Don’t get the comments they expect
A recent article in the Indianapolis Star had interesting quotes by people attending Town Hall meetings hosted by Reps. Chris Chocola (IN-2) and Mike Pence (IN-6) intended to persuade people to support Bush’s Social Security privatization (don’t let them tell you it’s “personal accounts” not privatization. If it talks like a duck, walks like a duck and acts like a duck….):
Good news for Marion County voters - they will continue to be able to vote for their own judges instead of having them appointed by the Governor. HB 1703 has been dropped by its sponsor.
State Rep. Michael Murphy said he’s dropping a controversial plan to let the governor appoint Marion County judges to help the chances of an even more controversial bill — daylight-saving time.
…
Rep. Carolene Mays, D-Indianapolis, said in an impassioned House speech that the bill was “the most blatant example of partisan politics I have ever seen. It is the cruelest thing I have seen happen in this state since the Jim Crow days.”
But that’s not the end of the fight. There are plenty more bills in the House that have Democrats not only in Marion County, but across the state, more than a little uneasy. From the same article:
Rep. William Crawford, D-Indianapolis, said that there are “other issues on the table” that Democrats are concerned about, including a budget they believe hurts urban, rural and minority public school students, and a bill that would require Indiana voters to present a driver’s license or state-issued photo ID before casting a ballot.
The Voter ID bill mentioned by Rep. Crawford is HB 1439. You can see the entries on this blog about that and a few other bills that need your opposition voiced to your representatives here and here.
Find your state representative. Thank your Democratic representatives for standing up to HB 1703 and urge them to keep up the good work against other bills damaging to regular Hoosiers..
From the Marion County Democratic Party’s weekly email list for February 28th - March 6th.
MARION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY WEEKLY LIST
February 28 - March 6, 2005
Monday, February 28, 2005
12 noon, Barringer’s For Lunch, 2535 S. Meridian Street, Meet and chat with a number of Democrats!Tuesday, March 1, 2005
7:30 pm, Southside Democrat Club, 1135 Shelby Street.Wednesday, March 2, 2005
There will be no meeting of the Pike Township Democrat Club in March. Lou CampagnaSaturday, March 5, 2005
8:30 am, Concerned Clergy, Carson Gov’t Center, 300 East Fall Creek Parkway. Continuing Special Conference: “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child.” The quest to provide solutions to reduce or eliminate the risk to our children, our future. Verify your participation with Margie Oakley, 542-9244.8:00 - 10:00 pm, Franklin Township 25th Annual 50’s Dance. The Sahara Grotto, 4107 East Washington Street. Sponsored by the Franklin Township Democrat Club, Tickets $5.00 in advance, $6.00 at the door. Call Janet Fisher at 357-4376. Door Prizes are needed!!!!
The weekly e-mail list is a product of the Marion County Democratic Headquarters. If you have any questions about the events, or wish to be added to this list, you may respond to this e-mail, or call Gwen at
637-3366.To add an event to this list, reply to this e-mail (MCDPWeeklyList [at] comcast [dot] net) with your information. The deadline for additions to the weekly list is Friday, for the next week.
Josh Marshall at talkingpointsmemo has the story:
In a townhall meeting on Social Security in Beverly Shores this week, Rep. Chris Chocola (R) of Indiana got a question many members have been getting this week. A constituent asked why we can’t raise or eliminate the payroll tax cap as a way to strengthen the Social Security system and ensure its long-term solvency. Chocola responded, according to the local paper, that “that would buy about seven years but he is looking for long-term solutions.”
Well, that’s just not true. Or, if you want to say it’s true because it’s vague, it is nonetheless highly misleading.
Let me explain.
[Regarding a memo from the Social Security Administration about possible fixes] What does it say?
It says that whereas the Trust Fund is scheduled to be exhausted in 2042 under current law, this change would keep the system solvent through 2079 (ed.note: under SSA scoring procedures they don’t go past 75 years, thus the date 2079).
In 2079, Trust Fund would be shrinking. But measured as a percentage of the annual budget of Social Security it would be slightly larger than it is now. Now, I don’t know about you but that sounds like it extends solvency considerably past 37 years, not 7 years.
There’s more at the link. Why do our Republican congressional representatives insist on distorting Social Security facts to get their way? Write your representative today or let Rep. Chocola know you don’t like being misled about the facts.
Update: For more information on the reality of Social Security reform and the stories behind it, check out There Is No Crisis.
Update 2: Media Matters for America has a similar critique of Rep. Chocola’s misuse of numbers with a better example:
this seven-year figure refers only to the effect that lifting the cap would have on the date when the program stops running annual surpluses. Under current law, the Social Security trustees predict that this will occur in 2018; lifting the cap would extend this date to 2025. But this seven-year figure conceals the impact that lifting the cap would have on the real “problem” that Social Security faces: its long-term inability to pay all benefits promised under current law.
The Social Security trustees project that removing the income cap entirely would enable the the program to pay all benefits currently promised for 37 more years — from 2042, as projected under current law, to 2079. That’s because if the cap were eliminated, the surpluses accumulated prior to 2024 would be substantially larger than projected under current law, and subsequent annual deficits would be smaller
From an Indiana AFL-CIO e-Activist Alert
This Tuesday marks the last day that legislation can be passed in the Indiana House in order to move on to the Indiana Senate.
Up for a vote this Tuesday is Indiana House Bills 1184 and 1274. Both are extremely bad for Indiana’s working families.
To learn more about these bills and to tell your Indiana State Representative to vote no on these bills simply follow this link to Kill Indiana House Bills 1184 & 1274 - Take Action Page.
The link also includes a sample letter and a form to fill out to send the letter to your State Representative.
You can join the Indiana AFL-CIO e-Activist newsletter at this link:
http://www.unionvoice.org/inaflcio/join.html?community=f
Update: From an additional eActivist alert:
This Tuesday is the last day that legilstion can move from the Indiana Senate to the Indiana House. Urgent action is needed to stop Indiana Senate Bills 19 & 20. If these bills are allowed to move on they risk becoming law, they are very damaging pieces of legislation that will have huge negative impacts on Indiana’s working families. Please take a moment and go to Senate Bills 19 & 20 - Take Action Page to learn about these damaging bills and to tell your Indiana Senator to vote NO on these bills.
Thank you for in advance for standing up for Indiana’s working families!
This Tuesday is the deadline for the bills to be acted on in their chamber of origin (either the House or Senate) in order to move to the other for passage. Many bills are of concern, including the ones mentioned in this previous post, HB 1703 designed to change the way we vote for our Superior Court judges, and many others ranging from voting to abortion to taxes.
Find your state representatives, check out pending legislation in both houses, and contact your representatives about bills you feel must be stopped.
Now that the GOP controls Indiana’s state government, it’s time for Indiana Democrats to hold them accountable for their actions, whether they be power grabs, bills designed to benefit their donors or bills designed to undo historic civil and social protections.
The 2/24/05 New York Times highlighted Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels’ (R-Tax, then cut services) sudden switch from a lover of tax cuts and “temporary deficits” to a lover of “temporary” tax increases and services cuts to the low- and middle-class.
Until his election, Mr. Daniels had scant experience with life in the middle of the political food chain. Now he is trying to offset the G.O.P. scandal of a tax increase with painful spending cuts for such low-income and middle-class needs as schools and Medicaid. His argument that the increase is just a “temporary” increase on the rich, however, sounds like a perverse echo of his sales pitch in Washington, where Mr. Daniels got around the shortfalls he was creating by describing the Bush tax cuts for the rich as “temporary.”
The meeting was held on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005 at the Julia Carson Government Center in Indianapolis Indiana. The following is a brief summary of the meeting’s happenings.
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At the most recent Indiana Democratic Club meeting (2/22/05) a number of bills in the Indiana Statehouse and Senate potentially very damaging to Indiana public employees and the state in general were brought to the attention of attendees. Please find your local representative and contact them with your opinions on these bills.
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The Indiana Democratic Club strongly urges you to attend the upcoming Social Security town hall meeting on Thursday, February 24th, 2005 at the Julia Carson Government Center.
10am - 1pm
Julia M. Carson Government Center
300 E. Fall Creek parkway, N. Dr.
the panel will include former Congressman and former Chairman of the Social Security
Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee.
Below is the official press release regarding the event.
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