New Year's Wishes from the Editor to You

* That all Democrats in Franklin County register and VOTE in 2011and 2012

* That the members of Greencastle Antrim Democrats get involved and turn out for meetings and events and pay their modest $5. dues.

* That the Republicans in the State and the Congress don't do too much damage

* That everyone who wants a job gets a job

* That the corporations holding onto billions in assets use it to expand production and hire people

* That you have a productive, healthy and happy year

* That your children show their love and appreciation

* That you read a good book, see a good movie and hear some great music, and, in other words

Happy New Year!

Activists Cheer Sestak Who Visits to Say "Thank You"

Franklin County Democrats gave a warm welcome to their Senate Candidate Joe Sestak at a meeting at the Main Street Deli in Chambersburg at 8:30 am, Dec. 7. A good crowd of more than forty joined in a frank question and answer session about the candidate's campaign, his future plans, and the future for progressive ideas in Congress. Rep. Sestak said he had not made specific plans about any future campaigns but would stay in "public service." Rep. Sestak is visiting every county in Pennsylvania and left Chambersburg to attend a similar gathering in Fulton County.

Greencastle Democratic regulars staffed a booth at the town's Heritage Christmas celebration on Friday December 3 and collected contributions for the local food bank and the club, giving out free hot chocolate and cookies donated by members. There's another chance to join them and give visibility to the club on Friday, December 10. We are raffling off two ticket for a ride on the horse-drawn carriage on December 17 at 6:30 pm in return for contributions to the food bank.

DON'T FORGET OUR DECEMBER MEETING ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2010. GOOD PLACE TO PLAN YOUR POLITICAL RESOLUTIONS FOR 2011.

*****FINAL NOTE: While you're distributing your end of year contributions, consider a contribution to the GreencastleAntrim Democratic Club. You can bring it to the meeting.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: NEXT MEETING AND A CHANCE TO TALK TO JOE

The Franklin County Democratic Club will hold a joint meeting with the GreencastleAntrim Democratic Club on Monday, December 13, 6:30 p.m., at CASEY'S Restaurant and Lounge, on Route 11 just south of the main intersection in Greencastle. The GA Dems meeting will begin immediately after.  It's a good opportunity to relax and chat and plan the future.

Don't miss a chance to meet with Rep. Joe Sestak who wants to thank Franklin County Democrats for their efforts on behalf of his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.  He will be in Chambersburg on Tuesday,
December 7, at 8:30 a.m. at the Main Street Deli, 177 S. Main St. (Next to Capital Theatre).

Don't Mourn...Organize!

That's been the rallying cry of progressives throughout our country's history.  And, although we have taken a backward step in this election, we cannot stop working for change and social justice for everyone in our country. There are plenty of issues that will need our engagement in the months ahead.  We have to protect the gains we made during President Obama's first two years -- particularly health care and banking reform. We need to pass fair tax legislation in this Congress. We need to protect Pennsylvania from the environmental degradation of drilling in the Marcellus shale. We need to continue to fight for single payer health care for Pennsylvania. Add your issues to the list and then come to our next meeting on November 8 at 7 pm at the Greencastle Presbyterian Church in Greencastle. Let's discuss "what is to be done!"

Holloween Parade and GOTV activiities

Busy month for GA dems and Frnaklin County Dems.  We've gained visibility with a "thank a Democrat" entry in the Greencastl, parade (see photo above), a successful dinner with a bang up speech from our headliner SEIU leader Jim Young, a visit and greetings from our Congressional candidate Tom Conners, and, an office on the square thanks to Paul Politis. Opened the weekend before the election and all day election day. Visit, make a phone call, knock on doors.

President's Report from the PA State Committee Meeting

The Pennsylvania State Democratic Party held its state committee meeting on September 24th and 25th. It was my pleasure to attend the meeting as your elected State Committeewoman. The Franklin County delegation also included State Committeeman, Garrett Blanchet, and the Franklin County Democrats Chairman, Paul Politis. The three of us covered a lot of ground.


 Roger Lund, Chair of the South Central Caucus (this is the caucus we belong to) and the Adams County Democrats Chairman, presided over a session devoted to developing revenue streams. All of our clubs could use a little help in this department! Several of the ideas to increase the funds raised did not incur additional overhead costs:
• An annual dinner honoring someone or some special group. This increases ticket sales & donations
• Premium seating. Seating at the table with the honored guest or speaker has a higher ticket price.

• An annual event focusing on raising funds for a scholarship.

• Instead of, or in addition to ad books at events, some clubs have been displaying ads on screens or walls of the venue.

• Have roving photographers at the event and sell a CD of the photos to event goers.

• Remind Democrats to consider giving a donation to their clubs as holiday gifts for their friends & family who are notoriously difficult to buy for!

• Monthly cheese & wine get-togethers specifically to raise funds via a donation basket.

The second session focused on getting out our vote. Bob Kefauver from the York County Democrats presented his club’s “GOOSE” guide. “Get Out Our Supporters Everywhere” (GOOSE) effort helps to more clearly focus on getting out Democrats. The top priority with this effort is to find a volunteer to chair a committee of dedicated people willing to manage such a program. The effort is most intense the 21 days prior to an election. However, the planning & organizing is ongoing all year. It involves identifying supporters, precinct by precinct, canvassing, telephoning, and growing the volunteer base.

Organizing for America (OFA) delivered the third session. The representatives described how OFA has become the Vote 2010 Coordinated Campaign. There was much discussion over the coordination between the county & local Democratic clubs and the Coordinated Campaign. Ryan and Devora will be conducting Webinars on how to use the VoteBuilder system. Also, the campaign will be posting daily talking points on the PA Dems website. To learn more about the Coordinated Campaign effort contact Jeff@padems.com.

 Jim Burn, State Democratic Party Chairman, and I spoke at length about the need in Franklin County. He said he feels he has a “a place to hang my hat in Franklin County, I feel at home there.” He is interested in meeting potential candidates. He said he wants to provide as much assistance as he can with growing our number of elected officials. Scott Conklin was very excited to see us, too. He is comfortable with helping our area because he knows what it is like living in the “T.” Dan Onorato addressed our small caucus meeting. He makes a great presentation; very personable & hard-hitting without all the hoopla. He apologized for not spending more time in our parts and attributed that to the money pouring in to the Corbett campaign from the new corporate citizens. Dan needs to concentrate on the areas where he can raise the most money & most votes.
Democratically yours,

Sheri Morgan
Franklin County State Committeewoman

Don't Miss the Franklin County Democrats Dinner on October 22

Our keynote speaker Jim Young is a Democratic Party and trade union leader with many years of experience in Pennsylvania. He promises to deliver a "BARN BURNER" speech for us. DON'T MISS IT! We want to have a good turnout for a guest traveling to Franklin County. Reserve your spot by sending a check

to Paul Politis, 357 Blue Bird Trail, Greencastle, PA 17225. Tickets are $25. or $10. for students  and people who are unemployed.

Monday October 18 Greencastle Antrim Democratic Club Meeting

Important news on pre-election activities, updates on the Franklin County dinner, opportunities to take part in this most important election on November 2. There's nothing "off" about the 2010 election. We need to get every registered Democrat to the polls.

Did You Hear President Obama in Wisconsin?

What a crowd! What enthusiasm! And, what a terrific speech! There were thousands of students and townspeople at the Madison rally and he gave them the speech they were hoping for. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh2QcLq1ytc

Check Out Our Candidates Web Sites and Blogs

http://www.joesestak.com/

http://www.onorato.com/

http://www.connersforcongress.com/

Check out their position papers, ideas for building a better Pennsylvania and a stronger nation.

Let's Reach Every Democratic Voter Before the Election

The most effective way to reach Democrats is by knocking on doors.This will augment our telephone banks. Please volunteer for visits. People will go out in teams of two. You can volunteer by adding a comment here, or by sending an email to your blog editor. ruthjcommunications@comcast.net

Phone Bank Efforts Pay Off, Second Call-Out Scheduled

Thanks to the 13 folks who came out for the phone bank this evening. We made 319 calls & spoke with 90 voters. Twenty-five of the voters strongly support Joe Sestak and 19 are leaning towards him. Thirty-eight voters were undecided. Many voters did not know either candidate!

We're holding our second phone bank for Sestak and Onorato at the Gentle Laser Skin Care Center in Waynesboro, Monday 9/27/10 at 6:30pm. 1700 East Main St. (across from Burger King in Wayne Heights). There will be food and drink provided.

It's good to know that Chambersburg, Shippensburg, Greencastle and Waynesboro are all participating. Let's keep the United State Senate and the Governor's office Democratic! So much depends on it.

Mark Your Calendar

Telephone Bank -- call fellow Democrats beginning 6:30 pm on Monday, September 20 at Greencastle Presbyterian Church basement..bring your cell phone!

Make BIG signs on Sunday 9/26 or, if rain on 10./3,  from 2-6 pm at 16 Eastland Circle Waynesboro, across from the Renfrew Museum.

Make signs for Halloween parade, join us on Sunday, October 25 at 2 pm. Call
717 597 3902 for address and directions.

Picnic Was a Great Success

Three cheers go out to Sheri Morgan for the generous use of her home for the Franklin County Democrats picnic, and to daughter Rosie for organizing everything, and to Karin Johnson for her hard work. Good attendance but not as many as we could have hoped for. The food was fabulous, the speakers excellent, and the band and fireworks great fun. If you didn't come, you missed a good one and we urge you to support our efforts as we move into the election season. We have a governor, lt. governor, and senator to elect along with a Democratic challenger to Rep. Shuster -- Tom Conners. Follow County Chair Paul Politis' EMails for information on campaign events.

Franklin County Democratic Picnic August 6

It's that time of year again..... time for the annual picnic! It will be held on Friday, August 6, 5 pm to 10 pm, at 431 Leitersburg Street in Greencastle. The picnic's location gives us front row seating for the firework display. In addition to the fireworks there will be a musical performance by a great local string band: The Knuckle Dusters. As always, we will be hearing messages from our Democratic candidates, which this year include candidates for the senatorial, congressional, and gubernatorial races.

This year's menu will be a bar-b-que dinner complete with 2 sides and a cup for the beverage of your choice. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7 for kids 12 and under. Hope to see you there, because August 6th simply won't be the same without you! Our organizer is Rosie Morgan and you can get tickets and additional information by calling: 717-593-9950, or email franklincountydempicnic@gmail.com and Rosie will send you the form to return with your payments. We need your early commitment so we can order the proper amount of food and drink. Join your fellow Democrats and have an evening of fun and good food!

In Memorium

The Greencastle Antrim Democratic Club has lost a good Democrat and true friend: Joshua "Joe" Lewis. Brother Lewis died suddenly on Sunday, May 23. His widow, Sara Flythe-Lewis would love to hear from fellow Democrats. Their address is: 118 South Jefferson Street, Greencastle.

Our Next Meeting

PLEASE NOTE: THE REGULAR JULY MEETNG OF THE GREENCASTLE ANTRIM DEMOCRATS HAS BEEN POSTPONED AND WILL BE RESCHEDULED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

AND....
The Franklin County Democrats Picnic will be held in Greencastle on Friday, August 6 Watch our blog for further information and ways you can participate.

Sestak, Onorato Win Primary Contests

Rep. Joe Sestak has won the primary race for United States Senator from Pennsylvania, defeating long time Senator Arlen Specter. There was strong support for Sestak in Franklin County so that means Franklin County Democrats must work like mad to win in November.
Dan Onorato was the Democratic choice for Governor. Rep. Scott Conklin is the lieutenant governor candidate.

Democrats are still awaiting a final certification of Tom Conners as the write in candidate for the 9th Congressional District on the Democratic ticket in November.

Write In Tom Conners for Congress on May 18

We have a potential candidate to oppose Shuster in November. The candidate is Tom Conners former broadcaster from Altoona. He announced his run for Congress in a speech that scorched the 38-year Shuster Dynasty record on the Blair Courthouse Plaza last Tuesday. We can get him on the ballot by writing in his name on May 18th.

We plan to develop palm cards that can be handed out and we need volunteers to cover every single polling place. Fulton County Democrats are already working on the project. Check out Tom Conners youtube videos talking about his biography and his positions on the issues.

http://www.youtube.com/user/conners4congress#g/u

The 2010 Campaign Begins Now

President Obama has issued a call to action to all those who supported his campaign to get ready for 2010 and begin organizing now. You can watch his message by going to David Plouffe's message on:
http://www.barackobama.com/

Earth Day Warriors

Greencastle Antrim Democrats and friend join to work Marie's Garden to beautify Greencastle and give meaning to our motto: "Keep Greencastle Green".

Democratic Victory on Health Care Reform Needed Lots of Work

It's estimated that a million voters peppered Congress with letters, emails and phone calls. That helped President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi get the job done along with some hand holding and assurances on Federal funding of abortion (already clearly forbidden by previous measures). It's too bad that health care reform has been held hostage to anyone with a particular issue. This is big (as the Vice President said in so many words) and we need to continue to act boldly to assure that everyone gets good health care just because they are a citizen of the world's most advanced democracy with the biggest economy. There's something crazy about a society that provides gigantic payouts and great health care coverage to executives, movie stars and athletes, but denies the most basic human dignity to the working poor. And there's something crazy about denying coverage to immigrants who work in restaurants and other places with direct contact with the public. Don't we want them to be healthy?

Democrats need to prepare to work hard this November if we want to keep our majority and answer the dishonest characterizations of the legislation that the right keeps feeding our citizens. Interestingly capitalism was not destroyed by this law. The very next day after the vote the stock market rose on the good news for health care businesses.

Health Care by The Numbers

Here's the latest bulletin from The White House:

32,000,000 -- that's the number of Americans who will get health insurance under the President's plan.

That's also a little more than the entire populations of Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky and Arizona -- COMBINED.

For the past couple weeks, we've been using key numbers to help raise awareness about how we just can't wait any longer for health insurance reform. We used $1,115 to tell the story of how skyrocketing premiums are crippling America's workers. We used 8 to convey how widespread and severe discrimination for pre-existing conditions is across the health insurance industry. And we used numbers like 625 and 50/50 to clearly show that any one of us is at risk of losing insurance in our broken health care system.

Today -- in our last number of the series -- we're using 32,000,000 to represent not only all those who will get health care, but also all the numerous benefits America's families and small businesses will see from health insurance reform. From eliminating discrimination based on pre-existing conditions to controlling costs and lowering the national deficit to providing tax credits for middle class families and small businesses, health insurance reform will finally put America's families and small businesses in control over their own health care.

Watch our new 'Health Reform by the Numbers' wrap-up video and learn more about what you have to gain from reform: (go to White House.gov)

32,000,000 is the last number in ‘Health Reform by the Numbers,' our online campaign to raise awareness about why the time is now for health insurance reform. Help spread the word by sharing this message with your family, friends and online networks. Call Rep. Shuster and our Senators Casey and Specter.

Global Warming is No Joke

Despite the nay sayers on the right wing radio shows, global warming is no joke. Former Vice President Al Gore has a wonderful oped piece in the NY Times (3/9/10). Here's an excerpt and you can click on the link below to read the entire clearly stated argument.

"Because ... (the) effects of global warming are distributed globally, they are difficult to identify and interpret in any particular location. For example, January was seen as unusually cold in much of the United States. Yet from a global perspective, it was the second-hottest January since surface temperatures were first measured 130 years ago.

Similarly, even though climate deniers have speciously argued for several years that there has been no warming in the last decade, scientists confirmed last month that the last 10 years were the hottest decade since modern records have been kept.

The heavy snowfalls this month have been used as fodder for ridicule by those who argue that global warming is a myth, yet scientists have long pointed out that warmer global temperatures have been increasing the rate of evaporation from the oceans, putting significantly more moisture into the atmosphere — thus causing heavier downfalls of both rain and snow in particular regions, including the Northeastern United States. Just as it’s important not to miss the forest for the trees, neither should we miss the climate for the snowstorm.
Here is what scientists have found is happening to our climate: man-made global-warming pollution traps heat from the sun and increases atmospheric temperatures. These pollutants — especially carbon dioxide — have been increasing rapidly with the growth in the burning of coal, oil, natural gas and forests, and temperatures have increased over the same period. Almost all of the ice-covered regions of the Earth are melting — and seas are rising. Hurricanes are predicted to grow stronger and more destructive, though their number is expected to decrease. Droughts are getting longer and deeper in many mid-continent regions, even as the severity of flooding increases. The seasonal predictability of rainfall and temperatures is being disrupted, posing serious threats to agriculture. The rate of species extinction is accelerating to dangerous levels.
Though there have been impressive efforts by many business leaders, hundreds of millions of individuals and families throughout the world and many national, regional and local governments, our civilization is still failing miserably to slow the rate at which these emissions are increasing — much less reduce them."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28gore.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&en=55fe31f6c9836d96&ex=1283317200

President Obama Needs Our Help

Check out this video to hear the President's call to arms on behalf of health care reform

http://my.barackobama.com/PresidentsMessage2?email=ruthjcommunications@comcast.net

Pa Dems Endorse Single Payer Bills Pending in House and Senate

Lancaster – The Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for passage of single payer healthcare, Senate Bill 400 and House Bill 1660, also known as the "Family and Business Healthcare Security Act." The vote came at the Democratic State Committee Meeting here on Feb. 6.

Given the healthcare reform deadlock in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania’s nation-leading status in the battle for state-based “Medicare for All,” is all the more significant.

“Not only does Pennsylvania now have the Democratic Party on board with the Single Payer healthcare for all,” said Healthcare for All PA executive director Chuck Pennacchio, “we also have the promised signature of our governor and the active support of Republican and Democratic leaders in both the State Senate and State House.”

Added Pennacchio, “Pennsylvania is clearly ‘ground zero’ for cost-saving, life-enhancing, job-creating, quality, comprehensive, publicly-funded, privately-delivered, healthcare for all. Once PA adopts the proven single payer solution, our neighboring states will move rapidly to adopt the same answer, and congress will quickly follow suit.”

Presenting the resolution before the voting body of 301 Democratic State Committee members was Tom Herman, Chair of Berks County. Seconding the motion were Jon Fox of Lancaster County and James Burn of Allegheny County. The vote in support of House Bill 1660 and Senate Bill 400 was by unanimous consent.