Jackson County Democratic Party Newsletter - May 25th, 2009
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Jackson County Democratic Party Newsletter - May 25th, 2009 EVENTS Monday, May 25: 9 a.m. in Central Point; 11 a.m. in Eagle Point Wyden to participate in Memorial Day events in Jackson County Oregon Senator Ron Wyden will spend, Monday, May 25, 2009, in Jackson County attending Memorial Day events in Central Point and Eagle Point. At 9 a.m., Wyden will speak at ceremonies in Central Point honoring the Military Order of the Purple Heart. At 11 a.m. he will speak at Memorial Day ceremonies at the Eagle Point National Cemetery. |
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Tuesday, May 26 2:30 PM
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Saturday, May 30, 2009, 6 PM - Midnight All Ages Alternative Prom
The Historic Armory, Ashland
This event began as a way to support gay youth who could not or did not feel safe attending their own proms. Now, in its fourth year, the Prom attracts people of all sexual and gender identities for a night of fun and community support. Bands, D.J., Silent Auction, Costume Contest and Prom Coronation, based on social justice awards, comprise the evening. Three hundred people attended last year where trapeze artists "wowed" the audience. What's happening this year? You have to come and see. The theme is "Gender Riot! Celebrating the 60's and the Stonewall Riots' 40th Anniversary."
Supported by Lotus Rising Project, Equity Foundation and various community supporters. Proceeds go to Lotus Rising Project, www.lotusrisingproject.org, a youth led social change non-profit organization. |
Schedule: 6-7 is Family Hour 7-8:30 Blue Lightning Band 8:30-9 Planned Parenthood's Teen Theater 9-10 Montana Soul Band 10-10:30 Costume Contest & Coronation 10:30-Midnight DJ PaMaT
Admission Prices: 12 & under: free Student: $10 Adult: $15-30 Sliding fee scale
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Sunday May 31rst, 2-3 PM. Santo Community Center 701 N. Columbus Ave. Medford.
Join us to learn what Stand for Children will be doing in the coming months to improve opportunities for Oregon’s children. |
Ever wondered how you can impact the quality of a child’s life? Refreshments and childcare provided |
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TAKE ACTION!!!
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America needs A PUBLIC Health Care OPTION NOW!
Call Senator Wyden on
Thursday, May 28th
using our toll free-number
1-888-436-8427.
This number operates 24 hours a day- seven days a week. You will reach the Capitol Switchboard and ask for Senator Wyden’s office. His office has voice mail 24 hours/day so people can call any time. If his voice mail box is full, here are alternate numbers:
Portland Office: 503-326-7525.
Medford Office: 858-5122
Eugene Office: 431-0229
Bend Office: 330-9142
Our message is simple: "I oppose the healthcare trigger. We need the choice of a public healthcare option now, not more of the same broken healthcare system for years to come."
Or use our easy, click-to-call system right now:
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Oregon Senator Wyden (D) has been working to build support – especially among Republican members – for his own proposal, which would tax employer-provided benefits and create a weak, last-resort public option. The Wyden proposal would establish a market-based “trigger” for the creation of a public plan (a plan would only be triggered by a dysfunctional and uncompetitive market). This would reduce the public health insurance option from a national plan with the capacity to make big improvements in how we deliver care to a series of fledgling state plans, developed in isolation and only when a state’s insurance market is in desperate shape. Wyden and Finance Committee Republicans, of course, are backing a bad policy – the system is broken nationwide, with 94 percent of markets in the United States already considered “anti-competitive” by objective DOJ standards.
However, the “trigger” proposal allows members to vote for a public option that will either never be created, or be created only under adverse conditions (on a state-by-state basis) that would increase the likelihood of its failure.
The trigger option has legs of its own, beyond the Wyden bill. Senator Snowe, for example, a key moderate Republican, has referred to the trigger as a “fall-back public plan.”
We simply cannot allow a public option with a trigger to make it out of committee. We need to make it clear that a reform bill with a public option that’s held back by a trigger is not a reform bill it all. It’s simply a way to capitulate to the politics of the day and squander the historical opportunity to make a lasting difference.
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We need your help to make sure every senator and representative in Washington, D.C., reads this new study. Click here to share this study today Intimidation and Harassment. Threats and Surveillance. Interrogation and Retaliation. All standard tactics in the employer anti-union playbook, and during the past decade we've seen these tactics used more and more often.
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The study, "No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing," examines more than 1,000 union-representation campaigns and finds that "intense and aggressive" tactics to block workers' freedom to form unions are becoming more commonplace. In a study released this week, Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, documents this in detail -- including the increase in corporate tactics to interfere with, block and delay workers' attempts to form unions, and the ineffectiveness of current labor law to protect and enforce workers' rights in the election process. |
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Senate Bill will help protect students’ health from unnecessary pesticides; it now goes to the House - Contact your House Representative Peter Buckley to support SB 637 - Email Tel: (541) 488-9180 According to a survey of 103 Oregon school districts conducted by the Oregon Environmental Council, 87 percent of schools report using pesticides, most of the time to kill weeds outside buildings, on athletic fields, lawns and playgrounds. Seventy-two percent of Oregon schools have no pest control policy in place to guide their pest control practices and decisions. These sprayings can be excessive in volume and frequency, creating unnecessary exposure to students and school employees.
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“The pesticides currently being used on many school campuses pose serious health risks to our children’s development,” said Senator Suzanne Bonamici (D-Washington Co./Portland), chief sponsor and champion of the bill. “By using a different approach, we can reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals while employing a cost-effective alternative.”
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Contact Senator Allen Bates to move HB 2186 forward in the Senate! info@alanbates.net Phone: (541) 282-6502 House Passes Landmark Bill Reducing Dependence on Foreign Oil - Now let's pass it in the Senate! HB 2186 would increase energy security, build the economy and help the environment On May 7th, the Oregon House passed a bill designed to reduce the state’s dependence on foreign oil. HB 2186 will encourage the development of alternatives to imported petroleum, potentially keeping up to $2 billion from leaving the state. |
“Oregonians spend $2 billion per year on fuel. That is $2 billion every year from the pockets of Oregonians, virtually all of which leaves this state,” said Ben Cannon (D-Portland), who carried the bill on the floor. “Every dollar that we spend on oil is a dollar that we’re not spending to Stsupport Oregon jobs and invest in the Oregon economy.” HB 2186 would help that money stay in Oregon by encouraging the development of home-grown alternatives to imported petroleum, a market based approach that would grow Oregon business and help our state become a leader in green technology. Read More |
Articles
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Representative Peter Buckley's statement on the proposed State Budget "Our budget combines strategic cuts in all areas, along with prudent use of reserve funds and targeted revenue increases to address a gap of approximately $4.2 billion for the remainder of 2007-09 and the full 2009- 11 cycle. For over five months now, we have reviewed all agency budgets and pulled back spending in every area of state government. Like most every Oregon family, we are tightening belts and making do with less. The proposed cuts make up almost half of the budget gap, with reserves filling just over one quarter and the revenue increases making up just less than one quarter. We are focusing on jobs and the economy first and foremost, and we are carrying through on our commitment to make sure we do not balance our budget on the backs of our kids, our seniors and our disabled. We have sought to leverage federal funding wherever possible, and we have kept in mind both the need to address the short term crisis and to keep our eyes on the long term needs of our state". Full Statement |
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EPA sued over acid oceans
Center for Biological Diversity announces lawsuit against EPA over its failure to recognise threat from increasingly acidic oceans
Mounting scientific concerns over the acidification of the ocean and its impact on marine life and fishing stocks could soon be voiced in court after non-profit environmental group the Center for Biological Diversity announced it is to sue the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over ocean water quality levels.
The lawsuit, brought under the Clean Water Act, accuses the EPA of failing to include increasingly acidic oceans off Washington state on its list of impaired waters.
Oceans' acid levels rise as they absorb CO2 emissions from sectors such as transportation, electricity generation and manufacturing. The Center argues that this makes it difficult for sea life to form suitably strong shells, and can adversely affect the plankton that lie at the base of the food chain in the ocean.
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The Center for Biological Diversity says that it originally asked Washington state to include acidic areas in its list of impaired waters in 2007, but that the state failed to do so. "The Center informed the EPA of its duty to add ocean waters not attaining pH standards when reviewing Washington's impaired waters list. On 29 January 2009, EPA approved Washington’s list without adding ocean waters affected by ocean acidification," it said in a statement.
Ocean acidification has been a concern for the fishing industry, as scientific consensus over the future of the oceans suggests that pH levels are changing faster than expected.
Following a meeting in Monaco last October, 150 marine scientists signed a declaration warning that fish stocks would be drastically affected by the acidification trend in the oceans.
The new lawsuit will also further increase pressure on the EPA to introduce wider legislation on carbon emissions in the wake of its landmark ruling that greenhouse gases present a threat to human health – a decision that gives it the authority to regulate against carbon emissions through the existing Clean Air Act.
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Of Continuing Importance Health Care Action on Two Fronts - JOIN ONE OF THE ACTION RESPONSE TEAMS to write letters to editor, call your Senator "Let there be no doubt: Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."
… President Barack Obama
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VOLUNTEERS ALWAYS NEEDED & APPRECIATED FOR OUR STANDING COMMITTEES |
THE JCDP
The JCDP is an entirely Volunteer Organization. We have many interesting committees and activities that you can be a part of. Please contact us to be part of Unity and Real Change in Jackson County.JCDP HQ at 541-858-1050 or email mail@jcdemocrats.org 40 S. Central Ave, Medford, OR Google Map
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