YAS Venice - Got a family emergency? They don't want your business

Adventures in Eldercare - What do you do when your spinning instructor threatens to ban you permanently for texting your elderly father's caregiver during class?

Good question. I'm open to suggestion.

A little history. For the last several months, I've had to deal with what a lot baby boomers are facing - elderly parents living thousands of miles away who now need constant care and attention. Spinning class is one of the few times I have to myself, although even then I often can't get through a class without being interrupted by the caregiver - but we've worked out a system where she can text me so I'm not bothering anyone else.

It's worked great, until today.

I thought surely, if I explained to the instructor that Mom had just gotten out of the hospital, and that my Dad was under 24/7 care, all would be forgiven.

Uh no. Didn't move her much. In fact, it was kind of like poking a bear.

A really fit, really hip, bear.

Pick up my cell phone again, and I'd be banned, she said. Why, I asked? Because I was bothering the other students, she said.

Really? Texting quietly in the corner, surrounded by dozens of sweaty, heaving bodies with music blasting at rock-concert levels was an issue for somebody? Anybody?

This was news to me.

I was pretty upset. I'm sure I raised my voice. I didn't use any bad language (although a lot of it was floating around in my head), and I tried to keep my end of the conversation respectful. What struck me about the whole exchange later was how annoyed this woman seemed to be that she even had to deal with me.

Me, the the unfit, unhip, frumpy and tired non-bear.

In the end, I went home and did what any courageous American woman would do, write a strongly worded email and demand a refund. To their credit, I got a reply pretty fast. But - wait for it - from the same hip, fit bear-lady instructor.

Here's that reply, in it's entirety. And yes, I'm including the bear's name - not because I'm being a dick, but because she's representing herself as an officer of the corporation. Corporate bears don't deserve anonymity.

Marta, we will be happy to refund you your money. I am the VP of YAS Fitness Centers.

Our instructors and members have complained to me about your texting for quite some time now. I have made more subtle attempts to stop you but you continue to do it. It is not only disrespectful to the instructor but it is also disrespectful to the other people in the class who are living in the moment, being present and trying to have fun.

I know a lot of people who hold high level positions, people who have family who are ill (I am one of them) and they take the 45 minutes or hour to enjoy our studio and be part of the experience. Regardless of what is happening in your life you had no right to come at me as you did. Your combative behavior has resulted in your situation with YAS. We don’t want members who disrespect our instructors and our members. Perhaps a gym environment would more suitable for you since they probably don’t care as much about pleasing their members

Sherri Rosen

VP of Sales & Operations

YAS Franchise Inc

YAS Fitness Centers.

Feel free to draw your own conclusions. I know I have.

* the photo is of Kimberly Fowler, the owner of YAS, not the fit, hip bear-lady instructor.

ACTION ALERT! Loretta Sanchez Threatening To Vote "No" On Health Care Reform!

Sorry for the late notice, but it just came out late tonight, and a bit unexpectedly, that Lorretta Sanchez is the lone holdout among CA House Democrats, and her vote is critical to passing the bill tomorrow.

This is it. There is no next time. Please do whatever you can to contribute to this effort.

FOUR WAYS TO HELP

Attend the rally

At her campaign office tomorrow, Sunday, from 11am-1pm.

Click link for full details and to sign up:

http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/gp8ytl

Phone bank from OFA HQ in Culver City

To turn people out to the rally, starting at 9:30am.

Click link for full details and to sign up: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/finalmarchforreformevent/gp827s

Make phone calls from home

starting at 9:00am using the super-easy Neighbor to Neighbor tool - you will be given voters in her district to call. Click link to get started: My.barackobama.com/cafinalcall

Call her campaign office in Santa Ana and fax her DC office!

Loretta Sanchez Campaign Office Location and phone number

604 S. Harbor,

Santa Ana, CA 97204

Tel: 714.839.4431 (call and leave a message if no one picks up)

DC Fax: (202) 225-5859

(even if you're not a constituent, send letters as a Californian,

and an American)

President Obama needs our help in these final hours. He has pulled out all the stops and put his neck on the line to get health reform done, not because it benefits him politically, but because it's the right thing to do and will help millions of Americans. Let's show him we have his back, and be part of this historic achievement.

Let's get it done.

End Game

Dear friends,

It's been a while since we've talked. You might not have noticed, but there haven't been too many emails from me since January, when Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate race, and the Democrats lost their filibuster-proof 60 seat majority.

Within a day, it seemed that everything all of us had worked towards in health care reform for the past year was gone, finally swept away in a partisan tide of Republican obstruction and teabagger furry. There was no direction from the White House. OFA had gone dark.

I stopped writing, because frankly I no idea what to do, and because a new and overwhelming priority had come into my life - the declining health of my elderly parents.

Mom and Dad had me pretty late in life, so I'm dealing with issues most of my peers won't have to deal with for another decade or more. Mom has late-stage emphysema and is on oxygen 24/7. Dad has diabetes, glaucoma, moderate dementia and had a heart attack last year. After being hospitalized for pneumonia this year, it was pretty clear he wasn't going to be able to take care of himself anymore - let alone Mom.

So I've been dealing with a bewildering number of doctors, nurses, physical therapists, home health care agencies, insurance providers and assisted living facilities trying to find the best and most appropriate care for my parents.

Despite all the stress and worry, I know in a lot of ways we're lucky. My parents were both public school teachers, so their insurance picks up the 20% Medicare doesn't cover. Every doctor visit, every hospitalization is covered. They were smart enough to get supplemental long term health care insurance, so even the home health care worker who stays with them 10 hours a day is mostly paid for.

So yes, we're lucky. Because we get to focus on what's best for their health and well-being, free from the worry that their health care needs will ruin them or their family financially.

In the end, that's all this fight about health care reform has been about. Not death panels, or socialism, or Obama's "waterloo". But about the simple dignity of being able to receive the health care we need to live, not just what we can afford.

This is our right. This is what we've been fighting for.

This weekend, if reports are to be believed, Congress will finally vote to make health care reform a reality. It's not the reform we had hoped and fought for, it is deeply flawed and we must work to improve it in the future, but it's all we can get out of our government right now.

I will be calling my reps in the House and in the Senate this week, and telling them vote for the bill. I ask you to do the same.

If you don't know who your reps are, or how to contact them, go to this link to find out.

Make the call. Do it because no journey can start without taking the first step.

Why They Continue to Call It "Obamacare", I Don't Know.

A lot of people lately have asked me why I'm so pissed off about President Obama's handling of health care reform. It's a fair question. I'll answer the best I can.

Health care reform is an issue President Obama unilaterally decided to prioritize - over jobs creation, over EFCA, over climate change, over DADT, over financial regulation. We willingly joined the fight, knowing it was difficult, but confident in the belief that our President had a keen awareness of the challenges before him and a strategy to - as OFA so likes to put it - "Get It Done".

Nearly a year later - after defending health care reform at hundreds of town halls, asked to organize countless phone banks and make thousands of calls to lawmakers, told to wait patiently as the White House courted President Olympia Snowe and President Joe Lieberman, made to swallow the worst setback for reproductive rights in a generation thanks to Bart Stupak, watched helplessly as the public option was dropped and taxes on healthcare benefits were imposed on middle class Americans, we finally come within days of passing health care reform (craptacular, watered-down health care reform, but reform none the less) only to have President Obama abandon the fight he chose for us.

All it took was the loss of a single Senate election to make Congress and the White House implode. Because, apparently, Republicans now have a 41 seat majority. All hail President Brown.

It was predictable as nightfall that Democratic leadership would take exactly the wrong message from Coakley's defeat in Massachusetts. Look, there's a lot of reasons Coakely lost - she ran a bad campaign, there were rivalries inside the state party that sapped support and GOTV, not to mention a motivated Republican base.

But mostly, believe it or not, the people of Massachusetts are still voting for change.

That's right. Change. The thing that candidate Obama ran on and voters believed he failed to deliver as President Obama.

People still want it. They're hungry for it. It's not just that they don't see it happening fast enough, it's that they don't see the man they elected fighting for it.

Republican leadership, as venal and evil as they are, aren't stupid, and know how to exploit this desire by offering up false gods that the people will flock to, just as they did for the real deal in 2008.

In Obama, independents and swing voters now see someone who's more interested in compromise and capitulation than competent, decisive action. This may be an unfair assessment of his first year in office - I don't doubt President Obama has prevented this country from sliding into another Great Depression - but it's a narrative our Storyteller-And-Chief allowed to take hold.

So yeah, I'm pissed. As activists, volunteers, and citizens, we upheld our end of the contract. The White House and President Obama? Not so much.

Why the teabaggers even bother to call health care reform "Obamacare" anymore baffles me. Unless, of course, they're referring to 2010.

Because, as things stand now, Obama has pretty much taken "care" of Congress' willingness to govern, and our electoral chances in November.

As 2010 Election Year Heats Up, David Plouffe To Join White House Advisory Team

I'm not expecting any miracles here, but this does seem to be a step in the right direction.

David Plouffe, the man who managed President Barack Obama's campaign, will be taking on an expanded role as an outside adviser to the White House, according to sources familiar with the plan, a move that comes just days after a stunning defeat for Democrats in a Massachusetts Senate special election.

Allies of the White House cast the Plouffe move as less about the Massachusetts election and more about the fact that the election year is heating up and Plouffe has more free time following the publication of his campaign memoir late last year. Still, the timing is sure to stoke speculation that the White House is seeking to shore up its political operation.

After managing Obama's successful primary and general election races, Plouffe chose not to go into the White House -- as so many of his campaign colleagues did -- but rather return to the private sector and focus on writing his memoir of the campaign called "The Audacity to Win". The book was released on November 3, 2009.

Plouffe did stay involved with Organizing for America, the operation formed in the wake of Obama's victory to maintain the massive grassroots email and donor base built during the campaign. While OFA officials tout it as a success story there is increasing skepticism within the party about whether it has truly fulfilled its mission of bringing a grassroots army to bear on the President's top priorities.

Plouffe has also remained in regular touch with the President and his political team. The President talks fairly regularly with David," said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "I know that it is somebody whose advice and counsel he both seeks regularly and

believes David is an exceptionally smart advisor who understands the type of anger and frustration that he's seen. "

In an op-ed set to be published tomorrow in the Post, Plouffe argued that finding a way to pass a health care plan is critically important to the electoral fate of the party in the 2010 midterms. Wrote Plouffe:

"Americans' health and our nation's long-term fiscal health depend on it. I know that the short-term politics are bad. It's a good plan that's become a demonized caricature. But politically speaking, if we do not pass it, the GOP will continue attacking the plan as if we did anyway, and voters will have no ability to measure its upside"

Plouffe's increased advisory role comes after three major defeats for Democrats in recent months. The party lost gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia in 2009 and watched somewhat helpless as state Attorney General Martha Coakley (D) fell to Sen.-elect Scott Brown (R) in a special election in Massachusetts on Tuesday.

In each of those races, independents abandoned Democrats in droves; a new Washington Post poll shows that Brown won independents over Coakley by two-to-one margin on Tuesday, a huge reversal from the 2008 presidential election when Obama carried independents in Massachusetts by 17 points over Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Coakley's loss has stoked fears within Democratic ranks that the party is headed toward a major setback in November. Those concerns have led to considerable speculation that a number of wavering Members of Congress will choose retirement over the prospect of a very contested re-election race.

Since the Massachusetts race, however, no Senate or House Democrat has retired.

Your Moment Of Heath Care Reform Zen

President Obama "All But Disappeared" From Health Care Reform Discussions

I'm so glad I volunteered my ass off for health care reform this last year. Aren't you?

President Obama, hammered for taking a hands-off approach on health care to begin with, has all but disappeared from the discussions as Congressional leaders attempt to figure out a way to finalize a health care plan now that they have just 59 Senate seats.

Our sources suggest to us the White House has been hands-off since the fate of the health care bill went from nearly done to unbelievably uncertain this week.

Obama's health care message has been to say he hopes Congress tries to "move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on," a signal many took as backing away to let leaders do what they think is most politically viable.

A White House aide insisted Obama is "engaged" on health care and that "active" discussions are happening in an around the Oval Office.

Obama has been speaking with Congressional leadership including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Leader Harry Reid.

I'm so glad I worked my ass off for health care reform this last year. Aren't you?

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel also is talking to members, though aides say he's not advocating for one position, but is listening to their thoughts on health care.

Administration officials said the White House view is to let the results of Tuesday's elections play themselves out so members can "digest" the political implications and figure out a way ahead.

The White House views it as a fluid situation and aides warned against jumping to conclusions based on what members say is the president's level of involvement.

The White House also is reluctant to come in and demand Congress take a certain path toward finishing health care in the aftermath of the Senate election in Massachusetts. Aides believe it makes more sense to allow some time to pass and give leadership breathing room to convince their caucus to support the more conservative Senate bill - a plan the administration began advocating for before the polls had even closed Tuesday.

But White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs admitted today that Obama agrees with leadership taking a breather to let the "dust settle," adding that the president has a "full plate" he can concentrate on in the meantime.

Aides privately concede there are consequences to inaction and said the White House is firmly aware of that. They fervently pushed back on any suggestions that the fight has ended.

But pollsters close to the White House say officials there also are well aware they have lost the country's support on the two bills. Voters like individual elements of the bills but are far more concerned about unemployment.

That's one reason you've seen Obama pivot to a populist push this week, and tomorrow he'll be talking about jobs during an Ohio town hall.

Even opponents of the current bills aren't sure where to focus their attention. The Chamber of Commerce is still running ads against the plan, but keeping a close watch on Congress to see if health care will die and they can move on to other issues.

"Like everybody else we're still trying to figure out what policy makers are going to decide to do," said Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans.

Republicans are enjoying the Democratic scramble to figure out a plan for action, but have actually eased off their health care criticism.

Lanny Davis, a former Clinton White House special counsel who now writes a political column for The Hill, told TPMDC the fight among Democrats about the public option allowed Republicans to define the bill this summer.

Now the only option for Obama is to reach out to Republicans, he said. "He has a good excuse now that we lost. We have to decide is something better than nothing," Davis said.

What Lessons Does Obama Need To Teach Us For The State Of The Union?

Paul Krugman: He Wasn’t The One We’ve Been Waiting For

Ouch.

Health care reform — which is crucial for millions of Americans — hangs in the balance. Progressives are desperately in need of leadership; more specifically, House Democrats need to be told to pass the Senate bill, which isn’t what they wanted but is vastly better than nothing. And what we get from the great progressive hope, the man who was offering hope and change, is this:

I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on. We know that we need insurance reform, that the health insurance companies are taking advantage of people. We know that we have to have some form of cost containment because if we don’t, then our budgets are going to blow up and we know that small businesses are going to need help so that they can provide health insurance to their families. Those are the core, some of the core elements of, to this bill. Now I think there’s some things in there that people don’t like and legitimately don’t like.

In short, “Run away, run away”!

Maybe House Democrats can pull this out, even with a gaping hole in White House leadership. Barney Frank seems to have thought better of his initial defeatism. But I have to say, I’m pretty close to giving up on Mr. Obama, who seems determined to confirm every doubt I and others ever had about whether he was ready to fight for what his supporters believed in.

BREAKING! Pelosi Says House Doesn't Have The Votes To Pass Health Care Reform

One of the scenarios proposed to pass health care reform in the aftermath of the Massachusetts election defeat was for the House to pass the Senate bill as is. Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just put the kabosh on that.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just told reporters that she does not believe she has enough votes in the House to pass the Senate health care reform bill as-is -- at least not yet.

"I don't see the votes for it at this time," Pelosi said. "The members have been very clear in our caucus about the fact that they didn't like it before it had the Nebraska provision and some of the other provisions that are unpalatable to them."

"In every meeting that we have had, there would be nothing to give me any thought that that bill could pass right now the way that it is," she said. "There isn't a market right now for proceeding with the full bill unless some big changes are made."

SCOTUS: Corporations Are People, Election Spending Is Speech

We're fucked.

In a long-awaited 5-4 decision today, the Supreme Court of the United States has overturned its 1990 decision in Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce which had allowed states to ban corporations from using treasury money to support or oppose candidates through independent expenditures. [Bans on direct corporate contributions to candidates were not at issue in this case; you'll have to wait a few years on that one.]

Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority in today's case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, with Justice Stevens penning a 90-page dissent on behalf of himself and Justices Breyer, Ginsburg and Sotomayor. The full decision is here (PDF)

Senator Russ Feingold, who co-authored McCain-Feingold campaign reform act, is worried.

“This would be in my view, a lawless decision from the Supreme Court,” says the senator who gave his name to the McCain-Feingold law. “Part of me says I can’t believe they’ll do it, but there’s some indication they might, and that means the whole idea of respecting the previous decisions of the Supreme Court won’t mean anything anymore.”

A lawyer who chairs the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Feingold notes with regard to controls on corporate campaigning: “These things were argued in 1907, when they passed the ban on corporate treasuries. It was argued in 1947, Taft-Hartley did this. The Supreme Court has affirmed over and over again that it’s not part of free speech that corporations and unions can use their treasuries (to buy elections).”

If the court does overturn both law and precedent to advance a corporate agenda, Feingold says, “It’s just an example of activism, and legislating by a court, if they do this.

It is, as well, dangerous for democracy.

Says Feingold: “If they overturn a hundred years of laws, it means that corporations or unions can just open their treasuries (and) just completely buy up all the television time, and drown out everyone else’s voices.”

From Their Lips To God Ears

From TPM:

Here's a Mass election reaction I can believe in.

Here's an unnamed "presidential advisor" quoted in Politico who should get a promotion: "The response will not be to do incremental things and try to salvage a few seats in the fall," a presidential adviser said. "The best political route also happens to be the boldest rhetorical route, which is to go out and fight and let the chips fall where they may. We can say, 'At least we fought for these things, and the Republicans said no."