Mary Flaherty Artuso

President's Report

 

HOW TO BE A TRUE HERO

 

Do you want to be a true hero?  Your neighbor needs you.  Your children need your help. Our whole country is in grave danger.  Some would say that we may even lose our country as we know it.  All of our loved ones face serious problems.  What can we do?  Make sure that our smartest, most competent Democratic candidate wins the presidential election in 2008.   No one will pin a medal on you.  No one will call your name out for recognition, but in your heart you will know that you saved the United States and even the world from possible destruction if you do your part in this election.  To quote Howard Dean:  YOU HAVE THE POWER

 

Recently I watched Washington Journal on C-SPAN, and they asked the question:  Who is affected by the Iraq war.  There were many different answers, but most people felt they were not directly affected by the war unless they had a loved one serving in the war.  Some talked about the price of gas.  I was astonished that everyone did not answer that every single person living in our country (arguably in the world) is affected in different ways by this war.  I think the largest burden of the war does rest with our soldiers and their families.  Beyond them every tax payer is paying for the war and everybody that benefits from our government programs is suffering.  Our schools are not fully funded, our National Guard is not available to protect us, and universal health care could be provided for every American with money that is going for the war.  Our lock box that was to protect our Social Security is gone.  Medicare would not be in trouble if we supported it with our tax dollars instead of paying for the war and making Halliburton stockholders more wealth with each day the war continues.  We have all lost some of our freedom and privacy.  I am sure that you could add your own answers to this question.

 

We all know that one vote can determine an election.  This time we need to not only vote, but we need to see that all of our friends, colleagues and family members vote---and vote for the person who has the skills to save our country---to pull our country out of this very deep hole that President Bush has dug for us.  We’ve learned what happens when you vote for someone with whom you would enjoy sharing a beer.  We need an intelligent person who knows how to lead.  I agree with Eugene Robinson in his Washington Post article entitled,  An Egghead for the Oval Office.   He wrote:

One thing that should be clear to anyone who's been paying attention these past few years is that we need to go out and get ourselves the smartest president we can find. We need a brainiac president, a regular Mister or Miss Smarty-Pants. We need to elect the kid you hated in high school, the teacher's pet with perfect grades.

He ends his article by saying

If the next president is almost always the smartest person in the room, I won't mind a bit. After all, we're not in high school anymore.

 

The Democrats have several very qualified candidates.  I hope that our Democratic Caucus meetings will help you find that special leader that will save us, our country and the world.  The officers and I have spent the year planning and preparing information for our Caucus sessions.  I will include as much schedule information in the newsletter as possible and any final schedule changes will be on our web page. (http://www.neademocrats.org)  

 

Sometimes I feel as if I am a juggler trying to keep many balls in the air at one time.   For example, just when I thought I had our breakfast finalized I received a call on June 1st, from NEA saying that we had to have our breakfast at the Marriott Hotel.  Of course, that meant I would have to cancel our breakfast with the vendor at the convention hall and try to find out about the caterer at the Marriott.  That doubled our cost.  After much discussion we moved the breakfast back into the convention hall in Room 113B with a promise that we would only order 100 plated meals.  That worked for me because I did not want to take a chance on ordering and being required to pay $25 for meals that people could not eat.  I know many of you have state caucus meetings that you are required to attend and may come late.  If you are not in the first 100 people you are welcome to come in and listen to the speakers.  Members must have your membership pins and ribbons.

 

Speaking of speakers!  It is always fun trying to finalize speakers for our meeting.  I have worked for four years to schedule Howard Dean and every time it turns out that he cannot come.  I understand that he is busy, but I wish he could let me know in enough time to schedule someone else and include that information in the newsletter and mail the newsletter out to our members before they leave home for the RA.  Other speakers are no different.  I am always asking Bob Smith, our editor, to tell me when is the latest day I could send my report and still get the newsletter out to our members before they leave for the RA.  I guess this sounds as if I am irritated, but you, the members, always make the work worthwhile.  You attend these meetings that take so much time to prepare.  You always come and help us gather the memberships in each state and offer to work way beyond what you are asked to do.  You make everything worthwhile! 

 

This year we have very prominent speakers and it is necessary that as many members as possible attend the sessions when a guest is speaking.  Our guests have all rearranged schedules or put out travel money to be with us and it would not be pleasant for them to come into a half empty room. 

 

We may even have a presidential candidate visit with us.  As you can read in this newsletter, most of the Democratic presidential candidates have taken NEA up on their invitation to speak at the RA.  They have also been notified of our Democratic Caucus meetings.  If they have time you might see a familiar face pop into any one of our meetings.  But first things first!

 

ELECTIONS

This year we are electing a vice chair and a treasurer for 2 year terms each.   If you are interested in running for either of these positions you must be at our June 30th meeting in Room 308 at 3:45 P.M.  I know that attending this meeting may be a hardship for our candidates, but it is a necessity.  We have not had any contested elections in recent years.  If we have more than one person running for an office we need to arrange the schedule so the candidates have enough time to speak to the membership, and we need to schedule time for the actual election.  If we don’t have a contested election we want to use our very limited meeting time in the most productive way to prepare for the 2008 presidential election.  I hope you understand the necessity for all potential candidates to attend the meeting on June 30th.  If we do not have contested races the candidates will be declared unanimous winners.  No other business will be conducted at that meeting so if you are not a candidate you need not attend, but you are welcome at this meeting and all other meetings.

This is the only meeting that will be held in Room 308 so we will not have the membership information with us at that time.  If you are a state contact you should pick up your membership information at Booth # 553 in the exhibit hall.  Our booth will need to close at 3:45 P.M. on June 30th to allow the officers to attend the meeting.

 

If you are running for an office you are making the commitment that you will serve for two years and not just one.  Please do not submit your name if you are not able to fulfill the responsibilities of the office.  The success of the Caucus is built on the backs of officers who are willing to make the Democratic Caucus their #1 commitment at the RA.  It means being at every scheduled meeting and working at the booth.  Here is a small part of their duties.

 

Vice Chairperson:  The Vice Chairperson shall assume the responsibility of the Chair in the absence or inability of the Chair to serve, and shall succeed to the office of the Chairperson in the event that a vacancy should occur during the term.  The Vice Chairperson’s main duty is to monitor and manage the Caucus’s booth in the exhibit hall. 

Our Vice Chair has to open, monitor, and close the booth on exhibit days.  Jim Lansing has monitored our booth for the last 3 years.  He plans to run again.

 

Treasurer:  The Treasurer shall collect the dues and make all payments.

This means that the treasurer must collect the membership money at each membership meeting and several times during the exhibit days.  Collecting the dues and preparing a deposit usually keeps the treasurer at the meeting room long after the other members have returned to the RA.  The treasurer then makes a daily deposit with the accounting office of the NEA and picks up a check for the total at the end of the RA.  The treasurer’s job continues throughout the year as the treasurer continues to pay bills all year round. The treasurer must prepare a written report for the members at the RA each year.  Beth Waschow has volunteered her time for this position for 6 years.  She plans to run again.

 

The election of officers is only a small part of our meetings at the RA.  Our Caucus’s main goal is to present several ways to help prepare you for the presidential election---to be a real live hero!   Our first opportunity will be at our July 1st meeting.

 

GUEST SPEAKERS

Sunday, July 1, 2007-Noon to 1:00 P.M.-Room 112B

Well, we don’t have the chair of the DNC this year, but we have the next best Democratic spokesman.  We will have the privilege of hearing Jim Dean, chair of DEMOCRACY FOR AMERICA.  DFA was founded by his brother Governor Howard Dean and is one of the largest and most active grassroots organizations.  Jim has worked with DFA since it was founded in March of 2003. He had previously worked on Howard Dean’s Presidential Campaign since its beginning in 2002 and was responsible for a variety of campaign functions including fundraising, surrogate work, political organizing in his home state of Connecticut, and supporting several additional DFA state organizations.  

DFA’s mission is to strengthen citizen participation in the political process, including the recruitment, support, and election of common sense, socially progressive candidates to all levels of government.   Democracy for America is one of the country's largest and most active grassroots organizations with over half a million members nationwide.  Hosting trainings in over 25 states this year and boosting an impressive list of endorsed candidates elected to office, DFA has 870 local groups in 48 states, working to develop and advance citizen leadership in our political culture.

 

Monday, July 2, 2007-9:30 to 11:00 A.M.-Room 112B

It is our honor to introduce one of Pennsylvania’s proud fighting Dems.   Congressman Joe Sestak is serving his first-term as the Representative from Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District.  Joe Sestak spent 31 years serving our nation in the U.S. Navy, rising to the rank of three-star Admiral.

Joe Sestak brings to Congress the same dedication and commitment with which he served this country in the Navy. As a member of Congress, Joe is working to strengthen our country's national security - national security that begins at home in the health, education, and economic promise of our people, as well as our defense security. Congressman Sestak holds a seat on the following committees: Armed Services, Education and Labor, and Small Business committees

During his distinguished career in the Navy, Joe led a series of operational commands, culminating in the command of the George Washington aircraft carrier battle group, which consisted of 30 U.S. and allied ships, 15,000 sailors, and close to 100 aircraft. Under Joe's watch, the George Washington battle group conducted combat operations in Afghanistan and precursor operations to the war in Iraq.

Joe also served in President Clinton's White House as the Director for Defense Policy on the National Security Council. After 9/11, he was selected to serve as the first Director of "Deep Blue," the Navy's anti-terrorism unit where he worked to establish new strategies for the Navy to fight the Global War on Terror.

 

Wednesday, July 4, 2007-8:30 to 10:00 A.M-Room 113B

Our featured speaker at the breakfast is Congressman Chaka Fattah.  Chaka Fattah is an experienced lawmaker serving in his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives.  A member of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Congressman Fattah also holds a seat on the following subcommittees:  Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, Homeland Security and the Energy and Water Development Subcommittee. 

He has been very involved in shaping educational policy.  The nationally funded GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), of which Congressman Fattah was the architect, began with his desire for all children to have an equal opportunity to receive the best education possible.  Assisting millions of children, GEAR UP has become the largest pre-college awareness program in this nation's history and has contributed nearly $2 billion toward the educational advancement of low-income students.

While working hard to pass GEAR UP into law, Fattah was sure not to forget about his hometown of Philadelphia.  And in 2003 that’s exactly what happened when Fattah created a last-dollar scholarship program, which is named the CORE (College Opportunity Resources for Education) Philly Scholarship.  The program, which serves students residing in Philadelphia, became the first city-wide scholarship designed to provide assistance to every Philadelphia high school graduate.

Another of Fattah’s legislative achievements, The College Retention Program, has provided more than a million students with financial assistance in the form of grants, low-interest loans and college work-study programs, in an attempt to help meet the cost of attaining a post-secondary education.  The program aims to retain students by offering resources to help them complete school and be fully prepared for success after graduation.

In 1986 Fattah developed the annual Fattah Conference on Higher Education, which motivated thousands of Philadelphia’s youth to pursue a college education.  Read to Lead – another of Fattah’s educational initiatives – provides free books and classroom instruction to more than 5,000 students.

While educational reform has remained paramount throughout Fattah’s extensive legislative career, he also has served as an innovative leader in a variety of other legislative areas including public housing reform, job training placement, and urban tax policy reforms.  Fattah was an original co-sponsor of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 which provided money to states that replaced controversial punch card voting machines.

Fattah also serves on the powerful House Appropriations Committee which oversees more than $800 billion in discretionary spending.  Fattah has served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education and on the Board of Trustees of Lincoln, Temple and Pennsylvania State Universities, and the Community College of Philadelphia.

In addition to being named one of the country’s 50 most promising leaders by Time Magazine, Fattah received a ringing endorsement from The Philadelphia Inquirer when the newspaper proclaimed Fattah “has been an effective champion for people in need of affordable housing, young children denied a head start in school, and low-income students trying to finish college and earn advanced degrees.”  We are truly honored to have such a distinguished congressman address the Caucus.

Wait we are not done!  We will have an old friend speak to us at the breakfast.  I’m sure you remember Karen White.  When she last spoke at our breakfast she was the National Political Director of Emily’s List.  This year she is the Director of Campaign and Elections for our own National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest professional employee organization.  As director, she leads the Campaigns and Elections Program which coordinates the activities of three departmental units (Political Action Committee; Campaigns and Elections; and a national Field Team of the Association) and manages a professional staff of 35.

 

Karen brings more than 20 years of experience working and managing political campaigns in 32 states.  She comes from a long line of teachers and public education advocates. 

 

 

In conclusion, I want to welcome you to Pennsylvania.  I hope we are looking forward to an exciting convention and an exciting political year.  The momentum is swinging our way!  Let’s chase this donkey all the way to the White House!