Welcome to the Democratic Party of Chatham County, NC
May 9, 2012
The primaries are over. Let's join together and focus on November! ·Congratulations to all of the Democratic nominees, especially Deb McManus, who will be the standard bearer this fall for NC House District 54. Let's get behind Senator Kinnaird, House candidate McManus, and Commissioners Kost and Cross today and move toward victory in November!
Running for office is a risk. The process can bring out the best and worst in all of us. The candidates, their teams, and their supporters put a lot of energy into the effort, yet only the winner will carry the banner forward. ·Let us all now reach out, embrace and affirm everyone who made the effort and coalesce around the ideas and core values of the Chatham County Democratic Party (CCDP).
The Democratic Party can take pride in the fact that once again Chatham County had a high voter turnout and the "Amendment One" referendum, which was opposed by the CCDP, lost in Chatham County.
Kudos to Sheila Beaudry and her team of volunteers for tirelessly staffing the polls and contributing to this important effort in Chatham County. We made a difference!
North Carolina?s flirtation with fracking is increasingly looking like the real thing, with Republican lawmakers poised to pass sweeping legislation this summer that would lead to drilling for natural gas.The state may have just a fraction of the enormous natural gas reserves found in Texas and Pennsylvania. But fracking here will likely entail greater risks to drinking water supplies and may require special measures not used in other states.
North Carolina?s natural gas reserves are much closer to groundwater than in other states, and the rock in between is not watertight and could permit potent fracking chemicals to work their way upward and contaminate the aquifers, state regulators say. State officials will take at least several years developing safeguards to protect residents, farm animals, crops and natural habitats from the hundreds of chemicals used in the process of fracking. The chemicals ? used to kill bacteria, prevent well corrosion and to thicken fracking fluids ? for years had been regarded proprietary and kept secret.
Click the Logos to Access / Two Valuable Websites (Above and Below)
These site help voters register and understand the voting requirements in their state. The top site — and its Spanish-language version, votemostodos.org — also urges viewers to sign up to volunteer and solicits lawyers to help with voter-protection efforts.
Romney Would Run the Country as He Ran Bain Capital, and the Middle Class Would Suffer
Mitt Romney says he should be President because he was a businessman who made millions while middle-class families suffered. The values and lessons Romney learned as a corporate-buyout specialist aren’t the ones we want in the White House.
On May 17th, the OBAMA campaign launched a new website and released a new two-minute ad and a six-minute video highlighting the real story of Mitt Romney’s business record. The American people should decide for themselves whether they want a President who believes in two sets of rules – one for those at the top, and another for everyone else.
As CEO of a financial buyout firm, Romney didn’t care about growing companies and creating jobs. He and his partners cared most about making money for themselves and their investors. They loaded companies up with debt, put thousands out of work and bankrupted companies all so a handful of investors could make a fortune.
We aren’t questioning Romney’s right to run his business as he wanted, or the private equity industry as a whole. This is about Romney’s values as a businessman, and what they would mean for the economic security of the middle class.
Romney specialized in buying companies, borrowing money to load them up with debt, and extracting millions in profit for himself and his partners.
To cut costs, he laid off longtime loyal workers and shipped jobs overseas.
Those who kept their jobs too often saw paychecks, benefits and pensions cut.
When the debt became too much, Romney and his partners drove several companies into bankruptcy and walked away with millions.
Kansas City’s GST Steel was a 105-year-old steel mill that Romney and his partners made millions from while hundreds of middle-class workers lost their jobs.
They made at least $12 million – a 150 percent return on their initial investment, but 750 hardworking middle-class Missourians lost their jobs and were denied the severance, health insurance, and full pensions they’d earned and been promised.
Meanwhile executives and management got $9 million in severance and retention payments while the company was in bankruptcy.
GST’s workers lost out, and Romney and his partners didn’t. Romney believes in two sets of rules – one for the guys at the top and another for everyone else – which is exactly the kind of economy we can’t afford.
Romney’s business values shaped the troubling economic policies he promises today. It’s the same Bush-era formula that benefitted a few, but crashed our economy and undermined security for the middle class and those trying to join it:
More budget-busting tax cuts weighted to the wealthiest and paid for by the middle class.
No investing in our nation’s long-term strength through education, decent health care, consumer protections, or our roads and bridges.
Letting Wall Street and corporations write their own rules again.
We can’t afford to go back to the same failed policies and wrong values that caused the economic crisis in the first place. Romney economics would hurt the middle class instead of helping it grow.
President Obama is moving America forward, fighting for an economy built to last, where hard work pays off, responsibility is rewarded, and everyone has a fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same rules.
Written by DEBORAH BARFIELD BERRY Gannett Washington Bureau
With less than six months until elections, Democratic leaders introduced a bill Thursday that aims to remove barriers to voting and counter new state election laws they say could turn away minority voters.
"They are a threat to democracy as we know it," said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights icon. "The right to vote is precious, almost sacred. . . . Voting should be simple, easy and accessible to every citizen."
Vermont's governor has signed a bill making it the first U.S. state to ban fracking, the controversial practice to extract natural gas from the ground.
"This is a big deal," Gov. Peter Shumlin said Wednesday. "This bill will ensure that we do not inject chemicals into groundwater in a desperate pursuit for energy."
Shumlin said fracking contaminates groundwater and the science behind it is "uncertain at best." He said he hopes other states will follow Vermont's lead in banning it.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, has unleashed a boom in energy production in the United States by allowing the extraction of oil and gas from shale rock. Supporters say it has reduced the country's oil imports, boosted natural gas production and provided thousands of jobs.
Most major oil companies are now involved in shale oil and gas production, including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP.
But the process has also raised fears of ground water contamination and is suspected of causing mild earthquakes.
More than 300,000 Maryland residents will pay higher income taxes under a package given final approval by the legislature Wednesday.
The tax increase affects single-filers reporting income in excess of $100,000 and joint-filers reporting more than $150,000 in Maryland, the state with the nation’s highest per-capita income.
Democratic lawmakers closed ranks behind Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), who argued that his administration needed more money to continue record spending on education.
O’Malley’s tax increases — combined with a move the legislature supported to shift teacher pension costs to counties — will close half of a $1 billion gap that had been forecast for the rest of the decade.
By John Murawski -
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The state’s prospects for fracking gained speed Wednesday with the advance of a bill that would legalize the natural gas drilling method within two years.
But the bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Bob Rucho of Mecklenburg County, is not universally accepted even within the GOP-dominated legislature, and will complete with an alternate fracking proposal pushed by a sponsor who promises to pack it with public protections that underscore the anxieties surrounding the issue.
The passage of fracking legislation this summer would give birth to a natural gas drilling industry in North Carolina, even though lawmakers insist that the first wells are not likely to be drilled for at least several years. The technologies used to extract natural gas – horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing – are currently illegal here. North Carolina has no history of large-scale energy exploration and is ill-equipped with antiquated oil and gas laws that date back to the 1940s.
After years of speculation, estimates and projections, the Census Bureau has made it official: White births are no longer a majority in the United States.
Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6 percent of all births in the 12-month period that ended last July, according to Census Bureau data made public on Thursday, while minorities — including Hispanics, blacks, Asians and those of mixed race — reached 50.4 percent, representing a majority for the first time in the country’s history.
Such a turn has been long expected, but no one was certain when the moment would arrive — signaling a milestone for a nation whose government was founded by white Europeans and has wrestled mightily with issues of race, from the days of slavery, through a civil war, bitter civil rights battles and, most recently, highly charged debates over efforts to restrict immigration.
In April, state Senator Bob Rucho, working with state Representative Mike Hager, unveiled a bill that would establish an entirely new bureaucracy—an oil and gas commission—and legalize fracking, horizontal drilling and even deep injection of fracking wastewater this summer. There would be a two year moratorium while rules are being developed, but whether or not there is a regulatory program in place, permits for horizontal drilling and fracking could be issued in 2014! Local ordinances that prohibit or place restrictions on oil and gas exploration and development activities would also be declared invalid if this bill becomes law.
Contact your state Senator and Representative today and urge them to oppose Sen. Rucho’s proposed legislation on hydraulic fracturing. Legalizing fracking now has no near term benefits, threatens NC landowners and taxpayers, does not ensure drilling would be done safely, and is downright irresponsible. Here is a summary of what the proposed bill would do. To read the full draft bill click here (starts on page 37). To find your legislators, go HEREand click on”Who Represents Me?”
How you can get involved?
Call or email your legislators on May 23rd, expressing your concerns about the threats of fracking to your community's quality of life, safe drinking water and air.
Participate in the Frack-Free Lobby Day on June 5th (no experience necessary), or
Organize a carload or caravan to Raleigh for the Frack-Free NC Lobby Day.
Upcoming Events for a Frack-Free NC Summer!
May 19, 11:30 AM, March and rally at the legislature against fracking in NC. Meet at Nash Square (200 McDowell St) in downtown Raleigh
May 19, 5:00 PM, An evening with "No Fracking Way" singer Marc Black, Asheville. Reserve your ticket today!
The NC General Assembly is back in Raleigh for the so-called "short" session. If ever there was a time for urgent action and unity, it is now.
We must be vigilant in the streets and in the halls of power and stand up for the most vulnerable among us. The issues we care so deeply about, including even basic voting rights and election funding, are at a crucial point in our state's history. We must make our voices heard!
On Wednesday, May 23, we have a great opportunity to be part of a statewide, multi-racial Justice & Unity Lobby Day in Raleigh. We'll be able to speak truth to power and lead by example.
This event, led by the NC NAACP and NC Association of CDCs, includes the Occupy movement, student groups, Move to Amend, environmental justice activists, civil rights leaders, and many others. It begins at 9AM at First Baptist Church Family Life Center in downtown Raleigh, 109 S. Wilmington Street
Join Democracy North Carolina as we join the 100+ partner organizations in the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (H K on J) coalition to show the power of the people standing together against corporate special interests and far-right extremists. RSVP today!
See pages two and three of the flyer for parking and logistics. For transportation questions and additional information, please contact HKonJ at (919) 682-4700 or NCACDC at (919) 831-9710.
GOP Ad Attacking Democrat Walter Dalton Distorts Truth
Republicans launched the first television commercial Tuesday in the November governor?s race, an attack ad that tries to link Democratic nominee Walter Dalton to the unpopular Gov. Bev Perdue.The Republican Governors Association is spending about $850,000 to air the commercial as it seeks to help elect GOP nominee Pat McCrory.But the 30-second spot?s major points don?t fully meet the truth test. Here?s a claim-by-claim fact check:
CBPP Statement: May 16, 2012 For Immediate Release
Statement by Robert Greenstein, CBPP President, on Speaker Boehner's Recent Remarks Concerning the Debt Limit
PDF of this statement (2pp.)
No one [ ... ]
VITAL NEED THIS WEEKEND: Voter Registration in NORTH CAROLINA
"The Obama campaign’s “weekend of action” is part of a field effort that in 2008 helped identify, register and turn out millions [ ... ]
Great video of a wonderful song by the Raging Grannies at the Pots and Pans action welcoming the General Assembly back to Raleigh on May 16, 2012, where they lost no time fast tracking Fracking.
[ ... ]
Note: This May 10, 2012 New Your Times Editorial also includes some very useful links to important threads related to fracking issues.
There is little doubt that natural gas, which is plentiful [ ... ]
Mitt Romney is raising more money today from the Big Oil donors who share his backward priorities. Romney owes voters an explanation for why he supports Big Oil’s demands.
This week Mitt Rom [ ... ]
McClatchy
Michael Gordon | Charlotte Observer
In another provocative comment aimed at Barack Obama, evangelist Franklin Graham on Thursday accused the president of having “shaken his fist” at [ ... ]
Winston-Salem Journal
By: TRAVIS FAIN
The head of the N.C. Senate wants to overhaul the state's education system this year, adding a new focus on early literacy, putting all teachers on [ ... ]
Addicting Info.com
By Michael Hayne
A new sinister group of right-wing vulgarians called Veterans For A Strong America (apparently Chicken-sh*t Hawks for a Bloated Defense budget was already taken [ ... ]
Addicting Info.com
By Stephen D. Foster Jr.
We all know at least one person that doesn’t know much about history. And we all know that there have been people who have tried to distort history. T [ ... ]
Freshman Congressperson Renee Ellmers R-NC) likes to say that despite the fact she would vote against Amendment One in North Carolina, she "fights for traditional marriage" everyday in Washington, a [ ... ]
Appendix G: Summary of Public Comments from the North Carolina Oil and Gas Study April 2012
This section (pp 453 - 484) summarizes public comments received on the draft version of this report at one [ ... ]
Protect ALL NC Families
In a statement released recently, Family Law experts at every school of law in North Carolina spoke out against the certain and potential harms posed by Amendment One, t [ ... ]
JDNews.com (Jacksonville, NC)
THOMAS BROCK
One could argue that the most important issue on the North Carolina primary election ballot is this one:
“Constitutional amendment to provide that marri [ ... ]
News & ObserverBy J. Andrew Curliss and Craig Jarvis - acurliss@newsobserver.com
The chief of staff to state House Speaker Thom Tillis has been in an intimate relationship with a lobbyist for t [ ... ]
Addicting Info
By Stephen D. Foster Jr.
Since President Obama took the oath of office in January 2009, Republicans have reversed their stances on many different policies and beliefs. Here are 24 of [ ... ]
ULTRAVIOLET.com
Congress may actually fail to renew the Violence Against Women Act because right-wing politicians are concerned that it protects too many people.
The reauthorization bill pending bef [ ... ]
