As Grover said about Heath's so-called conservatism, "He voted for the budget which raises taxes, but... he's a Blue Dog, he goes to church occasionally, he likes his mother, and he doesn't like naughty language. So that should make up for it."
Is there or has there ever been (to the best of anyone's knowledge...) a formal North Carolina Congressional Caucus?
Wouldn't it make sense that all of NC's elected Representatives would meet regularly to discuss legislation and policy that would benefit the state and to push those items through the legislative processes?
As a former Marine (of 8 ½ years) and current Department of Defense employee, others expect that I support the Bush Administration, from top to bottom and bow to stern. While that expectation is supported by aspects of my daily job in that I provide support to military families, I do not support the Bush Administration.
The biggest boost to my political ideology came last year when the II Marine Expeditionary Force (II MEF) designated a “Wounded Warriors Program” and installed them into the building I worked (we've since been relocated).
Every day I saw the results of the disastrous policy in Iraq. I saw Marines with bandaged arms and legs and Marines in wheelchairs or on crutches. They would all go back to Iraq if they were ordered - it's their duty, after all. But most would volunteer to go back and some have. I've asked a few of them why and the answers are almost all the same: Revenge. That's not to say that America's military forces are full of revenge-minded thugs. That’s completely not the case.
I'm in the process of pushing for organization of the Onslow County Democratic Party, essentially, from scratch.
If anyone would be willing to share their County Party's charter and by-laws, I'd appreciate the references.
Also, I'm working on recommendations for operating rules. (I'm thinking along the lines of House Rules which govern all processes for submitting resolutions, organizing committees, etc).
I'm willing to make a field trip to see first-hand how your Parties are organized and would appreciate any help.
You can email me directly at thomas@brocknet.net or via the PM function here or, you know, just respond in the comments...
The Onslow County Democratic Party held their annual convention on Saturday, April 14th, 2007.
Items of note:
Mr. Billy Mills, Ms. Kever Clark, Mr. Ernest Wright, Ms. Elizabeth Koen, Mr. John Burns and myself were elected as the new leadership team.
Ms. Jennifer Frye of Democracy N.C. was the guest speaker. She talked about the importance of getting youth involved in politics. One of the ways to do that is by funding elections with public money. If elections were conducted with equal amounts of money distributed, candidates would not need to "dial for dollars" and could engage the constituency. (For more information on Democracy NC read this post at BlueNC.)
My intellectual response is "Other young Democrats have the same problems as I and if we work together, we can overcome the obstacles."
Why the two reactions? Why those particular reactions?
I met so many bright, intelligent young Americans intent on changing the world. Some, in fact, have already changed the world.
Take the newly election Vice-President of the Young Democrats of North Carolina, Ms. Melissa Price. She recently headed a committee that worked to force North Carolina's General Assembly to recognize a key legislative effort for young North Carolinians (Registration and Voting at One-Stop Sites(HB 91)). This bill will allow North Carolinians to register to vote and vote during the One-Stop voting sites. This is huge for young voters. Ms. Price has tons of experience and knowledge in organizing advocacy efforts as can be seen by the media and letter writing campaigns used to push the voting bill. She's written an "Advocacy Notebook" and is in the process of updating it and will send out to all YDNC groups.
The panel voted 9-4 in favor of the measure, which would ban smoking in most restaurants, bars, offices and factories. It now goes to the full House for consideration.
At this pace, should the bill be approved by the House, it should be passed by the Senate and signed into law before year's end.
It appears that Democrats on the House Armed Services Readiness subcommittee have decided to investigate Pentagon and Camp Lejeune responses to contaminated water supplies.
House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Chairman Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, said communities where bases are being closed are concerned that the sites cannot be redeveloped because of contamination, and that oversight is needed.
"We're going to be looking at that, no question," he said, adding he is considering a hearing on the matter this month.
In the 1980s it was discovered that Camp Lejeune had caused a trichloroethylene (TCE) to be introduced into ground water supplies. The results were not pretty.
After the camp was declared a Superfund site in 1989, the ATSDR found an alarming rate of miscarriages, birth defects and childhood leukemia there.
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