Tag Archives: Democratic

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The Plan …Steve Israel


The numbers are in! Thanks to you, we narrowly beat out our Republican counterparts in July and maintained our advantage year-to-date.

 Make no mistake: you’re driving our success. Over a quarter-million of you have made a contribution this year to help us take back the Speaker’s gavel from the reckless Tea Party Congress.

 I’m pleased to report we’re ahead of schedule in our drive to win the Majority. We’ve laid out our campaign plan in our “Drive for 24” Grassroots Investor Report. Download your copy here >>http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63c960/1b9dd8ab/425abfe1/4e0cedc9/2048910014/VEsH/

 Some key stats I wanted to make sure you see:

  We only need 24 seats to win the House.
  The math is simple: There are 61 seats President Obama won now held by Republicans – including 18 districts won by Senator Kerry in 2004. If we win 10 of 18 Kerry-Obama seats and 15 of 43 Obama-only seats, that’s 25 seats, more than enough to win the Majority:

But we won’t stop there. We are also targeting seats that John McCain won in 2008 to put Republicans on the defensive across the country.

 In each of these races, we are aggressively holding Republicans accountable for their wrong priorities. Thanks to your support, this month we launched our “Accountability August” campaign holding 44 Republicans accountable for their bad budget choices.

Our message is breaking through. Voters are fed up with Republicans playing political games with our economy and their plans to end Medicare.

 The latest polls show a serious case of buyer’s remorse:

Gallup poll (August 12th): Democrats lead Republicans in the generic ballot by 7 points (51-44).
PPP poll (August 10th): Independent voters overwhelmingly disapprove of the Republican Majority in the House (68 disapprove/20 approve). If the election was today, PPP thinks Democrats would win the House.

 One more stat: We have all-star recruits running in 45 Republican and open districts throughout the country. That’s well ahead of where we thought we’d be at this point. Our goal is to put at least 60 Republican seats in play when all is said and done.

 Read more about our campaign in your Grassroots Investor Report >>  http://www.dccc.org/page/m/1d63c960/1b9dd8ab/425abfe1/4e0cedc9/2048910014/VEsE/

 More than the how, it’s the why we are doing this.

 We’re fighting to create jobs. We’re fighting to protect the rights of women, workers, seniors, and the middle class. Republicans are fighting to end Medicare to pay for more tax breaks for Big Oil and right-wing special interests. Simply put, the Tea Party agenda is not working for middle-class Americans.

24 seats puts us back in charge so we can create jobs, protect Medicare and Social Security, and out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.

 Thank you for everything you do to make that possible.

 Steve Israel
 DCCC Chairman

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Outrage … Nancy Pelosi


Republicans have just launched a dishonest new TV ad campaign in multiple districts across the country attacking Democrats who are standing strong for Medicare and seniors. Reports say the GOP has spent over $500,000 on this ad campaign of misleading attacks so far.

 Now, after weeks of avoiding constituents who are outraged with their votes to destroy Medicare while preserving tax cuts for billionaires and Big Oil, House Republicans are set to return to Washington in a matter of days.

We must raise $500,000 before the August 31st FEC (Federal Election Commission) deadline to show that grassroots Democrats are united and committed to holding Republicans accountable for their reckless Tea Party agenda.

Contribute $3 or more before the August 31st FEC deadline and your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar by a group of House Democrats.  www.dccc.org

 We cannot let Republicans get away with selling out our seniors and the middle class. Stand with me today and help us win back our House Majority.

 Thank you,

 Nancy Pelosi
 Democratic Leader

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Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction …Washington View


Washington, D.C., seems light years away from the Tri-Cities sometimes, not just in miles but in values.
Here, as there, we differ on how to get things done and what things we need to do. But we tend to work these things out, one local interest group to another, without a lot of drama.
There, the numbers are immensely larger but the concepts are quite similar — finding the right balance between money and services. It is against this background that we welcome, enthusiastically, the appointment of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., to co-chair the debt reduction supercommittee with Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas.- Tri-City Herald

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Shannon Dininny

Seven months before graduation, Alex Dimas toured aviation manufacturer GE Aviation Systems and applied for a job. Then, the company and his instructors at Perry Technical Institute worked with him to strengthen his skills until he graduated. Three years later, he’s still at the company, working as a machinist building hydraulic fuses for 737s. “They gave me the confidence to know I can come in here and know what I’m doing,” the 29-year-old married father of two said. State and local officials say making that caliber of training available to young and laid-off workers is crucial to filling the available jobs, not just in Washington state, but nationally. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray calls it a deficit of infrastructure and innovation.

– The Seattle Times

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Sheila Hagar

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray was in town Monday, wearing her trademark tennies and sporting a listening ear. And there was plenty to hear as Murray, D-Wash., and her assembled panel sat in a room packed with veterans and others at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 992. Led by facilitator Doug Bayne, director of the Walla Walla Community College Foundation, panelists took turns explaining to the senator the issues they see in the universe of veterans. Housing challenges, for example. Renee Rooker, of Walla Walla Housing Authority, told Murray there are nearly 150 homeless veterans in the area. While there are programs in place to help get those men and women into housing, actually getting that done is a problem. “There is a lack of funding for deposits, security and utility deposits, to get veterans into a permanent home.” Coupled with communication gaps between federal agencies that are supposed to help veterans and a retroactive 17 percent reduction in administrative fees — that cut screening staff — it all equals an inability to fully serve a vulnerable population, Rooker told Murray. She gets it, Murray assured her audience. Her father served in World War II. His war-caused injuries affected every component of family life.

– Walla Walla Union-Bulletin

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Health Insurance Coverage with No Waiting Period

Are you Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan Buttonuninsured? Do you have a pre-existing condition?

If your answer is yes to both questions, you may be eligible for the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan – a new federal program for children and adults with pre-existing conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months – with no waiting period.

For more information and how to apply, go to the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan – Washington website or call toll-free 1-877-505-0514

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What’s important to you?


Democracy for America is the country’s only people-powered PAC. We’re a grassroots powerhouse working to change our country and the Democratic Party from the bottom-up — and it’s members like you who make it possible, so it’s important that we hear from you.

What are your top electoral priorities? What issues matter most to you? What’s happening in your area that we should know about? 1

 Please take a moment and let us know what’s important to you.

http://act.democracyforamerica.com/go/1040?akid=1220.1480546.KVBu1D&t=1

 Thank you for all that you do.

 – Michael

 Michael Langenmayr, Deputy Political Director
 Democracy for America

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Working Families Defeat Two Walker Republicans …support Unions


Photo credit: Unity@Verizon   

The strike by some 45,000 Verizon workers, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW), continued into its third day today as workers across the country offer support to the strikers, whose struggle reflects the situation for millions of workers.

Rather than reward the hard work of Verizon employees who have provided the quality service that earned the company more than $32.5 billion in revenue over the past three years, management continues to insist on cuts that total $1 billion. These workers have played by the rules—and now Verizon wants to break them.

Verizon’s concession demands would strip away the standard of living workers have gained through bargaining over the past 50 years, workers say.

 

It is all too common for workers to face the prospect of losing benefits even though you have worked hard and valued your work, IBEW President Edwin Hill says:

This is a company with a $100 billion dividend. The top five company executives were paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the past four years. If a company like this is not willing to provide wages and benefits to enable its workers to be part of the mainstream middle class in America, then all who work for a living have reason to fear.

Click here to demand that Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam value employees’ work and share his corporation’s success with those who make it possible. Click here for a list of picket sites in the New York and New Jersey area.

You also can click here to sign and tweet an act.ly petition demanding Verizon drop its outrageous concessionary demands.

To tweet about the strike, use the hashtag #verizonstrike and feel free to direct to @VZLaborfacts.

The company also paid nothing (that’s ZERO) in corporate income taxes. In fact, it actually received nearly $1 billion in tax benefits from the federal government during that time, according to the Citizens for Tax Justice (CTJ).

In fact, if Verizon had paid its corporate income tax at the official rate of 35 percent, it would have owed more than $11 billion, according to CTJ. This alone would have been enough to avoid the recent cuts in the debt deal to student loan programs.

Read updates on the strike at www.cwa-union.org/verizon.