Tricounty DFA: Bill Clinton Thursday Morning, Merrick Letters, More
Only 13 days to the Election!

In Todays Update:

1. Bill Clinton Thursday: Possible Changes
2. Letters For Merrick
3. Iraq The New Vietnam?
4. Climate Disaster?

1. Bill Clinton Thursday: Possible Changes

I reported yesterday that President Bill Clinton will be coming to the region Thursday morning to make an appearance for Kirsten Gillibrand.

Initial reports were that President Clinton was going to be at the Albany County Airport at 9am. However, tonight the Albany Times Union reports that:
"The rally is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the headquarters of New York State United Teachers, the state’s largest union, at 800 Troy-Schenectady Road in Latham." Doors will open at about 8am and the event will last until a bit after 10am.

Having been to Presidential type events guarded by the Secret Service, my advice is to arrive early-- space is usually scare. However, at a certain point the Secret Service may cut off further entrance for security reasons, anyway, even if space exists.

STAY TUNED FOR THE LATEST DETAILS.


2. Letters For Merrick

We all know letters to the editor are important. The Tim Merrick For State Senate Campaign has made a particular request of our group since Tim is also a DFA member from Plattsburg, and because our group officially endorsed him last summer: they would like us to write letters to the editor supporting Tim's candidacy.

Tim is making a terrific race, but he still needs our help. You may have seen him, if you live in the Glens Falls area, in the debate with Betty Little on TV-8. He did really well. It is time for real change in Albany, not just Washington, DC.

If you would like to write a letter, here are some suggested points you could mention:

Incumbent Betty Little's record:


*Betty voted against raising the minimum wage
*She refused to support a reform bill giving rank and file senators the power to place bills on agendas or to hold debates, which gives the "three men in a room" their continued monopoly on power.
*She refused to give up proxy voting, which would mandate senators to be present to vote on issues.
*She refused to support a non-partisan committee to oversee redistricting of legislative and congressional districts
*Betty was given a failing grade, an "F", for her voting record for the middle class.
*Betty voted against allowing bulk buying of prescription drugs.
*Betty voted for allowing insurance companies more time to pay claims, which allows them to profit from money customers need.
*Betty voted for allowing more tax exemptions for millionaires with the estate tax exemption.
*Betty voted for alowing unregulated insurance companies to operate in NY.
*Betty didn't support a bill that would have allowed small business to buy much-needed health insurance in a pool, making it more affordable.

Tim Merrick's proposals:
*Immediate property tax relief for year-round residents by having vacation homeowners pay a higher tax rate. That's only fair because they don't spend their sales tax dollars here.
*Taking school taxes off the property tax system and exchanging it for an income based levy.
*Ridding the state of unfunded mandates
*Taking Medicaid burden off of the counties and placing it back on the State, saving North Country counties real tax dollars. (New York is one of only two states that still fund Medicaid with local property taxes.)
*Allowing small businesses to pool their resources to purchase affordable health care.
*Bringing needed infrastructure to the North Country which will attract susatinable business growth.
*Cut government waste and spending.

The close of business hours on October 27th is the last day to submit a letter to the editor to the Post Star, and probably other area papers as well.

Send a letter to the Post Star at: http://www.poststar.com/contact/form_letter.php
The Chronicle: chronicl@loneoak.com

All other area papers through the AAUW Two-Minutes activist page: http://capwiz.com/aauw/dbq/media/?azip=12801&search.x=23&search.y=12&command=zipresult


3. Iraq The New Vietnam?

We don't get very many views of the opposite side in Iraq, which makes a remarkable piece on Tom Paine.com today by Robert Dreyfus all that more valuable. He interviews a former Baath Party member close to the Iraqi resistance. Whatever Saddam may have been doing, his generals had a smart strategy: go underground and refight Vietnam while we were trying to refight World War Two. So far, their strategy is working. The source claims that the Baathist resistance is gaining support rapidly, and is preparing to launch a major offensive in January. Because of its uniqueness, this is clearly the "read of the week." http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/10/24/talking_to_the_resistance.php

4. Climate Disaster?

Also as good, although increasingly routine. are two pieces on the coming environmental disaster: one by renowned environmental activist Bill McKibben in today's Salon on climate change pioneer James Lovelock. Lovelock thinks climate change could leave most of the planet uninhabitable and cause a global population crash with as few a 200 million survivors in a century or two. Also, a new report by the BBC online (they clearly have the best coverage of these issues) on a new report that we would need three planet Earths to sustain the resource demands of the present. This report seems to back up Lovelock.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/10/24/catastrophe/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6077798.stm

More later,

Many thanks,

Larry Dudley
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 10:05 PM