Stop Me If You’ve Seen This Before
It all feel so familiar. But if bad-faith negotiator Boehner calls for yet another round of concessions, will Barack Obama, The Great Pragmatist, be willing to say "then shut it down"?
ADC Presents Candidates School 2011
Lots of great discussions on here recently about our Democratic Party. One thing I think we can all agree with is that we should be encouraging those Democrats who we'd like to see run for office, to do so. Many times there are leaders in our community who have never thought about running for office and all they need is some encouragment... and training.
The Alexandria Democratic Committee is going to be holding a Candidates School starting on Wed., April 27, for anyone who might have interest in either running for office as a Democrat, or holding a leadership position on a campaign, in the future. More info below, and feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
Thanks, Clark
Chair, Alexandria Democratic Committee
ADC Presents Candidates School 2011
Do you think you have what it takes to run for office as a Democrat? Is this something you've thought about, but aren't sure of? If you're a Democrat, and think that in the future you'd like to run for public office as a Democrat, or that you would like to have a leadership role on a campaign, we'd love to have you attend our ADC Candidates School.
Our kickoff will be Wednesday, April 27 at the ADC office, 618 N. Washington St. We will be holding six sessions (all Wednesdays except our graduation day which will be on a Saturday): April 27, May 25, June 29, July 27, August 31, and September 24.
Questions? Please email ADC Chair Clark Mercer at scmercer@gmail.com. The tuition for the school is $60 for adults, $30 for Young Democrats, and scholarships are available. You may RSVP and pay online at https://secure.actblue.com/page/candidatesschool.
Schedule for ADC Candidates School "on the flip"
Ryan: Save the Greedy Rich from the Poor And Sick
Paul Ryan's radical plan to cut the deficit by gutting Medicare and Medicaid in the future has two fatal flaws that he does not address. Indeed, he ignores them entirely. First, Ryan wants to turn Medicaid into a block grant to states, a sum that would not account for increases in costs or enrollment, nor the fact that much of Medicaid pays for nursing home care. Second, he wants to change Medicare for those under the age of 55, giving those people a voucher to spend in the private insurance market.
The main justification for the original passage of Medicare was the fact that persons 65 and older were frozen out of the health insurance market because insurance companies felt that they were too great a risk to get sick. Ryan's stupid plan to give the elderly a voucher, plus the insistence of him and his fellow Republicans that the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (the only firewall now stopping insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions), is a direct attack on all Americans under the age of 55, in effect telling them they are on their own, health-wise, the minute they retire.
As for Medicaid, it's not simply a program to provide health care for some poor families. In 2009 Medicaid accounted for 43% of all long-term care spending, including nursing homes and home health care for the elderly.To qualify for Medicaid assistance in most states, the elderly cannot have assets worth more that $2,000 per person, $3,000 per couple. So, the typical nursing home Medicaid recipient has already spent down all personal assets. Additionally, whatever Social Security monthly income that person has goes to make partial payment for the nursing home cost, which can be $72,000 per year or more.
Ryan wants to cut the deficit (his "plan" doesn't balance the budget) by attacking the poor and elderly sick Americans. He prefers that to raising taxes on millionaires or looking into the tax preferences that allow corporations like General Electric to make billions in profits and pay no taxes to the U.S. government. If Ryan is serious about "saving" Medicare, I have a couple of suggestions:
