March 2010 Newsletter
MEMBERSHIP IN THE ANTRIM COUNTY PARTY IS DUE APRIL 1 and the Michigan State Democratic Party is also due. If you want to go to the Cobo Hall meeting, you must be a member of both.
Send Antrim membership dues ($5 or more) to :
Antrim County Democratic Party
P.O. Box 1025
Bellaire, Mi. 49615
P.O. Box 1025
Bellaire, Mi. 49615
April 12, Monday 6:30 p.m., Charlevoix Dems program at the Boyne City Public Library, State Representative Gary McDowell will speak as a candidate for our district’s senate seat.
Sign the petition
Most Republicans were too embarrassed to publicly support insurance industry price-gouging. But not Republican leader John Boehner, who was one of 19 Republicans to vote against the bill. Click here to see our new ad calling him out. Dear MoveOn member,
Unlike just about every other industry in America, health insurance companies are completely exempt from federal antitrust laws.
They can establish monopolies and raise rates without having to worry about competition, like Blue Cross just did in California, where they're raising premiums by up to 39% for some customers.
But now, there's a real chance that could change, thanks to Rep. Tom Perriello, a progressive freshman in a very challenging Virginia district. His bill to subject insurers to antitrust laws just passed the House 406-19 despite overwhelming opposition from the insurance industry.1
Republicans have been trying to protect insurers—they even tried to block this bill from coming to a vote—but Perriello called their bluff and forced them on the record.2 Now the Senate needs to follow the House's lead and pass Rep. Perriello's antitrust measure. Sign our petition to Sens. Stabenow and Levin right now. Click to add your name:
The petition reads, "Big insurance companies like Blue Cross have too much power. The Senate must subject them to antitrust laws, just like every other company."
We still desperately need comprehensive health care reform. But this bill, which Perriello is pushing along with Colorado Rep. Betsy Markey, is a simple, concrete step to rein in the power of the insurance companies, and it's not currently included in the health care reform package. There's no excuse for the Senate not to pass it.
Tom Perriello is someone you should know about, if you don't already. His district went for McCain 51-48, but Perriello is standing up for what he believes in. He voted for the House's energy and climate legislation, even as Tea Partiers responded with plans to burn him in effigy. And he voted for the House health care bill with a public option even while Glenn Nye, another freshman Democrat in a neighboring district, caved in to insurance companies and opposed the bill.
Perriello's voting record isn't perfect, but he's really shown recently what it's like to be a fighting Democrat. Listen to his response when asked if Senate Democrats should give up on an economy-wide cap on global warming pollution:
"I'm sick of starting with what can we get through the Senate; let's start with what solves the damn problem. Until the Senate gets its head out of its rear-end and starts to see the crisis we're in, our country is literally at risk. Our economy is at risk, because these jobs are being created overseas. It should have the same urgency with this problem that it had bailing out Wall Street.
"We are swearing an oath to do what's necessary to protect this country, not do what's necessary to get a bill through the Senate. If you look at what voters were upset with on the health-care bill, it was all the carve-outs and exemptions and watering it down. Voters are smart; they know that the House bill stood up to the health insurance companies and the Senate bill didn't. The same thing is true here: If they respect that the bill is actually going to transform our economy, make us more competitive and more independent, they'll support it. If it seems like it's just a sell-out to the big donors from the oil and gas companies, they won't support it.
"That's the question that we should be asking: Does this solve the problem? Is this a solution worthy of the American people? And if it is, then great; let's move forward with it."3
Perriello is showing that taking on special interests and passing legislation to help real people is popular across the political spectrum. But he's a top target of Republicans hoping to gain seats in the election, and he deserves our support when he takes bold stands like he did this week. Will you sign our petition urging passage of his legislation?
Click here to add your name:
Thanks for all you do.
–Kat, Daniel, Joan, Adam, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "House votes to strip health insurance companies of antitrust exemption," The Washington Post, February 24, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86546&id=19132-8536312- 7PnOr8x&t=6 2. "House Votes Overwhelmingly To Abolish Insurance Industry Anti-Trust Exemption," DownWithTyranny!, February 25, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86547&id=19132-8536312- 7PnOr8x&t=7 3. "Rep. Tom Perriello: 'Every week the Senate doesn't act, we're giving up jobs'," Grist, February 25, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=86548&id=19132-8536312- 7PnOr8x&t=8 Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Heather Miller on February 26, 2010. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.
Date: February 18, 2010 12:13:06 PM GMT-05:00Subject: StunningStunning.
Thanks to 20,000 phone calls from people like you, we've QUADRUPLED the number of senators who signed the letter calling on Harry Reid to pass the public option through "reconciliation."
We've gone from 0 to 4 to 16 senators in two days. This is what momentum looks like!
Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow still did not co-sign yet -- but now is their moment to be part of history.
Can you call Levin and Stabenow today? Click here for the phone number and a short script.
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ACDP SHIRTS STILL AVAILABLE:
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WHO WE ARE
The Antrim County Democratic Party is an active, grassroots organization that focuses on issues that affect us all. These include meeting the needs of the people by serving social justice, civil liberty and the common good. We support the full participation of all elements of society in political and governmental processes. Among our members are moderates, progressives, independents and those who lean either toward the right or left. We are totally inclusive. Our organization has grown from a handful of members in 2003, to more than 250 on our current contact list. And we are growing.
Our bylaws spell out our two guiding principles - "the principle of people - serving social justice, civil liberty and the common good", and "the principle of democracy - working for accessibility of all political and governmental processes, and for the full participation of all elements of society in those processes".
Please go to our bylaws for more information about our purposes and our organization.
For people who don’t have email, we have set up an Antrim County Democratic Party folder in each of the District Libraries in the County. The folder has membership application forms both for us (the ACDP) and for the Michigan Democratic Party. We regularly add meeting minutes, event notices and other important information to the folders. Volunteers call the non-email members to let them know that new information has been added.
Look at our meeting schedule. Everyone is welcome to attend. You do not need to be a County resident or a registered voter to be a member of our organization.
We also have a very active women’s group - 100 + strong. Its activities and plans are posted on the events page.
Please check out our 2007 "recruitment letter" which gives some of the many persuasive reasons for GETTING INVOLVED!
JOIN US! (Here is our Membership Form)
FOR GENERAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Sally Hannert