CCDP Newsletter

Press Release on Cleveland County Democratic Party Annual Convention

YOUR COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY ANNOUNCES ANNUAL

COUNTY CONVENTION, 2010

April 17, 2010, Cleveland County Office Building Auditorium, Hwy 180, Across from Cleveland Community College

Meeting attendees will elect delegates to the District and State Conventions.

“Thanks to the hard work of Democrats statewide and in Cleveland County, we turned

North Carolina a beautiful shade of blue in 2008, and now our unrelenting commitment to the

ideals of the Democratic Party will keep North Carolina blue in 2010,” said Rauf, Chair of the

Cleveland County Democratic Party

“However, in order to ensure that this progress continues, the Democratic Party needs you

now more than ever before,” Raufsaid. “We all know that there are challenges

before us and an opposing party unified in their efforts to block progress.”

“But after seeing what we can do when we join together, my faith in our ability to continue

moving America forward is stronger than ever,” Raufsaid. “I know that in the

challenges before us we see opportunity and we take an increased devotion to our cause.

Our cause will prevail.”

For more information contact, Bobby Raufat (704) 477-9166and CCDP1@Carolina.rr.com

Health Care Reform Debate:

· Cleveland County Democratic Party Op-Ed piece on Health care Reform,was published in The Star, on Sunday August 16, 2009. The Republican Party view was published alongside. These articles can be viewed on the Star’s website:

http://www.shelbystar.com/articles/healthcare-41025-join-debate.html

· Additional Information on the Health Reform Debate: We need health care reform because today’s system is not working. Insurance premiums have gone up faster than costs of living or income. Small business can’t buy insurance for its workers, and too many folks, including young people, and underemployed and unemployed workers, simply do not have access to basic healthcare. Obama’s health care reform relies upon private insurance to provide coverage those individuals and most employers would have to buy, so this isn’t socialized medicine. These plans let patients and their doctors make health care decisions, not the government. The only bureaucrats coming between you and your health care decisions would be the bureaucrats at the insurance company. Four of five Congressional committees have approved some version of health care reform, but work remains before there is agreement on a plan that most members of congress can pass. With Congress on holiday until September, republican activists are seizing the chance to create a commotion against health care reform at every opportunity. Their latest falsehood, coming from the lips of Banner Elk’s republican representative to the House, Virginia Foxx: that seniors under Democratic health care packages would be "put to death by their government" Don’t you wish the republicans would leave the children at home when it is time for this country to have an adult conversation about matters of national significance?

· Paying for the reforms remains the biggest stumbling block, with about $600 billion of the $1.6 billion cost needing to come from sources other than spending cuts, business taxes and penalties from those that don’t get coverage. Under the current House Democratic plan, couples earning $350,000 to $500,000 would pay a 1% income tax surcharge over a minimum amount. Couples earning between $500,000 to $1 million would pay a 2.5% tax surcharge over the minimum amount. Congress’ Joint Committee on Taxation has concluded that 96% of small business would not be affected by the surcharges. Senators, on the other hand, want nothing to do with raising taxes. They are talking about charging an excise tax on high end insurance policies worth $25,000 or more. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, families paid $12,680 on average for insurance purchased through employers. Sen. Kay Hagan supports creating a health insurance option that would stabilize health care costs. Read her letter "What I want in health care reform" here. Just so you know, Richard Burr thinks the private market can reform health care. Just like it did for the banking industry

· Many Americans do not understand the issues. That makes them vulnerable, and particularly to the scare tactics that are all sides are ramping up. Your job: educate yourself about the issues, then help your friends and co-workers make intelligent decisions. If you have the time, click here to see the extraordinary "Sick Around the World," a PBS Frontline documentary which examines how five other capitalist democracies -- United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and failures.

· Liar, liar, pants on fire. There is a particularly vile viral email going around that claims to do a page-by-page analysis of the House health care bill to show that reform will end the health care system as we know it: "Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed! ... Page 42: The 'Health Choices Commissioner' will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. ... Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services."Except that the email is so full of blatant lies and bad information that the Pulitzer Prize winning St. Petersburg Times prepared a point by point analysis of the email. If you receive a copy of that email, be sure to hit "reply all" with a link to the St. Pete analysis found by clicking here. Some great non-partisan sources to get the straight facts on healthcare reform are the Annenberg Institute’s www.factcheck.org and the Pulitzer Prize winning www.politifact.com. A really useful website devoted to separating vicious myth from healthcare reality can be found by clicking here. It appears to be a labor of love by a private citizen. The Kaiser Family Foundation has a comprehensive discussion (overwhelming, really) of the various plans in Congress and other in-depth articles about health care reform.

· Time to thank David Hoyle for saving primary education. The same outside "Americans for Prosperity" folks who crossed the line with their irresponsible attacks on health care reform are also responsible for a nasty robocall that went out across the county Monday attacking David for raising taxes. Let’s face it -- service as an elected official is a lonely, thankless business. The hours are long, the pay (when there is some) barely enough to cover expenses. For the most part the only calls one gets are from folks who are mad. Let’s surprise David and thank him for being a leader. Thanks to him, our budget protects education and other core services from massive cuts. And though there had to be a sales tax increase to do it, he protected working class families and made sure there weren’t across the board income tax increases. Click here and send David an email with your thanks.Thanks to David, children in grades K-3 will have the same won’t see their class sizes increased. If it wasn’t for David, teachers in K-3 and teachers’ assistants would have been cut. David saw to it there are protections for at-risk students, especially those in low-performing schools, and he protected 87% of all North Carolina families from an income tax surcharge. The budget passed today is far from perfect. There are still funding cuts that our local school system will have to deal with. Local mental health services like Holy Angels providing crucial services will see a 10% cut, and cuts will hit our public safety system. Seven hundred state employees will lose their jobs, and another 1300 unfilled positions are eliminated permanently. But with the worst economy folks have seen since the 1930’s, a $4.5 billion deficit translating to a 20% shortfall, legislators like David were heroes. The best republicans could do is lob criticism without solutions. Click here and let David know we are grateful for his service. Our work isn’t over. In Cleveland County we must continue to work with the county commissioners, school board, the business community, and most importantly moms and dads to protect and strengthen our schools so our children will be ready to face the economy of tomorrow.

· Hunt/Young Rally: A rally presented by Gov. Jim Hunt and the NCDP in support of Councilman Anthony Foxx as he campaigns to be the next Mayor of Charlotte. This event will take place immediately following the SEC meeting (in the same room). We are looking for a great turnout so I encourage all of you to stay after the meeting is adjourned and participate in what is sure to be an exciting rally!

· Sen. Hagan Update: Sen. Hagan is excited to be back in NC for the month of August and will be traveling the state meeting with constituents. I will advise you when the Senator will be in your area and I encourage all of you to get out and speak with her.

· Potential Trainings: NCDP is excited to offer our services in leading trainings in your counties/districts. C. Payne Lucas (cplucas@ncdp.org) is available to lead trainings on Organizing -- volunteer recruitment and retention, phone banking, canvassing, voter registration, etc. I am available for regional Votebuilder trainings and our other staff will participate as requested. We are looking forward to getting out in the field and passing on our knowledge to you and the leaders in your counties/districts.

· Healthcare fact check: The DCCC has put together a fact check card that differentiates myths from fact in the current healthcare discussion. We all know how much disinformation is out there right now and it is important that we get the facts out to the people. Please fill free to distribute this widely. You can find this at: http://dccc.3cdn.net/338813a03f969d031e_rxm6iyjv1.pdf

· Top Five Health Care Reform Lies—and How to Fight Back

Lie #1: President Obama wants to euthanize your grandma!!! The truth: These accusations—of "death panels" and forced euthanasia—are, of course, flatly untrue. As an article from the Associated Press puts it: "No 'death panel' in health care bill."⁴ What's the real deal? Reform legislation includes a provision, supported by the AARP, to offer senior citizens access to a professional medical counselor who will provide them with information on preparing a living will and other issues facing older Americans.⁵ Lie #2: Democrats are going to outlaw private insurance and force you into a government plan!!! The truth: With reform, choices will increase, not decrease. Obama's reform plans will create a health insurance exchange, a one-stop shopping marketplace for affordable, high-quality insurance options.⁶ Included in the exchange is the public health insurance option—a nationwide plan with a broad network of providers—that will operate alongside private insurance companies, injecting competition into the market to drive quality up and costs down.⁷If you're happy with your coverage and doctors, you can keep them.⁸ But the new public plan will expand choices to millions of businesses or individuals who choose to opt into it, including many who simply can't afford health care now. Lie #3: President Obama wants to implement Soviet-style rationing!!! The truth: Health care reform will expand access to high-quality health insurance, and give individuals, families, and businesses more choices for coverage. Right now, big corporations decide whether to give you coverage, what doctors you get to see, and whether a particular procedure or medicine is covered—that is rationed care. And a big part of reform is to stop that.Health care reform will do away with some of the most nefarious aspects of this rationing: discrimination for pre-existing conditions, insurers that cancel coverage when you get sick, gender discrimination, and lifetime and yearly limits on coverage.⁹ And outside of that, as noted above, reform will increase insurance options, not force anyone into a rationed situation. Lie #4: Obama is secretly plotting to cut senior citizens' Medicare benefits!!!The truth: Health care reform plans will not reduce Medicare benefits.¹⁰ Reform includes savings from Medicare that are unrelated to patient care—in fact, the savings comes from cutting billions of dollars in overpayments to insurance companies and eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse.¹¹Lie #5: Obama's health care plan will bankrupt America!!!The truth: We need health care reform now in order to prevent bankruptcy—to control spiraling costs that affect individuals, families, small businesses, and the American economy. Right now, we spend more than $2 trillion dollars a year on health care.¹² The average family premium is projected to rise to over $22,000 in the next decade¹³—and each year, nearly a million people face bankruptcy because of medical expenses.¹⁴ Reform, with an affordable, high-quality public option that can spur competition, is necessary to bring down skyrocketing costs. Also, President Obama's reform plans would be fully paid for over 10 years and not add a penny to the deficit.¹⁵We're closer to real health care reform than we've ever been—and the next few weeks will decide whether it happens. We need to make sure the truth about health care reform is spread far and wide to combat right wing lies.

· The Cleveland County Democratic Party Website is under construction. The website will have information on upcoming CCDP Events, Elected Officials, Democratic Party Candidates and important issues. Some of the upcoming event information is being posted. Visit the website at:

http://www.clevelanddems.com/

The Cleveland County Democratic Party Mission: Get Democratic Party Candidates elected to public offices, build goodwill toward Democratic Party, and expand active membership in Cleveland County Democratic Party, rally support for the President’s initiatives and propagate the Democratic Party message to all citizens of Cleveland County.

Bobby Rauf, Chairman, Cleveland County Democratic Party

Next Cleveland County Democratic Party Executive Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 17, 2009. Please reserve this date on your calendar. Pam Norman will be sending out the location and agenda information soon.

Your comments, suggestions or input for the CCDP Newsletter are welcome.

Thanks for all you do!

Nedra Maddox,

Chairwoman, CCDP Newsletter Committee

Bobby Rauf,

Chairman, Cleveland County Democratic Party

Cleveland County Democratic Party

Upcoming Events