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    * * *  Democrats serve People over Profits  * *  *
      [5/22/2019]
    It was an honor to be part of Marc Friedenberg's campaign for U.S. Congress as we talked to our neighbors about his outstanding platform,  credentials, and personal ethics. We thank Marc for moving the arc of the moral universe forward in our beloved Lycoming County and PA-12.
    We did not win the May 21 election; but we will not give up. We shall overcome.
       Marc FRIEDENBERG, Esq. - consumer protection lawyer; healthcare activist; 
    graduate of Penn State University (Masters Degree in Information Sciences & Technology) and Columbia Law School (pursued legal cases against Wall Street banks that caused the U.S. recession),  life-long PA resident currently teaching Cyber Law and Global Economy at Penn State University.

         PLEASE DONATE!
     Your (unpaid) Lycoming County Democratic Committee Officers, Precinct Committee-members
    and volunteers work tirelessly to help elect candidates who share your ideals.
    All donations go to candidates and our operating expenses.
    When you mail a personal check (payable to "LCDC") to
     Steve Muthler - Treasurer, PO Box 34, Antes Fort PA 17720), 100% goes to us.
    When you use the convenient PAYPAL "Donate" button below, we are charged a small percentage.
    THANK YOU for your financial support, in any amount.




    PADems Plan for Rural PA
    Read it HERE
    GOOD NEWS!
    In November 2018, Democrats gained the most U.S. House seats
    in a mid-term election since Watergate.

     "Opportunity, Security and Equality through Good Government"
         DEMOCRATS fight not just for ourselves, but for the common good.
    We work for a government that     defends everyone against abuse by concentrated wealth
    and runaway corporate power, that provides ladders out of poverty,
     that resists bigots and bullies, and that stands up for your right to drink pure water,
    breathe clean air and leave our children a safe, liveable world.

         Trump's Broken Promise to Keep American Factories Running:
    https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2397651017129637
    (Turn the speaker ON)

    Top-Down ECONOMICS DOESN'T WORK.
    MIDDLE-CLASS ECONOMICS WORKS.
         The number of profitable companies that paid NO corporate taxes doubled in 2018, thanks to the Republican tax law. Corporations are making record profits and have not created jobs.  Giving them more money does not make them create jobs.  DEMAND creates jobs—money coming in at the bottom always gets spent and floats up—money at the top does not trickle down.
         REPUBLICAN POLICIES in Wisconsin cut taxes on the wealthy, cut services, decimated the unions,
    left minimum wage stagnant, and are now decimating the university system.
    Wisconsin is suffering stifled job growth, ballooning deficits, and a shrinking middle class.
     DEMOCRATIC     POLICIES in neighboring Minnesota did the opposite. Gov. Dayton raised the state income
    tax on the wealthy to 9.85%, raised the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2018, and passed a state law guaranteeing equal pay for women.     The economy in Minnesota is thriving, with a budget surplus.
         sources:  Walter Einenkel 2/25/2015; and R. T. Rybak (former Minneapolis Mayor ), 7/13/2015

    Never underestimate the position of SCHOOL BOARD member.
     Televangelist Franklin Graham is advocating a Republican takeover of all the school boards in the country. Betsy DeVos is sowing the seeds of a dominionist takeover of our schools and changing curricula to reflect distrust of science, homophobia, and other attitudes which match their regressive agenda.
    SCHOOL BOARDS are the first place where the line must be held.

         A Better Deal from Democratic Policies: Better Jobs, Better Wages, Better Future
    (For example: the Democrats’ Raise the Wage Act of 2017 would take the minimum wage up to $15 by 2024. Republicans have refused to raise the minimun wage since 2009.)

     Redistricting Reform Bills SB22 and HB722 in PA NOW !
    Sign the petition HERE to end gerrymandering in PA       
    Allowing politicians to draw the the electoral district lines is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse. They create contorted boundaries to put their own party at an unfair advantage in elections ("gerrymandering"), discouraging competition. The first, best step toward fairer redistricting is an impartial, independent redistricting commission. States that have put CITIZEN COMMISSIONS in place have seen improvements in representation, competitiveness and voter trust in the electoral process. Let's do this in PA! Join the grasssroots reform movement at http://www.fairdistrictspa.com/
    Learn more     HERE

    Click HERE to see video "We are Democrats"
     The current Republican administration is filled with corporate elites who profited from
    the foreclosure of American homes and the offshoring of American businesses.
    "Trumpcare" and  "Repeal of Obamacare" is Republican code for stealing health care from at least 22 million  in order to give a huge tax cut to millionaires.
    "Cutting burdensome regulations" is corporate code for taking away your protections.
    "Privatization"/"premium support"/"vouchers" are their codewords for  taking away your government services and guaranteed benefits.
    "Tax  reform" breaks for so-called "job-creators" is their code for ripping off everyday workers to line the pockets of the wealthiest Americans.
     "Welfare reform" is their code for making cuts to critical programs that families rely on.

          

Democrats believe in moving forward, not backward. 
We trust scientists when they tell us climate change is real; and we believe we must do something
about it. We believe in raising the minimum wage, and that women should be paid the same as
men for doing the same job. We trust women to make their own health care decisions. We believe
that our laws should reflect our heritage as a nation of immigrants. We believe that all people
should be treated with dignity and respect, no matter their race or religion, gender or sexual
orientation. We're the party that fights injustice, and that stands up and speaks out
for every voice, no matter how small.

THREE BUSES from Williamsport
traveled to the Women's March on Washington
The Washington Post profiles a Cogan Station marcher HERE


  •  
    Apply online for 2018 Affordable Health Care ("Obamacare") HERE
    (DEADLINE December 15, 2017)
    - or -
    Get free, in-person enrollment help at
    Susquehanna Community Health and Dental Clinic
    471 Hepburn St. (Hepburn Plaza), Williamsport 
    Call JanAnn Todd  570-560-3035
    Enroll or change plans in the
    Health Insurance Marketplace for 2018
    at Healthcare.gov
    Or if you qualify for "Health Choices"
    (PA Medicaid) you can enroll all year round.     
    https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/open-enrollment-period/

    Call 1-800-318-2596, visit https://localhelp.healthcare.gov/#/ or make a one-on-one appointment HERE

     Info at http://pahealthaccess.org/gethelp/#health-insurance
    Get Help from PHAN HERE
    Email for PHAN help HERE
    Call for PHAN help: 877-570-3642

    8 in 10 people in PA who get coverage on HealthCare.gov can find a plan for less than $75 a month, if qualified for financial assistance with monthly premiums. Many can find plans with $0 monthly premiums.  

     Read Sun-Gazette letter from your local neighbor  here

    FRAUD STRIKE TEAM: The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) implemented a Strike Team, and created more aggressive tools to detect medical fraud. The Medical Fraud Strike Force has indicted doctors, patient recruiters, home health care providers, pharmacy owners, and others who billed for equipment that wasn’t provided, for care that wasn’t needed,
    and for services that weren’t rendered. 
    Using its suspension authority as provided in the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have suspended a number of medical professionals for their alleged participation in Medicare billing fraud schemes.
    Read more here 
     

    • Climate Change Emergency Requires International Action

    Global temperatures continue to shatter records this year, rising to within less than one degree of the level that scientists say would be catastrophic, according to the United Nations.
    During the first nine months of the year, temperatures were 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.16 degrees Fahrenheit) above those recorded at the end of the 1800s, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said in a report Monday. If the Earth warms more than 2 degrees beyond those pre-industrial levels, scientists have warned that climate change could hit an irreversible tipping point, unleashing a torrent of floods, droughts and storms. -     http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-14/as-trump-heads-to-washington-global-warming-nears-tipping-point
     
    WHY VOTE DEMOCRAT?

    "Vote Democrat so our children get a quality education that prepares them to be successful adults. Vote Democrat so women will have the right to choose what they do or do not do with their own bodies. Vote Democrat so women can earn the same pay as a man who does the same job, and have that pay be an actual living wage. Vote Democrat so that someone will protect the air we breathe
    and the water that we drink. Vote     Democrat so that we have access to affordable healthcare.  
    In other words, vote     Democrat to protect all the things that every single one of us here believes
    should be a fundamental right, things that our     Democratic candidates will fight to protect,
    and things that the Republicans are actively opposed to.    "    - from Mikehadwin in Daily Kos March 7, 2016

                 WHY WE NEED ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE NOW!              
     Watch this short EPA video https://www.youtube.com/user/USEPAgov

    "The Department of Defense sees climate change as a present security threat, not strictly a long-term risk."
    - U.S. Department of Defense July 25, 2015 report to Congress
    http://www.defense.gov/pubs/150724-Congressional-Report-on-National-Implications-of-Climate-Change.pdf

    Rooftop solar is the future: it is good for the environment and good for consumers. However, in February 2016
    the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) put limits     on rooftop solar -- potentially preventing new
    installations and making it harder for homeowners to reap the full benefits of investing in this clean energy.
    https://www.stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2016/02/16/solar-advocates-decry-puc-decision-on-net-metering/

    Pennsylvania ranks third in the nation — behind California and Texas — for carbon pollution.
    Yet, those states have employed renewables and efficiency measures to address climate challenges
    in a much greater way than Pennsylvania has. We have the potential to be a national model in energy efficiency and clean energy, but we must push policy makers to act. -     Larry Schweiger, PennFuture Feb.11, 2016

    The Clean Power Plan is our nation’s biggest step ever to reduce dangerous carbon pollution that is driving
    climate change.     On February 10, 2016, the     Wolf administration stated it will continue developing its plan so that Pennsylvania won’t fall behind in cutting carbon pollution. The Clean Power Plan has overwhelming public support
    and is critical to reducing skyrocketing asthma rates and severe storms. -     Josh McNeil, Conservation Voters of PA

    Climate change doesn't stop for politics, and neither should climate action. We are thankful to have a governor who appreciates the urgency of acting to reduce carbon pollution, and the important role Pennsylvania has to play in mitigating climate change. - Clean Air Council Feb 17, 2016


          GUN SAFETY
    In December 2015, Democrats pushed for two common-sense federal gun safety measures  --
    one to stop suspected terrorists from buying guns, another to end a ban on federal funding of gun violence research.
    Republicans rejected both of them.
         85% of Americans - including large majorities of Democrats (88%) and Republicans (79%) - favor expanded background checks. (Source: Pew Research Center September 2015)

    January 6, 2015 - Historic Moment for Democratic Women
          65 Democratic women were sworn in to the U.S. House of Representatives -
     the most women in a single caucus of any party in the history of our nation.

    Democrats Believe...

    "... that the power of government should be used to give the common man 
    more  protection  and a  chance to make a living."    
    President Harry S. Truman
     
        
    "There is not a single solitary successful nation on earth today that does not have both an 
    effective government and a good economy. And in the world we live in, you can't 
    have them unless you have both."    
    President Bill Clinton
     
    "Do we keep tax loopholes for oil companies, or do we put teachers back to work?...
    Should we  keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires - or should we invest in 
    education and technology and infrastructure, all the things that are going to help us 
    out-innovate and out-educate and out-build other countries in the future?"   
    President Barack Obama
     
              
    We Democrats offer America the opportunity to move our country forward by creating an economy built to last and built from the middle out...

    ...Reclaiming the economic security of the middle class is the challenge we must overcome today. That begins by restoring the basic values that made our country great, and restoring for everyone who works hard and plays by the rules the opportunity to find a job that pays the bills, turn an idea into a profitable business, care for your family, afford a home you call your own and health care you can count on, retire with dignity and respect, and, most of all, give your children the kind of education that allows them to dream even bigger and go even further than you ever imagined.

    This has to be our North Star – an economy that’s built not from the top down, but from a growing middle class, and that provides ladders of opportunity for those working hard to join the middle class.

    This is not another trivial political argument. It’s the defining issue of our time and at the core of the American Dream. 
                                                             Excerpted from the 2012 Democratic National Platform

       

    .
    Bob Herzenberg, Chair
    Steve Muthler, Treasurer
    Morgan Allyn, Vice Chair
    Alison Rupert, Secretary
    State Democratic Committee-person:  David C. Raker
    .