Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead ...a message from Michael Moore

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.

Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we'll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That's right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.

Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: "UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill." In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That's what we need to do! It's the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!

But even doing all that wasn't enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren't opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they're opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn't given back enough, but because the UAW hadn't given up.

It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.

That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who've already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.

Fat chance.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
http://www.michaelmoore.com/

Accomplishments and Contributions This Past Election Cycle

Below is a list of various accomplishments and contributions in the past election cycle.  I’m sure there are things I’m forgetting.  I can’t thank all of our members enough for all the hard work they’ve done.  We’ve accomplished a lot but there is still a lot of work ahead of us.  I want to encourage everyone to participate as much as you can even with this past election being over.  It’s time for us to regroup, relish in our accomplishments,learn from our mistakes, and continue to fight to turn this county Democrat Blue!

• We began a permanent presence at a monthly street party held in Melbourne in July of 2007.  We wanted to raise awareness of the party and our organization.  We started a trend as more and more political organizations and candidates began attending the festival and having booths of their own.
• BCYDs organized several phone banking sessions to help Suzan Franks for the special election in SD 3 in the summer of 2007.
• BCYD member Frank Grieco decided to run for Supervisor of Elections.
• Hosted a candidate forum in January of 2008 with Chairwoman Karen Thurman as our keynote speaker.
• Hosted a Florida Young Democrat summit in February 2008.
• In addition to the meetings held at the summit we also had YDs from across the state participate in canvassing for Tony Sasso during the special election for HD 32.
• BCYDs helped Tony Sasso win the special election for HD 32 in February 2008 by volunteering countless hours of gathering petitions, canvassing, and phone banking.
• BCYDs began volunteering countless hours in the spring of 2008 to canvassing and gathering petitions for Democratic candidates from the entire county.  At one point that was 28 different candidates.  In total we gathered over 1600 petitions.
• In addition to gathering petitions while canvassing we registered new voters, signed people up for absentee ballots, helped get voting rights restored, gave general voter education as well as encouragement in getting involved in the Democratic party.
• Past BCYD President Wes McCarville decided to run for HD 29 against Republican incumbent Ralph Poppell in April of 2008.
• Summer of 2008 was spent planning a YD club at Florida Tech along with canvassing for Democratic candidates, absentee ballots, etc..  This was especially a great feat with the sheer amount of candidates and the absurdly large size of our county (70 miles from end to end).
• Florida Tech YD club was established in August of 2008
• September and October of 2008 was spent mainly working with other organizations from around the county to register voters, encouraging them to get involved, absentee ballots, canvassing specifically to the young democrats in the highest populated precincts.
• Florida Tech YD club registered 250 new voters with their campus and local precinct efforts
• Florida Tech YD club hosted 2 candidate forums, one with Steven Blythe and one with Gary Young
• Our registration drive was the most successful at Florida Tech in decades, if not in the history of the school. Our efforts to raise political awareness on campus were unprecedented. I believe we are the first Democratic club at Florida Tech in recent history, until we started there were only the College Republicans.
• The Brevard County DEC awarded us the “Democratic Organization of the Year” for the all our efforts helping the party and the candidates at the annual banquet.
• We sent a slate card to all of the students at Florida Tech.
• We conducted 10000 robo calls on Sunday Nov 2nd specifically targeted to young democrats in the county who had not voted yet
• We provided office space, telephones, and man power on election day to make several hundred GOTV calls.

Daily Show Skewers RNC, McCain, and Palin

I don't know about everyone else, but during the Republican National Convention, I was busy registering new Democratic voters, making calls, building our online infrastructure, and solving physics problems. Luckily, the we can turn to the Daily Show to condense the four days of conservative foot tapping in St. Paul into a few half-hour segments of hilarity.

We'll start from the end, after McCain's coma-inducing speech. Note the uncanny comparisons between Bush and McCain about 4:20 in:



The Daily Show exposes the obvious hypocrisy of Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, etc. over the Palin pick and destroys the idea objections about Palin's lack of experience are about sexism.


John McCain's "Reformed Maverick" video, if you missed it before...



"Small Town Values" - Glad the Republican delegates tipped the "exotic dancers" well:



More on the Daily Show website.

New Michael Moore Movie is free

Slacker Uprising will be available to stream or download starting Sept. 23rd. The trailer below shows quite a few special guests.


via Download Squad

Introduction

Hello Young Dems! My name is Nick Austin and I'm currently a Florida Tech Senior in astro, physics, and math. I call my "home" virginia but only moved there half way through highschool having spent most my life either in England or Germany on various military instillations with my parents. I have had a life long interest in politics, and considering having lived around the military most my life I'm about as progressive as they come. I believe living overseas and with the military has been able to provide me with a unique perspective on our foriegn policy and how we are viewed from the outside in as a country. I would like to one day bring this insight to an elected political position but, for now, I'm happy to be a part of Young Democrats and hope to help push progressive candidates forward especially in this crucial election cycle. And of course...go Obama/Biden!!!!

Melbourne Republican Nominates Obama

It seems one of our own Brevard residents has received the rare honor of nominating the Democratic nominee for President...and he's a Republican veteran.

Watch It:



From the Florida Today:

DENVER -- Brevard County's Mike Wilson was supposed to be one of the unknown speakers who fill the pre-primetime hours at the Democratic National Convention, but he wound up nominating Barack Obama for president today.

For a registered Republican, who has no intention of changing his registration, it was a rare honor. And it all started with a $5 donation that Wilson made last year, when the Obama campaign ran a little contest offering dinner with the Illinois senator to four donors chosen at random.

...

He said Obama would see to it that members of the service "get the medical care that they deserve." He added, "if you do what you always did, you'll get what you've always got."

"America needs new leadership in the White House, and that leader is Barack Obama," said Wilson. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor, as an Iraq war veteran, as a lifelong Republican and as a proud citizen of this great democracy, to nominate the next president of the United States of America, Barack Obama!"

I would encourage you to read the entire article on Florida Today's website before it disappears behind the subscriber firewall.

Other local media are covering this, including the TCPalm, which covers the Treasure and Palm coasts:

...

Wilson, 33, an Iraq war veteran separated from the Air Force in 2004, was selected for the honor after meeting with Obama over dinner a year ago. Three donors to the Obama campaign were flown to New Hampshire and were allowed to ask the candidate anything they wanted. Wilson said he was impressed with Obama’s sincerity.

“Nothing seemed canned,” he said.

Of his speech, Wilson said, “Basically, I’m going to share my story. My experience as a veteran. My vision of why Senator Obama should be the next president of the United States.”

....

Wilson is not the only Republican who has come out full-heartedly in favor of Obama. Former Iowa Republican Congressmen Jim Leach has endorsed Obama and spoke at the Democratic Convention, current Fairbanks Republican Mayor Jim Whitaker has endorsed the Democratic Senator from Illinois, and former Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee (who was also the only Republican Senator to vote against the Iraq war) is supporting Barack Obama --- just to name a few. The Obama campaign has started a neat page, Republicans for Obama to showcase his support from the other side of the aisle.

While the media obsesses over the false "Democrats divided" narrative, Republicans from all across the county --- and here in Brevard County --- are joining with Senator Obama and speaking up for change.

Democratic Primary Results

Congratulations to the winners of the August 26th Democratic Primary! Including yesterday's primary winners and those Democrats who did not have a primary, we have a strong ticket going into the November 4th Election. The Young Democrats are 100% committed to ensuring a united Democratic front here in Brevard County. Without further ado, here's the 2008 Democratic slate in Brevard:

U.S. Congressional District 15 - Stephen Blythe

U.S. Congressional District 24 - Suzanne Kosmas

Florida Senate District 24 - Kendall T. Moore*

State House District 29 - Wes McCarville*

State House District 30 - Amy Tidd*

State House District 32 - Tony Sasso*

State House District 80 - Neal Abarbanell*

Property Appraiser - Larry Hughes

Sheriff - Gary Young

Supervisor of Elections - Frank Greico*

Tax Collector - Laura Dils

Brevard County Commission District 1 - Robin Fisher

Brevard County Commission District 3 - Ed Geier*

Canaveral Port Authority District 5 - Peter Nichols*

* candidates who had no primary

Official results can be found the Brevard Supervisor of Elections. For state and federal races, check the complete results on the Florida Division of Elections website.

The Young Democrats also extend a deep and sincere "thank you" to the candidates who were defeated in yesterday's primary. Not long ago, Brevard Democrats had trouble finding one candidate for an election - let alone allowing Democratic primary voters a choice for the nomination. Your work leading up to the primary has made our party stronger, and we are thankful for your efforts.

Battleground Brevard: Primary Races to Watch

Somewhat lost in the excitement of the Democratic National Convention is Florida’s primary for local, state, and federal office. This primary is especially important here in Brevard County, where more Democrats are running for office than any time in more than a decade. In the last two years, our local party has become energized in ways we couldn’t imagine just a few short years ago. The Democratic resurgence in Brevard became clearly visible with the hard-fought victory of state Representative Tony Sasso in the District 32 Special Election in March.

In this vein, I would like to announce the creation of a new series “Battleground Brevard,” which will take an in-depth look at every contested partisan race in Brevard County from the U.S. Congressional races in Districts 15 and 24 and our races for seats in the state legislature, down to our county commission races. Our first edition will come this weekend after the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention and will consist of an overview of the races in Brevard County. Additionally, we’ll review the structural changes and trends in Brevard, which have produced one of the most competitive counties in the state. For now, we list the (contested) Democratic primary races to watch in Brevard County. We’ll come back late tomorrow night with the final slate of Brevard Democratic Candidates.

U.S. Congressional District 15

• Stephen Blythe
• Paul Rancatore

U.S. Congressional District 24

• Clint Curtis
• Suzanne Kosmas

Sheriff

• Mose Alexander
• Gary E. Young

Property Appraiser

• Larry E. Hughes
• Charlie Sitton

Tax Collector

• Laura Dils
  
• Carie Exline

County Commission District 1

• Robin Fisher
• Maureen Rupe
• Al Yorston

Non-contested races: Democratic nominations for State House districts 29, 30, 32, and 80; supervisor of elections; and county commission district 3 are uncontested. These candidates will be listed with our slate tomorrow. Unfortunately, the races for Clerk of Courts, State House District 31, and County Commission District 5 have no Democratic challengers. Primary voters will decide the election for these seats tomorrow. Democrats are still set to have the most extensive slate of candidates in Brevard County in many years.

On the Republican side, some primaries to watch include

• Supervisor of Elections: There are four candidates competing for the Republican nod including Beth Allen, the wife of infamous former state Rep. Bob Allen.
• State House District 30: Republicans Tres Holton and Rich Workman face off for the right to run against Brevard Democratic Chair Amy Tidd
• Property Appraiser: Incumbent Jim Ford, who has overseen an office rife with alleged corruption -- including the lowering of property values for political allies-- faces three Republican challengers, including county commissioner Helen Voltz.

Voters will also decide two non-partisan judicial races and a school board race (District 3). Additionally, the top two school board vote earners in each of School Board Districts 4 and 5 will go on to the November 4 ballot.

Remember to vote tomorrow! As we await the primary results, make sure to check the Florida Progressive Coalition blog for updates from Florida delegation to the Democratic National Convention.

Upcoming Election Information

Hello Young Democrats,

This is an informational memo on critical upcoming election dates. The August 26th primary is in less than two weeks and the November 4th Presidential Election is fast approaching.

This post contains a list of all the upcoming election dates, early voting opportunity dates, and voter registration and absentee request deadlines. I will also include links to online Florida voter registration forms and an online absentee request form for Brevard County. Please save it so you can reference it later and distribute to others. For more information you can always go to the Brevard Supervisor of Elections website.

Important Upcoming Election Dates:

8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday August 11 through Saturday August 23 (excluding Sunday August 17): Early Voting for the August 26th Primary*

• August 20th: Last day to Request an Absentee ballot for August 26th primary election **
• August 26th (polls open 7am to 7pm): Primary Election***
• October 6th: Deadline to Register to Vote in Florida in order to participate in Presidential Election ****
• 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday October 20 through Saturday November 1 (excluding Sunday October 26): Early Voting for November 4th Presidential Election*
• October 29th: Last Day to request an absentee ballot for the November 4th Presidential Election**
• November 4th (polls open 7am to 7pm): General Election***
• 
  

* The early voting locations are as follows:

• Titusville: Government Complex-North, 400 South Street, 1st Floor
• Merritt Island: Central Brevard Service Complex, 2575 N. Courtenay Parkway
• Viera: Government Center, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Bldg. C
• Melbourne: South Brevard Service Complex, 1515 Sarno Road
• Palm Bay: South Mainland Service Center, 450 Cogan Drive SE

Please see the Brevard Supervisor of Elections early voting website for more information and standard ID requirements.

** You can request an absentee ballot in Brevard County through the link below:

http://brevardelections.org/abform.htm

You can also call the SoE office(s) to request ballots or request them in person. For this information see here. You must be registered to vote to request a vote-by-mail ballot.

*** Finding your precinct and voting place

Your precinct and voting place should be listed on the back of your voter registration card if your address is up-to-date. You can also determine your precinct by going to the Brevard SoE website here and locating it by your street name. Once you have determined your precinct number, you can go to the Polling Places and District Assignments page find your polling place.

**** REGISTERING TO VOTE

The Florida voter registration form can be located on the Florida Division of Elections website:

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/voter-registration/voter-reg.shtml

The form can be filled out on the computer, printed, and mailed in. Since the registration form must have an original signature, it must be printed and mailed. No means of submitting it electronically is available. Please see the eligibility and ID requirements for voter registration.

I hope this information is helpful to you. If you have any further questions, either contact the SoE office or send me an email.