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Monday, March 25, 2019


Editor
jerrymeyer.meyer1@gmail.com


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Sumter Dems  Enjoy the Lake Co. Blue Gala

The Villages Democrats filled
a table.


     Members of the Sumter Co. Democratic Executive Committeeand the Villages Democrats joined the Lake County Democrats  for their 2019 fundraiser March 23rd.
   An evening of honors and awards was capped by guest speaker Andrew Gillum.
   Gillum emerged as the party's candidate for Governor in 2018, coming within 32,000 votes of winning in an election that brought out some two million new voters, shattering all records.
   Following his historic run he was he was honored as one of the EBONY Power 100 and named a 2019 Resident Fellow of  the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School.  In January he joined CNN as a political commentator.
     During his remarks he told the audience they are a critical part of the state as we move toward the next election, and asked them to join his campaign to register a million more voters before the 2020 election. The State Democratic Party has allocated two million dollars toward that effort.  Gillum said there are some four million Florida residents who are not registered.
    Gillum also expressed concern about legislative manipulating on Amendment 4, approved by voters in November. The legislation returns the right to vote to non-violent individuals recently released from incarceration. They must also make financial restitution before being allowed to vote.Proposed legislation would add the payment of court fees, which are sometimes much greater than the restitution numbers.
     Gillum said the proposal amounts to a poll tax and legislators should adopt the amendment wording as approved by the voters.




Gillum took time to pose for a picture with Sumter County State Committee Woman  Cris Andersen













Attention Grandparents:
  this may be of interest to your Grandchild.














In my opinion

            By Jerry Meyer  
         
            Climate change is serious stuff.  Unfortunately some of the climate change factors give the doubters a lot of ammunition.
            Thirty years ago I saw a headline over a newspaper story announcing a grant to study cattle flatulence.  My immediate thought was that intellectual welfare had reached its’ peak.
            However earlier this month a Popular Science report said that in 2011 livestock pushed about 119.1 million tons of methane into the air.  Methane, from cows passing gas and belching is a bigger problem than we thought.   Carbon dioxide emissions are far greater in terms of volume, but methane captures more of the sun’s energy.
            The really bad news is the 2011 measure of methane is 11% higher than previous estimates from NASA’s Carbon Monitoring system.  One problem is the numbers are estimates.  Nobody is out there waiting for a cow to pass gas so it can be measured.  So there have to be models, and when they get inaccurate information they turn out inaccurate reports.  That’s why the 11% difference in data.
            There are fewer cows in America and Canada today, but they are larger and their waste is being handled differently.  For the most part cows are kept penned in feed lots, their waste runs into containers and is hauled away.  Manure emits methane too and that method of handling  creates more of it.
            Scientists have been working on how to  keep cows from belching and passing gas for a  long time, but apparently still aren’t close to a world wide solution.
            One solution is for us  to eat less red meat.  That’s a tough sell and already has led to climate change opponents screaming that “they” want to take away your hamburgers.
            The people who worry about enough food to feed a growing world population also worry about cattle.   Raising grain to feed to animals to feed to humans is quite inefficient. But that’s another problem
            So climate change brought about by cattle flatulence is funny, and I didn’t even use the funny word for flatulence.
            But—maybe we need to take some of this funny stuff seriously.

Jerry Meyer

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Republicans and Socialism

     The Republicans have clearly distributed talking points for use by their members when talking about the elections.  It is apparent they are to mention “socialism” whenever possible.
     But, the Republican version of socialism is something like this:   The Government controls everything and anyone who doesn’t want to work gets a monthly check from the Government.  There is never an explanation of the ridiculous math in this equation.
     Here is a correct definition:  Socialism is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods are controlled substantially by the government, rather than by private enterprise, and in which cooperation rather than competition guides economic activity. There are many varieties of socialism.
     Here is a definition of Capitalism:  An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.
     It always has seemed clear to me that our country became great because it is based on Capitalism and we utilize Government when needed for the common good.
     Below is another description of socialism, followed by a list of services carried out by government, because we as a society decided working together was the best way to get the job done.  (In most cases private enterprise isn’t interested in trying to provide these services.)









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           thevillagesdemocrats.org

For information about the Villages Democrats, their  social clubs and affiliated organizations, 
how to join, links to helpful sites and information on issues, click on website address above.


Terrie Rizzo
Chair, Florida Democratic Party
Florida Democratic Party Gears Up for 2020 with New Hires and a Robust Statewide Organizing Team

Introducing new members of Team FDP!

New Hires

Christina Diamond –– Senior Advisor
Diamond joins the Florida Democratic Party as a Senior Advisor and has also served as the party's finance director under Congresswoman Karen Thurman. She had previously served as Florida finance director for Florida Senator Bill Nelson and was the Central Florida finance director for Jim Davis' gubernatorial campaign.

Will Zigler –– Data Director
Zigler specializes in political data and first worked in Florida in 2012 when he was part of President Barack Obama's reelection campaign. Zigler served as data director for the Texas Democratic Party for 2014 and in 2018 served in that role for the Missouri Democratic Party.

Taehan Lee –– Deputy Director of Data and Reporting
Lee joins the Florida Democratic Party after serving as the data and analytics director for Gery Chico’s campaign for mayor of Chicago. Lee worked for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee as part of their recount data team in Florida and was part of the Missouri Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign in 2018. Lee has also worked as a foreign policy legislative assistant in the South Korean parliament for Assembly Member Lee In Young.

Catherine Theriault –– Deputy Director of Analytics
Theriault is returning to the Florida Democratic Party, having worked at the party as a field organizer in 2014 and is driven by her passion for data-driven campaigns. During the 2018 cycle, Theriault was an organizer in Broward county for NextGen America and served as the finance director for Lori Berman’s state senate campaign. For the 2016 cycle, Theriault served as deputy field director for State Senator Jeff Clemens. She holds a masters in political science from Florida Atlantic University.

Chrisney Frederick –– VAN Administrator
Frederick served as a Florida Democratic Party field organizer for the 2018 cycle. In 2016, Frederick was a part of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in Florida. She is a 2015 graduate of the University of North Florida, Jacksonville, and served as a for survey developer and interviewer for the university’s Public Opinion Research Lab.

Ella K. Coffee –– Community Engagement Director for Tampa Bay
Coffee was a Tampa City Council candidate for the 2019 cycle. Coffee served as an education, recruitment and training specialist for the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections and prior to that served as the supervisor’s African-American liaison outreach assistant. She has also been a political consultant working on campaigns for Florida state house races and Tampa mayoral campaigns.

Harrison Angelis –– Community Engagement Director for Central Florida
Angelis served as a field organizer for the Florida Democratic Party in Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy's successful re-election campaign in 2018 and was a fellow for the party in 2016. Between the 2016 and 2018 election cycles he served as a staff assistant for Congressman Val Demings in her district office. Angelis is a 2016 graduate of Stetson University.

Alex Berrios –– Community Engagement Director for Martin, Indian River, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties
Berrios is returning to the Florida Democratic Party after serving as a field organizer in 2018 and was a recount site lead after the election. He is the founder of the Palm Beach County Youth Foundation and is a business owner, being the owner of Tactical Boxing and Fitness since 2005.

Luisana Pérez Fernández –– Hispanic Press Secretary
Born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Perez Fernández attended the Universidad Central de Venezuela and the Institute Seni of Indonesia. Her professional background includes District Director for State Senator José Javier Rodríguez, Hispanic Press Secretary for the Bill Nelson for US Senate Campaign, and communications intern for the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean. She has also been involved in working with immigrants' rights organizations in the United States as a volunteer and organizer.

Alex Morash –– Statewide Press Secretary
Morash left being the spokesperson and media director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, the oldest national LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, to join the Florida Democrats. Prior to joining the Task Force, he was the economic policy researcher for Media Matters for America and has bylines in The Advocate Magazine, The Washington Blade, Salon, and AlterNet. He holds a masters in political science from Northeastern University and is from Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Devon Murphy-Anderson –– Deputy Finance Director South Florida
Murphy-Anderson graduated from Guilford College in North Carolina with degrees in Women’s Studies, Religious Studies, and Economics. Most recently, Murphy-Anderson was the Finance Director for Liuba Grechen Shirley’s campaign for Congress in NY-02 against entrenched Republican incumbent Peter King. 

Sam Cook –– Assistant to the Executive Office
Born and raised in North Carolina, Cook came to Florida in mid-2017 to join the 2018 election cycle. Cook worked on campaigns across the state as part of a consulting firm, including the campaign of Lori Alhadeff, mother of a Parkland shooting victim and a member of Broward County School Board for District 4. After working on campaigns around the state, Cook joined the FDP to stay involved in Florida.

Promotions

Lauren Calmet Promoted to Political Director
Lauren Calmet has been promoted to Political Director after joining FDP as Deputy Political Director in 2017. She previously served as the Director of Community Affairs for the Florida Coalition for Children where she was recognized for her advocacy by the Tallahassee Democrat, the Girl Scout Council, and the Children's Home Society. Calmet has served in leadership positions with the Florida Young Democrats, the New Leaders Council and as a Guardian Ad Litem.

Rachel Berger Promoted to Party Affairs Director
Berger is from Pasco County and graduated from Florida State University. While completing her degree in Tallahassee, Berger joined the Florida Democratic Party as a student intern in 2015. After working with the data team through the 2016 cycle, Berger joined the Party Affairs department in 2017.

Kevin Donohoe Promoted to Senior Communications Advisor/Chief Spokesperson
Donohoe will serve as the Florida Democratic Party senior communications and chief spokesperson. Donohoe will be focused on the legislative session and based in Tallahassee. Donohoe previously served as the Party’s gubernatorial race spokesperson during the 2018 cycle and was the Virginia Democratic Coordinated Campaign’s communications director in 2017.









            



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