SCHOOL SUPPLIES TO IRAQ PROJECT BIG SUCCESS
Photo by Philip Nagy
Members of the Sevier County Democratic Club stand next to a table that
displays some of the supplies the Young Democrats group sent Friday to
a school in Iraq.
Graham Leonard, an East Tennessee native and former Democratic
candidate for U.S. Congress, was asked by the Sevier County Democratic
Club to share his experiences as an embedded journalist for the Beirut
Star for five weeks this past spring. About 100 residents attended the
town meeting held at Sevierville Civic Center.
According to Jim Anderson, president of the Democratic Club, while
Leonard was "praising the positive work in Iraq of Tennessee's 278th
National Guard," he mentioned in particular the great work the soldiers
are doing to help the children of Iraq and their schools.
"Leonard asked if we were sending things to Iraq and said, 'Don't send
them candy. Send school supplies - the schools are desperate for basic
school supplies,'" said Anderson.
That statement became a call to action for the Democratic Club and its
Young Democrats, and within three weeks, a yard sale had been organized
to raise funds for the project in a nonpartisan, nonpolitical way.
Anderson said the sale was held June 10 and 11 at Sevier County
Fairgrounds and that 24 members of the Democratic Club and the Young
Democrats ran the sale.
The sale raised $800, and the club voted that 100 percent of the money
would be used to buy school supplies and that the cost of postage would
come from the club's treasury.
Tyrrell and the Young Democrats, with guidance from Tyrell's mother,
Vesna Plakanis, did comparison shopping online before making the actual
purchases at the Staples store in Sevierville.
"The Staples staff was instantly enthusiastic about the Iraq School
Supplies project and were very helpful," said Anderson, adding that the
staff offered good ideas and gave a generous discount.
The money raised bought 11 boxes of notepads, pens, pencils, crayons,
markers, modeling clay, scissors, paper, construction paper, dry erase
boards, tape and other items.
In addition, Donna and Joey Strickland, local business owners and
members of the Democratic Club, personally donated three boxes of
inflatable Frisbees, yo-yos and plastic rulers to send.
Anderson said members of the club stay in touch with the 278th National
Guard unit and notified them that the shipment of supplies was mailed
Friday.
"The most recent message from the 278th in Iraq to Sevier County
Democrats said, 'Thank you very much. We will be looking forward to
getting them in the hands of the children. It usually takes between two
and four weeks for packages to arrive here. ... Again thanks for your
wonderful support,'" said Anderson.
* cgrimm@themountainpress.com
©The Mountain Press 2005
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October, 2005
Erik Plakanis
George Bush : America's Most Successful President Ever.
Bush's
approval ratings are at an all-time low. Just 39% believe he is doing a
good job. People are blaming this on his shallow vision, lack of
experience and general incompetence preventing him from successfully
completing any task.
They are wrong.
National Defense :
The Bush administration looks at the armed forces as huge reservoir of
taxpayer money with little over site to be used for personal
enrichment, and national defense issues as a blanket thrown over the
head of the populace while achieving their own ends.
The end of
the cold war was truly a dangerous time for the military industrial
complex. With no clear threat, justifying spending of hundreds of
billions of dollars a year was becoming difficult. Bush, allowing the
worst terrorist attack in our nations history, despite countless
warnings, reports and signs that an attack was eminent, solved the
problem long-term. All he had to do was ignore all warnings and sit
around reading a book about pet goats during the attack. Declaring a
war on a tactic, terrorism, guaranteed to keep the spicket of tax
dollars flowing for decades. National Defense spending has increased by
60% since Bush took power.
The campaign of deception about Iraq,
that culminated with the occupation, allowed the funneling of billions
of dollars into the pockets of the well connected. As an example,
Chenney's company Haliburton has unreceived almost $15 billion for its
services in Iraq. The value of Chenney's personal stock options rose
over 3,000% last year, from $241 thousand to over $8 million.
The
administration used the 9/11 attack to pass the sarcastically titled
“Patriot Act”, taking away fundamental freedoms from American citizens
guaranteed by our founding fathers and revered for over 200 years.
The
fact that the lives of tens of thousands of American solders have been
destroyed, the fact that the middle east is becoming more unstable and
dangerous every day, the fact that Bush accomplished what Bin Laden
could only dream of, and in the process truly created a world where
American's are not safe in their own country – does not in any way
diminish, only magnifies Bush's achievements for the military
industrial complex.
Energy Policy : This is the oil
administration. Chenney crafted a policy with industry execs, including
Ken Lay, behind doors sealed so tight, they fought to keep it from the
public all the way through the Supreme Court. Their policies, including
allowing the rape of California via an artificially created energy
crisis, succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Net income for the 9
major oil companies increased 3,900% from 2002 to 2004, to profits of
over $125 billion! 2005 profits are expected to dwarf those records of
2004. According to industry analyists, the large oil companies are
making so much money they do not know what to do with their large cash
reserves. Exxon alone is expected to have $40 billion more cash than it
will be able to spend, give away or invest. The industry fear is that
by having so many billions of dollars of cash laying around, it makes
them targets for hostile takeovers. As American's become accustomed to
breathing a sigh of relief whenever prices at the pump are below $3 a
gallon, Bush responds by giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to
these same companies to encourage them to drill and refine more.
Shameless, yet incredibly successful.
Taxation and Economy : The
tax system in this country is designed to be progressive, meaning the
more money you make, the higher percentage of income you can afford to
have taxed. The Bush administration has overturned this fundamental
concept. By giving hundreds of billions in tax cuts to the wealthiest
10% of American's, by giving dividend income special treatment, and
doing away with the estate tax, Bush has succeeded in shifting the
burden of taxation away from the wealthy, and squarely on the backs of
the middle class in a way that is simply unprecedented.
By
allowing, or even encouraging our manufacturing jobs to go overseas, by
allowing an unimpeded influx of immigrants willing to work below
minimum wage, and by digging up the corpse of “trickle down economics”,
Bush has succeeded in structurally changing our economy. The spread
between incomes of CEO's and their workers have never been greater.
Bush's policies are forcing the American middle class to try to accept
that jobs at McDonnalds are viable career paths. These policies are
lowering the averages wages of Americans in real terms, while further
concentrating wealth at the top. We have seen the stage set for the
elimination of the middle class, and a new class of wealthy elite.
The
list goes on. Health care, education – in every way Bush has gone
beyond the wildest dreams by re-establishing a two class system. The
ruling elite enjoying riches unimpeded by taxation, access to great
education and revolutionary health care. The rest sentenced to a life
of bare bones education needed to fill low paying service jobs with
third-world health care. A class of people heavily taxed and easy to
control by fear.
Bush's popularity has decreased only because
he has been so successful in carrying out his agenda, and his bold
vision of America.
October, 2005
Jim Anderson
REGIME CHANGE
"For
the Democrats to win, they have to convince ordinary citizens that they
are going to help make their lives better. They need a philosophy of
governing and of regime change, not just of winning." [p. 8]
"A
successful regime-change movement today needs to integrate the best
features of populism and progressivism. It needs the economic
radicalism, moral conviction, and grassroots, red-state appeal of the Populists.
It needs the traditional blue-state base, the forward-looking labor
agenda, the multiculturalism, and the global political vision of the Progressives." [p. 194]
"When the party becomes a social movement, it will resurrect itself as the voice of the people that it is destined to be." [p. 233]
--Charles Derber: Hidden Power: What You Need to Know to Save Our Democracy (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2005).
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