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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

Discuss

Help shape the '08 Dem Platform!

Written by: Mary Clark on Jul 17, 2008 8:40 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Montco DFA, PA for Democracy, Obama for Pennsylvania, Philly for Change, Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

Linked to campaigns: Obama for America

Dear %%first%%,

Make your voice heard! Help draft the 2008 National Platform for the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign. As Barack Obama emailed:

"...No political experience is required. Your thoughts and experiences are all that matter, and they will shape a platform that -- like this party -- is owned by the people. ..."

COME to a local '08 Dem Platform Meeting
Sign up today at: http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/4gjc2
   7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
   July 24, 2008
   Campaign office of U.S. Rep.Allyson Schwartz for Congress
   101 Leedom Street
   Jenkintown, PA 19046

Mary Clark (Montco DFA steering committee member and past chair) will host, and really appreciates that the national Dems have provided a Host Guide!

Many of the community platform meetings are focussing on one "plank." Our focus is:

"Restore Our American Constitution"

Name the key parts that have been defied and defiled -- and target them for restoration. Which Constitutional outrages are most important to you? Some possibilities include, restore our right to:

-- freedom from warrantless spying on innocent Americans -- and hold lawbreakers accountable.
-- a U.S. Legislature that USES it's power as a co-equal branch to check and balance the Executive Branch.
-- "habeas corpus" rights for all, so Guantanamo detainees can speedily challenge their detention.
-- a lawful foreign policy that follows our Constitution, including our international treaties like the Geneva Conventions, and end torture, renditions, and our Occupation of Iraq.

We'll distill what matters most to us into a one to two sentence "Resolution, Policy, or Recommendation" for input into the national Platform. To quote Barack Obama once more:

"All you need to provide are your ideas for America and your hunger for change."

[ p.s. Too far away to join us? Set up your own at http://my.barackobama.com/listening ]

Discuss

Oil Crisis: Oil Industry's method of raising prices and cutting their own taxes

Written by: James Dunn on Jul 8, 2008 11:15 AM EDT

Regarding opening environmentally protected areas for mining and pumping oil:

There is over 200 years of oil in the 48 contiguous States that are capped up by oil companies to monopolize world energy. There is no need to violate our environmentally protected areas, just to allow oil companies to further monopolize their strangle hold over our lives.

They are creating a media frenzy just to increase the price of oil; very successfully I might add. However, there is no immediate threat for an oil shortage !!! The oil companies have ONLY created the perception that there is a shortage !!!!

I personally believe that ALL mineral rights belong to the American People, NOT souless corporations!!!

I applaud Venezuela for nationalizing the oil assets in their country!!!!

We should be doing the same thing here in the United States !!!!

Ethically Eliminate ALL Political Corruption

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/jamesbdunn?p=57

Discuss

Barbara McIlvaine Smith for State Representative, District 156

Written by: Kevin Shaw on Jul 3, 2008 7:44 AM EDT

Linked to groups: Montco DFA, Philly for Change, Lower Merion Grassroots, PA for Democracy, Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup, Lower Bucks for Democracy

RE-ELECT Barbara McILVAINE SMITH TRUSTED. TESTED. PROVEN.
Smith156.org
Barbara McIlvaine Smith • State Representative, District 156

Dear Fellow DFA Members,

This has been an exciting 18 months in Pennsylvania. Our state just participated in a very exciting Primary election, calling attention to the needs of our Commonwealth and our Country. In December 2006, my highly contested race for State Representative decided control of the state legislature. I am proud to report many accomplishments in my freshman year in Harrisburg. I have co-sponsored legislation dealing with healthcare, education and energy. These are the issues I campaigned on in 2006, and I have kept my promise to address them in the legislature.

Discuss

Help Seniors Get the Therapy They Need

Written by: Kevin Shaw on May 14, 2008 3:33 PM EDT

Linked to groups: PA for Democracy, Montco DFA, Philly for Change, Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup, Lower Merion Grassroots, PA Single Payer Healthcare Action Committee

Currently, Medicare payments for physical therapy are capped. The therapy caps limit outpatient rehabilitation coverage to $1,810 for combined physical therapy and speech-language pathology services and $1,810 for occupational therapy (2008 limits).

Click here to sign a letter to Senator Casey asking him to support S.450 - Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, which will repeal the outpatient therapy cap.

Given how this affects stroke survivors, accident survivors, and those with degenerative diseases, Congress has recognized the harm inherent in this policy and repeatedly put moratoriums on enforcement. The current moratorium runs through June 30, 2008.

No medical miracle is about to change the need for PT/SLP/OT services, and it's a waste of time to keep passing short-term fixes. It's a cause of great anxiety to those who need the services. And it's an offensive legal fiction that these costs do not exist, and don't need to be fully accounted for in the budget.

Click here to sign a letter to Senator Casey asking him to support S.450 - Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2007, which will provide the security our seniors deserve by permanently repealing the outpatient therapy cap.

Hat tip to Joy Sabl, Democracy for Pittsburgh

Kevin Shaw

Organizer, PA for Democracy

Discuss

Gettysburg DFA Supports Cheney Impeachment

Written by: Bruce Neylon on Jan 16, 2008 5:24 PM EST

Linked to groups: Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

DFA Chapter Endorsement of Cheney Impeachment

We, the Gettysburg Area Democracy for America, recommend that Congress adopt a resolution of impeachment of Vice President Richard B. Cheney (H.Res.799), which has been introduced and sent to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

We do so after a thorough and dispassionate review of the issues, for the following reasons:

The office of Vice President of the United States is every bit as sacred a trust as that of the office of President. Richard B. Cheney has violated that trust and thereby severely damaged the interests of the United States.

According to the first article of the impeachment resolution, originally introduced as H.Res.333, Mr. Cheney has manipulated the intelligence process to deceive the citizens of the United States, not once, but twice.

First, he was the force behind the fabrication of a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction to justify the use of U.S. Armed Forces to invade and occupy another sovereign nation. He and the Bush administration lied to us. They had no legitimate rationale for the invasion; that invasion was therefore illegal.

Second, again, to justify an invasion of Iraq, Mr. Cheney fabricated a relationship between the Saddam Hussein regime and Al Qaeda.

Finally, according to the second article in the resolution, despite the absence of evidence of any real threat to the United States, Mr. Cheney has openly threatened military aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, thus undermining our national security.

By themselves, the above points certainly are enough to impeach—that is, indict—Mr. Cheney so that he might be bound over for trial in the U.S. Senate. We can cite several additional reasons to impeach Mr. Cheney, but the two articles in the resolution do suffice, so we recommend House approval of that resolution.

Mr. Cheney and the Bush administration simply must not be allowed to escape the accountability that comes with impeachment.

History must not give them a pass.

Discuss

We worked, we lost and we won -- so what now?

Written by: Elaine Jones on Nov 15, 2006 11:02 AM EST

Linked to groups: Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

Adams County Pennsylvania, where Gettysburg is located, may never be the same. The 2006 elections gave us terrific candidates to support, from Bob Casey for the US Senate to Phil Avillo, a wounded veteran from Vietnam for Congress, to Pat Naugle, a converted Republican Progressive who ventured into politics for the first time. And did we ever work hard! We had precinct workers in every corner of the county, and we used the DFA training and materials created by local leaders to try out every strategy we could dream up.

We only won one race -- the top critical one for US Senate -- but we built a whole new structure for how to chip away at the entrenched Republican majority. In 2004 we had to create a whole separate Meetup and organization for the Presidential campaign that barely utilized the Democratic Party structure. This time we reorganized the Democratic Committee, elected many new Party precinct leaders and collaborated fully at every level. As Naugle stated, "You only lose if you give up, and I believe that with hard work, good organizational support, and good candidates, the future is bright here in Adams County for those with progressive values."

Phil Avillo expressed his gratitude for the way local volunteers transformed his novice effort from a small band of volunteers with a shoestring budget and a dream to a powerful network crossing three counties that resulted in the strongest challenge the Republicans in the 19th District have faced in decades. And we have just begun to fight. As Roger Lund (Phil's campaign manager) explained, "Our intention is to leave a legacy. To leave this political landscape better than when we entered it. Our intention is to build a party that will be a
viable force in the region...a party that qualified candidates flock to.... so our work is not yet done. Truly, it is only beginning."

By transforming the local Democratic Party, we have also opened the door for the Gettysburg Area DFA to focus intensely on making sure that our elected leaders are held accountable to the values that a real Democracy supports, and to continue to take personal responsibility for pressing for social justice, protecting our security through diplomacy rather than violence, and gathering community support for saving our planet from the ravages of global climate change.

I rejoice that we now have hundreds of volunteers ready to take on that challenge.

Elaine Jones

Discuss

GOP CONGRESSMAN SEES THE LIGHT!!!

Written by: Oleg Kis on Jul 12, 2006 12:15 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

A Republican congressman watches an anti-Bush video and as a result suspects that the Bush administration deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, and that explosives were the main factor in bringing down three of the World Trade Center buildings. Unbelievable? Here's a transcript of a Town Hall Meeting from April 2006 held with Representative Curt Weldon (R-PA):

Dave Slesinger: First, I want to praise you for your Able Danger efforts. Since you are the Congressman most sympathetic to firefighters, have you looked at the quotes from NYC firefighters at the World Trade Center on 9/11 about explosives? If you have, will you accept information on [this] for later comment?

Rep. Weldon: I will absolutely accept information, and I'm very close to the NYC firefighters because one of my best friends was killed there...

I talk to the fire department on a regular basis. When the Republican convention was held in New York in 2004, I went up a day early, I went down to the fire department headquarters. I spent the day with them. And when I finished the briefings, and getting their input, as to what happened on 9/11, which I had ongoing, I went up and spent two hours running with Engine 54 (inaudible) in midtown Manhattan. And I wanted to do that because on 9/11 all 15 firefighters on duty from that station were killed. And I wanted the firefighters to give me their views without going through any chiefs or other officers about what happened.

Now, there's a lot of theories out there about what occurred. And uh, I haven't gone into the structural elements of the building. The fact that there are reports on multiple explosions on other floors... I am open to that information. I'm willing to challenge the system. And uh, and don't automatically discount anything that's told to me because I've seen, I've seen too much. I mean, ya know, I hate to say that sometimes I don't trust my Government, but sometimes, I don't trust the Government. The bureaucracy. Ya know the best evidence of that is we had the, uh, Tillman, the football player. Joined the army, he was killed. We now find out that the army burned his clothing. So the family never got to get the real story about how Pat Tillman died. Now if it was an accident, so be it. You don't hide that information because somebody is going to be embarrassed.

That's the whole story with Tony Shaffer. It's the bureaucrats trying to hide information and facts, so they're not embarrassed. So, do I automatically accept what the Government tells me? No. And that's why I get myself in trouble. I challenge the CIA, I challenge the DIA. I'll challenge our Defense Department. That's why you send me there. If you want somebody to go there, and just go along, you would send a robot. That would vote the way the party wanted, and would go along with the current President. I won't do that. So I'm absolutely open to any information anyone has that challenges anything about the 9/11 Commission or the work there.

Dave Slesinger speaks up: Congressman, that was my question, I, wanna give out, anybody who wants this, this is a speech by a physics professor at BYU, Steven Jones.

Rep. Weldon: Yeah.

Dave Slesinger: It's the hottest thing happening on the 9/11 issue. In his speech, he praises Congressman Weldon, he's a conservative Republican [or was], he praises Reagan, he quotes St. Paul. I think I have [DVD copies] enough for everybody. Just ask me.

Rep. Weldon: It'll open your eyes, because his allegations are pretty strong.

The video that opened Rep. Weldon's eyes can be seen here:
www.911blogger.com/2006/02/dr-st...

For more information about firefighters reporting explosions and the attempt to suppress this information: www.911truth.org/article.php?sto...

Audio recording of the Town Hall Meeting can be gotten from this site: forums.bluelemur.com/viewtopic.p...

Full transcript here: www.911truth.org/article.php?sto...

Additional 9/11 and pro-democracy videos: www.universalseed.org...

Free anti-Bush DVD is available here:
https://secure.reopen911.org/freedvd.php

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Attend Progressive Dinner on July 29!

Written by: on Jul 11, 2006 4:25 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

Dear Member,

Please attend Progressive Dinner on Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 5:30 PM. You can RSVP at:

www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=103...

What: Progressive Dinner
When: Saturday, July 29, 2006, 5:30 PM
Where: Progressive Dinner
425 College Ave
Gettysburg PA 17325

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Iraq Task Force Statement

Written by: Bruce Neylon on May 4, 2006 10:45 PM EDT

Linked to groups: Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

The following was read at the Meetup May 3. The statement was adopted by GADFA. I think it is important for all to read.

It started with lies, weapons of mass destruction, "yellow cake", 9/11. It continues with acquiescence, both active and passive, on the part of our representatives in Washington. The war that began with lies and deception from our leaders has become a stain upon our national pride and honor. Our security is in shambles and our reputation in tatters.

The Iraq Task Force would like everyone to seek out, endorse and support candidates who will demand withdrawal from Iraq. Pennsylvanian voters need to tell "stay the course" Democrats that "staying the course" will not cut it with us. We will not silently sign on as members of Mr. Bush's "coalition of the willing" by supporting candidates who want to "stay the course".

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Democracy for America group blog for Gettysburg Area DFA Meetup

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

Help shape the '08 Dem Platform!

Oil Crisis: Oil Industry's method of raising prices and cutting their own taxes

Barbara McIlvaine Smith for State Representative, District 156

Read more

Help Seniors Get the Therapy They Need

Gettysburg DFA Supports Cheney Impeachment

We worked, we lost and we won -- so what now?

GOP CONGRESSMAN SEES THE LIGHT!!!

Attend Progressive Dinner on July 29!

Iraq Task Force Statement

Blog for America

Recent Blog Posts

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