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"There is great concern,
anxiety and angst out there among most Americans about their economic security.
They are worried about a lot of things. They are concerned about the cost of a
health care system that is broken and needs to be fixed. They are worried about
how to pay to send their kids to college. The mortgage and foreclosure crisis
is now becoming central to the economic insecurity an awful lot of Americans
are feeling. All of these things are made much worse due to the war in
April 10,
2008
COMING EVENTS
Friday, April 11
-- 6:00 – 10:00 P.M.
Roger Phelps’ Pork Dinner and Silent Auction
(CANDIDATE FOR SHERIFF)
Gil's in
$10 (age 5 & under free) More
information at www.votephelps08.com
Tuesday, April 15 --
7:30 P.M.
will meet at Democratic
Headquarters,
The agenda includes: The election of additional central committee people,
the Hall of Fame Dinner plans and
club memberships.
Friday, April 18
-- 5:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Van Lancker for Auditor
Fundraiser -- Buzzy’s in
Welton -- Ticket Price $15
Friday, April 25
DUBUQUE COUNTY DEMOCRATS HALL OF FAME DINNER
Saturday, AprIl 26
Saturday, May 3
CLINTON COUNTY DEMOCRATS HALL OF FAME DINNER AT BUZZY’S IN
WELTON
Saturday, June 14
For more information about
go to our website: www.clintoncountydemocrats.org/events
ANOTHER
ADVANCE FOR EDUCATION IN
The Iowa House passed a statewide sales tax for
schools Wednesday, April 9. The bill,
approved 59-41, overcame fierce opposition from Republican leaders who said the
1-cent tax inevitably would be spent for non-educational purposes. The bill is aimed at eliminating disparities
between school districts. It would also eliminate the regularly scheduled
public referendums to reauthorize the taxes and thereby not interrupt the
revenue.
Supporters
argued the tax would lead to a more equitable and predictable distribution of
money for school construction. This provides equity for all the kids in the state of Iowa. The bill now heads to the Senate
where a Democratic majority should pass it.
The statewide tax will replace the county-based school infrastructure local
option tax, or SILO, which has been approved by all 99 counties. The local-option version of the tax needs to
be renewed by county voters every five or ten years. The statewide version
would need to be renewed by the Legislature in 20 years. The longer timeframe
would give school districts greater latitude to use the money to qualify for
lower interest long-term loans. The
current tax favors areas of the State with major retail centers while rural
areas suffer even though people from the rural counties shop in those big
retail centers.
Every
county in
Representatives
Polly Bukta and Tom Schueller voted for the bill.
INTERESTING
OBSERVATION: Even though the bill has
the support of the Iowa Association of School Boards, the Iowa Farm Bureau and
the State PTA and will benefit every school district in
WHO IS THE REAL JOHN
MCCAIN?
For
all the coverage of Senator John McCain's background, there are some important
things you won't learn about him from the TV networks. His carefully crafted
positive image relies on people not knowing this stuff—and you might be
surprised by some of it.
(MoveOn)
Ø John McCain voted against
establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has
"evolved," yet he has continued to oppose key civil rights laws.
Ø According to Bloomberg News, McCain
is more hawkish than Bush on
Ø The Children's Defense Fund rated
McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the
children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.
DO WE WANT FOUR MORE YEARS OF GEORGE J. M. BUSH III
(ALIAS
JOHN MCCAIN)?
“I have never
been hurt by anything I didn’t say.”
--President
Calvin Coolidge--
April 18,
2008
[April 22 = EARTH
DAY]
IN MEMORIAM
We are greatly saddened by the death of
Jan Schneck on Tuesday, April 15 at the University of Iowa Hospitals in
Jan was a hard worker for the Democratic
Party for many years, past
COMING EVENTS
Friday, April 18
-- 5:30 – 8:30 P.M.
Van Lancker for Auditor
Fundraiser -- Buzzy’s in
Welton -- Ticket Price $15
Friday, April 25
DUBUQUE COUNTY DEMOCRATS HALL OF FAME DINNER AT HAPPY’S PLACE
Saturday, AprIl 26 – 9:00 A.M.
Saturday, May 3
AT BUZZY’S IN WELTON
Cash Bar Social at 5:30 P.M.
Dinner at 6:30 P.M.
Buffet of two meats,
four salads, two vegetables, beverage:
$25.00
Call Jean Pardee for
tickets: 563-242-8111 or
jmpardee@mchsi.com
THIS IS OUR MAJOR FUND RAISER OF THE YEAR!
Saturday, June 14
For more information about
go to our website: www.clintoncountydemocrats.org/events
WOULD YOU LIKE
TO SHARE RIDES TO THE DISTRICT CONVENTION?
(It’s a
great way to conserve gas.)
Sally
Nelson has room for six passengers in her van.
Please call her at 563-243-4765 and arrange to meet her at Democratic
Headquarters on the morning of the convention.
If more than six people call, Sally will arrange car pooling.
A FEW
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEETING
(Tuesday, April 15)
Patsy
Nichols was elected to represent the second precinct of Camanche and Ken Ernest
was elected to represent the second precinct of DeWitt on the Clinton County
Democratic Central Committee.
Speakers: Ben Hodapp, representing Congressman Bruce
Braley, Ebonee Woods, representing State Senator Frank Woods; candidates for
sheriff: Sheriff Rick Lincoln and Roger
Phelps and candidate for County Auditor, Eric Van Lancker.
Congressman
Bruce Braley has been arranging a tour of the First District promoting his
produce safety act that will require safe and nutritional foods in the
schools. His request to hold a public
forum in one of our elementary schools was refused by the
FIRST DISTRICT
CONVENTION
Saturday, April 26 starting at 9:00
A.M.
Purposes:
v Elect six State Central Committee
members.
v Elect six National Delegates and one
alternate.
v Adopt a District platform.
v Elect a District affirmative action
chair.
v Elect convention committee members
for the State convention.
v Act on other business which may
properly come before the convention.
CONVENTION BOOKLETS
WERE MAILED TO DELEGATES TUESDAY, APRIL 15.
If you are
a delegate and cannot attend the convention, pass your convention booklet along
to your alternate or deliver it to County Chair Jean Pardee. Please inform Jean about any changes. An
alternate will need the booklet in order to register at the convention.
We are
expecting 534 delegates from the following twelve counties in the first
district:
Black Hawk,
Bremer, Buchanan,
THE FIRST
DRAFT OF HISTORY LOOKS A BIT ROUGH ON BUSH
President Bush often argues that history will
vindicate him. So he can't be pleased with an informal survey of 109
professional historians conducted by the History News Network. It found that 98
percent of them believe that Bush's presidency has been a failure, while only
about 2 percent see it as a success. Not only that, more than 61 percent of the
historians say the current presidency is the worst in American history. In
2004, only 11.6 percent of the historians rated Bush's presidency in last
place. Among the reasons given for his low ratings: invading
Comment: Isn’t it strange that these well educated, well informed and intelligent historians tend to be liberal
and that the
George W. Bushs of the world are conservative?
"You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for
somebody else to take action. Whether
it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all
have a role to play. (Lee
Iacocca in his book: "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?")
April 21, 2008
[April 22 = EARTH
DAY]
COMING EVENTS
Tuesday, April 22
-- 4:00 – 5:00 P.M.
DeWitt Library
Alison Hart, aide to
Senator Harkin, will be conducting a listening
post for your views and
concerns.
Friday, April 25
DUBUQUE COUNTY DEMOCRATS HALL OF FAME DINNER AT HAPPY’S PLACE
Saturday, AprIl 26 – 9:00 A.M.
Saturday, May 3
AT BUZZY’S IN WELTON
Cash Bar Social at 5:30 P.M.
Dinner at 6:30 P.M.
Buffet of two meats,
four salads, two vegetables, beverage:
$25.00
Call Jean Pardee for
tickets: 563-242-8111 or
jmpardee@mchsi.com
THIS IS OUR MAJOR FUND RAISER OF THE YEAR!
Tuesday, June 3
Saturday, June 14
For more information about
go to our website: www.clintoncountydemocrats.org/events
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE RIDES TO THE HALL OF FAME DINNER?
(Notice the correction
from the last newsletter.)
Sally Nelson has room for six passengers in her
van. Please call her at 563-243-4765 and
arrange to meet her at Democratic Headquarters on the on the evening of the Hall of
Fame dinner. If more than six people call, Sally will
arrange car pooling. Car pooling
for the convention is a good idea, too, but people will need to reach out to
those they know to make those arrangements.
AN EXPLANATION OF THE PLANNED BRALEY EVENT
We came down a little hard on the
“Congressman Braley’s office wanted to stage a
publicity event during the lunch hour at Bluff elementary school. He
wanted news crews to film himself eating lunch with elementary students and
then he wanted our staff to attend a presentation about his produce safety
legislation while the news crews were present. This was not about a public
forum and was never characterized as such by Braley’s staff.
“We have made it a consistent practice, as long
as I have been superintendent of schools, not to allow our students, staff or
schools to be used as a publicity backdrop for any politician. I did not
find any educational value to having the instructional day at
“If Braley wanted to use the school during an evening
for such public forum – he certainly would have been accommodated. If
Braley wanted to use the theatre at Clinton High or
CRIMES AGAINST NATURE
“This administration has orchestrated these rollbacks almost
entirely outside of public scrutiny -- and in tandem with the very industries
that our laws are meant to regulate, the country's most notorious
polluters. It has deceived the public
by manipulating and suppressing scientific data, intimidated enforcement
officials and other civil servants, and masked its agenda with Orwellian
doublespeak. The White House doles out
lavish subsidies and tax breaks to the energy barons while excusing industry
from providing adequate security at the more than 15,000 chemical and nuclear
facilities that are prime targets for terrorist attacks. This administration’s policies have
squandered our treasury, entangled us in foreign wars, diminished our
international prestige, made us a target for terrorist attacks, and increased
our reliance on petty Middle Eastern dictators who despise democracy and are
hated by their own people.
“This administration has had a corrosive effect
of corporate corruption on our core American values -- free-market capitalism
and democracy. The Bush administration has sacrificed respect for the law, public
health, scientific integrity, and long-term economic vitality on the altar of
corporate greed. People like the traditionally conservative farmers and
fishermen see the current administration as the greatest threat not just to
their livelihoods but to their values, their sense of community, and their idea
of what it means to be American."
(Robert
F. Kennedy, Jr., Senior
Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council)
Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.
--George Carlin--
"God didn't call
(Dr. Martin Luther
King at his Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Feb. 4, 1968)
April 28,
2008
Saturday, May 3
AT BUZZY’S IN WELTON
Cash Bar Social at 5:30
P.M. Dinner at 6:30 P.M.
Buffet of two meats, four salads, two vegetables, beverage: $25.00
Call Jean Pardee for tickets: 563-242-8111 or jmpardee@mchsi.com
We will be honoring Tom Gibbons and Dick Kissack, two Clinton
County Democrats who have made a difference in our party, by inducting them
into the Hall of Fame.
Key note Speaker: Iowa State Democratic Party Chair Scott Brennan
The funds from the dinner will help all Democratic candidates win
in November.
THIS IS OUR MAJOR FUND
RAISER OF THE YEAR!
Saturday, May 3 -- 11:30
– 1:30 P.M.
You’re Invited to join Senator Frank Wood
at a picnic featuring United States Senator Tom Harkin.
Meet Senator Harkin and help kick-off Senator Wood’s campaign and
enjoy free food, drinks and fun!
Donations: Host: $250 Friend:
$100 Guest: $50
**Teacher’s Special: $25**
Wednesday, May 14 -- 4:30-7:00 P.M.
POLLY
BUKTA’S BAKED POTATO WITH TOPPINGS DINNER
It’s just a block from the
Suggested Donation: $10.00
Tuesday,
June 3
Saturday,
June 14
For more
information about
go to our website: www.clintoncountydemocrats.org/events
THANKS TO
DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATORS WE NOW HAVE A MORE EQUITABLE AND DEPENDABLE LONG RANGE
METHOD OF FINANCING SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
We
owe special thanks to Democratic Senators Roger Stewart, Frank Wood and Joe
Seng and to Representatives Polly Bukta and Tom Schueller for their work in
passing the one percent sales tax for school infrastructure state wide. I was attending a meeting of the Clinton
Community School District Facilities Task Force when we received the news that
the bill had passed the Senate and was on its way to the Governor. The applause was great from everyone
including the many Republicans who are members of the task force. The legislation will mean a great deal for
Last
Tuesday the Iowa State Senate voted 34-15 to support replacing the state’s
current one-cent local option sales tax with a single statewide penny sales tax
to be shared among all school districts.
The present tax means people living in small towns and rural communities
help fund schools in large districts with large shopping areas. Some school districts receive almost $1,400
per pupil while others get only $558 per student.
The
quality of an
Greater
educational opportunities for
I AM BITTER! I AM ANGRY!
I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE!
I WANT MY DEMOCRACY BACK!
“Thank you, Senator Obama
for saying it. I am bitter that my dollars
buy less and less everyday. I am bitter that my children’s education system is
overburdened. I am bitter that my health care costs more and that I have to
fight for everything with the insurance companies. I am bitter watching
American jobs being outsourced. I am bitter that my community does not have the
resources it needs to provide services.
“I am angry that Republicans want to make Bush’s tax cut to the wealthiest 1
percent permanent. I am angry that the Bush administration is illegally wiretapping
citizens. I am angry that I have been lied to by the Bush administration. I am
angry that our national deficit has tripled under Bush. I am angry that our
military has been tremendously overburdened. I am angry that my country has
been taken to the brink of economic collapse.
“Finally, I am bitter and angry that the ‘powers that be’ continue to use wedge
issues like racism and prejudice to distract Americans from the very serious
issues we face as a nation. Yes, Senator Obama, you said it correctly; we are
bitter and angry. It is time to place the blame where it really belongs and to
get on with changing things!” (letter
to the editor of the Quad City Times by Rachel Griffiths,
THE DANGEROUS JOHN MCCAIN
Senator
John McCain proposes that we eliminate the 18 cent Federal gasoline tax. How many road construction workers would this
put out of work and how would we pay for badly needed road repairs? Senator McCain was right when he said he
understands little about economics. The Republican candidate is out of
touch with reality, impulsive and unpredictable. The eighteen cents is less than six percent
of the cost of $3.50 for a gallon of gas.
Who gets the rest? I wonder how
many oil stocks the Senator and his wife own.