Madison County Democratic Committee

Category: News (Page 6 of 113)

Republicans: Men shouldn’t have to pay for prenatal care, but women should have to pay for men’s Viagra prescriptions

March 10, 2017 /

In the 27 hours the House Energy and Commerce Committee spent debating Republicans’ Obamacare revision plan, a handful of moments stand out.

This is one of them.

So, as a middle-aged childless man you resent having to pay for maternity care or kids’ dental care. Shouldn’t turnabout…

Posted by Democrats of the 5th Congressional District of Virginia on Friday, March 10, 2017

 
Health insurance, like all insurance, works by pooling risks. The healthy subsidize the sick, who could be somebody else this year and you next year. Those risks include any kind of health care a person might need from birth to death — prenatal care through hospice. No individual is likely to need all of it, but we will all need some of it eventually.

ACTION ALERT: 5th District Town Hall

March 4, 2017 /

On Sunday, Feb. 26, more than 1,200 people attended the People’s Town Hall at the MLK Performing Arts Center.

Our moderators, Saad and Kibiriti, did an incredible job. Dozens of you shared powerful stories and important questions, and we raised more than $3,000 for Amnesty International. We’re very disappointed that Congressman Garrett chose not to attend, but we recorded the whole event for his (and your) viewing pleasure.

Since our event, Rep. Garrett announced that he will be holding a “town hall” in Charlottesville for 135 people on March 31. That is absurdly inadequate, especially in light of the huge response we saw with the People’s Town Hall. We’re asking Rep. Garrett to plan a real town hall at a venue that can accommodate the thousands of concerned citizens who want to meet with him. If he moves forward with his tiny event, we’ll hold a rally to show him what democracy looks like.

We’re going to deliver that message to Tom Garrett directly this Monday, March 6, at 1 p.m.!

Monday is a District Work Day, and Garrett is scheduled to be at his Charlottesville office to meet with constituents. So this week, we’ll be having Monday with Tom, and we know he’ll be there to hear us! Gather outside of the Daily Progress (685 Rio Road West in Charlottesville) at 1 p.m., and we’ll walk over to Garrett’s office (686 Berkmar Circle) together. Bring a poster with your question or concern for the congressman!

[intense_alert margin_bottom=”20″] Call Congressman Tom Garrett (202-225-4711) and ask him to hold a real town hall meeting, not a tiny lecture. We expect our representatives to be responsive to our concerns. Tom Garrett can’t represent us if he doesn’t meet us.  Click here for a script[/intense_alert]

If you are able, please try to park in the surrounding area to make room in the Berkmar lot for those with appointments or others who work in the area. We want to respect the other businesses and not block entrances.

Thank you again for your tremendous support. The People’s Town Hall was a monumental success, but it’s not the end of the road. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re standing indivisible, and we’ve got this!

In solidarity,

Patrick for Indivisible Charlottesville

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The Movement Resisting Donald Trump Has A Name: The (Local) Democratic Party

February 22, 2017 /

While outside groups are getting the attention, local Democratic parties nationwide are seeing a surge of interest.

By Ryan Grim , Amanda Terkel
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/democratic-party-trump_us_58ac7f3ce4b0c4d5105717e0

The resistance to President Donald Trump has taken a variety of forms, all of them well chronicled by the media. The Women’s March, which saw some 5 million people take to the streets in a single day, helped fuel the growth of Indivisible chapters around the country, and has itself continued organizing meetings and protests since. The groups Swing Left, Flippable and The Sister District Project are routing people to swing districts where they can be most effective.

[intense_alert block=”1″ margin_bottom=”25″]Democrats have already won two special elections in Virginia since November, and the state House and governor’s mansion will be up for grabs this fall.  If Democrats can ride a new wave into power, the gerrymandering of 2010 can be rolled back.  Local officials say they’re focused on creating a positive vision and a constant stream of activities to keep these new activists engaged.[/intense_alert]

Amid it all, observers and participants alike have wondered what the name is for this nascent movement. The Resistance? The Opposition?

But if the swelling ranks of county-level meetings are an indication of things to come, the grassroots movement underway already has a name. It’s called the Democratic Party.

Shocked by the outcome of the election and fearful for the future of the country, people of all ages, some of them Democrats, some independents, some Greens, found the time and location of a local party meeting and showed up.

Here are a few of their stories.

DPVA Rural Caucus 3rd Annual Retreat

February 21, 2017 /

Rural Caucus Mission: To nurture connections between communities of people who may, or may not yet, vote Democratic in Virginia’s non-urban areas, to engage local people to determine the issues and priorities that matter to them, and to ensure sustainable rural life and progressive values throughout all of Virginia.

 

Please save the date for our 3rd Rural Retreat (all Dems, liberals, and progressives – not just rural) where like minded…

Posted by Democrats of the 5th Congressional District of Virginia on Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Virginia: a rights battleground

February 18, 2017 /

A Republican-dominated general assembly is churning out laws that target the state’s new minorities

Virginia: a rights battleground

VIRGINIA prides itself on being a birthplace of enduring democratic traditions. It was here that America made its first foray into representative government: in 1619, the House of Burgesses was created to govern the Virginia colony in partnership with a governor appointed by the British crown.

A Republican-dominated General Assembly is churning out legislation targeting the new minorities: Asian and Hispanic immigrants and LGBT Virginians, all of whom have a growing presence in the vote-rich metropolitan areas that favour Democrats. Such legislation—and the pointed debate it engenders—sharply contrasts with the image of Virginia as a forward-thinking, Upper South state that began to emerge in 1989 with the victory of L. Douglas Wilder as the nation’s first African American governor.

And though Virginia is a suburban-dominated state in which the majority of residents are non-natives with increasingly moderate views that favour Democrats, hyper-partisan gerrymandering has allowed Republicans, for most of the past 15 years, to maintain a firm grip on the legislature.

[intense_blockquote color=”primary” border_color=”primary” border_radius=”0px”]
The next governor, in 2021, will accept or reject new legislative boundaries based on the previous year’s census. Population growth and accelerating diversity favour the Democrats, but those trends can be blunted with gerrymandering. A map that favours the Republicans is almost certain to be put in place if there is a Republican governor to sign it.[/intense_blockquote]

That allows Republicans to focus on ideas that matter most to their narrowing, conservative and largely rural base. They do not appear to mind that this projects, to an audience beyond Virginia, a discomfiting picture of America’s 12th-largest state.

Republicans are also pushing a requirement that residents registering to vote must produce a birth certificate. Likely to be vetoed by Terry McAuliffe, the departing Democratic governor, the bill would be the latest obstacle to voting pressed by Republicans in what Democrats say is a continuing effort to suppress turnout of their most reliable voters: seniors, students, minorities, and foreign-born newcomers.

The debate over these issues is a preliminary proxy battle over higher stakes. In November, Virginia will choose a new governor. The election is likely to be viewed as early referendum on the Trump presidency. Republicans no longer control Virginia’s statewide offices, such as governor and United States senator. And they are desperate to win back the governorship, if only to perpetuate Republican legislative power into the 2030s.

Read the rest http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2017/02/fruits-gerrymandering

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