US Senate

Update -- A friend correctly points out that the gripes here are with the negotiations in the Senate. The House bill treated young people quite well and on par with seniors. My apologies for failing to distinguish.

Original Post:

If one needed proof that the importance of youth has yet to really penetrate the minds of Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill, look no further than the deal cut on health care. Substantively, I'm one of those heretics who thinks that the public option had been so watered down that its removal doesn't condemn the bill. The insurance regulations -- preventing pre-existing condition discrimination and rescission, for example -- and subsidies plus the longer term efforts at cost containment make the bill a big net win for the country.

But as the public option was stripped out, Democrats saw a need to take care of at least one demographic:

Beyond that, the group agreed--contingent upon CBO analysis--to a Medicare buy in.

That buy-in option would initially be made available to some uninsured people aged 55-64 in 2011, three years before the exchanges open.

In other words, young voters got a public option...for their parents.

The fundamental decisions around this legislation shouldn't simply be about constituencies pursuing their own narrow interests. And, even without a public option, the vast, vast majority of young people will be significantly better off with the passage of this bill than they were without.

But it is disappointing that Democrats would turn their back on a generation that placed so much trust in them. Beyond that, it is politically stupid. Democrats are preparing a narrative that won't work to reach one of their biggest target audiences. Given the heavy overlap between all three of the Rising American Electorate constituencies -- youth, unmarried women, and people of color -- the reality is that Democrats are setting themselves up in a less-than-great way politically.

So the question young people may want to ask themselves is, How can we get Democrats to pay attention to our self-interest? We can't even convince them to care about their own.

Sarah wrote about efforts to mobilize young voters in the Georgia runoff yesterday, passing on a few tips from the Young Democrats of Georgia on how to get involved. One of these was phone banking with friends.

Fortunately, YDG has set up "Let's Get Calling," an opportunity for Young Democrats from all over the country to contact young Georgia voters about the election. Details below:

YDG has made it easy. You can access our phone bank online, from the comfort of your own home, or coffee shop, or dorm room...you get the idea. All you need is
1. Access to the Internet
2. A phone
3. An RSVP for one of the phone banks below

That's it, we'll take care of the rest. No long hours of dialing and
leaving messages, our system will let you spend your time actually
talking to voters. SO LET'S GET MOVING PEOPLE!

Here's our call-times coming up. Sign-up for one of the times below by RSVPing, click on the link, and let's get the Youth Vote out for
Democrats on December 2nd.

1. Sunday November 23rd, 1-3PM - RSVP by clicking Here
2. Monday November 24th, 6-9pm - RSVP by Clicking Here
3. Tuesday November 25th, 6-9pm - RSVP by Clicking Here

More Phone Banks after the Holiday are listed on our website at
www.georgiayds.org, click on "Events".

Make some calls and help Jim Martin!

Tomorrow at 1pm CENTRAL, 2pm EASTERN, we'll be hosting a live blog with 35 year old Andrew Rice of Oklahoma. Andrew recently won the Democratic primary in Oklahoma, carrying 60% of the vote. He is now going on to challenge Republican incumbent James Inhofe, one of the most notorious global warming deniers in the Senate.

You can RSVP on Facebook, and please invite others to join us. Here's a video from Andrew's site:

Jim:
Hi, my name’s Jim Slattery and I’m running for the United States Senate in Kansas and with me today is my son Mike who is running Kansas Legislature.

Mike:
We’re excited to be here today talking with you about important issues.

Jim:
I first ran for the Kansas Legislature when I was 24 and I’m so proud to see Mike now running at the age of 26.

Mike:
My father has taught me that public service is one of the best ways to serve our community and I think it’s time for members of my generation to get involved in shaping our state’s future.

I believe Kansas and our nation for that matter needs fresh ideas and new direction. There’s been a lot of partisan bickering in and I think it’s time we elect politicians who are able to put aside their differences and work on issues important to everyone like improving our struggling economy, building strong public schools, providing affordable health care, and finding alternative sources of energy.”

Jim:
It disappoints me that the issues I first talked about when I ran for office 35 years go are still problems today- the economy, health care, education, energy etc. The incompetence of the political leadership in Washington is breathtaking. Government just isn’t getting the job done.

One of my biggest concerns is the rising deficit. Politicians in my generation are charging up bills that will have to be paid by Mike and the next generation. I call it intergenerational robbery and I believe it’s morally wrong and should be stopped.

Mike:

Somewhat along the same lines, I think it’s really important that we protect our environment for future generations. I’m excited about the potential of “green collar jobs.” By investing in the research and development of alternative energy technologies I think we have the opportunity to create new jobs for our generation and protect our environment at the same time.

I think we’d be happy to take questions at this point in time.