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Local News
Upcoming Events Coalition meetings are regularly held at 7:00 pm on the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Twinsburg Public Library- 10050 Ravenna Rd. |
Meeting News May's meeting discussed the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) with two members of Senator Sherrod Brown's staff: State Director John Ryan (former Executive Secretary of the Cleveland AFL-CIO) and Community Liaison Max Blachman. They explained that EFCA would 1) Strengthen penalties against companies that illegally coerce or intimidate workers to prevent them from forming and union 2) Bring in a neutral third party to settle on a contract if the company and union cannot agree on a contract after 3 months and 3) Lets the workers choose how to organize, either by balloting or by having a majority of the workers sign union authorization cards, validated by the National Labor Relations Board. Of course, the usual suspects with fight EFCA with everything they've got (see lie number 1 below).
April's meeting featured James Hardy from Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office, who told our group about the continuing efforts of the Secretary to ensure free and fair elections in Ohio, and of the opening of a new Cleveland office for business approvals. Mr. Hardy also mentioned some of the proposed changes Ms. Brunner would be recommending to the Governor and General Assembly the following day, her "Elections Enhancements for Ohio" report, including shortening the early voting window from 35 days to 20. For more on this see the Plain Dealer article from April 23rd at http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1240475586234500.xml&coll=2.
Next Meeting The Coalition's next meeting will be held Wednesday, June 24th at the Twinsburg Public Library at 7:00 p.m. This meeting will feature Deborah Fisher, Executive Director of the Northern Ohio USO program. She will be talking about the various programs the USO handles here and abroad that help our service members and their families. As you might expect, it has been a difficult time for the USO in the current economy as collections and donations have declined. Ms. Fisher plans on having a member of the military accompany her to the meeting.
The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide morale, welfare and recreation services to our men and women in uniform and their families. The USO currently operates more than 130 centers worldwide. Service members and their families visit USO centers more than 5.6 million times each year.
The USO of Northern Ohio sends between 400 – 800 care packages a month. You can donate goods or cash which will help offset the cost of postage ($10.35 per box). The USO of Northern Ohio is a 501(c) 3 non-profit. Any monies donated can be a tax write-off.
Items they are currently in need of most:
Additional items needed:
*Keep items small* They only have pockets and backpacks in which to store items. *No glass*
Please drop off your donations at the following locations by June 30
Twinsburg Fitness Center ~ Twinsburg Library ~ Twinsburg Senior / Community Center Macedonia YMCA ~ Macedonia United Methodist Church
If you have any questions, please call Geni Spera at 216-390-4906 or Fran Jurecki 330-468-2525 Cash donations should be made out to the USO of Northern Ohio and mailed to the address below
Sponsored By
NORTHERN SUMMIT DEMOCRATIC COALITION, 2874 Mathers Way, Twinsburg, OH 44087
Ohio Senator George Voinovich announced January 12th that he will not be seeking re-election in 2010, joining 3 other GOP Senators. Among those expected to vie for his seat are former U.S. Rep. Rob Portman, current Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, and current Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. For more on this story, see http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2009/02/democrats_on_top_in_2010_senat.html. Information on the Public Health Care Option from MoveOn.org
The Republican Echo Chamber--Lies Currently Circulating In The Media If you read newspapers, listen to radio or watch TV, chances are you've heard some of these lies offered up recently by the right. Some are invented by columnists or pundits, others are actually spoken in public by elected Republican politicians. This list is by no means complete, and if you have a favorite of your own you'd like to see included please email it in (see "contacts"). 1. The Employee Free Choice Act will eliminate the secret ballot Neil Cavuto (among many others) has stated this lie, trying to imply that workers would lose rights, not gain them. In fact, according to The Christian Science Monitor and others, EFCA would give "workers a choice of forming a union through majority sign-up ('card check')...or an election by secret ballot." Business groups have attacked the legislation because it would take away employer's right to insist on holding a secret-ballot election to determine whether workers favored unionization. EFCA supporters say employers often use the election process to delay, obstruct and intimidate workers to prevent unionization. 2. Cap and Trade will increase energy costs by $3,128/year per family On March 23rd, this lie seems to have been born when a House Republican Caucus "Talking Points" press release cited the bogus figure, citing an MIT study. One of the authors, John Reilly, said they're misrepresenting the study, and that the correct estimate is approximately $340. (for the full story, see http://mediamatters.org/items/200904060021) This did not stop Republican Rep. Michele Bachman from repeating the lie in an editorial on April 7th in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and then topping that lie with another, bigger lie. (read about that at http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_04/017663.php). Senator Mitch McConnell and Ohio's own John Boehner have also repeated this lie. Details on more lies coming soon! Why we get mad at Republicans (again) On January 21st, NPR had a segment on the economic stimulus plan that featured liberal economist Paul Krugman and conservative economist Russell Roberts. Krugman favors a massive spending bill that invests heavily in infrastructure projects, with a much smaller amount towards tax cuts. Roberts, surprise, surprise, favors tax cuts. Putting aside for now how insane it is to STILL insist that tax cuts will stimulate the economy (didn't we do that for the last eight years?), what happened next is what gets us mad. Roberts went on to cite two "facts" to support his contention that spending on infrastructure is not the way to go: (1) A Congressional Budget Office report showing that spending won't happen for at least two years and therefore won't have any impact now and (2) the spending will be wasteful, like the highway in Huntsville, Alabama that Roberts cites that he says is "about 12 or 14 lanes, it stretches that way for about 3 miles...why?" The only problem is that NEITHER OF THESE "FACTS" ARE TRUE! There was no such CBO report, as detailed here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/a-controversial-cbo-repor_n_160495.html?page=6 And as for Roberts' claims about the highway, you can read about the truth at http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/1232705765193000.xml&coll=1. Someone finally gets it right on "protecting us" On the Rachel Maddow show on Feb. 4th, Rachel discussed the interview of Dick Cheney published in Politico with Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald: Rachel Maddow: The post Bush-Cheney legacy polishing which began during their lame duck period says that these measures that they took, even if some people found them distasteful or even if they had some unpleasant side-effects, they were all done for the right reasons, they were all done to keep us safe…um, and Dick Cheney is still making that case now, even just two weeks out of office. Does that need to be taken apart? Glenn Greenwald: Well, a couple things about that. One is, you know, if you look at the argument that Cheney made throughout this interview, and it’s the one that not only supporters of his make but also people in the media I think have largely come to accept, which is that while there must be something to what they did because after all they kept us safe ever since the Sept. 11th attacks; if you really think about what that argument is, how inane it is becomes so readily apparent. What they’re really saying is, during our administration, we allowed one catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil, but don’t worry because we only allowed one and we didn’t allow any after that. And the implication of this is, is that somehow before Dick Cheney and George Bush and their torture camps, and waterboarding, and invasions of other countries arrived on the scene, it’s as though they are implying that the United States was regularly attacked catastrophically by foreign terrorists, that we had terrorist attacks every several months until Dick Cheney got into place, now we only have one every eight years. And what’s so important to remember is, back in 1993, in January of 1993, the second or third week of Bill Clinton’s presidency, the World Trade Center was attacked by Islamic radicals, and Bill Clinton didn’t open Guantanamo, he didn’t disappear people to secret camps, he didn’t go around touting, and beating his chest about how important it was that we torture, and yet for the next 8 years of the Clinton presidency, to use the jargon, he kept us safe. There were no other foreign terrorist attacks, and by this rationale, that would mean that Clinton’s approach of law enforcement, of prosecuting terrorists in federal courts, that is what actually keeps us safe.
Iraq War Death Toll of U.S. Soldiers:
4,314 (http://www.antiwar.com/casualties,
6/17/09)
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DNC Chairman Howard Dean takes time to pose with John Denker at the May 5th gathering for the Neighborhood Leader Program
Gov. Ted Strickland bear hugs Steve and Sharon Shucard at July 7 picnic at the Governor's Residence in Columbus Picture by Terry Carson
Ken Riley and former Vice President Al Gore discuss global warming at a training session with The Climate Project. Ken spoke at the March 28, 2007 meeting of the Twinsburg Democratic Club. |
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Copyright 2007 Northern Summit Democratic Coaliton. All rights reserved |
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