Coming Up
July 18 - Meet the Candidate - Andrew Gillum
9:30 am - the Newtown Barbershop Tour
Club and Caucus meetings
July 18 - LGBTA 10th Anniversary Party
July 19 - Lakewood Ranch Democratic Club
July 21 - Palmetto Candidate Forum
July 20 - Meet the candidate - Melton Little
6:00 pm at Bayshore Gardens Rec Center
I Will Vote
"Somebody ought to go to jail" - Eugene Robinson
"I don't think they know how many kids they ripped away from their families, and I believe that means it is inevitable that some children will never again see their parents. The fact that my government would commit such a crime weighs on my conscience as an American."
John Kelly, as Southern Commander, on refugees
May, 2015 - Parents "are trying to save their children” from the violence in their own countries by immigrating to the U.S. And that violence is “the direct result of our drug consumption."
October, 2015 - “They don’t want to leave their homes” or send their children away, but parents do—to keep them out of drug gangs. “It’s just the violence” that is leading parents in those countries to make those decisions.
Republicans propose cuts to healthcare
On June 21, the US House Republicans put forward their 2019 budget plan that keeps all of the perks for the wealthy from last year's Tax Cut package, and sets harsh new regulations for basic assistance to struggling families, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The House plan targets Medicare, Medicaid, the ACA, food stamps, Pell grants, student loans, even federal pensions and SSI disability assistance, aggressively cutting the social safety net by roughly one-third over the next 10 years. This is the Republican vaunted "balanced budget" that doubles down on inequality and, like immigration, makes no apology for the consequences. And then there is Representative Buchanan's $1 million yacht.
Watch the House Democrats explain the Republican strategy:
Need to Know
Vote By Mail
Skip the line and vote in the convenience of your home.
Choose your own Election day.
Gun control
In the US Congress, Democrats have put forward at least 3 bills on gun control. All are gathering dust in the Republican-led Congress.
H.R.5087 - Assault Weapons Ban - introduced on 02/26/2018
H.R.4240 - Background checks - introduced on 11/03/2017
S.1945 - Restrict high-capacity ammunition - introduced 10/05/2017
Monitor progress at: https://www.congress.gov
In the Florida legislature, preemption laws ban local governments from passing rational gun regulations for their own communities. For more information on the NRA strategy of state preemption, read the article at the Everytown for Gun Control website: https://everytownresearch.org/fact-sheet-preemption-laws/
Florida Constitution Amendments
Florida voters are looking for information on the 13 proposed Amendments to the Florida Constitution that will be on the November ballot. We can expect to see campaigning on the issues and recommendations in coming months.
In the meantime, a good place to learn more is Ballotpedia:
www.ballotpedia.org/Florida_2018_ballot_measures
Or consider the discussion on each Amendment offered by the League of Women Voters at www.lwvsrq.org/