CLINTONCOUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER        RETURN TO THE HOME PAGE

"It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of

life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."   Hubert H. Humphrey

http://www.clintoncountydemocrats.org

September 12, 2005

COMING EVENTS

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS - Tuesday, September 13

It's important that all of us vote.  Not only are there candidates for School Boards on the ballot in every School District, there are two very important tax levies that need to be renewed.  In both Clinton and JacksonCounties there is a renewal of the property tax levy used to meet the instructional needs of EasternIowaCommunity College.  There is also a renewal of the physical plant and equipment levy that will ensure that schools in the ClintonCommunitySchool District continue to be maintained to provide a safe learning environment for our children.

SENATOR TOM HARKIN'S STEAK FRY

with special guest Senator John Edwards

Sunday, September 18, 2005

WarrenCounty Fair Grounds

Indianola,  Iowa

Purchase tickets at  www.tomharkin.com

THE CLINTONCOUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE WILL MEET

Tuesday, September 20 at 7:30 P.M. in the

Democratic Headquarters at 224 22nd Place.

One of the highlights of this month's Central Committee meeting will be a report by State Senator Roger Stewart.  Senator Stewart was a member of an eight day good will trip to Taiwan from August 26 - September 2.  Taiwan is a major customer for Iowa pork.

A PEACE BUS

has been reserved by the Quad City Progressive Action Group

for September 23 to travel from Davenport to WashingtonD.C.

for the Anti-War Rally on September 24.

Iowa Democratic Party Jefferson/Jackson Dinner is Saturday Evening

November 5th at the Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.

THANKS TO DEMOCRATIC VOLUNTEERS

We are appreciative to the many precinct committee people who attend monthly Central Committee meetings and keep the Clinton County Democratic Party a leader in the State of Iowa.  We regularly have between thirty-five and forty dedicated Democrats attending our Central Committee meetings.  Representatives and alternates are elected by Democrats who attend the precinct caucuses every two years.  At the meetings we not only deal with regular Party business, but we meet many candidates for office and hear reports from present office holders.  The faithful attendance that we have even through the summer months is the envy of many other County organizations.  It is certainly the envy of the Clinton County Republicans.

Politics is a full time job involving finding candidates to run for office, campaigning and following legislative programs through the State Legislature and Congress.  With the Republicans in control it certainly takes constant vigilance or they'll trash every social program ever enacted.

A CLEAR RECORD OF ACHIEVEMENT FROM IOWA'S DEMOCRATIC LEADERS

HEALTH SECURITY:

Ø       Passing a Mental Health Parity Bill which expands access to health

care for certain mental health conditions.

Ø       Expanding health coverage to over 90,000 previously uninsured

children, saving the Medicaid program from federal cuts, and making prescription drugs more affordable for Iowa's seniors.

Ø       Securing funding for wellness and nutrition programs.

The many successes of the past session were made possible because of a

25/25 tie in Senate seats and a very narrow majority in the House.  If we want to continue the progress we've been making, we need to elect a Democratic Governor and a Democratic majority in the Legislature in the Fall of 2006.

IS THERE A LESSON TO BE LEARNED HERE?

"It was a massive exercise in self-justification and whitewashing.  The expedition, as the perpetrators were at pains to conceal, was badly planned, incompetently carried out, murderously pursued at the cost of countless lives (both expedition members and hired porters and villagers encountered along the way who were shot down mercilessly at the first sign of 'hostility', and of negligible political and scientific value.

Stanley's description of his adventure stirred the imaginations of generations of armchair explorers, but masked a truly horrible reality."

(A description of Sir Henry Stanley's 1887-1889 incompetent and self-promoting expedition down the Congo  River from 'The Last Expedition'

by Daniel Liebowitz and Charles Pearson)

CLARK DECLARES BUSH MISHANDLED STORM EMERGENCY

"I think it's awful that we left 100,000 people stranded in New Orleans.

Federal officials had plenty of warning and should have been more prepared.  We all saw the storm coming. This did not come in the middle of the night like a terrorist attack. It was very clearly presented for hours before it struck.

"We should have mobilized a joint task force, pre-positioned the National Guard and lined up the evacuation assets. We can do much better than this in our country."  Retired General Wesley Clark told reporters at a Sioux City news conference and reported in the Des Moines Register, Friday, September 2, 2005.

President Bush, who toured the GulfCoast disaster region, acknowledged the frustration of people who need food, water and shelter.  "I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday," he said.  "I understand the anxiety of people on the ground. . . . So there is frustration. But I want people to know there's a lot of help coming."

"I'm not sure I fully understand what exactly intelligent design means."

Gov. Bob Taft, Ohio Republican, who says he will nonetheless continue to push for teaching alternatives to evolution.  (The Toledo Blade)  {There's nothing like being well informed!  The Republicans are demanding that intelligent design, their new term for creationism - which is a good religious philosophy-be included in all natural science textbooks.}