Category: Voting
Vote – Barack Obama – Pennsylvania for Real Change…
Cats… I’m stepping out on a limb here and making an endorsement for PA Treasurer.
Dennis Morrison-Wesley is my choice for the row office of Pennsylvania Treasurer. The reason that he is receiving my endorsement is because if he becomes Treasurer, he will keep Pennsylvania tax money invested in Pennsylvania businesses. His term is “Patriotic Financing”. An example would be, Mellon Bank is considering closing it’s headquarters in Pittsburg and moving to New York City, to compete with the “big boys”. If this were to happen, then Morrison-Wesley would move PA money from Mellon and into another bank… a bank that is PA centered. Same with any business. Pennsylvania money should be invested in Pennsylvania businesses. I agree 100% with that concept. That’s integrity.
Here’s a link to his website:
http://www.wesleyforpa.com/default.asp?TOCID=2083226173
That’s being Progressive.
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Drinking Liberally Reading Presents: PA Primary Night Party!!
After you vote and the polls are closed, come out to watch the results.
Where:
Canal Street Pub & Restaurant
535 Canal Street
Reading, PA 19602
Phone: 610.376.4009
When:
Tuesday, April 22nd @ 8:00 pm
Several Candidates are likely to be in attendance and a good crowd is expected. Canal Street has a big screen TV and lots of great local food and beverage.
Drinking Liberally Reading meets regularly on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month at 7:00pm at Canal Street Pub & Restaurant (NO DL on Thurs. 4/24)
For more info about Drinking Liberally or DL Reading check www.drinkliberally.org or contact co-hosts Dan Sauder and Kim Stahler at reading @drinkingliberally.org or 610.736.3264 or 610.750.3289 respectively.
I received the following email:
BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN TO MAKE OUR WORKPLACES HEALTHY AND SAFE
*Paid for by Obama for AmericaBackground: The Continuing Danger in Pennsylvania and across the United States from Workplace Injuries and Illnesses
Too many Pennsylvanians have to choose between supporting their family and facing unnecessary danger at their jobs. In 2006, 240 Pennsylvanians died as a result of workplace injuries. And the annual number of workplace fatalities in Pennsylvania has remained stubbornly above the 200 mark over much of the last decade with a total loss of some 2,511 lives due to workplace injuries in Pennsylvania since 1996.[1]
Barack Obama believes we can and must do better. As president, he will break the political logjams that froze efforts to improve the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the 1990s and end George W. Bush’s neglect of workplace health and safety. He understands the importance of assuring that Pennsylvanians come home to their families at the end of the work day healthy and safe.
BARACK OBAMA’S PLAN TO IMPROVE WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH
Improve Resources for Federal Workplace Safety Efforts: As president, Barack Obama will assure that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) — our long-neglected agencies charged with making workplaces healthy and safe — are led by people dedicated to their vital missions and have the staff and resources they need. He understands the necessity of breaking the political impasse between the White House and Congress that has starved those agencies of the resources they need to protect workers.
Barack Obama will assure that OSHA and MSHA have state-of-the-art tools and strategies needed to safeguard workers facing a wide range of hazards: from mine tunnel collapses to crane accidents, and from exposures to dangerous chemicals to severe back strains. Obama will assure that all workers — including state and local public employees in states like Pennsylvania where OSHA is administered by the federal government — are finally protected by those laws.
Promote Mine Safety: Coal mining is among the most dangerous professions in the United States. In January 2006, a mine explosion at the Sago mine trapped 13 miners for two days. Only one survived. Two weeks later, a fire at the Aracoma Alma Mine killed two. These accidents spurred important mine safety legislation, but Barack Obama believes we need to do more. As president, Obama will work to ensure that mine companies stockpile more supplies in the mine, providing better tracking devices for miners, and better monitoring of gas and smoke in mines. He will provide more training for rescue teams, ensuring that rescue teams can be deployed quickly. Obama will also call for more inspectors and tougher penalties for operators who run afoul of the law. Obama will ensure the person he appoints to head the federal agency that oversees mine safety has a
proven commitment to safeguarding the interests of miners. But we need to protect miners, not only from accidents, but also from coal dust that leads to black lung. Each year, 1,000 people die from black lung, far more than the number that die in mine accidents. Obama will strengthen dust control requirements and make sure that mine operators are complying with these requirements.Modernize Federal Workplace Safety Regulations: Workplaces across Pennsylvania and the United States look far different today than they did when workplace safety and health laws were passed more than 35 years ago. Barack Obama will make sure that our nation’s workplace health and safety policies reflect the real problems facing working people now. An Obama administration will address dangers that Washington politicians have failed to address, such as exposures to a growing number of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals. Most important, he will work to end the partisan politics surrounding issuing new health and safety standards that play into the hands of powerful interests opposed to any change in health and safety regulation.
Create New Partnerships to Address Worker Safety and Health: Obama will provide workers, unions, responsible businesses, and the government the full array of tools they need to create proactive workplace safety policies. He will encourage health and safety committees and require companies to invest in comprehensive programs. But he will also make sure that businesses that fail to live up to their obligations face real penalties and consequences for their failures. As a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama cosponsored the Protecting America’s Workers Act, legislation that would address many of the fundamental problems with our health and safety laws.[2]
Barack Obama cares about the workers of America. Vote Barack Obama on Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
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Jack Wagner will be on the Demcratic ticket for Auditor General. He is running for re-election.
To learn more about Jack Wagner, visit his website.
More information… Jack Wagner will be endorsing Barack Obama.
Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner will introduce Sen. Barack Obama at a veterans’ town hall and endorse him for the Democratic nomination for President. Your coverage is invited.
WHO: Auditor General Jack Wagner
WHAT: Will endorse U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for the Democratic nomination for President. Wagner is the last of four statewide-elected Democrats to announce an endorsement. U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) also endorsed Obama; Gov. Ed Rendell and Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll endorsed U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY).
WHEN: 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 15
WHERE: Washington & Jefferson College
Rossin Campus Center – Ballroom
Corner of East Wheeling & South Lincoln Streets
Washington, PAMore information about Jack Wagner, his record as Auditor General, and his campaign for re-election can be found at http://www.jackwagner.org. Questions and comments can be directed to jack@jackwagner.org.
Contact:
Auditor General Jack Wagner
412-322-4900###
Friends of Jack Wagner
P.O. Box 99995
Pittsburgh, PA 15233
Ph: 412-322-4900
Fax: 412-322-6631
jack@jackwagner.org
http://www.jackwagner.org
Except from Barack Obama’s Economic Policy….
Technology, Innovation and Creating Jobs
Obama will encourage the deployment of the most modern communications infrastructure to reduce the costs of health care, help solve our energy crisis, create new jobs, and fuel our economic growth.
- Support Job Creation: Barack Obama believes we need to double federal funding for basic research and make the research and development tax credit permanent to help create high-paying, secure jobs. Obama will also make long-term investments in education, training, and workforce development so that Americans can leverage our strengths – our ingenuity and entrepreneurialism – to create new high-wage jobs and prosper in a world economy.
- Invest in U.S. Manufacturing: The Obama comprehensive energy independence and climate change plan will invest in America’s highly-skilled manufacturing workforce and manufacturing centers to ensure that American workers have the skills and tools they need to pioneer the first wave of green technologies that will be in high demand throughout the world. Obama will also provide assistance to the domestic auto industry to ensure that new fuel-efficient vehicles are built by American workers.
- Create New Job Training Programs for Clean Technologies: The Obama plan will increase funding for federal workforce training programs and direct these programs to incorporate green technologies training, such as advanced manufacturing and weatherization training, into their efforts to help Americans find and retain stable, high-paying jobs. Obama will also create an energy-focused youth jobs program to invest in disconnected and disadvantaged youth.
- Boost the Renewable Energy Sector and Create New Jobs: The Obama plan will create new federal policies, and expand existing ones, that have been proven to create new American jobs. Obama will create a federal Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will require 25 percent of American electricity be derived from renewable sources by 2025, which has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs on its own. Obama will also extend the Production Tax Credit, a credit used successfully by American farmers and investors to increase renewable energy production and create new local jobs.
- Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Obama believes we can get broadband to every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation’s wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives.
- Protect the Openness of the Internet: Obama supports the basic principle that network providers should not be allowed to charge fees to privilege the content or applications of some web sites and Internet applications over others. This principle will ensure that the new competitors, especially small or nonprofit speakers, have the same opportunity as big companies to innovate and reach large audiences.
- Invest in Rural Areas: Obama will invest in rural small businesses and fight to expand high-speed Internet access. He will improve rural schools and attract more doctors to rural areas.
I received this email yesterday which I would like to share.
Twenty-one elected officials and community leaders from small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania today released an open letter asking fellow Pennsylvanians to set aside Senators Clinton and McCain’s recent attempts at political point-scoring and consider who will fight for them as President.
Read the full text of the letter below, then sign on to the letter and share your story of how you’ve been frustrated by Washington politics.
Dear Fellow Pennsylvanian,
We live in small towns and rural areas throughout Pennsylvania and we support Barack Obama for President.
A few days ago, Sen. Obama made some comments that his opponents are now using to make him appear as if he is something he is not. Instead of speaking to us honestly about how they intend to solve the problems we are facing, they are playing the same old Washington games that accomplish nothing.
What Sen. Obama said is that over the last 25-30 years, working class people in places like Pennsylvania have been falling behind, and that politicians in Washington haven’t been looking out for them. He also said that, as a result, many people have become frustrated, angry and even bitter about all the broken promises.
He was right.
The politicians who are now saying that we shouldn’t be frustrated are the ones who are out of touch.
People in the towns and communities we live in have seen their jobs shipped overseas. We’ve seen our pensions disappear. We’ve seen our health care costs skyrocket. We’ve seen everything from the cost of gasoline to a gallon of milk go through the roof.
As our families have struggled to make ends meet and our communities fought to stay intact, how has Washington responded? By giving tax breaks to the wealthy, rewarding corporations who ship jobs overseas, and turning the levers of power over to the lobbyists and special interests.
It’s easy to feel a little frustrated when you see these Washington politicians continue to ignore you. But it’s not the only emotion we feel. When someone comes along who is untainted by the system in Washington, who doesn’t take money from federal lobbyists or special interests and who promises that things can be different, we feel something else–hope.
That’s why we’re supporting Barack Obama. Others have come along and promised change, but failed to deliver. Sen. Obama is different than the rest. He doesn’t take money from the special interests, and he speaks honestly about the issues we are facing.
In addition to supporting his plans for jobs, health care and education, we believe that he can deliver on his promises to ensure economic opportunity for family farmers, to provide support for rural economic development, to promote renewable energy in rural America, to protect the rights of hunters and other law-abiding Americans to purchase, own, transport, and use guns for the purposes of hunting and target shooting, and to preserve open land for hunting and fishing.
Unlike his opponents who have been part of the Washington establishment for decades, Barack Obama understands the struggles we are going through. We welcomed him with open arms as he made his way through small towns and rural areas on his recent bus tour across the state. And we will work day and night from now until the primary on his behalf not only because he has heard our frustrations, but because he speaks to our hope that Washington can actually work for people like us.
Sincerely,
Ted Alter, State College
Westmoreland County Commissioner Tom Bayla, Greensburg
Mayor John Brenner, York
Lloyd Casey, West Chester – President, Pennsylvania Forestry Association
Mayor John Fetterman, Braddock
Mayor Rick Gray, Lancaster
Scott Harrison, Warriors Mark
State Representative Bryan Lentz, Swarthmore
State Senator Sean Logan, Monroeville
Carl Majji, Claysville – Corporal, U.S. Army
Mayor Thomas McMahon, Reading
State Senator Bob Mellow – Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Leader
U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, Doylestown – U.S. Congressman (PA-08)
Perry County Commissioner Steve Naylor, New Bloomfield
Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien, Dunmore
Fran Rodriquez, Lancaster
State Representative Josh Shapiro, Abington – Deputy Speaker, Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Major General Walter Stewart, Berks County – Former Commander, 28th 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard
State Representative Dan Surra, St. Marys
State Representative Thomas Tangretti, Greensburg
Lackawanna County Commissioner Michael Washo, Scranton
Looks like small town PA understood Barack Obama’s point, that small towns have been forgotten by the rich Beltway politicians.
Let Eileen introduce herself to you… Below is the letter which she mailed to the Democrats of Oley. Eileen is running in the 17th Congressional District which includes parts of Berks, Schuylkill, Lebanon and Dauphin Counties.
Dear Fellow Oley Democrat:
I usually write to you, as your Democratic Committeewoman, to share my thoughts on those candidates I am supporting in a general election. But today I write to you as a delegate candidate to the Democratic National Convention.
I am Co-Chair of Berks for Obama, a large group of grassroots volunteers, dedicated since February, 2007, to getting Barack Obama nominated as the Democratic candidate for President of the United States. We have worked hard all year to present the citizens of Berks County with the possibility of nominating a candidate who can transcend our divisions of race, and who can rise above the partisan politics of old.
I am running for Delegate to the Democratic National Convention, committed to Barack Obama, because his candidacy has inspired me. I want a president who will unite our country. I want a president who will heal the years of separation built by those politicians who use our differences to divide us and drive a wedge through our common hopes and dreams. I believe that Barack Obama is a true leader, who can inspire a nation, and our world.
I am writing to ask you to vote for me to represent you at the Democratic National Convention. I am the only delegate on the ballot in the 17th Congressional District, who is from Berks County; in fact, I am the only delegate outside of the Harrisburg area. I ask for your vote to give me the opportunity to represent you at the convention in Denver.
Your vote for delegate is separate from your vote for presidential candidate. Each of our presidential candidates will get a percentage of the four delegate slots in our district. The number of delegates for each candidate depends on the percentage of the vote he/she receives. The highest vote-getters, among each candidate’s pledged slate of delegates, will be the ones who go to the convention to represent the Democrats in the 17th Congressional District.
The four delegates on the ballot who are pledged to Barack Obama are:
- Eileen G. Prussman
- J. Alex Hartzler
- Loretta Barbee-Dare
- Dan Miller
Please consider a vote for all four of us.
As always, I have paid the cost of creating and mailing this letter, as I would pay the cost of the trip to Denver, should I win the right to represent you there.
Very truly yours,
Eileen G. Prussman
Berks County Democratic Committeewoman, Oley 1
(published with permission of the candidate)
This thread will be an opportunity for the community at large to learn a little bit about the delegate candidates for Barack Obama.
Let me introduce you to Chris Schultz… PA 18th Congressional District.
From Chris…
“I have been a supporter of Barack Obama’s ever since he entered the US Senate. I am a graduate of Duquesne University and Carnegie Mellon University here in Pittsburgh, where I a work as a consultant for technology strategies and environmental and green energy issues. I happen to blog about both those topics at “Green is Good“, which is a blog that covers local, regional and national issues concerned with public transportation, clean tech, and green energy. “
Chris has created a blog, Western PA for Obama. You will find a link to this blog on the sidebar. If you have questions or want to know more about Chris… visit Western PA for Obama
Organizing for Change 