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Congress Reaches a Budget Deal and Conservatives Already Hate It
The Ryan-Murray budget deal would frontload spending and spread out deficit reduction--the plan economists want and conservatives despise. By Patrick Caldwell Dec. 10, 2013 Mother Jones Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) have spent the past several weeks huddled with their staffs in budget negotiations, and Tuesday evening they emerged with the impossible: a deal to keep the government open and avoid another shutdown when current funding expires next month. Their proposal will replace part of sequestration...for the next two years.... Why were conservatives so preemptively outraged? ...Basically, the proposed deal front loads spending that ameliorates the draconian sequester while pushing much of the deficit reduction off until later... That's exactly what liberal economists have called for since the start of the recession: the government should pump more money into the economy while it is still in the doldrums and save deficit reductions for the future when the country will, presumably, be on more stable footing. read article 
Demonstration targets state budget director Pope Dec. 09, 2013 by Laura Oleniacz Herald-Sun DURHAM — Under a light rain, about 30 people stood near a Roses store off N.C. 54 on Monday to demonstrate against the discount store company’s CEO for his role in state politics. “We’re really concerned with Art Pope’s extremist policies; we want people to know that this guy who owns Roses and Maxway and other stores has such influence on N.C. politics,” said Adam Sotak, organizing director of Democracy North Carolina, a nonprofit group that participated in the demonstration. Organized by Democracy NC, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People of North Carolina and other groups, the picket is planned to be part of a series of demonstrations staged near Roses and Maxway locations... “The picketers are not calling for a boycott of Art Pope-owned stores... The purpose is to inform the communities surrounding these stores...about the ways that Art Pope uses his money to hurt the very people who work and shop at his stores.” read article  click above for Democracy NC's printable 2-page flyer
Organize a Picket Near You! From Democracy NC: Art Pope literally depends on the black community to finance his political operation; African-American shoppers at his stores supply a large share of his income, which he then uses to promote policies that keep them too poor to shop elsewhere. In reality, he’s a poverty creator more than a job creator Contact us here if you are interested in organizing a picket yourself and we will send you a local organizer’s kit and help with local media outreach and publicity. Art Pope 2-page printable flyer Handout: Overview of Art Pope & His Network 
White House calls for North Carolina to expand Medicaid
By Mark Binker WRAL Dec. 9, 2013 The Obama administration is pressuring North Carolina to expand its Medicaid health insurance program for the poor and disabled... "This is actually a net budgetary benefit to those states that choose to expand Medicaid," said Josh Earnest, principal deputy press secretary for President Barack Obama.... A spokeswoman for McCrory said Monday that the governor has not changed his position. Lawmakers have shown no signs of reversing course. Earnest pointed out that other states with Republican governors, including Arizona and Ohio, have embraced expansion. "Too often, we see partisan politics get in the way of good decision-making," Earnest said. "I'm not sure there is another explanation." read article 
Tell Amazon, McDonald’s and other former ALEC funders: Don’t go back to ALEC.
Sign the Petition Dec. 9, 2013 --The Guardian just published an explosive expose that shows the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council (a.k.a. “ALEC”) is reeling from our campaign against them and now faces a funding crisis. This is a result of the mass defections of corporate sponsors who were targeted by CREDO, Daily Kos and other progressive allies... But according to documents leaked to the Guardian, ALEC is fighting back. The organization, which promotes right-wing legislation at the state level, has launched an initiative called the “Prodigal Son Project” to bring more than 40 of these corporate donors back into the fold. Join CREDO and Daily Kos to tell Amazon, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Kraft, McDonald’s and other former ALEC funders: Don’t go back to ALEC. 
ALEC documents show strong ties to NC lawmakers
BY JOHN FRANK News & Observer Dec. 5, 2013 A business-backed, limited-government group that counts House Speaker Thom Tillis as a leader is exerting increasing influence in North Carolina, according to newly disclosed records. The American Legislative Exchange Council counted 54 out of 170 North Carolina lawmakers as members through June, or roughly one-third of the General Assembly. The state is one of only seven to increase membership more than 40 percent. The numbers are highlighted in new internal ALEC documents, obtained and published by the British newspaper The Guardian, that shed new light on the organization’s presence in the state. read article 
Obama's inequality speech: telling the progressive story of American history
Ian Reifowitz The Daily Kos DEC 05, 2013 Barack Obama knows how to tell a story. .. His American history narratives have long centered on two purposes. The first is to encourage Americans across every possible group line to recognize one another as being part of a single community of Americans based on our shared membership in the civic nation... The second ...is to emphasize the long-standing roots—as well as the moral superiority and greater effectiveness—of a common good-centered, progressive economic philosophy... Obama ...noted the impact of globalization on our economy, but then specifically highlighted the crucial role of right-wing economic thinking—calling out Reaganite "trickle-down ideology" on taxes and on the lack of commitment to invest in our country's resources—in moving us away from the path on which we'd been traveling for over a century thanks to progressives in both parties. This is the kind of historical narrative that people can connect with. read article 
Tell Your Legislators: Stop Funding Discriminatory Schools
12-5-2013 --Last week, we hosted a press conference in Wilmington that garnered widespread media attention around Myrtle Grove Christian School's anti-gay enrollment policies and prompted public scrutiny of a new state program that could use your taxpayer dollars to fund these types of discriminatory schools starting in 2014. In response, over 700 North Carolinians have already answered our call to action -- contacting their legislators to demand that not one dollar of their money go to schools with exclusionary policies. But we can't stop now. We need to turn those initial hundreds into thousands of voices. Use this form to email your legislators today and call on the General Assembly to exclude discriminatory schools from the taxpayer-funded Opportunity Scholarships Program. It's a basic premise: we don't want our tax dollars distributed to discriminatory schools in our state. And it's time for our legislators to take notice and take action to stop it. 
‘Why Buy Health Insurance When I Can Be Whisked Into the ER and Pay Later?’
By Steven Petrow Nov 14, 2013 ...As Ronald Bayer, PhD, co-director of Columbia University’s ’s Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health, recently explained to me: “One reason the healthy person has to have health insurance is that if he gets sick, ...the ER is not going to turn the freeloader away – and we end up paying for you.” That’s the dollars and cents answer. But what’s the perspective from the manners or ethics perspective? As Dr. Bayer told me: “...The only way [the health insurance system] works is if you have a population of largely health people subsidize those who are more likely to get sick.” In short the breach here is terribly serious – it’s the breaking of the social contract. When you are young, you help defray the medical costs of those mid-life and older, with the knowledge that one day you’ll be wizened and look to the younger folks to subsidize you. Dr. Bayer added: “Because we cannot turn our back on you, we can’t allow you to be a freeloader.” read column 
So it’s that simple, huh? Robert Reich debunks every anti-living wage argument in 2 minutes (watch video)
Pope stores picketed over right-wing activism RACHEL MADDOW 12/02/13 MSNBC Rev. William Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP, talks with Rachel Maddow about a picketing campaign against millionaire Republican activist Art Pope’s stores. watch video with interview of Rev. Barbar Also see: WTVD: Republican State Budget Director Art Pope and NC NAACP President William Barber debate on sidewalk 12/2/13 WRAL: Pope, Barber exchange words over money, politics 12/2/13
Taking Back
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Education
Lawmakers, McCrory look at raising teacher pay in 2014
By Laura Leslie Dec. 3, 2013 WRAL State lawmakers and Gov. Pat McCrory appear to be in agreement that they will increase teacher pay next year, but the legislative session is more than five months away and the details of the plan remain foggy. North Carolina's teachers are among the lowest paid in the country, and they haven't seen a real raise in six years. Republican legislative leaders are vowing to change that and are working on a proposal to revamp the entire teacher pay system, including bumping up starting salaries for beginning teachers.... McCrory said raising teacher pay will be one of his top goals for 2014. "We will definitely have some proposals from the Governor's Office for the short session," Despite the promises, teachers aren't holding their breath on the raises, said Brian Lewis, political director for the North Carolina Association of Educators. "There's a lot of skepticism about what's coming out of here," Lewis said. "Teachers have been promised a lot over the last five or six years, and that goes back a couple of administrations." Teachers also are angry about issues such as the loss of tenure rights, which lawmakers eliminated this year, he said. read article 
Editorial:
GOP finally notices needs of NC teachers December 1, 2013 All of the sudden it seems, the GOP leaders who cut public education and bashed public school teachers for sport during the last legislative session are getting all warm and fuzzy and talking about giving teachers raises. ...this is likely a product of the fact that the 2014 elections are upcoming and perhaps some polling that shows citizens rather like their public school teachers... What GOP legislators ought to do is abandon some of their misguided tax “reform” and establish a long-term plan that includes restoring the tenure they took away. The GOP plan should give the state’s teachers substantial raises over a period of, say, five years to get them back to the national average. A one-time, 1 percent or 2 percent raise is going to be seen for what it is: a political ploy to get the GOP through the next election. read editorial  click above to enlarge
Teachers Were Never The Problem
Poverty still lies at the root of the U.S. ‘education crisis.’ BY DAVID SIROTA Nov. 8, 2013 In These Times ...the new study from the Southern Education Foundation...found that that a majority of all public school students in one third of America's states now come from low-income families. ...Social science research over the last few decades has shown that two thirds of student achievement is a product of out-of-school factors–and among the most powerful of those is economic status. ... If America was serious about fixing the troubled parts of its education system, then we would be ... talking about raising public revenues to fund special tutoring, child care, basic health programs and other so-called wrap-around services at low-income schools. ...we would make sure high-poverty districts actually receive more funds than rich districts because combating poverty is such a resource-intensive endeavor. More broadly, we wouldn't be discussing cuts to social safety net programs... read article 
'Red for ed' extends beyond protests, into classrooms
...the "Red 4 Ed NC" campaign [is] encouraging teachers and supporters to wear red on Wednesdays in protest against the state budget. read article/video Aug 15, 2013 WRAL Also see: I Support NC Public School TeachersFB Page |
Yesterday, plaintiffs from the ACLU of North Carolina's lawsuit for second-parent adoption and against Amendment One - like Durham's Marcie & Chantelle Fisher-Borne - joined Equality NC to discuss the future of parental and marriage equality in NC. WATCH & SHARE this NC Policy Watch crucial conversation:http://ow.ly/rs0ux 
Congratulations Lydia Lavelle!
Sworn in as the new mayor of Carrboro - and the first openly-gay lesbian mayor in NC. pictured: Mayor Lavelle and her partner Alicia Stemper (Photo by Chapel Hill Town Councilman Lee Storrow.) Equality NC 
Group says school with anti-gay policy shouldn't get tax dollars
By Pressley Baird November 26, 2013 Star News Online A statewide gay rights group wants the General Assembly to change its new tuition voucher program so schools with policies that exclude gay people won't receive taxpayer funding. Members of the gay rights group Equality N.C. spoke out Tuesday against a policy recently adopted by Myrtle Grove Christian School that requires students' families to promise they won't support or participate in a gay lifestyle. The faith group N.C. Values Coalition also released a statement Tuesday supporting Myrtle Grove Christian School's right to set its own admission policies. read article |
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Congratulations to Kay Hagan! First time Grandma with baby boy Harrison
posted Dec 3, 2013
posted Dec 3, 2013
Durham Dem Woman Margaret Herring with Julian Bond at the 2013 Charleston Lecture in Southern Affairs, November 19, 2013
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11-26
Sojourner Truth—influential abolitionist and women’s rights advocate—died Nov. 26, 1883. She is often recognized for her “Ain’t I A Woman?” speech at the 1851 Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.
See more at:
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Meeting Handouts:
NC Legislative Report Card
from Democracy NC
Monster Law: More Money, Less Voting (provisions of the new voting law)
Top Ten Things For Durham Dem Women to Do Oct 2013
Guide for Getting an ID to Vote
Voting in 2013--Voting Rights Wallet Card
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NC HEALTH REPORT: Health care for kids, grandparents on Medicaid is not a "runaway entitlement"
Christensen: 5 troubling ideas for NC democracy
NARAL: Legislation to Watch
Holding Gov. McCrory to His Campaign Promise
Post Card Ideas For McCrory
Things We Can Do Now To Turn NC Blue
Handout--Write A Letter To The Editor
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Why You Should Join
Durham Democratic Women
Women
Meeting Handouts:
NC Legislative Report Card
from Democracy NC
Monster Law: More Money, Less Voting (provisions of the new voting law)
Top Ten Things For Durham Dem Women to Do Oct 2013
Guide for Getting an ID to Vote
Voting in 2013--Voting Rights Wallet Card
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NC HEALTH REPORT: Health care for kids, grandparents on Medicaid is not a "runaway entitlement"
Christensen: 5 troubling ideas for NC democracy
NARAL: Legislation to Watch
Holding Gov. McCrory to His Campaign Promise
Post Card Ideas For McCrory
Things We Can Do Now To Turn NC Blue
Handout--Write A Letter To The Editor
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Why You Should Join
Durham Democratic Women
click to enlarge... great shot.
Durham Democratic Women at the Democratic Women of NC Convention September 20-22, 2013 See Photo Gallery We were all very well received at the Convention! And DDW won first prize for the greatest membership increase -- 194%! 
Letter: Local Students Attend 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington "I was delighted that bus ticket scholarships and delicious lunches were given to four of my Advanced Latin students from NCSSM, from left: Simon Wolf, Elizabeth Hayes, Camille Johnson, Travis McKay. What struck them the most was the diversity of the many different subgroups, all marching, singing, and watching. The students opened up to the larger life of our great political and social community. Thank you, DDW and the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce." --Cecile Tougas 
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Justice Overdue PDF:
THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
Simple Justice--Long Overdue Roberta W. Francis, Co-Chair, ERA Task Force National Council of Women’s Organizations equalrightsamendment.org Print ERA Brochure:
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THIS AND THAT
Video Selects from North Carolina
About the Project… Story of America is a web series and feature documentary that explores the polarization that exists in America today along political, economic and cultural lines.
About the Project… Story of America is a web series and feature documentary that explores the polarization that exists in America today along political, economic and cultural lines.
Makers: Women who Make America
See Trailer The story of the women's movement told through the eyes of the women who were there. A must-see! Watch it online at makers.com |
Website for Equal Rights Amendment
Unfinished business for the constitution:
"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
RATIFY ERA-NC
ERA -- States that have yet to be ratified (in yellow). Click to enlarge map.
ERA Video excerpt:
A Bill of Rights for North Carolina workers
by Clermont Fraser and Sabine Schoenbach NC Policy Watch
5/14/2013
Workers are the driving force behind economic growth, so what’s good for North Carolina’s workers is also good for North Carolina’s businesses.
Recently, attorneys and advocates of the North Carolina Justice Center’s Workers’ Rights Project asked workers across the state to imagine what laws they would enact to make North Carolina better for workers and, by extension, businesses. Their ideas form the basis of a “Workers’ Bill of Rights.”
Click here to see the key components of what such a Workers’ Bill of Rights would include
by Clermont Fraser and Sabine Schoenbach NC Policy Watch
5/14/2013
Workers are the driving force behind economic growth, so what’s good for North Carolina’s workers is also good for North Carolina’s businesses.
Recently, attorneys and advocates of the North Carolina Justice Center’s Workers’ Rights Project asked workers across the state to imagine what laws they would enact to make North Carolina better for workers and, by extension, businesses. Their ideas form the basis of a “Workers’ Bill of Rights.”
Click here to see the key components of what such a Workers’ Bill of Rights would include
– Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
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Check Out Pages for Each Issue Under "Advocacy" Tab Above or Look on Our Archive Page
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