88 thoughts on “Signed. Sealed. Delivered.”

  1. Love that photo with him in a polo shirt and the tropical foliage in the background. So zen. So Obama. So Hawaii. Must make Hawaiians proud. 🙂

  3. Congratulation to all those brave heroes from Ground Zero who unselfishly sacrificed so much.

  4. Aside from the obvious joy of signing this legislation for the first responders, he must be at least a little tickled to only have to use one pen!! lol

  5. 🙂 I’ll remember this day, and this signing. It’s my anniversary. What a gift the President gave those heroic individuals today. Best anniversary ever, and the President did it for me:)

  6. I hope, in the end, that people look back to see the driving force that pushed and pushed for this bill. And it was those New Yorkers who worked rescue and recovery. I know it took politicians to put it in place (not to take any credit from both NY Senators, including Hilary when she was Senator), but it started with those men and women who pulled together – and shouted loud for those who died too soon before their time. And they shouted loud against those who said that there was no correlation between their illnesses and the toxic air and dust that was inhaled.

    That bush had 7 years to do something and failed….should never be forgotten.

  9. Hawaii contributes more to this country than we ever acknowledge. Glad to have those 9/11 responders taken care of, especially those who are so ill that they lost their jobs and therefore their health insurance.

  10. NEVER any correlation. Not between Chernobyl and birth defects, illness and Desert Storm. clusters of cancer and chemical dumping. NEVER any correlation that impacts Republican’s wallets.

    I also want to give a belated shout-out to the workers that helped in the nuke safety efforts this past week.

  11. President Obama, thank you for signing the 9/11 Health & Compensation Act. You are to be commended on so many, many things. You are the kind of President that Is eager to get things & business accomplished. Thank you for your unselfish devotion to your job. Please know that “GOD” Is watching & blessing you too. Hang In there, Mr. President. You make us so very proud :-). Not only will you go down In History as the First Black President, but also, a “Great” President as well.

  12. Thank you! 30 years…hard to imagine it’s been that long. He makes me laugh! That’s my secret and I’m stickin’ to it:)

  14. There he goes again taking care of the people’s business even while on much needed vacay. What are the Republicans doing during their holiday break? Running around with MSM holding their hands,plotting to repeal health care. *sigh*

    And people wonder why I stand with this President so hard. ❤ him.

  15. I love my president! He is such a gift to our country. Obama 2012!!! Bring it on GOP. You got nothing!

  17. Right. Those folks are true heroes and patriots. And to think the “patriotic” GOP didn’t want to give them shiz…and they call themselves Christians. Disgraceful.

  20. I am so happy for the responders and their families. They’ve waited so long for this help, and I’m just so proud that PBO and the democrats were willing and able to get this law passed. I can imagine how these responders and their families have suffered because they either can no longer work or have had to work less due to their illnesses and thus, have problems taking care of their families. Chipsticks has a pic on The Obama Diary of a firefighter in Hawaii giving the president an Hawaiian greeting by hand this morning as his car passed by the fire station.

  21. Remember “Sicko” which one is effective. Vey carefully or patiently craft and pass a legislation to help our NY-heroes or take some of them to Cuba and criticize or demonize GWB or anyone else for a one day treatment? I will take the first one any day. In your face Mr. Moore!!!!!!!!

  22. Very well said. I will never forget, and I hope the people in New york, New Jersey, and the rescuers that came from everywhere remember
    how the republicans blocked this just so they can have the Bush Tax extended.
    My brother works for Verizon. Right after 911 he and others went to work to restore the phone lines. He now has asthma, sleep Apnea, and has frequent bouts of Bronchitas, not to mention the psychological affects of working down there.

  23. I want to share with all you this this that I wrote in December 16, 2007 in “My.barackobama.com” now known as OFA: I will treasure this fotr ever…

    Re: I just love my senator… | Report to Admin
    Reply
    By Saku, Today at 1:39:04 PM ET (Updated: Today at 2:55:04 PM ET )
    Here are TEN Public Relations issues I learned from Barack Obama:
    1. Speak to people. There is nothing as nice and cheerful as words of greeting.
    2. Smile of people. It takes 65 muscles to frown; only 25 to smile.
    3. Call people by names. The sweetest music to any one is the sound of his/her name.
    4. Be friendly and helpful. If you would have friends be friendlier.
    5. Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do were a genuine pleasure.
    6. Be genuinely interested in people. You can like everybody if you try not to be disagreeable.
    7. Be generous with praise, but cautious with criticism.
    8. Be considerate with feelings of others. It will be greatly appreciated.
    9. Be thoughtful of the opinions of others. There are three sides to controversy-yours, the other fellows and the right one.
    10. Be alert to give service. What counts most in life is what we do for other.

    I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME PERSON AGAIN!!!!

    Thank you Senator Barack Obama, you will always be my hero and my President!!!

  24. I agree, especially about Jon Stewart giving their plight facetime. I also think that Shep Sheppard (not sure I have that name correct as I don’t watch FOX News)helped give the Responders plight air time after watching The Daily Show and seeing Jon Stewart’s show on the insanity of not supporting their heroic rescue work when they are in need.

    I pray what has been set forth will not be undone by the Republican control of the House. Maybe Prez Obama is correct in thinking the GOP will have to improve their ways and the people will not stand for the obstruction they used in the last two years when they have some responsibility. I hope so as it would be disheartening to see all the good done unravel.

  25. Looks like he paused between a “round” of golf to take care of business, then off to finish game. President Obama, is the “real deal”.

  26. I was thinking that he should have did this with more fanfare in order to draw focus on the fact the GOP voted against this and tried to block it for months.

    However that would be using 9/11 and it’s survivors as political props and there is only one party that does that.

  27. Stewart shamed the silence enough that Shep Smith woke up to carry the issue on Fox. Shep went off on Fox about how deplorable it was for the GOP to be blocking it and voting against it.

  28. Exactly my thinking.

    If he did it with fanfare, you know there would be those who would think he was using it for the publicity.

    I’m glad he did this quietly, and I’m sure it was done with a prayer to those who are gone. To me, it lends more dignity.

  29. Exactly! While I am very happy that Congress came through on this piece of legislation that President Obama championed, my gut tells me that it was Jon Stewart’s last Daily Show before the holidays that was dedicated to this bill and backed Mike Huckabee, his guest interview, into a corner to support this, that put this bill over the top.

    Thank you, Jon Stewart. Thank you, President Obama. And deep thanks to all of the members of Congress who helped get this passed!

  30. That poor man is a lone sane voice over there sometimes…I don’t know how he does that day in and day out.

  31. I was watching the news about this bill and the reporter said the Republicans were basically holding out because they were demanding a way to pay for it. This chick is in NY so she/the network should know better than to feed us that crap. The GOP opposition was not principled.

    Other Republicans have a problem with the way the bill is funded. The current bill would do so by cracking down on companies that “treaty-shop,” which means they funnel income through firms located in other countries that have treaties setting lower US tax rate.

    http://www.newsinferno.com/legal-news/zadroga-world-trade-center-compensation-bill-in-limbo-as-senate-plays-politics/

    See that? Corporations FIRST! Always. The Reporter should have spent 5 more seconds pointing out the real reason for the opposition.

  32. He’s not a “chest beater”…I think if he had his drothers, he would just go about his business and sign the bills in the privacy of his office with those people around him that worked hard to pass it, and the people who the bill was meant for. ( 9/11 rescuers)He’s not a grand stander. What he accomplishes, speaks for itself.

  33. Those that were against this,defunded this from the original amount, and screamed about where the money was going to come from to pay for this…insult our intelligence. Do they HONESTLY think that people aren’t paying attention?

  35. Those that were against this obviously weren’t constantly exposed to story after story of rescue and recovery workers, NYPD, FDNY, EMS dying years later. It became so painful to me, I had to stop reading the newspapers at one point. It seemed like every month, another was dead or dying.

    I’m just glad that something finally came to compromise.

  36. A word of caution about that sentiment: People like Shep Smith, JoeScar, Chris Matthews, etc. are playing a game with viewers. At all times. Keep in mind, Shepard Smith is one of, perhaps the only, original hire at Pox Newz still there, and currently gets around $7 million/year. This doesn’t happen by accident.

    98% of the time they are willingly infusing the various MegaMedia fabrications and lies into our public discourse (note: Chris Matthews just this week asking President Obama to just show whatever birth documents the nutjobs are asking for, thereby giving extra credence to that insane fabrication). When something so off-the-charts crazy comes along, like Repubs resisting the First Responders legislation, where there’s basically no risk in supporting it, they act like they care in order to get some viewers to think, “See, they’re not so bad…” It’s part of building their own “brand.”

    Just wanted to get that out there since I’ve worked with some of these aforementioned manipulators. I’d suggest keeping that in mind when future fake non-issues become the stories-du-jour, and people like Shepard Smith are constantly promoting them.

  37. Thank you pres Obama for taking time out of your day to sign the 9/11 bill. America will not ever forget the events of that day and thank you to all of the first responders at ground zero. Hopefully America does not also forget how the GOP tried to block this bill and played games with people’s livelihood. Let’s only hope.

  38. I think the low key signing may have been to avoid the risk of a “pocket veto”.

    U.S. Constitution – Article 1, Section 7:

    “If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.”

    I’m sure he would like to give public kudos to the surviving first responders, their families, and others who fought for this bill. I think this was mainly a procedural issue.

  39. Well, GWB was doing nothing. Nothing! I’m glad Michael Moore exposed our health care system.

  40. The heck with negativity, I am always positive! Life is really too short I want to be happy as hell, always! always!

  41. And what positive result did you get from a ranting Michael Moore? Nada, zip, zero! So, what is the point of exagerating the problem as far as Michael Moore is concerned = sales of tickets to his movie that is it, no more no less. I used to like that guy but after the PBO era he is redundant to me, dead, not effective. One other thing, he likes confrontation, that is no SMART any more. GWB is the worst Prez I have ever witnessed but Micheal Moore is also foolish. That is my thought and I will stick with it.

  42. Hey, BTW he cost John Carey the election in 2004. He should go away, I agree with all of you!

  47. Have you watched Fahrenheit 9/11? There were many, many facts regarding Iraq that I wouldn’t have known if it weren’t for that movie. And, as someone whose family member was KIA in Iraq, I appreciate his speaking truth to power.

    Can Moore be annoying? Yes. Does he think very highly of himself? Yes.

    Still, I’m grateful for Fahrenheit 9/11 and the truths that were told.

    I cannot speak for his other movies because I haven’t seen them.

  48. That Sick film was stupid and unecessary, that was a big problem in 2004, a lie and an exageration and it cost Carey the Presidency. In a way I am sort of not disappointed that much now, but in 2004 I was so mad that wanted Michael Moore to get lost as fast as possible. Micheal Moore is not needed now period. He is part of the old politics that need to be discarded.

  49. The film “Sicko” was a big problem in 2004?

    “Sicko” wasn’t released until June of 2007.

  50. I agree with you that Michael Moore was an important person a while back, but not now. His thinking process is wrotten, and old. You can not be with your country’s enemy just because a Wicki Leacker has a bad information that undermines your own country. Do you? Michael Moore paid $10,000 for the release of the Wickyleak guy, what is that? And he will convince you that he loves his country. What?

  53. With all respect, John ‘Carey’ is an actor, or a State Senator (R) from Ohio.

    John Kerry is the esteemed Senator from Massachusetts and the former 2004 Presidential nominee.

  54. I don’t recall saying that I’m in agreement with Moore’s bailing out Assange. Did I? Did I write that here?

    If Moore released a movie about Wall Street, I’d see it in a New York minute.

  55. “Bowling for Columbine” was released in 2002. I haven’t seen it, but maybe you can tell me how it hurt John Kerry?

  56. This is an important victory and signing today by Pres. Obama, and the Democratic leaders in the House & Senate.

    So, you’d think that FluffingtonToast, Dkos, and other “liberal” sites would give this some facetime, wouldn’t you?

    Nary a peep. FluffToe put it 3 or 4 stories below the fold, and if it’s even been mentioned on DK, I couldn’t tell you where.

    I pointed this out in a comment on HuffPo, and was surprised to see my comment actually got posted. While I did have 1 tr0ll response (fewer than I expected), I had substantial support from other HP readers, and picked up 3 or 4 fans because of it. One said, with all the screaming HP did about the responders not getting relief, you’d give they’d give more coverage to the good news. (Ha!)

    But, the thing to notice is – more and more, the readers are seeing through the MSM’s (and that’s where I put HP) stupid narratives about the Obama administration. There is hope, after all 🙂

  57. I too was curious about this so I did a google search. I got crickets chirping. Only pres Obama’s name comes up for actually signing a bill under my search of president ______ signs bill during holiday,vacation, down time, etc. Some random stuff comes up like ex pres Clinton signs Martin Luther King holiday and stuff like that but no actual work while vacationing.

    I did found this tidbit pertaining to this bill though.

    “Yet Congress did not send the president the enrolled bill — the final, official copy, printed on parchment paper and signed by House and Senate officials — before he left for Hawaii on Dec. 23, according to Bill Burton, White House deputy press secretary.

    Mr. Obama had a 10-day window to sign it, so the official copy was flown to Hawaii, carried by a White House staff member who was traveling here anyway, Mr. Burton said.”

    Congress again was lagging their asses at the potential expense of we the people. God bless our potus., always always there for us.

  58. I read somewhere that the President had to sign the bill before he’s back in DC, otherwise they risked a pocket veto. The bill passed Dec 22nd, so the President had ten days to sign it, excluding Sundays — which ends tomorrow night. I think there will be a ceremony, either at the White House, or in New York. Just remember it’s not official unless the President signs it, so he couldn’t risk Republican dirty tricks.

  59. I am surprised they didn’t delete it. Link to your comment I would fan you for speaking truth. 🙂

  60. Saku

    This is an amazing list. As I watch discussions unfold at many other blogs I see how they could benefit from this list.

    At my blog I have several “Top Ten” lists. Could I reprint yours at the blog?

    http://whatisworking.com

    Who should I list as the author? Saku

    Many thanks for your efforts.

  62. It continues to show us that our President is on top of his game. He does what is right by the people. I am so grateful that we have an intelligent, sharp, caring, and compassionate President of the United States.

    May we continue to support him and think good and positive thoughts. And we must always fight the lies with the truth as we hear it from his mouth. I also read that the proper form of the bill had to be signed before his return. See when you do things right for people, things fall right into place. I am so grateful that help is on the way for these brave citizens. Blessings on the way.

  63. I don’t care what you say, I care about what MM says. And he paid a $10,000 for Assange the rapist, that is a fact.

  64. Hey What is working; this is my own observasion so you can write me as the author. And yes you can copy and paste it anywhere you want.

    Saku

  65. I don’t know if anyone else was disturbed by Michelle Bachmann’s recent comments, but I haven’t been able to get these words off my mind. In a recent speech, Bachmann revealed that she used to be a Democrat before the “snotty” attitude of Gore Vidal turned her into a Republican. She mentioned this about her time as a Democrat: “You have to kill like 50,000 Muslims to absolve a sin like that!”. I don’t know how a representative of the US government, who has Muslims as her constituency, can get away with saying something so casually reprehensible like this. Link to full article: http://wonkette.com/433801/michele-bachmann-worked-for-jimmy-carter-was-ruined-by-gore-vidal

  66. Please tell your brother thank you! I know
    ! I am know there must be times
    when he and you think those who did
    This without public knowledge are
    Forgotten. I know there are a lot
    People like me who will never forget
    And are forever grateful for all the
    People like him. Goe bless you all!

  67. Good Morning,

    Theo67 I read about this over the weekend. She is despicable but she does this stuff because there is little to no accounting for her words so she continues to do this. No elected official that has a high security clearance should speak like this (she will be on the Intelligence Committee believe it or not).

    Had a Democrat said something like that the Repubs would go on Fox and complain and then conservative radio would pick it up and within hours the MSM would be telling the story and it would be a two or three day negative bash fest that they would be demanding that the President respond about it.

    A couple of months ago when he went to India she was all over the airwaves spreading lies about how much that trip would cost. Once the MSM pushed back and called her on it she stopped but did she ever apologize or admit that she was wrong? Nope. It just goes away and this nutty woman becomes a member of the Intelligence Committee with the upcoming congress. Meanwhile the PL spends two-thirds of their time bashing this administration and never enough time going after Republicans with any full force.

  70. Hi Theo67,
    I think the “50,000 Muslims” statement is Wonkette snarkiness, poking fun at Bachman’s using Gore Vidal (!) as the basis for turning her into a republican. Here’s the TPM report of the platitude-laden Bachman speech to her repub audience. Her votes have contributed to death and destruction, however.

  71. I understand. Just goes to their “slash and burn” mentality. They never want skin in the game, and used all those people for props for all these years, while they got sick and were dying in droves.It’s repulsive to me.

  72. And what did Christie do while he was on vacation?
    I know, he went to the HALL OF PRESIDENTS, and saw President Obama! LOL!

  73. that’s because there’s not much interest in the positive stories. 😦

    Aside which, throughout all these years, I’ve found there’s very little _real_ interest at certain sites of the _real_ stories involving the on-going pain that the attacks on September 11 have inflicted on New Yorkers. They only want to discuss the bigger headlines.

    This bill was really important, because it was to help those that went forth unselfishly to assist in some way. There were so many.

    As I said – politics put things in place – but the push for this was definitely grassroots. The slogan is “They will not be forgotten”… but it’s not just those that lost their lives on that day. It’s those that continue to die since that day as a result of the toxic dust they inhaled.

    I work in lower Manhattan. Was here on Sept 11, 2001. Developed asthma as a result of working in this area. My breathing capacity in October 2001 was down to 65%. Thankfully, 2 years later, I could essentially wean myself off of inhalers and a year after that, off of daily asthma meds. But I’m now prone to respiratory colds, bronchitis – and do still suffer from asthma occasionally (I’ve learned to know the triggers).

    I know many through my job who worked rescue and recovery. Who worked on the pile. Who worked at Fishkills. They will _never_ be the same. Yes, we’ve all moved forward in life, but changed forever.

    This bill closes at least one chapter. At least that’s the way I see it.

  75. WASHINGTON–Here’s another look at Chicago Mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel, in the new epilogue written by Jonathan Alter for the paperback edition of his bestseller, “The Promise: President Obama, Year One.”

    Alter devotes a chapter in the book–headlined “Rahmbo”–about Emanuel, President Obama’s former Chief of Staff. “Rahm,” Alter wrote, “played by his own rules.”

    In the Alter epilogue, previewed in the Huffington Post, “The Obama administration’s perceived failure to take laser-like aim at the unemployment crisis was partly due to the dysfunctional relationship between White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, top economic adviser Larry Summers and senior adviser David Axelrod, specifically the intransigence of Summers.

    According to Alter, a North Side Chicago native, “The inability to pivot in 2010 to a single-minded focus on jobs was a by-product of what one senior aide called “dysfunction” between Emanuel, Summers, and Axelrod. Rahm had always admired Larry, but he was becoming exasperated with his failure to give him a jobs plan he could sell. ‘Week after week, Rahm would say, ‘Let’s explore this’ or ‘How about that?’ and Larry would slow-walk everything,’ recalled one senior advisor. ‘He basically doesn’t believe in the government helping small business’.”

    Lynn Sweet-

  76. That is *very* interesting. If this is true, Summers’ stance has proven fateful IMO, with the weak economy being a major handicap this November (although I must credit the political skill of the Democratic party which managed to hang onto the senate against historical odds).

  78. Well said, donna. Here’s to becoming our own little voice in the Professional Left, more willing to hold the GOP accountable. It’s remarkable how much they have gotten away with. Bachmann is an embarrassment to the entire country, of all ideological stripes.

  79. That’s great to hear, jan. We’re so badly served by some of the megasites which claim to speak for the base. It’s gratifying to see new spaces emerging which present alternative points of view.

  80. OMG kishik, I’m so sorry to hear that you went through a health challenge. Utterly agreed that this bill is ultra-important to help those who were indeed incredibly unselfish and rushed themselves to help others, even doing the gruesome work of sifting through ashes in order to give victims’ family the peace of being able to bury remains. It is just insane to me that the GOP is once again getting such a pass for obstructing and watering down legislation designed to help the actual people who were devastated by the event on which the GOP continues to grandstand to this day. That Bush was embraced rather than challenged for this taking place on his watch (known prior warning!) speaks to something seriously wrong in this country.

  82. Thank you for sharing your personal story, k.
    My husband’s company had offics in one of the towers. His office in CT was on the phone with a NY colleague when the planes came in. The colleague literally saw the plane through the window, threw down the phone and ran. This group was reported as the last group to make it out. He must have nightmares. And yes, husband did work out of that office from time to time, but not that day.

  85. unfortunately, a coworker and friend’s SIL didn’t make it out. They had been told to stay put. By the time they realized they needed to leave it was too late.

    When the company sat down with the family members in the weeks to come, many realized that many of them were all speaking with their loved ones until they perished. They were able to piece together certain events and a timeline.

    The weirdest weirdest thing is, another friend – her husband worked at fishkill sifting through what was brought from Ground Zero. He found the SILs wallet… and dogtags amidst the debris (they found a LOT of things in all of that, along with body parts). The wallet was pretty much intact. The dog tags were definitely intact (she served in the Navy).

    Isn’t that strange?

  86. Thank you for this clarification, Nina. I was really upset by this statement, and couldn’t believe that it was going untouched. Good to know that even Bachmann isn’t this stupid as to say something so insensitive and dangerous.

  88. A remarkable achievement by a remarkable president. Congratulations, Mr. President

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