Home > Newsletter Archive  > Current Newsletter

LOUISVILLE /JEFFERSON COUNTY

DEMOCRATIC PARTY NEWSLETTER

Week of October 21, 2007

The link to this electronic newsletter is being e-mailed to 4,000+

Jefferson County Democrats 

We hope you will forward the link to your own e-mail list.

***********************************

CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT LIST OF EVENTS

Updated on a regular basis

The Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee meets the 4th Wednesday of every month at 5:00 pm at Democratic Headquarters,            640 Barret Avenue .

 

Notice to our Readers &  2007 General Election Candidates:

This newsletter will carry in this space any Democratic candidates' notice of events or communications (250 words or less) to our readers that the candidate provides to the editor at rcrider@louisvilledem.com

****************************  

 *************************

Kentucky Union Volunteers Keep Up the Get-Out-The-Vote Momentum

AFL-CIO representative Joseph Holland has been working in Kentucky with union members to help get out the vote for the state’s critical gubernatorial elections and reports on this weekend’s effort to elect a working family governor.  

Kentucky union activists kept up the momentum this past weekend, with more than 160 union volunteers going door to door last Saturday to talk with union members and their families. We continued to break new ground this week—with the first labor walk ever held in Elizabethtown and we continue to walk for the first time this cycle in eastern Kentucky. In addition, we also had great walks in Pikeville, Ashland, Louisville and Paducah.  

Also last weekend, the Kentucky State Building and Construction Trades Council held a great event with gubernatorial candidate Steve Beshear (D) and all candidates endorsed by the union movement. Beshear thanked the state building trades council and the entire labor movement for the great member-to-member program that had been put together. He also stressed the importance of the final three weeks, and reminded us that the only poll is the one on Election Day.  

Beshear is challenging Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R), who has canceled bargaining rights for state employees, privatized Kentucky’s Medicaid program, pushed to repeal the prevailing wage law and sought to implement anti-union “right to work” for less legislation. Beshear opposes so-called “right to work” legislation and has affirmed his support of safeguards for the prevailing wage, employee bargaining, the need for affordable health care and good jobs. 

On Wednesday, Beshear joined union volunteers and AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff at the Ford plant in Louisville to hand out information to UAW union members and discuss the issues important to working people. Beshear and union volunteers will talk with the 3,000 workers during the shift change about where candidates stand on issues like health care, wages and good jobs, retirement security and the freedom to form unions.

Watch this short clip of Beshear talking with members of the building trades, and check out this great press clip from the E-Town Walk here.  

***********************************  

Yarmuth: ‘We will not stop fighting for these kids’

“I am disappointed that some of my colleagues chose to support the President’s veto today, rather than stand up for the health of our nation’s children as eighty percent of the American people want us to do.  But the fight is far from over, and I remain optimistic that we will pass a veto-proof bill this year that covers the six million children currently insured by SCHIP and the four million more who so desperately need this care.  When a child in America gets sick, providing medical attention is our moral responsibility, and we will not stop fighting for these kids until that responsibility is met.”

*********************************

SPEAK OUT FOR AMERICA’S DEMOCRATIC VALUES, by Jim Hightower

 We Americans once had a strong president who told us during the dark days of the Depression: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”.

Now we have a frightening president who constantly tells us we must live in fear, that fear is our future, that fear is patriotic… that fear is now America. He even color codes it so we’ll know whether it’s a red-hot, super-scairdy fear day, or just a run-of-the-mill, orange-tinted fear day.

In case that’s too subtle, you’ll be glad to know that Bush’s Department of Homeland Security has developed a public-service television commercial to bring fear down to a gut-wrenching, emotional level. This ad shows faces of worried children asking their mommies such questions as, “What if something happens, will you come get me?” Then a narrator warns viewers that every American family should get prepared for a terrorist attack. Finally the screen goes dark and the punchline appears in these worrisome words: “Everyone should have a plan.”

Welcome to Bush’s scary world.

The Bushites are using a non-stop fear campaign to impose the Anti-America on our “Land of the Free” – an unrecognizable America of supreme executive authority, constant surveillance of the people, secret government, suppression of dissent, and permanent war. As Bush himself put it in 2004, “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”

He's not the quickest bunny in the litter, is he? Unfortunately, it's not a laughing matter. Top Bush-Cheney autocrats are doing more to trample America’s democratic values than our enemies can possibly do. It’s up to us to reassert and protect those values. More of us must speak out for them – more loudly, more frequently, more insistently. Remember: the opposite of courage is not cowardice. It’s conformity.

“There’s at least one conversation I won’t be having soon,” Austin American Statesman, August 11, 2007 

 *******************************************

 DAILY GRILL       

"After September the 11th...I authorized the National Security Agency to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations." --President Bush, 5/11/06

VERSUS

"Former chief executive Joseph P. Nacchio...said the NSA approached Qwest more than six months before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks [about surveillance contracts]." --Washington Post, 10/13/07

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"[T]here's more to the story on the kid (Graeme Frost) that did the Dems' radio response on SCHIP. ... Could the Dems really have done that bad of a job vetting this family?" -- Don Stewart, communications director for Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 10/11/07, encouraging reporters to cover the Graeme Frost smear campaign

VERSUS

"There was no involvement whatsoever. ... None." -- McConnell, 10/12/07, on the extent of his staff's involvement in the smear campaign

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, head of the Joint Special Operations Command's operations in Iraq, is the chief promoter of a victory declaration and believes that AQI [al Qaeda in Iraq] has been all but eliminated." -- Washington Post, 10/15/07

VERSUS

"I would anticipate that the major combat engagements [in Iraq] are over." -- McChrystal, 4/14/03

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"We will never allow Iraqi citizens to be killed in cold blood by this company which doesn't care about the lives of Iraqis."
-- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, 9/19/07, on Blackwater USA

VERSUS

"I will tell you, though, that a firm like Blackwater provides a valuable service. They protect people's lives." --  President Bush, 10/17/07

****************************************************

Quotes of the Day      

None this week

TOP     

Recent Senate Votes 

IN RECESS

Recent House Votes 

War Profiteering Prevention Act - Vote Passed (375-3, 53 Not Voting)

The House passed this bill that would criminalize "war profiteering."

Rep. Ron Lewis voted YES

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 - Vote Passed (264-148, 19 Not Voting)

The House passed legislation founding the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund within the United States Treasury to assist in the building of affordable housing for low-income families.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

 

Tax Collection Responsibility Act - Vote Passed (232-173, 26 Not Voting)

Despite a veto threat from the President, the House passed a bill that intends to stop the Internal Revenue Service's private debt collection program.

Rep. Ron Lewis voted NO

Rep. John Yarmuth voted YES

TOP

HUMOR    

"Vice President Dick Cheney's wife, Lynne Cheney, said that Barack Obama and Dick Cheney are related. She said they are actually eighth cousins. Isn't that amazing? Dick Cheney now has more blacks and gays in his own family than in the entire Republican Party." --Jay Leno

"Republican frontrunner Rudy Giuliani says he's going to try to follow Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment that a Republican should never attack another Republican. Let's hope he has better luck with the 11th commandment than he did with the 7th commandment." --Jay Leno

"The Dalai Lama had a private meeting with President Bush. Believe it or not, they actually have a lot in common. One of the goals of Zen Buddhism is to completely empty your mind. The president did that years ago." --Jimmy Kimmel

"According to an exclusive interview, Senator Larry Craig said that because of his sex scandal, he's now in 'the toughest fight of his life.' Then Craig added, 'Unless you count that trucker who played hard to get.'" --Conan O'Brien

"A White House spokesman said President Bush is very happy Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize. Not Dick Cheney. Oh, no. Dick Cheney said today now he wants to bomb Norway." --Jay Leno

"Yesterday, Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the environment. Then, in a stunning reversal, the Supreme Court awarded it to George Bush." --Amy Poehler

"I think I know why you're happy tonight ... 'cause Al Gore won the Nobel prize. Al Gore won the Nobel prize. Or, as President Bush announced it, 'Sweden is with the terrorists.' No, the president did not say that. What he said was, 'The Nobel Prize is just a theory. It needs more study.'" --Bill Maher

"Earlier this year, Al Gore won an Emmy and an Oscar. Now that he's won a Nobel Peace Prize, some people say he may run for president. Gore says he's not even thinking about the presidency 'cause he's totally focused on winning the Heisman." --Conan O'Brien

"Presidential candidate Barack Obama ... went door to door in Iowa over the weekend to talk about his opposition to the war and gain votes. Hillary Clinton also went door to door -- not looking for votes, trying to find her husband." --Jay Leno

"America's favorite professional restroom enthusiast, Idaho Senator Larry Craig, has agreed to be interviewed by 'Today Show''s Matt Lauer tomorrow night on NBC. Craig said he wanted to make this his first interview because he feels NBC -- and we're very flattered -- is a well respected news organization that deals fairly with their subjects. He also finds Matt Lauer dreamy. ... At Senator Craig's request, all questions will be scribbled on a piece of toilet paper and discreetly passed to him." --Jay Leno

"This past weekend, Senator Craig was inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame. See, I don't know how these things work. Is he a pitcher or a catcher?" --Jay Leno

"China is outraged at the United States for honoring the Dalai Lama at the White House. They're pretty mad. I hope they don't try to get back at us, you know, like maybe putting lead in our toys or anti-freeze in our toothpaste." --Jay Leno

"In a recent interview, President Bush's daughter, Jenna, said she believes there's a ghost in the White House. Then President Bush told her, 'No sweetheart, that's just your grandmother.'" --Conan O'Brien

"We're learning more and more information about that Republican debate the other night. Apparently, the Republicans were really paranoid about security at the debate. Security was very, very high. To make sure there were no embarrassing incidents, I understand they had three security guards posted at every bathroom stall." --Jay Leno

"Hillary Clinton's name was mentioned 12 times the other night. 12 times! Of course, Hillary was stunned. She's not used to guys yelling out her name." --Jay Leno

TOP

        
RADICAL RIGHT -- FOX ALL STARS: 'ANTI-AMERICAN' AL GORE SHOULDN'T HAVE WON NOBEL FOR 'BLOVIATING' ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING: On Fox News Sunday, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer attacked former Vice President Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize win, calling him "anti-American" and derisively claiming that he got the award for "nothing" but "bloviating about global warming." Sarcastically calling Gore's win "deeply moving," Kristol disparaged Gore and the Nobel prize itself, saying "it's a prize given by bloviators to a bloviator." Claiming that the Nobel Peace Prize is "the Kentucky Derby of the world left," Krauthammer was even more shrill than Kristol, saying, "Al Gore now joins the ranks of Yasser Arafat, the father of modern terrorism." He then claimed the award "has nothing to do with peace" and that the judges give "it to people whose politics are either anti-American or anti-Bush, and that's why [Gore] won it." Kristol and Krauthammer's attacks continue the efforts of Fox and the right to undermine the importance of Gore and the IPCC's efforts to make climate change a central issue on the world stage. But, as NPR's Juan Williams noted when responding to Kristol and Krauthammer, Gore has taken the global lead on an issue that the Bush administration didn't "even acknowledge for a long time." Kristol and Krauthammer's attacks are just "sour grapes," Williams said, over Gore's success in exposing and undermining the far right's vast disinformation campaign against global warming science.
 

CONGRESS -- McCONNELL CAUGHT LYING ABOUT SCHIP SMEAR CAMPAIGN: Last Thursday, media reports revealed that Don Stewart, the communications director for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), sent an e-mail pushing reporters to cover the right-wing smear campaign of 12-year old State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) recipient Graeme Frost. But the next day, McConnell claimed his office was not involved. "What was the deal with the e-mail from your staffer?" a local reporter asked McConnell. "There was no involvement whatsoever [from my staff] ... None," responded McConnell. The right wing continues to push this smear campaign in order to slander the popular children's health program. This week, TrueMajorityAction released an ad featuring two-year old Bethany Wilkerson, who was born with a serious heart problem and received health insurance through the SCHIP program. Like the Frost family, the Wilkerson family has already become the subject of right-wing attacks. "The issue really at hand is one of bad behavior," said the National Review's Mark Hemingway. Heralding the arrival of a "new toddler-aged human shield," right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin writes that "the Wilkersons made a choice."

TOP  

NEED COMPUTER ASSISTANCE?? 

Democrat Activist Mike Bailey is now providing “Professional Computer Support.”  He can be contacted at 502-558-4026, or mikebailey2000@usa.net. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  

Think Fast        

The Food and Drug Administration is "moving with unprecedented speed to launch a drug research center to be paid for by companies it regulates." Its goal is to "streamline and improve the development of drugs and medical devices, a goal long sought by regulators and the biggest players in the industry."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is sticking up for Donald Rumsfeld in a battle with students and professors at Stanford University. "Universities ought to be places where all views are welcomed," Rice told ABC News. "Stanford has always been a place that has been able to tolerate many different views."

"As the chief federal trial judge in Manhattan, Michael Mukasey approved secret warrants allowing government roundups of Muslims in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks." Confirmation hearings are set to begin on Wednesday, and detentions are likely to be a "hot topic."

During his town hall meeting in Arkansas yesterday, "not a single questioner criticized" President Bush. With polls showing Bush's disapproval at record highs, the White House is staging "let-Bush-be-Bush events" in front of "friendly audiences" with "increasing frequency."

Verizon Communications told congressional investigators that, from Jan. 2005 to Sept. 2007, the company provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities on an emergency basis 720 times. "Verizon also disclosed that the FBI, using administrative subpoenas, sought information identifying not just a person making a call, but all the people that customer called, as well as the people those people called."

The House GOP leadership "has held private discussions with Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) in an effort to convince him to retire." But Doolittle, who is under federal investigation, is "promising to run for re-election."

$15 billion: Amount seniors and other taxpayers could have saved this year if the government had "slashed administrative costs in the Medicare drug program and negotiated the same kind of discounts it does for poor people under Medicaid."

 While many Capitol Hill offices "proudly display their home-state" sports teams' gear, the walls of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones's (D-OH) office are blank. They're hoping for the Cleveland Indians to go all the way, and remember the loss of the Cleveland Cavaliers in last season's NBA playoffs when their walls were decorated. "In the past it's been a jinx," spokeswoman Nicole Williams said. "We are diehard fans. We hope the Indians go all the way, and then we'll celebrate."

TOP  

INTERESTING      

Silence greets Thompson's plan on Social Security, By Michael Kranish

Risk seen in calling for cuts

For weeks, Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson was pilloried for offering vague aphorisms. So, when he unveiled a Social Security plan last week that would significantly cut benefits, pundits expressed shock at such a politically risky proposal. The other candidates, meanwhile, said next to nothing.   Rest of Story

****************************   

Burger King: You Can’t Have It Your Way, by James Parks

Across Florida and around the country, members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) are hitting the streets for two months to mobilize workers and consumers to call on Burger King fast-food chain to improve farm workers’ wages and working conditions.

The first leg of the tour in Florida wrapped up last week. For nine days, farm workers from southwest Florida, represented by the CIW, toured union halls, churches and campuses across Florida explaining why they are fighting for justice at Burger King. CIW and SFA members will tour other areas to educate consumers building up to a national mobilization in Miami on Nov. 30 to coincide with Burger King’s annual meeting.

The three-day event will include a nine-mile march to Burger King headquarters for a rally on Nov. 30, followed by a Concert for Fair Food on Dec. 1 and activities with Miami-area faith communities on Dec. 2. Click here for more information on the rally and march.

In April, the farm workers won a groundbreaking agreement with fast-food giant McDonald’s to improve wages and working conditions in the fields that supply the world’s largest restaurant chain with its tomatoes.

The McDonald’s agreement builds and expands upon an earlier agreement won by the CIW and its allies after a four-year boycott of Taco Bell, part of the giant restaurant company Yum! Brands Inc., and sets a clear path to real rights and decent pay for farm workers.

Miami-based Burger King, the world’s second-largest burger chain, has rejected working with the CIW to improve farm worker wages and conditions. Burger King still refuses to agree to the principles signed onto by Yum! and McDonald’s. Rather than pay tomato workers a decent wage and improve working conditions, Burger King claims it’s not possible to institute those same principles in their supply chain.

 In a statement announcing the Nov. 30 march and rally, CIW says: 

In the wake of the Yum Brands and McDonald’s agreements, we stand on the threshold of a more modern, more humane agricultural industry in Florida. Facing this historic opportunity, Burger King seems to have chosen business as usual over progress, continued exploitation over justice. It is time for Burger King to seize the moment and stand with Florida’s tomato pickers in their fight for fundamental human rights in the fields. It is time for the student and youth movement in solidarity with the CIW to step it up.

******************************

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In a crowded university auditorium hundreds of miles from Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took time out Monday from their usual partisan sniping to display a different side to the Harry-and-Mitch relationship.

Reid, the featured guest at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center for Political Leadership, told 200 students that he had a close relationship with McConnell, whom he described as an able rival — “the major leagues.”

“Mitch knows the Senate rules and Senate procedures. . . . He has a feel for the institution,” Reid said.

McConnell told the students that Reid is “a credit to his party and a pleasure to work with.”

The joint appearance was a stark contrast to the slap that Reid’s predecessor, former Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, delivered to Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., when he went to South Dakota in May 2004 to campaign for Republican John Thune, who went on to oust Daschle.

In an interview, Reid said he would never consider stumping against McConnell. “Oh no, I wouldn’t do that,” he said.

But McConnell, in a separate interview, would not make the same commitment. “I haven’t been invited. We’ll see what happens,” McConnell said.

******************************

Wal-Mart is the #1 importer of Chinese goods. So, after the spree of high-profile recalls and outright bans on dangerous Chinese products, wouldn't it be logical for Wal-Mart to take the offensive against unsafe imported goods? Shouldn't Wal-Mart stand up for the safety of American consumers?

Wouldn't you?

The truth is that Wal-Mart is putting profits over people - again - by blocking laws requiring disclosure of where food comes from. Instead of looking out for consumer safety, Wal-Mart is watching its own bottom line.

That's why we put together a new ad to expose the truth about Wal-Mart and China.

Click here to watch our new ad and send it to five friends:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/foodsafety

Even among nations, Wal-Mart is China's sixth largest trading partner: it buys more Chinese goods than industrial giants like Germany and Britain. This gives Wal-Mart the power to demand safer products from its Chinese suppliers. Unfortunately, it has demanded nothing more than lower prices, and has tried to cover up the consequences of its race to the bottom.

As consumers, we have the right to know that the products we buy are safe. Don't let irresponsible corporations like Wal-Mart cut us out of the loop. Please watch our new ad today, and send it to five friends:

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/foodsafety

The more people learn the truth about Wal-Mart, the more public pressure grows for Wal-Mart to change.

You - together with more than 402,000 fellow supporters of WakeUpWalMart.com - have the power to make Wal-Mart put people first.

Amidst seemingly endless recalls of dangerous products, Wal-Mart has tried to keep American consumers in the dark.

Let's shine a light.

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/foodsafety

Thanks for all that you do,

****************************

Gonzales Investigated Subordinates Who Were Likely To Testify Against Him

Alberto Gonzales was briefed extensively about a criminal leak investigation despite the fact that he had reason to believe that several individuals under investigation in the matter were potential witnesses against him in separate Justice Department inquiries.  REST OF STORY

***************************

VIDEOS  

Kentucky Folks Say Thanks To Graeme Frost And Shame On You To Senator Mitch McConnell!!

Keith Olbermann Right Wing Attacks 12 Year Old Boy, Graeme Frost.

O’Reilly: Abu Ghraib Scandal Was ‘Blown Out Of Proportion’

TOP     

                

 

CLICK HERE FOR LATEST ISSUE OF THE "FRIDAY ALERT"

TOP

 

If you plan to change your e-mail address, please let me know at rcrider@louisvilledem.com

Your contributions of news, comments and/or events are invited. Please e-mail such items to

Ray Crider at rcrider@louisvilledem.com . If you know someone who would like to be on the newsletter e-mail list, please have him or her supply the following information to the same

e-mail address: Name, address, phone numbers ( home , work, fax, cell), and e-mail address.  

 

Publication of Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party Tim Longmeyer, Chairman Ray Crider, Editor 640 Barret Ave Louisville, Ky  40202 502-582-1999   Paid for by the Louisville/Jefferson Co Democratic Party Charlie Horton, Treasurer Produced & Printed In-House

TOP

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

Contributions or gifts to the Louisville/Jefferson County Democratic Party

are not tax deductible.