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Can you spare 30 seconds of your time to help save abandoned pets?

Written by: Richard Renner on Jan 4, 2009 10:30 PM EST

As our economic crisis continues to worsen, some of the most vulnerable among us can not speak for themselves - Unwanted and abandoned pets. Missaukee Humane Society (MHS) is a small shelter in rural Northern Michigan, dependent on contributions to continue their mission of mercy. MHS is one of the only no-kill animal shelters left in Michigan. They are currently running on a deficit, and at full capacity. Many mornings, the staff arrives to find abandoned pets, left overnight by owners who can no longer afford to feed or care for them.

Right now, MHS is attempting to win a $10,000 prize from Adopt-a-Pet.com. Please, can you spare 30 seconds of your time to vote for MHS, by clicking on...

http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/70962/?refer=26290.12.1229816824.4762

$10,000 could save literally hundreds of abandoned pets - Pets that give us nothing but unconditional love in exchange for an occasional pat on the head, game of fetch, and a couple of bowls filled with food and fresh water.

Because MHS is in a rural, sparsely populated area, they need as many votes as possible from all across the state, and all across the country. Please vote now at...

http://www.care2.com/animalsheltercontest/70962/?refer=26290.12.1229816824.4762

The one absolute, unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world—the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous—is his dog…a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he can be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that had no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.

- George Graham Vest, American lawyer and politician, 1830-1904

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My American Legislative Priority New Year Resolution

Written by: Stephen Crockett on Jan 2, 2009 9:24 AM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy for Maryland, DEMOCRACY for Baltimore, Democracy for Cecil, PA for Democracy, Philly for Change, Democracy for Tennessee, DFA New Jersey, Progressive Democrats For Delaware, Democracy for Pittsburgh, Progressive Democracy South Jersey, Lower Bucks for Democracy, Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup, Middlesex County DFA, Birmingham DFA / PDA, Alabama For Democracy-Montgomery, Mobile DFA, Salisbury DFA, Democracy for Montgomery County, Prince George's - Democracy for America, Democracy for Howard County, DFA Anne Arundel, Roosevelt Democratic Club, DFA/Greater Bowie DEMOCRATS, DEMOCRACY for America in Frederick, Democracy for Carroll County, Ocean County DFA/PDA, Bergen Grassroots, Essex County, NJ, DFA, Hudson DFA, Morris County DFA, Union County for Democracy, Hoboken Progressives, Hunterdon DFA, Somerset for Democracy, Passaic County DFA, Jersey Shore DFA, Atlantic County DFA, DFA Radio, Montco DFA, Democracy for Chester County, Northeast Philadelphia for Democracy, Lehigh/Northampton Progressive Alliance, Democracy for Lancaster, Capital Area DFA (Harrisburg PA), Democracy for Lititz, Berks for Change

On the first morning of 2009, the Washington Journal on CSPAN started their daily program with a segment where callers could give their top legislative priorities for the upcoming year. This writer was lucky enough to get on air as the third caller.

I listed my top priorities as (1) the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, (2) an economic stimulus to help middle class and working class Americans and (3) creation of a system of government provided universal healthcare. The program gave me an opportunity to briefly state my reasons for giving passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Readers can hear those reasons by viewing the program segment from the Washington Journal archives at http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/includes/templates/library/flash_popup.php?pID=283084-1&clipStart=&clipStop= or read them from my Employee Free Choice Act and Republican Disinformation column of March 2007 at http://www.democratictalkradio.com/07_free_choice_gop_disinformation.html so I will not repeat them in this column. However, time restraints prevented a discussion even briefly of the other two listed priorities.

Additionally, there are many other important legislative priorities that need to be addressed in 2009. We need to (4) return to the Fairness Doctrine in broadcasting, (5) renegotiate or repeal all the so-called “free trade” deals destroying American manufacturing, threatening our national governmental authority , undermining labor laws and crippling environmental regulation, (6) banning or nationalizing private armies and militaries, like Blackwater, (7) ending the counting of votes by private companies and making voting much easier while guaranteeing that every vote gets counted, (8) repealing the falsely named Patriot Act, (9) ending the federal ban on medical marijuana, (10) putting real teeth in federal anti-monopoly laws, (11) making corporate executives personally liable for the illegal actions of the corporations they run including both serious jail time and the seizure of personal assets when appropriate and (12) making the right to unionize a federally protected civil right. These dozen legislative priorities are certainly the ending place for the kind of change we need in this nation. They are really only the beginning of the serious institutional reforms we need to undertake in order to make America a better place to live for all our citizens.

It is becoming a regular theme in the Corporate Media that Obama and the Democratic Party should “govern from the center” and turn away from fundamental governmental change. This is pure nonsense and exactly the opposite of both what the voters were seeking in the 2008 elections and what the current, multiple crises demand.

We need to first understand that we have just ended an era of increasingly radical Right Wing governmental rule of, by and for Corporate interests. We had a government that ruled over us instead of representing us. We need a dramatic push in the opposite direction for decades just to return to the middle ground we occupied prior to the Reagan era. The goal should not be to return just to the pre-Reagan political mindset. The current situation demands a return to the New Deal mindset of the FDR era.

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Buying American-made Toys

Written by: Stephen Crockett on Dec 28, 2008 2:18 AM EST

I did not buy any toys for the many children in my life this year. Admittedly, money was very tight after the economy collapsed from eight years of Republican mismanagement. However, the main reason I did the scrooge thing this Christmas is that I simply refused to buy Chinese made toys for the American children I love so dearly.

The American children I love so dearly need to inherit, from all of us, a nation with a strong manufacturing base. These children need to grow up in an economy that will pay good wages to all our citizens and that actually makes things. Buying cheap junk made in third world nations for Christmas presents is not doing these children any favors.

I cannot understand why no American toy companies are making toys in America. Obviously, the greed of the corporations and American governmental trade policy has combined to destroy toy manufacturing in this nation. If both our corporate leaders and government officials cannot change their behaviors and start making toys in America, we should boycott completely imported toys and change our elected leaders at the first opportunity.

Making toys in low wage nations does fatten the bottom line of corporations at the expense of the future of the American economy. It helps pay the outrageously bloated salaries of corporate CEO’s but actually does little to reduce the cost to consumers. It often means shoddy and unsafe toys are being given to our children. The corporate CEO’s need to curb their greed and start thinking about the future of the American economy!

One of the first things we can do, starting right after the beginning of the New Year, is to visit as many retail stores as possible and file written complaints about the non-availability of American-made toys this past Christmas. Every Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target and toy store in America should be getting hundreds or thousands of complaints from patriotic Americans. We owe it to our children to demand that the toys that we buy for them actually contribute to a better future for them when they become working adults.

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Democratic Talk Radio 2008 Villain & Hero Awards

Written by: Stephen Crockett on Dec 19, 2008 9:02 PM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy for Maryland, DEMOCRACY for Baltimore, Democracy for Cecil, PA for Democracy, Philly for Change, Democracy for Tennessee, DFA New Jersey, Progressive Democrats For Delaware, Democracy for Pittsburgh, Progressive Democracy South Jersey, Middlesex County DFA, Birmingham DFA / PDA, Mobile DFA, Lower Bucks for Democracy, Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup, Alabama For Democracy-Montgomery, Salisbury DFA, DFA Anne Arundel, DFA/Greater Bowie DEMOCRATS, Democracy for Montgomery County, Democracy for Carroll County, Roosevelt Democratic Club, Ocean County DFA/PDA, Essex County, NJ, DFA, Bergen Grassroots, Prince George's - Democracy for America, Morris County DFA, Union County for Democracy, Hunterdon DFA, Democracy for Howard County, DEMOCRACY for America in Frederick, Hudson DFA, Atlantic County DFA, Jersey Shore DFA, Montco DFA, Democracy for Chester County, Northeast Philadelphia for Democracy, Lehigh/Northampton Progressive Alliance, Hoboken Progressives, Somerset for Democracy, Passaic County DFA, Berks for Change, Democracy for Lititz, DFA Radio, Democracy for Lancaster, Capital Area DFA (Harrisburg PA)

Political villains were rampant in 2008. It was impossible to give a single award for the injustices committed for solely political reasons this past year. For the first time ever, Democratic Talk Radio was unable to even narrow the infamous winners to just two. We have selected three “Villains of 2008” to share the award.

Our first choice is obvious. Fox News wins the first 2008 villain slot for their disinformation campaign against ACORN. The efforts of Fox News to provide political cover for Republican efforts at voter suppression during the 2008 elections were, in the opinion of Democratic Talk Radio, the lowest thing ever done by Fox News.

The second winner for 2008 political villain is George McGovern. Fans of Democratic Talk Radio may be surprised by this choice. Frankly, we never expected to be giving a former Democratic Presidential candidate a villain of the year award. However, McGovern has lent his name to the Right-Wing, corporate effort to undermine workers’ right to unionize. George McGovern has allied himself with the anti-worker efforts to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. His TV commercials are frankly an open act on working Americans. McGovern has disgraced himself by joining with the most anti-working class political forces in America and misleading the American public on the nature of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Senate Republicans out to destroy the American auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are our third villainous winners. Senator Corker of Tennessee, Senator Shelby of Alabama, Senator McConnell of Kentucky, Senator Vitter of Louisiana and their fellow Senate Republicans put the interests of foreign corporations over the interests of the American economy. Since all were opposed by the United Auto Workers in previous elections because of their militantly anti-worker voting records, their efforts are obviously motivated by personal political considerations that directly undermine the national interest. These Senate Republicans have sided with foreign companies to drive down the wages and healthcare benefits of American workers.

The hero of the year selected by Democratic Talk Radio is Al Franken. The American nation should be delighted at his political courage and determination. By insisting that all the votes be counted in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, Franken has set a good example for all candidates running for office and for American voters. American Democracy has been strengthened by his resolve.

Al Franken will be a great asset should he eventually prevail when all the votes are finally counted. Norm Coleman has been very aggressive in his attempts to undermine a free and fair counting of the ballots.

For more information, contact Stephen Crockett at 443-907-2367.

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Is Senator Shelby a Threat to American Economy?

Written by: Stephen Crockett on Dec 5, 2008 8:33 AM EST

Linked to groups: DEMOCRACY for Baltimore, DFA New Jersey, Progressive Democrats For Delaware, Democracy for Pittsburgh, Democracy for Tennessee, Philly for Change, PA for Democracy, Democracy for Cecil, Democracy for Maryland, Birmingham DFA / PDA, Alabama For Democracy-Montgomery, Mobile DFA, Middlesex County DFA, Progressive Democracy South Jersey, Lower Bucks for Democracy, Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup, Salisbury DFA, Democracy for Montgomery County, Prince George's - Democracy for America, Democracy for Howard County, DFA Anne Arundel, Roosevelt Democratic Club, Bergen Grassroots, Essex County, NJ, DFA, DFA/Greater Bowie DEMOCRATS, Hudson DFA, Union County for Democracy, Morris County DFA, Ocean County DFA/PDA, DEMOCRACY for America in Frederick, Passaic County DFA, Democracy for Carroll County, Atlantic County DFA, Jersey Shore DFA, DFA Radio, Somerset for Democracy, Hunterdon DFA, Hoboken Progressives, Montco DFA, Democracy for Chester County, Northeast Philadelphia for Democracy, Lehigh/Northampton Progressive Alliance, Democracy for Lancaster, Capital Area DFA (Harrisburg PA), Democracy for Lititz, Berks for Change

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

Senator Shelby (Republican-Alabama) has a very negative record when it comes to protecting the economic health of the American nation. He has routinely endorsed every major, so-called “free trade” deal that has been proposed for decades. Shelby has routinely stood in the way of government provided, universal healthcare proposal for decades. Now, Shelby (like most other Republican Senators with similar voting records) is blocking the federal bridge loans to the American auto companies designed to save the American auto industry.

The stakes are huge. A million auto worker retirees have their healthcare and pensions put at risk by Shelby’s unpatriotic and reckless actions. The ripple effect of not approving the loans could destroy one out of ten jobs in the American economy.

Political and economic pundits along with most officeholders have refused to link the economic crisis facing the auto industry to government policy. The situation facing the auto industry is more a result of bad government policy than bad management decisions. The attempt by politicians like Shelby to blame labor unions is factually wrong and, in my opinion, intentionally dishonest. Shelby and his Senate allies created this auto industry crisis by adopting economic policies that have crippled the American economy.

All industrialized nations except the United States has government provided, universal healthcare. Only in America, do we place the costs of workers’ healthcare and their families’ healthcare on the backs of employers. This puts our employers at a huge competitive disadvantage with foreign corporations.

At the same time, foreign governments have helped their auto manufacturing in terms of research and development (R&D) much more than the American government has in recent decades. Senate Republicans have routinely placed the profits of HMO’s, drug companies and insurance companies over the health of American manufacturing. Shelby has undermined both the personal health of hundreds of millions of American citizens and our industrial base for decades.

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Happy Thanksgiving from Missaukee County (Michigan) :)

Written by: Richard Renner on Nov 26, 2008 7:30 PM EST

To all my friends at Democracy for America,

May your Thanksgiving be filled with Love, Faith and Laughter.

Best wishes,

Richard Renner

Missaukee County Commissioner-elect

Membership Chair, Missaukee County Democratic Party

“Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seeming to a divine purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know: That we are here for the sake of others...for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day, I realize how much my outer and inner life is built upon the labors of people, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received.”

- Albert Einstein

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"...let's not forget all the hard-working, progressive Democrats who are running for local offices..." - Democrats.com

Written by: Richard Renner on Nov 17, 2008 9:41 PM EST

"...let's not forget all the hard-working, progressive Democrats who are running for local offices...Local and state offices have an enormous impact on our lives, and also produce our future national leaders..." - Democrats.com

CHALLENGE: ONLY 3 DAYS LEFT to raise $380! Help the only Democratic County Commissioner in Missaukee County (Michigan).

On Tuesday, November 4th, history was made in Missaukee County. I was fortunate enough to defeat a Republican incumbent for County Commissioner in the second most Republican county in the state of Michigan. However, as with many campaigns, I have debt to pay off, and several final expenses to pay. I need to raise $380 in 3 days. Can I count on you? Making a contribution is easier than ever. Just click on the link below, and make a secure, online contribution using PayPal...

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=rrenner%40core%2ecom&item_name=Friends%20of%20Richard%20Renner&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0¤cy_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8

OFFICIALLY ENDORSED BY MID-MICHIGAN DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA (MMDfA)!
“Richard REALLY knows his stuff and has specific plans for improving his county.”

As I was quoted in our local daily, the Cadillac News, following my victory...

"The voters...have made a determination that the status quo is no longer acceptable, that we expect more accountability, greater openness, and transparency in county government."

Please, help me pay off my debt by raising $380 in 3 days. Just click on the link below, and make a secure, online contribution using PayPal...

Victory '10,

Richard Renner

Missaukee County Commissioner-elect

"...public service must be more than doing a job efficiently and honestly. It must be a complete dedication to the people...with full recognition that every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration."

- Margaret Chase Smith, U.S. Senator from Maine, 1949-1973

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Democracy for America group blog for Democracy for Lancaster

Can you spare 30 seconds of your time to help save abandoned pets?

My American Legislative Priority New Year Resolution

Read more

Buying American-made Toys

Read more

Democratic Talk Radio 2008 Villain & Hero Awards

Is Senator Shelby a Threat to American Economy?

Read more

Happy Thanksgiving from Missaukee County (Michigan) :)

"...let's not forget all the hard-working, progressive Democrats who are running for local offices..." - Democrats.com