Economy
By Sam Rasoul

On the verge of global economic collapse, we hear many ideas about how to improve our economy. Just spending more is not going to work. You can add all the fuel you want to a broken engine, but our nation needs to make some fundamental changes. If we are going to spend trillions in tax-payer dollars, we must make them count.

Here are 10 points that I feel will help rebuild the economy, but it won't be quick, cheap, or easy. The first five points are more short-term in nature and the last five more long-term:

1. The Treasury should enable banks to bring mortgage rates down to 3.5%, 200 basis points below the current market rate. A substantial decrease will help to stabilize the mortgage industry.

2. Have a one-time doubling of the Home Mortgage Interest Deduction for 2008.
-Such a tax savings will directly help millions of struggling American families.

3. Of the $700 billion in TARP monies authorized, $70 billion should go directly towards helping states and municipalities with their budget shortfalls.
-Redirecting that portion of the funding will help to secure millions of jobs and ensure that vital services are not interrupted.
-Should only be used to assist with up to 50% of the budget gap needed once the state/municipality shows it is able to make the necessary adjustments for the remaining 50%.

4. Stop political grand-standing and help the car industry with bridge loans maxing out at $50 billion.
-These funds should only be accessed on a strictly as needed basis.
-The "Big Three" should have only six months to right-size their business and re-organize the American car industry with a viable sustainable business model.

5. Double the Pell Grants for the spring semester of 2009 to help struggling families cover the cost of higher education as tuition spirals out of control, while at the same time helping colleges and universities maintain their enrollment, keeping them stable.

6. Invest $1 trillion in major infrastructure projects over the next three years, projects which will create jobs.
-The government should rebuild our deteriorating bridges so to avoid a repeat of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Approximately one-third of our nation's bridges are in unacceptable condition.
-The United States needs investment in proper border and port security with investments in technology.
-Let us prepare for a National Energy Revolution by beefing up our national grid to support the efficient transfer of energy over long distances.
-Investment in high-speed passenger and freight rail to connect our businesses at a speed that truly reflects our 21st century technology, not the 19th century.
---Freight rail investments will reduce inventory costs with shorter freight transport times.
---Investment in passenger rail will allow for top quality jobs to reach every corner of our nation with workers being able to travel much longer distances for a career choice.

7. Support the passage of HR 676, which will solve our major health care woes by reducing inefficiency in the system and help American businesses compete both domestically and globally.

8. Invest in green technologies that will help to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and create millions of new green-collar jobs. These are quality jobs that produce family supporting wages, many of which cannot be outsourced.

9. Enact common sense regulation over Wall Street and executive compensation, including regulations that eliminate improper speculation of energy commodities.
-Enact legislation that ends tax breaks for excessive executive compensation. If a firm wants to pay an executive more than 100 times it pays its bottom workers, the firm should not be able to deduct any compensation over 100 times as an operating expense. Such a deduction results in a tax break for the firm.

10. If we want a government that works for the people and not big money, then we must take money out of the system and have federal elections that are publicly financed. The lobbyists and special interests got us into this economic mess with their control over Washington, and now it's time to regain the Republic.