On Wednesday March 1st, Janet Napolitano filed papers to run for re-election as Governor of Arizona. The Pinal County Democrats and SaddleBrooke Democrats have teamed together to get nominating petitions signed and to solicit $5 clean election contributions.
Nominating petitions are in the hands of all Precinct Committee members. You can call Ed Byrne at 825-4311 to sign a petition. Our goal is to collect 1,200 signatures countywide this month and we need 200 signatures from our SaddleBrooke residents. Call your PC today and sign a nominating petition.
Janet will run as a Clean Elections Candidate. That means she is collecting $5 campaign collections. She needs to solicit and collect some 6,000 contributions state-wide. Here in SaddleBrooke, our goal is 100 contributions collected this month. Janet has set up a procedure to download the contribution form over the internet. The procedure is simple, first click the link given below. Then follow the instructions to fill out and print the Clean Elections form on your printer. Sign and mail the form and your $5 check to the address given. Click here to get a $5 Clean Campaign Contribution Form.
Posted March 2nd, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
Republican legislators in the Arizona House watered down penalties against firms that knowingly hire illegals. Lead by Republican Russell Pearce of Mesa, the house downsized potential penalties and required required prosecutors to prove that the businesses "knew that potential employees" had illegally crossed the border.
"Republicans are talking tough about illegal aliens yet they are doing little to ensure real changes" commented Democrat, Steve Gallardo of Pheonix. "The fact is that they are not serious about immigration; they want to use it as a wedge issue."
Click here to read the story in the Tucson Citizen.
Posted March 8th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
Pinal County Democrats had voter registration booths across the county this past weekend as various communities celebrated local festivals. Two members of the SaddleBrooke Democrats manned a booth Coolidge at the Cotton Days Festival. Mark and Stephanie Griffith volunteered time and had a great time.
"We registered seventeen new voters including four Republicans who are now Democrats. The weather was great and we had an excellent time" comented Stephanie Griffith. Lots of petitions were signed and most of the candidates in the county were there. Sheriff Vasquez, Clerk of the Court Kristi Ruiz, and at least a dozen Superior Court Judges, Constables and Justice Court Judges were circulating nominating petitions.
The Pinal Democrats have supplied voter registration materials, canopies, tables and a full kit of campaign materials to each of the active clubs in the county. This past weekend the kits were in use in Coolidge and Casa Grande at the Chili Cookoff there.
Posted March 8th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
The House Appropriations committee today voted overwhelmingly to overturn the Dubai Ports deal. The vote by the Republican controlled committee was a mere 62 to 2! W (worst ever) may start to get the message. Meanwhile, the Senate moved to attach a rider to the funding bill for the Iraq War and Katrina Relief bill to accomplish the same objective. It is becoming obvious that this proposal will be still-born.
Click here for today’s story in the New York Times. In a related development, the Business Council, a political association of the 1,600 largest firms in the United States, stongly objected to any review by the United States Congress of business deals negotiated and approved by the Administration. They went so far as to assert that Congress does not have the power or authority to exercise oversight of the Dubai Ports deal.
Posted March 8th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
Today W (worst ever) presented the Adminisration’s Annual Report on Human Rights Abuses. There was no discussion whasoever of torture, murder, rape and general abuse of prisoners and others by the United States. No, you may rest assured that these things don’t happen here in the happy US of A. Iraqi police are supposed to be especially naughty, but certainly not the CIA. Who does this guy think he is kidding? Click here for the story at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Posted March 8th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
W (worst ever) arrogantly said that his authority as Commander In Chief allowed him to imprison people arrested in Afganistan or anywhere in the world. He could, he asserted, hold them indefinitely without trial or benefit of the Bill of Rights. Well, a recent lawsuit by the Associate Press is beginning to shed light on who these people really are. "Trust me" said W (worst ever). Now it turns out that many if not most of these people are simple farmers, low ranking troops or others swept up in the tide of battle. They have been held for five or more years without hope of being able to meet a Judge. Perhaps a few were even soldiers for Al-Qaeda but this new data suggests that most are not.
Click here to read the New York Times article.
Posted March 8th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
Karen Schickedanz
Weiss spoke at March meeting
Patty Weiss, another of the Democratic candidates for Congressional District 8, spoke at SBDC’s March 11 meeting. Weiss, a well-known figure in Tucson because of her 30 years as a television news anchor, drew a crowd of about 60 people to the meeting. She said her years as a journalist have helped her acquire information quickly, synthesize it and communicate it—all qualities that would serve her well in Congress.
Weiss addressed a number of issues, including the war in Iraq, the health care crisis in America, education problems, immigration issues, and corruption in Washington, DC. Regarding Iraq and the Middle East in general, Weiss said, “The whole region is a powder keg, and we’d better be using our time to build support. President Bush acts like the Lone Ranger—he doesn’t think he needs world support.”
She also attacked Bush and the administration for a “moral lapse” in their lack of attention to the growing number of Americans who can’t access health care and their lack of support for public education. “Republicans believe they are good at finance and investment,” she said. “How is it that they have missed the fact that education is an investment in our future? Our priorities are askew.” On immigration, Weiss said, “We need to acknowledge that American business needs immigrant labor, but we need to find a way for them to do it legally” such as in the legislation proposed by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Weiss said that what sets her apart from other candidates is that she has “taken the lead” in supporting universal health care, sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants, and publicly financed Congressional campaigns. “We have people in Congress who are owned body and soul by lobbyists,” she said. “We need publicly financed campaigns—it’s not fair, it’s not smart, and it breeds corruption to do otherwise.”
Other Candidates
Also speaking briefly at the March 11 meeting were Lena Saradnik, running as the Democratic candidate for State Representative in Legislative District 26, and Chris Vasquez, running for a two-year term as sheriff of Pinal County. Later this month, Stephanie and Mark Griffith are holding a house party for Vasquez on March 19, and Connie and Vic Martin will hold a house party for Saradnik on March 22.
In addition, two SaddleBrooke homes will play host to a conference call from Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano on March 25 as she kicked off her campaign for re-election.
The SaddleBrooke Democratic Club will continue to invite other candidates to its monthly meetings as well as other house parties. Everyone is welcome to attend to meet the candidates and learn their views on important issues.
Posted March 11th, 2006 in Events | 2 Comments »
Elizabeth Bergin Hess was elected by unamious acclamation as Chairwoman of the SaddleBrooke Democrats at the March 11th meeting. She succeeds Gary Hammond who recently resigned as Chairman due to a heavy travel schedule. She accepted the Chairwoman’s gavel from Joe Robison who is also Chair of the Democratic Party in Pinal County.
Elizabeth is a lawyer with a passion for politics, birding and needlework. She is a native New Yorker who moved to SaddleBrooke about three years ago. She got her law degree from St. John’s University and worked for Dewey Ballentine, Ernst & Young and Morgan Stanley. Her two sons are off on their own, one as a chef at the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia and the other as a sports commentator for a Florida radiio station.
We all wish her well!
Posted March 12th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been profiting from the fear of avaian bird flu. Rumsfled who is a former chairman of Gilead Sciences has sold shares in the maker of Tamiflu, a potential vaccine for Aisan Bird Flu. This story comes from the New Zealand Hearld. While the sales took place a while ago, the reporting is just catching up. One more shameful incident within a whole climate of corruption and greed from our Washington politicians. Click here to read this story.
Posted March 13th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
The Republican administration continues to ignore science in regard to global warming. Today, the BBC is reporting that global concentrations of CO2 have jumped to record level. Click here to see the BBC story. Last week, W (worst ever) asked congress to cut funding for global climate monitoring. If we just ignore it, it will go away right?
The Republican program for energy independence is being renamed: DRAIN AMERICA FIRST!
Posted March 13th, 2006 in National News | Add a Comment »
