Troy Democratic Club

Transcription

1 Campaign Connections MARCH 2014 Troy Democratic Club MARCH MEETING : WED, MAR 19, 7:00 PM Troy Community Center, Room 304 AGENDA 7:00 : Chair s Welcome : Mahendra Kenkre 7:05 : Helping Foreign Exchange Students in Troy Theresa Ledesma 7:15 : Guest Speaker Lon Johnson, Chair, Michigan Democratic Party 7:50 : Approval of TDC Bylaws : Ann Erickson-Gault 8:00 : Election for TDC Trustee : Harry Philo 8:05 : Treasurer s Report : Lucy Arking 8:15 : Membership Report : Carol Prince Hundley 8:25 : Precinct Delegate Report : Kathy Martin 8:35 : Announcements : Barbara Ford 8:40 : Adjourn MARIA BLOOMINGDALE: was elected as the TDC Recording Secretary at the Feb 15 meeting. 11th DISTRICT PHONE BANK STARTED MONDAY, MARCH 3: 6;30 to 8:30 PM, at Oakland County Democratic Party HQ, Northwestern Hwy (Lodge service drive near 10 Mile), Southfield Phone bank every Monday, same place. For info and to register, contact Carla Meier: , carlajmeier@yahoo.com BE A PRECINCT DELEGATE: Registration form (affidavit) will be available at the March 19 TDC meeting. Mr. Seymour Hundley has graciously offered to notarize the affidavits at the meeting. Forms also available at

2 TDC APRIL MEETING : WED, APR 16, 7:00 PM

3 EDITORIAL LIBERALS & CONSERVATIVES IT S A MIND THING Michael W Smith Clawson I read an interesting piece on the internet awhile back. Wish I had remembered the source, but the claim was that conservatives are not moved by facts or persuaded by evidence to change their minds. Their ideology remains firm even in the face of contradictory evidence. I ve contended for a long time that to know a Republican is to know a closed mind. One reason why I am a tad suspect when I hear that some GOP has forsaken his party too radical and gone Democratic or independent! But I assume there are cases of some of them having an epiphany and embrace progressive ideals. Even the classics have dealt with this phenomenon. Example: Dickens A Christmas Carol! Boy, don t you wish some ghosts would visit a whole bunch of Republicans!!! Which brings me to the Republican dominated State legislature. I see from an article in a recent Detroit Free Press paper, that the Legislature is dealing with some budget items. And true to form, it is all about cutting budgets. You and I know that our State coffers are being starved. Tax breaks for businesses and a regressive income tax structure seem to be the main culprits. I thought the State Senate version of a supplemental bill was bad enough, but I see the House wants to up the ante. Slash and burn is what the GOP wants to do. Their laundry list - $114 million cut to reimburse Medicaid claims; cut $15 million for maintenance and improvements at military armories around the state; cut $4 million earmarked to help with propane fuel shortages; $2 million to aid in removal of trees snapped in an ice storm last December!; severely defunding the Regional Transit Authority; cut funding to help high risk moms & premature babies (They are all about before birth only). The list goes on, but you get the idea. And finally we come to our State Attorney General, Bill Schuette. He had an op-ed in the Free Press on why he opposed Obamacare tax credits. They failed in their effort to destroy the Affordable Care Act, so now they are trying to kill it with attacks from the side. He says thousands of Americans cannot keep their health insurance; have seen their health care bills skyrocket and some parents are being denied specialty coverage because of a shrinking network of doctors. I ve noticed that on Facebook, many investigative reports show how these horror stories about the ACA have been debunked. A slick campaign, financed in part by the Koch brothers, to discredit Obamacare that shows the extent the Right will go to, to influence public opinion. So while I don t have the knowledge to counter Mr. Schuette s claims I m betting they are laced with lies and half truths. It is interesting to note that no one on the Right, including Mr. Schuette, laid any blame on the avarice of the insurance industry. However, Mr. Schuette s big beef has to do with the IRS and its tax policy as it relates to the ACA. One might have to understand the machinations of all this if one was a tax attorney but I m not. He claims it all has to do with separations of power. That such issues that the IRS decreed in this tax battle, is the purview of Congress not the Executive. Perhaps this is all well and good, but I have to ask, Aren t you the people s lawyer for the state of Michigan? How does spending all this tax money to fight a legal battle over separations of power have to do with protecting the people in the State of Michigan?? Perhaps your definition of the roll of Attorney General for Michigan is different than mine.

4 Upcoming Events Mar 12 : TDC Board Meeting Wednesday, March 12, 7:00 PM, 4931 Seasons Drive Home of Mahendra Kenkre Mar 15 : District 11 Meeting (For all 11th District Democrats) Saturday, March 15, 10:30 - Noon. MEA conference center, Commerce Township. Guest speaker: Lon Johnson, Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party. Topic: How to Win in November. Apr 3 : Club 11 Thursday, Apr 3, 6:00 8:00 PM, Andiamo, Livonia, Mile. A purely social get-together to meet & greet Democratic friends in 11th District. Drop by for 10 minutes or 2 hours. Cash bar. Cash food. Free friendship. Apr 15 : District 11 Meeting (for all 11 th District Democrats) Saturday, Apr 15, 10:30 - Noon. MEA conference center, Commerce Township. Guest speaker: Mark Schauer, Candidate for Governor Apr 16 : TDC Membership Meeting Wednesday, March 16, 7:00 PM, Room 304 Troy Community Center Join the Michigan Democratic Party Registering/Filing Deadlines Apr 22, Filing deadline for County Commission May 6, Filing deadline for Precinct Delegate (to be filed with County Clerk) Jul 7, Last day to register to vote in Aug 5, 2014 Primary election Oct 6, Last day to register to vote in Nov 4, 2014 Election

5 Chair: Mahendra Kenkre, Vice Chair: Ann Erickson Gault, Treasurer: Lucy Arking, Corresponding Secretary: Mike Smith, Recording Secretary : Maria Bloomingdale, mb2bloomingdales@wowway.com Trustee: Kumar Bhatt, kbhatt2073@sbcglobal.net Trustee: Barbara Ford, bridgepark1@gmail.com Trustee: Carolyn Prince Hundley, hundleycarol46@aol.com Trustee: To be Filled Past Chair: Kathy Martin, kieran2@aol.com By-Laws: Ann Erickson Gault Membership: Carolyn Prince Hundley Technology: Neil Yashinsky, nyashins@yahoo.com Precinct Organization: Kathy Martin Club Mail P.O. Box 225 Troy MI Facebook: Troy Democratic Club