Category Archives: Uncategorized

I received Morgan Griffith’s mailing today with all that he promises to do for us here in the Ninth District. At least that is what a political picture postcard should be about. However, since he is not promising to do anything for us, his postcard only told me what he opposes:

1. Morgan Griffith opposes the Obama health care law and will repeal it. That means that your kids won’t stay on your policy until they are 26, insurance companies will drop people when they become ill, the new preventive services in Medicare will go away, we will be back in the doughnut hole, and nobody will question increased premiums. It also means another year or two of debate in which Republicans won’t mind lining their pockets more lobbyist money and favors.
2. Morgan Griffith opposes abortion. He opposes health care for your sons and daughters through their young adult years, but he thinks that as a Congressman he can manage your daughter’s pregnancy better than she can manage it herself. He is wrong. Women love babies more than governments love babies. Making life better and giving young adults financial security and health resources so they can commit to families will reduce the abortion rate. Advances in health care and financial good times produced the Baby Boomers. Griffith and his party oppose Social Security, the safety net for children as well as the elderly, along with the minimum wage, Medicare, Medicaid, and unemployment insurance, all of which are foundational to having the security to start a family. If you are voting for life, you should consider that life springs from hopeful young people. Young people with no security and no hope don’t start families.

Our future in the Ninth is with Congressman Boucher. Vote for him on November 2nd, and don’t be swayed by the “no promises” of Morgan Griffith.

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Originally uploaded by Thirdlayer

Gearing up to start calling voters at Congressman Boucher’s campaign headquarters in Abingdon on Wednesday morning, encouraging all Democrats to be sure their vote is counted!

This is an important election, and we need to make sure that everyone gets to the polls. Check with your neighbors and help to get out the vote.

WJHL TV Channel 11 will be televising the debate live at 7:00 PM today, Tuesday, October 26th.

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Originally uploaded by Thirdlayer

Our committee received an invitation from Grand Court to speak about our candidate for Congress! Catherine and I enjoyed spending time with the folks there today. We understand that other candidates were also invited, but we had the floor all to ourselves to talk about Rick and what he has done for our region. Thanks to Grand Court for the invitation, and to the residents who attended!

There are two events this Saturday, October 16th, that you don’t want to miss!

• Bristol Virginia Democratic Committee Monthly Breakfast Saturday, October 16, at 9:00 a.m. at the Golden Corral, Exit 7 from I-81. Special Guest will be James Gibbs, Second Vice-President of United Mine Workers of America. Guests and visitors to the committee are welcome. Tell the cashier that you are with the Bristol Democrats to receive a discount on breakfast, then turn right to find us in the meeting room.
• Health Care Forum featuring Wendell Potter Saturday, October 16 – 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. at the Bristol Public Library. Wendell Potter is a native of Mountain City and Kingsport and a Senior Fellow on Health Care at the Center for Media and Democracy, an independent non-partisan public interest organization. His keynote will be preceded by a panel discussion, “Myths and Misconceptions About the New Health Care Law.” Panel members will include: Robin Feierabend, Local Physician and Professor in the East Tennessee State University Department of Family Medicine; Tony Garr, Executive Director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign; and Debbie Smith of Virginia Organizing. This event is sponsored by Tri Cities Citizens for Improved Health Care, Tennessee Health Care Campaign, and Virginia Organizing.

Congressman Rick Boucher’s website has information on the debates!

All three candidates for Congress in the Ninth District have been invited to participate in two debates. WDBJ TV in Roanoke will broadcast a debate on October 26 at 7:00 PM. That debate will be available on TV in the Tri-Cities television area either live or as a rebroadcast, so check your local schedule and/or the Boucher for Congress website for the date and time. Then, on October 29 at 7:00 PM, WVVA TV in Bluefield will host a second debate.

Mark your calendar and check the broadcast schedule near the time of the debate so that you do not miss seeing the candidates in this important event.

Be sure you are registered to vote!

Mark your calendars to attend a Health Care Forum featuring Wendell Potter on Saturday, October 16, from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m. at the Bristol Public Library. Wendell Potter grew up in Mountain City and Kingsport. In 2008, after almost 20 years in the health insurance industry, Wendall left his position as the head of public relations at CIGNA to speak out against what he had seen in the health insurance industry. This should be a very interesting and informative forum. One you don’t want to miss!

A free Community Home Energy Expo on Saturday, November 6th from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m at the Senior Center in Abingdon, Virginia, will help you save money on utility bills this winter by sharing information on how to make your home more energy efficient. There will be demonstrations, speakers, and lots of information you can use. This event is free to everyone. If you are thinking about cold weather approaching, you should certainly plan to attend and invite your friends and neighbors to this important event.

In addition to information and demonstrations of what you can do to reduce your heating bills this winter, there will be information about Transition and climate change. The event is sponsored by The Abingdon Transitions Energy Working Group in cooperation with People Incorporated and others.

Mark your calendar!

Today the hot topic is Social Security, which Republicans want to privatize or kill. Those whose memory of history extends back to the Bush years will know that “privatize” and “kill” mean the same thing in reference to Social Security. If the Bush administration had been successful in attempts to privatize Social Security, those funds would have vanished along with people’s 401k savings. Social Security is not broke, is not “a mess,” and is in fact the most successful program ever instituted by the United States. It has met its goals for 75 years and solved the problem it was designed to solve.

The reason Social Security is currently under attack is not immediately evident. It is self-supporting, adds nothing to the deficit, and reducing benefits will not reduce the deficit at all. Large financial institutions and brokers must be driving the idea of privatization. If Social Security were to be privatized, the same banks and brokers who trashed our economy and sunk us into the pit we are now crawling out of would make money — tons of it — because they would have the considerable assets of Social Security to exploit.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, quoted today by William Laney in an article titled “Brown: Drop tax cap” in the Wapakoneta Daily News, put a dollar figure on the fund that banks want to get hold of:

The Social Security Trust Fund has a $2.5 trillion surplus that is projected to grow to more than $4 trillion by the year 2023. The fund is expected to grow to more than $4 trillion by 2023, but it is expected to start paying out more benefits than it receives in payroll taxes starting in 2015.

Brown gave specific and detailed information about Social Security that counters the FOX and Tea Party fear-mongering. If you read anything about the future of economic policy in the United States this week, it will be good to start by reading this short article. Brown says, “While it [Social Security] remains solvent for the next 30 years, we must ensure that it is available for future generations.”

The surplus that Brown references is expected to keep Social Security solvent into the 2040’s before cuts would have to be considered. He is recommending that before that time arrives, we need to raise the cap on contributions. Currently, individuals pay the Social Security contribution on the first $106,800.00 of annual income, but do not pay anything on income above that amount. Raising or eliminating the cap would take care of extending benefits into the future for our children and grandchildren. Also, as he points out, good economic times such as we had under the Clinton administration extend the range of benefits.

The Baby Boomers retiring is not a problem for Social Security. What we tend to forget is that the Boomer generation is the first generation in which a family with two wage-earners became the norm. This gave a boost to Social Security because of the way that benefits are paid. Individuals pay into Social Security, but funding comes out for married couples on a formula that provides a benefit for the spouse of a wage earner. When both partners work, they do not get both benefits. Instead, the spouse with the lower income chooses whether to take Social Security based on her — usually “her” — income or that of the partner with the higher income. It doesn’t take a mathematical wizard to see that money goes in twice and comes out once. The Baby Boomers worked for and earned Social Security just as generations before them, did not add to the deficit, and are paying their own way.