Clatsop Updates
Oregon Food Bank Action Alert on Farm Bill cuts to Food Stamps (Snap)
DELEGATE CANDIDATE for DEMOCRATIC STATE and NATIONAL CONVENTION 2012
Washington County Democratic Party
1st Congressional District of Oregon
Dear Friends, Family, and Fellow Constituents:
My name is GLENDORA CLAYBROOKS and I am a Black female of Native and African American heritage. I am an active participant and resident of Washington County. I live in Tualatin. I am a Precinct Committee Person, a member of the Platform and Resolution Committee, I am a F3 Alternate State Central Committee member, and I am an active potential Board and Committee member for the Washington County Commission on Children and Families, the Behavioral Health Council, and the Housing Advisory Committee. I am a Community Activist; I am the President of the National Action Network Oregon Chapter (NANPBO), and I am the Political Action Chair of Oregon Assembly for Black Affairs (OABA).
Lastly, I am one of the hopeful CANDIDATES seeking to be elected at both stages of the State and National District levels as a Delegate to attend the Democratic National Convention of 2012.
Does President Obama read the Washco Dems website?
Earlier this month, The Washco Dems published the first of a monthly series entitled
"Democratic Message of the Month" with our first published statement:
The Democratic Party believes in marriage equality for all.
Love, Commitment, Marriage
I suspect a certain highly-placed Commander-in-Chief has been reading our website!
Our Oregon Begins Signature Gathering on Corporate Kicker Reform
Initiative Petition 35 would finally send kicker funds to K-12 schools
Our Oregon is launching a signature gathering effort to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would send money to K-12 classrooms by reforming the corporate “kicker” refund.
For more than a decade, school advocates, teachers, and parents have talked about the need for kicker reform. Reforming the corporate kicker and putting those dollars back into our classrooms is an idea that has broad support. “The corporate kicker has long been described as costly and irresponsible,” says Our Oregon Director Patrick Green. “Initiative Petition 35 is an opportunity for everyone who cares about schools to come together and finally do something about it.”
Volunteer signature gathering on the initiative will begin as early as this weekend.
“Right now, Oregon’s K-12 students are facing a crisis of classroom overcrowding. Thousands of teachers have lost their jobs, and districts are closing neighborhood schools,” says Grant High parent and volunteer Otto Schell. “Parents across the state know that we’ve got to get more funding into our classrooms. It is long past the time when we need to prioritize our students and schools and give them the support that all children deserve.”
As much as 80% of the money from the corporate kicker goes to large, out-of-state corporations.* We should invest those dollars in our K-12 classrooms, rather than sending the money to the out-of-state headquarters of large corporations.
Oregon Food Bank Action Alert against the Ryan budget
Click here to email your Representative now
What Democrats Stand For (short version)
What do Democrats stand for? We stand for Equal Opportunity - High quality, affordable education and health care. Full employment of all able citizens. People can improve their lives through education, merit, and hard work. We stand for Justice - That Blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities deserve the same rights and liberties as all citizens. That women and gays are free to find satisfaction and happiness. That corporations operate in the public interest. That money doesn’t corrupt American democracy. We stand for Protection of all Americans - From crime and outside threats, from unsafe goods and services, from poisoned drinking water and polluted air, from destruction of food sources, from poverty and the ills of old age. (The above can be spoken to anyone in less than 1 minute)
How Republicans Do Things - A Story
The Story of a River
Once there was a beautiful, blue river that flowed south along hundreds of miles, serving peoples' needs for drinking water, recreation, and farm irrigation. Then a chemical factory was built in the north on the bank of the river, and employed 200 workers. Soon, the factory started spewing noxious and dangerous chemical pollutants into the river. Democrats in the communities downstream approached the factory owners and said "This river is a resource for all of us. We drink from this river. We swim in this river. You cannot pollute it and endanger the health of all our citizens. Unless you find a way quickly to keep the river clean you will have to shut down your factory."
Republicans in the downstream communities had a different approach. They went the factory and said "You are employing 200 people and that is good. We would like you to voluntarily comply to clean up the river in such a way and with such cost that you do not endanger the profits to your stockholders. In the meantime, we will open up a bottled water factory in the south, take polluted water from the river, purify and bottle it, and sell it to the people living downstream. Such a factory should employ about 50 persons."
And that, it seems to me, is the epitome of the difference between Democrats and a Republicans.
A John Boener Funny
Boener Says “Close Libraries” In a renewed effort to cut the U.S. deficit, Republican leader John Boener yesterday proposed a measure that would save $800 million annually. “Close down all public libraries,” said Mr. Boener. In the announcement, made on the steps of the Library of Congress, Boener insisted not only would money be saved, but that the public sharing of books amounted to subtle socialism that has been allowed to fester far too long. “If people want to read books, they should buy them on the open market with their own money,” said Boener, “America is about people deciding for themselves which books to buy, not government librarians making those choices for them.” When reminded that it was Ben Franklin who first proposed public libraries and post offices in America, Boener said. “Just as we are learning that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, we can see now that that Franklin was a closet socialist. How else to explain government getting into the business of buying books and delivering mail for American citizens? The invisible hand of free enterprise would have provided all necessary books and mail delivery in the early Republic,” said Boener. One reporter asked Boener how poor people would be able to obtain books to read for themselves and their children if there were no libraries. “When poor people get good jobs and work hard, then they can buy books just like rich people. Why that isn’t obvious, I just don’t know,” replied Boener.
Democrats, Fight Back!!
We have all heard a million times the Republican mantra that Democrats "Tax and Spend." What a beautiful, concise way to get an idea across. So easy to remember. Yet, when Democrats are asked to respond to this, they end up trying to defend what they are spending on. Bonk! They dig a deeper hole and the Repubicans keep on laughing. Well, I suggest that all Democrats start fighting back, calling the Republicans the "Borrow and Spend" party. They borrow from the treasury and spend on tax breaks for the wealthy. They borrow from the treasury and spend on subsidies for big oil, big pharma, and big agriculture. They borrow from the treasury and spend on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's time to let them have it, right on the kisser. If we all encourage our elected representatives to start calling out the Republicans it will catch on and the GOP will have no place to hide. So ... e-mail your senator and congressman so they can begin fighting back. Dave Collamer
Say NO to the disgusting GOP Ryan Budget!
The House GOP Ryan Budget is the most morally disgusting document I have seen in my lifetime. How can anybody take seriously a plan that is so obviously a redistribution of income from the poor to the wealthy, with no impact on the long term deficit. These people need to be run out of DC.
Here is a small quote from the CBPP analysis
The new Ryan budget is a remarkable document — one that, for most of the past half-century, would have been outside the bounds of mainstream discussion due to its extreme nature. In essence, this budget is Robin Hood in reverse — on steroids. It would likely produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history and likely increase poverty and inequality more than any other budget in recent times (and possibly in the nation’s history). It also would stand a core principle of the Bowles-Simpson fiscal commission’s report on its head — that policymakers should reduce the deficit in a way that does not increase poverty or widen inequality.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICAN
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF JOE REPUBLICAN
Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to insure their safety and that they work as advertised.
All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too. He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.
In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained. Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air. He walks to the subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.
Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joes employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.
