RNC accidentally releases talking points about Sotomayor to press

Everyone should be aware of what's coming from the RNC regarding Sotomayor's nomination! It's unfair, racist and antiwomen and some "Republicans" have actually come out and said so...Gingrich...now who WAS he?
From "the Political Carnival" (http://politicalcarnival.blogspot.com/2009/05/rnc-fumbles-sotomayor-talking-points.html)
Here are the talking points:
o President Obama's nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court is an important decision that will have an impact on the United States long after his administration.
o Republicans are committed to a fair confirmation process and will reserve judgment until more is known about Judge Sotomayor's legal views, judicial record and qualifications.
o Until we have a full view of the facts and comprehensive understanding of Judge Sotomayor's record, Republicans will avoid partisanship and knee-jerk judgments - which is in stark contrast to how the Democrats responded to the Judge Roberts and Alito nominations.
o To be clear, Republicans do not view this nomination without concern. Judge Sotomayor has received praise and high ratings from liberal special interest groups. Judge Sotomayor has also said that policy is made on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
o Republicans believe that the confirmation process is the most responsible way to learn more about her views on a number of important issues.
o The confirmation process will help Republicans, and all Americans, understand more about judge Sotomayor's thoughts on the importance of the Supreme Court's fidelity to the Constitution and the rule of law.
o Republicans are the minority party, but our belief that judges should interpret rather than make law is shared by a majority of Americans.
o Republicans look forward to learning more about Judge Sotomayor's legal views and to determining whether her views reflect the values of mainstream America.

"President Obama on Judicial Nominees"
o Liberal ideology, not legal qualification, is likely to guide the president's choice of judicial nominees.
o Obama has said his criterion for nominating judges would be their "heart" and "empathy."
o Obama said he believes Supreme Court justices should understand the Court's role "to protect people who may be vulnerable in the political process."
o Obama has declared: "We need somebody who's got the heart, the empathy, to recognize what it's like to be a young teenage mom, the empathy to understand what it's like to be poor or African-American or gay or disabled or old-and that's the criterion by which I'll be selecting my judges."

Additional Talking Points
o Justice Souter's retirement could move the Court to the left and provide a critical fifth vote for:
o Further eroding the rights of the unborn and property owners;
o Imposing a federal constitutional right to same-sex marriage;
o Stripping "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and completely secularizing the public square;
o Abolishing the death penalty;
o Judicial micromanagement of the government's war powers.
Hilarious on so many levels, pathetic on others. But then, you already knew that.
Of course, Scalia, Thomas, Alito aren't activist at all.

Ten Things To Know About Judge Sonia Sotomayor

Ten Things To Know About Judge Sonia Sotomayor

1. Judge Sotomayor would bring more federal judicial experience to the bench than any Supreme Court justice in 100 years. Over her three-decade career, she has served in a wide variety of legal roles, including as a prosecutor, litigator, and judge.

2. Judge Sotomayor is a trailblazer. She was the first Latina to serve on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and was the youngest member of the court when appointed to the District Court for the Southern District of New York. If confirmed, she will be the first Hispanic to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

3. While on the bench, Judge Sotomayor has consistently protected the rights of working Americans, ruling in favor of health benefits and fair wages for workers in several cases.

4. Judge Sotomayor has shown strong support for First Amendment rights, including in cases of religious expression and the rights to assembly and free speech.

5. Judge Sotomayor has a strong record on civil rights cases, ruling for plaintiffs who had been discriminated against based on disability, sex and race.

6. Judge Sotomayor embodies the American dream. Born to Puerto Rican parents, she grew up in a South Bronx housing project and was raised from age nine by a single mother, excelling in school and working her way to graduate summa cum laude from Princeton University and to become an editor of the Law Journal at Yale Law School.

7. In 1995, Judge Sotomayor "saved baseball" when she stopped the owners from illegally changing their bargaining agreement with the players, thereby ending the longest professional sports walk-out in history.

8. Judge Sotomayor ruled in favor of the environment in a case of protecting aquatic life in the vicinity of power plants in 2007, a decision that was overturned by the Roberts Supreme Court.

9. In 1992, Judge Sotomayor was confirmed by the Senate without opposition after being appointed to the bench by George H.W. Bush.

10. Judge Sotomayor is a widely respected legal figure, having been described as "...an outstanding colleague with a keen legal mind," "highly qualified for any position in which wisdom, intelligence, collegiality and good character would be assets," and "a role model of aspiration, discipline, commitment, intellectual prowess and integrity."

Judge Sotomayor is an historic, uniquely qualified nominee to the Supreme Court. Let's get the word out and make sure we get a prompt, fair confirmation on her nomination.

Hope you have a meaningful Memorial Day!

Thank You to all of our veterans!

THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY-

Mark your calendar:

TODAY SoDeCo (South Denton County Democrats) will be having a Memorial Day Party on Monday, May 25 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.  It will be at La Hacienda Ranch which is located at 3300 N. I-35 in Carrollton.  Please come out for margaritas, quesadillas, and political chatter.  For more information, please contact Julie Malcom at uniqueboutik@yahoo.com 

Dems at Dan's
First Thursday Each Month
Dan's Silver Leaf
103 Industrial St Denton TX
5:30 - 7:30 P.M.

No speeches No program No fundraising
Just Great Democratic Fun

DENTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CLUB FUN-DRAISER
Join the Democratic Club in its annual FUNdraiser on June 6th at 6pm in the Keffer's Backyard, 815 Ector St, Denton. $15, hot dogs and ice cream served. RSVP with Marsha at 940-387-9068

1ST ANNUAL DENTON-COLLIN DEMOCRATIC FISH FRY
Save the date-- Friday June 19th 7pm! The 1st annual fish fry with the Denton County and Collin County Democratic Parties will be held in McKinney. Stonewall will be providing details soon about tickets, as we are working on sponsoring on our own table, and may have tickets available through us. If you don't want to wait, you can purchase onhttp://www.actblue.com/page/dualfishfry

DEMOCRATIC WOMEN OF DENTON COUNTY

***** Sunday June 28, 2 pm--4 pm *****

The very first EVENT/GET-TOGETHER of the Democratic Women of Denton County political action committee!

This event will be held at the Lewisville Community Center on Main Street, just west of I-35, and it's FREE to all progressive and independent women of Denton County. 

Featured Speaker: KIM PETERS, President & Founder of The Prom Shop Project (http://www.promshopproject.com/history.html)
Come find out what led Kim to start this worthy cause, and how giving back to young women has positively affected her life!

Also: Barack OBAMA & Hillary CLINTON will be there!
[OK--only their life-sized cutouts. Get your picture taken with them--free!!)

Enter a free drawing to win a free HAIR CUT & STYLE by Sara McRoberts! (http://www.saramcroberts.com/)

And there will be more surprises! Don't miss this event!

True Health Care Reform

After listening to Dr. David Himmelstein on NPR this morning I can only think of one way to solve our health care crisis. The single payer plan as outline by David Himmelstein of PNHP has been one of my causes for several years now. If you read their plan (which has been in place since the 1980's) it is hard to even think of something different. The current plans, even from the Senate Democrats, are not going in a direction to help all people, small companies that want their employees to have health insurance nor big companies to continue providing health care. This is the biggest crisis we face in our country RIGHT NOW no matter what type of smoke is being blown over it. Please watch Dr. Himmelstein's video and take a few moments to read PNHP's mission statement as well as their plan to help those in the health industry obtain gainful employment outside the health insurance industry.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/april/testimony_of_david_u.php

Kathie Lagerblad

Phyllis Wolper elected Denton County Democratic Chairperson

Last night, Phyllis Wolper was elected to serve as Denton County Democratic Chairperson. The position became available when current County Chair, Neil Durrance, resigned to announce his candidacy for United States Congressman. Neil was elected to serve a two year term as DC County Chairperson in March 2008. Chairperson Wolper will serve the remainder of his term.  All County Democrats will have another opportunity to vote for DC Democratic Chairperson in the party's primary election in March 2010.

It was a packed house last night in the Denton County Courthouse on the Square.  County Precinct Chairpersons filled over half of the Courtroom and other interested Dems filled all the remaining seats.   The two candidates, Phyllis Wolper and Joyce Duesman, each gave a passionate five minute speech and answered follow up questions.  The energy and intelligence came shining through for both women as they shared their past dedication to the party's efforts and their vision for its future success.  

After some discussion about how the votes should be taken, Precinct Chairperson represented the people of  their precinct and voted by roll call.  Phyllis Wolper won the majority vote and took the oath of office. Fortunately, the party will not be losing Joyce Duesman's many talents and leadership skills as she commits herself to fundraising for our new Democratic Women of Denton County group and serving as Precinct Chair.  Just recently retired from Pepsi-Co,  Joyce will be a valued resource for the Dems as we organize for victory in 2010.

The evening ended with loud applause and renewed enthusiasm for the Denton County Democratic Party.

Corinth Election Results May 2009

May 9, 2009 10:00 PM

Mayor:
Paul Ruggiere 452 Votes 59%
Shannon Bryan 314 Votes 41%

Council Place 2:
Jim Mayfield 416 Votes 56%
Sherry Schneider 321 Votes 44%

An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country.

The economic crisis, which has claimed more than 5 million jobs since the recession began, did not strike the entire country at once. A map of employment gains or losses by county tells the story of how those job losses first struck in the most vulnerable regions and then spread rapidly to the rest of the country.

Blue dots represent a net increase in jobs, while red dots indicate a decrease. The larger the dot, the greater the number of jobs gained or lost.

Here is a link for the interactive map.

Below is a comparison between Jan 2007 and Feb 2009.

Denton Attorney Neil Durrance announces Campaign for U.S. Congress

Neil L. Durrance, an attorney and Chairman of the Denton County Democratic Party, today announced his campaign for Congress in the 26th Congressional District.

“For too long, Rep. Burgess has voted against the best interests of Texans. We need real leadership in Washington that puts partisanship aside to find solutions to the challenges we face. I will work with both Democrats and Republicans to turn the economy around, improve access to quality, affordable health care, and invest in the next generation of leaders by strengthening education.”

Mr. Durrance’s campaign will focus on bringing fiscal responsibility to government, creating jobs in the district, making educational opportunities available people of all ages, and improving health care.

Neil Durrance has practiced law since 1981, served as a City Council member, and was elected Chair of the Denton County Democratic Party in 2007. Filing with the FEC allows Mr. Durrance to begin the fundraising phase of the campaign. During this phase the organizational structure of the campaign, including staff, will be put in place. A formal public announcement is expected in late fall 2009.

Corinth City Elections

The Denton Record Chronicle published an election guide:
Candidates for area school, municipal and special district elections were asked to complete a survey on open government in addition to providing basic biographical information. Below are their responses. Early voting begins April 27. The election is May 9.

Click HERE to read candidate's responses.

Friends of Lake Cities Library has posted the audio recording Candidate Debates April 21, 2009 at Corinth City Hall

Listen to Corinth Mayoral Debate
Listen to Corinth Council Debate