Bernie Sanders takes down Marco Rubio...

Sen. Sanders’ office provided the media with an unofficial transcript of the exchange. (Sorry for the all caps, but this a is directly from the source transcript):

SEN. RUBIO: SO YESTERDAY WE ALL WATCHED WITH GREAT ATTENTION AS THE PRESIDENT ADDRESSED THIS ISSUE AND EXPRESSED OUTRAGE, RIGHTFULLY SO, AT WHAT’S OCCURRING. AND WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAID IS THAT OVER THE NEXT WEEK THERE’S GOING TO BE AN INITIAL REPORT AND THEN ULTIMATELY A REPORT AT THE END OF THE MONTH ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE SYSTEM AND, MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHO NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. AND I THINK THAT’S CRITICAL HE HERE, BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE’RE LEARNING IS NOT SIMPLY THAT THERE’S A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM IN THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION, BUT THAT THERE’S BEEN A DELIBERATE EFFORT BY SOME WITHIN THE ADMINISTRATION, SOME WITHIN THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION TO COVER IT UP OR TO MAKE THINGS LOOK BETTER THAN THEY ACTUALLY ARE. AND THAT SHOULD TROUBLE US EVEN MORE, BECAUSE THE IMMEDIATE REACTION WHEN AN AGENCY IS CONFRONTED WITH A PROBLEM SHOULD BE, WE NEED TO FIX THIS.

AND INSTEAD THE REACTION BY SOME SEEMS TO BE, WE NEED TO COVER THIS. WE NEED TO MAKE THIS LOOK BETTER THAN IT REALLY IS. WE NEED TO DIMINISH THIS. THAT IS COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE AND PEOPLE NEED TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE TO THIS. IF IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE, AMONG THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT SERVE AND WORK HERE FOR, SOMEONE WAS DERELICTION IN THEIR DUTY, THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR JOBS. IF THE PRIVATE SECTOR SOMEONE DID NOT DO THEIR JOB, THEY WOULD LOSE THAT JOB.

…….

MR. SANDERS: BUT THERE ARE VERY SERIOUS PROBLEMS IN TERMS OF ACCESS. THERE ARE SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH REGARD WAITING LISTS. THERE ARE SERIOUS PROBLEMS REGARDING THE POSSIBILITY OF HOSPITALS KEEPING TWO SETS OF BOOKS. AND WE’RE GOING TO GET TO THE ROOT OF THOSE ISSUES. BUT ONE THINGTHAT WE DO NOT WANT TO DO, MADAM PRESIDENT, IS POLITICIZE THE WELL-BEING OF AMERICA’S HEROES. LET ME QUOTE TO YOU FROM AN EDITORIAL IN “THE WASHINGTON POST” TODAY. “THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED THEIR COUNTRY IN UNIFORM DESERVE BETTER THAN DELAY OR DENIAL OF THE MEDICAL CARE THEY NEED AND HAVE EARNED. SO IT IS CRUCIAL TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT AT THE NATION’S VETERANS HOSPITALS. AMERICA’S VETERANS ALSO DESERVE NOT TO BE TREATED AS SO MANY PAWNS IN ELECTION-YEAR GAMESMANSHIP. BUT THAT SADLY IS APPROVING TO–BUT THAT SADLY IS PROVING TO BE THE CASE IN CONGRESS’S HYPERBOLIC RESPONSE. THAT THE EXTENT OF WRONGDOING IS UNCLEAR DOESN’T SEEM TO MATTER MUCH TO THOSE MORE INTERESTED IN SCORING POLITICAL POINTS. HOW ELSE TO EXPLAIN THE KNEE-JERK CALLS, MAINLY BY REPUBLICANS IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE, FOR THE OUSTER OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY ERIC K. SHINSEKI OR THE ILL-ADVISED LEGISLATION AIMED AT V.A. WORKERS.”

I’M VERY HAPPY TO SEE THAT AS CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE. AND I WOULD SAY TO SENATOR RUBIO AND OTHERS THAT HE IS WELL-AWARE THAT THE VETERANS COMMUNITY FACES MANY, MANY SERIOUS PROBLEMS, ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT WE ARE HEARING IN THELAST FEW WEEKS WITH REGARD TO THE V.A. WE HAVE 200,000 MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE COME BACK FROM IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, EITHER WITH PTSD OR T.B.I.U I WOULD ASSUME THAT MY FRIEND FROM FLORIDA ASSUMES WITH ME THAT THEY NEED TO GET THE QUALITY CARE THAT THEY DESERVE.

I WAS JUST — I JUST HAD THE PRIVILEGE, SENATOR RUBIO, OF BEING HONORED AN HOUR OR SO AGO BY THE GOLD-STAR WIVES. YOU KNOW THOSE ARE THE WIDOWS OF THOSE WHO DIED IN AFNTLE WE HAVE THE LEGISLATION WHICH I BROUGHT TO THE THE FLOOR WHICH RECEIVED 56 VOTES AND ONE SENATOR WAS ABSENT, WHICH WOULD HAVE GIVEN US 57 VOTES. BUT ONLY TWO REPUBLICANS SUPPORTED THAT BILL. THAT BILL WOULD MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR GOLD-STAR WIVES, WIVES WHO HAVE LOST THEIR HUSBANDS, TO BE ABLE TO GET A COLLEGE EDUCATION UNDER THE POST-9/11 G.I. BILL. I SUSPECT THAT SENATOR RUBIO AND MANY OTHERS SUPPORT THAT. THAT’S IN THE BILL THAT I BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR. WE HAVE RIGHT NOW, AS I’M SURE SENATOR RUBIO KNOWS, BECAUSE THE SENATOR EXISTS IN NEW YORK AND FLORIDA, WE HAVE 70-YEAR-OLD WOMEN, IN MOST CASES, WHO ARE TAKING CARE OF DISABLED VETS. THEY DON’T GET THE SUPPORT THAT THEY NEED. THEY’RE ON DUTY 24/7.

THEY SAVE THE GOVERNMENT MONEY BECAUSE THOSE WOUNDED VETERANS ARE STAYING AT HOME. THEY NEED SOME HELP, AND I WANT TO SEE THEM GET HELP. AND I WOULD HOPE THAT SENATOR RUBIO WOULD WORK WITH ME TO MAKE SURE THEY GET THAT HELP.

In February, Rubio was one of forty-one Senate Republicans who blocked a bill that would have improved veterans’ benefits. It is amazing that he and his fellow Republicans have the nerve to stand up and suggest that they care about vets, when they have done nothing but obstruct bills for veterans for years.

Republicans are offering nothing, but their usual knee jerk reactions and gimmicks to score cheap political points. Marco Rubio, who still laughably thinks that he could be president, was the first of many Republicans who will have their humiliating records of veterans issues revealed if they try to play partisan political games with this scandal.

Showing of the movie "Inequality for All"

Northern Grafton County Democrats

For immediate release

Contact: Nancy Martland   nancy.martland@gmail.com

"Inequality for All" at Colonial Theater June 5

The Northern Grafton County Democrats will sponsor a screening of Inequality for All, a humorous and enlightening expose on America’s widening income gap, on Thursday, June 5 at 7 pm at the Colonial Theater, Bethlehem.  A film narrated by Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and one of the world’s foremost economists, Inequality for All examines the reasons why it has been so slow and difficult for our country to pull itself out of the “Great Recession.”

According to Reich, “We’re in the biggest economic slump since the Great Depression, and we can’t seem to get out of it. Why? Because, exactly as in the 1920s, so much of the nation’s income and wealth are going to the top, that the vast middle class doesn’t have the purchasing power to keep the economy going.”

The film combines Mr. Reich’s commentary with graphics, historical images, and interviews with the average Americans who face the growing income gap. Mr. Reich made the film because of his concern that the fundamental qualities of American life are draining away as wealth becomes concentrated in the hands of a very small group.

“People are stressed. They’re angry and frustrated, and the tide is only rising on that front. Their debt obligations are staggering, yet (if lucky enough to have a job), they’re working harder and longer than ever before. People need to understand what’s happening to them – because from their perspective, the picture looks pretty bleak,” he says.

A donation of $5 is requested.

Upcoming events

Today, we have four  important items for you, our fellow democrats to read...

GRAFTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC SUMMIT MEETING

Canaan Meeting House

1169 US Route 4 – Canaan NH

www.canaannh.org/boards/meeting_house

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

10:00 AM -12 noon

1.     Welcome and introduction of guests – Martha Richards

2.     Assessing where we are – Planning for 2014 Liz Kurig

a.     Update from Hassan Campaign

b.     Update from Shaheen Campaign

c.      Update from NH Senate caucus

d.     Update from Committee to Elect House Democrats (CHED)

3.     Winning in November 2014

a.     Candidate Recruitment – who’s running, who’s not, who’s interested – Liz Kulig

b.     Communication and Messaging – Lucas Myer

c.      Fundraising –

                                                             i.      Local - Bedrock Democrats – Carl Martland

                                                           ii.      State – Colin Pio

                                                        iii.      Treasurer’s report – John Chamberlin

4.     NHDP Convention – Martha Richards

5.     Haverhill Fair – Sue Ford

6.     Awards – Martha Richards

7.     Comments for the good of the organization

a.      Secretary’s update - Fran Taylor

b.      Old/New Business

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

The New Hampshire Democratic Party State Convention will be held at Manchester Memorial High School on Saturday June 14, 2014

Registration begins at 8AM.

            +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

And now a word for our very important sponsors...YOU!!

February 2014

BEDROCK DEMOCRATS

OF GRAFTON COUNTY, NH

Bedrock adj. stripped of nonessential matter obscuring or adorning: basic, fundamental, solid, factual.   The great advantage of reality is its hard, bedrock, concrete quality – Lionel Trilling.  (Webster’s Third New International Dictionary)

In 2012, we organized a grass roots effort to counter the anti-government crusade whose aim is to make the wealthiest individuals even more wealthy – at our expense.  We said that it was time to fight back.  And we said it was time to go beyond the grass roots, to go down to bedrock, to our fundamental beliefs about society, about fairness, and about progress.

Back then, we asked for help on behalf of Democratic candidates in Grafton County – and people responded.  We raised more than $10,000 that enabled us to mount an outstanding campaign.  Bedrock funding supported local legislative candidates, it paid for advertising in local newspapers, and it covered the costs of public meetings to discuss health care and key issues.  Among the high profile events with Bedrock support was a public showing of the "Billionaires' Tea Party" at the Colonial Theatre in Bethlehem, a captivating documentary that introduced more than a hundred people to the roles played by the likes of the Koch brothers in convincing so many people to vote against their own self interest.

As you know, our efforts paid off.  Bedrock contributions allowed us to send a heavily Democratic delegation to Concord.  Bedrock contributions enabled our volunteers to spend their time campaigning rather than fund-raising.  Bedrock contributions strengthened our local organizations and our effectiveness in coordinating with state-wide and national campaigns. 

Now we are entering another campaign season, and once again we are asking for your support.  By making a Bedrock contribution, you will strengthen the Grafton County Democrats and you will help our candidates be successful in November.  As shown on the attached form, ten percent of your contribution will go to the Grafton County Democrats.  The remaining 90% can be directed to the local organizations:  the Plymouth Area Democrats, the Upper Valley Democrats, and/or the Northern Grafton County Democrats. 

The Bedrock Democrats, through your generous contributions, have made it possible for our county and regional Democratic officials to focus more on issues, public outreach, finding candidates, and supporting campaigns.   We very much appreciate your support, and we look forward to working with you in the coming campaign.

We thank you for your support!

Martha Richards

Sue Ford

Co-Chairs, Grafton County Democrats

BEDROCK DEMOCRATS OF

GRAFTON COUNTY

Yes!  I want to be part of the Democratic Bedrock!

Category	Minimum Amount		Amount Enclosed:  ________________ Please make check payable to “Grafton County Democrats”
Mt. Blue *	$2014	(   )	Name:	________________________________
Mt. Liberty	$1000	(   )	Address:	________________________________
Franconia Ridge	$500	(   )		________________________________
Kinsman Ridge	$200	(   )		________________________________
Bedrock	$100	(   )	I would like to help with the 2014 campaign:
Glacial Erratic	$20	(   )	Email:	________________________________
Other		(    )	Phone:	________________________________

*  Mt. Blue, a minor shoulder of Mt. Moosilauke, has an ideal name, and it is also located in an ideal location:  somewhat left of center in Grafton County.

I understand that 10% of all contributions will go to support county-level efforts on behalf of Democratic candidates.  Please allocate the remainder of my contribution as follows:

Grafton County Democrats	______%
Plymouth Area Democrats (office in Plymouth)	______%
Upper Valley Democrats (office in Lebanon)	______%
North Grafton Country Democrats (Office in Littleton)	______%
Total	100%

If you donation exceeds $100, please indicate your occupation and your employer, as required by federal campaign finance laws:   ________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________ 

Please make checks payable to

“Grafton County Democrats” and mail to:

Carl D. Martland, Coordinator

Grafton County Bedrock Democrats

16 Post Road

Sugar Hill, NH, 03586

                            ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Bath Area Democrats (BAD) meet the last Tuesday of each month at the Bath Congregational Church at noon for a pot luck/covered dish lunch and discussion.  If you would like to attend, please call me at 747.4001 so I will have an idea of how many people will attend.  In the past we have had Jackie Cilley, Lara Safo, Linda Lauer,  Emily Stone Jacobs and Ray Burton as speakers. 

This month our speaker will be Representative Rebecca Brown. 

 We look forward to seeing you.

And finally...we now have a blog   www.northerngraftoncountydems@blogspot.com

If you have anything you would like to have posted to it, please send it to me in a file form (MS Word is best but we can try to work with others).

You can sign up to receive notification when something new is posted.

Karen Fesler

karenf1040@aol.com

Bath, NH

NH Senate republicans vote to keep Granite Staters underpaid

N.H. Senate Republicans defeat bill to raise minimum wage

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE
Monitor staff

Thursday, May 8, 2014
(Published in print: Friday, May 9, 2014)

• Share on emailEmail
• Print
• Comments (0)
• Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on gmail More Sharing Services 0

New Hampshire’s minimum wage will remain at $7.25 an hour after all 13 Republican senators voted yesterday against a bill to raise it in increments.

“We know that this is a job killer. Let’s kill this bill and preserve jobs in New Hampshire,” Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, a Wolfeboro Republican, told his colleagues.

New Hampshire relies on the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which is lower than the minimum wage in the rest of New England. This bill would have re-established a state minimum wage at $8.25 in 2015, then $9 in 2016. After that, the wage would increase yearly based on inflation. The Democratic-led House passed the bill earlier this session, and House Speaker Terie Norelli, a Portsmouth Democrat, strongly condemned the Senate’s vote. On a state and national level, Democrats are hoping to make raising the minimum wage a major election-year issue.

“The disrespect and lack of understanding projected by a number of senators during the discussion of the bill makes clear that they are dangerously out of touch with the hardworking people they represent,” Norelli said.

During yesterday’s debate, all 11 Democrats stood up to speak in favor of raising the minimum wage, while just four Republicans spoke. Democrats said raising the wage would give hardworking people a much-needed economic boost and, in turn, boost the state’s economy, while Republicans said raising the wage would eliminate entry-level jobs.

Someone working full time for minimum wage makes $15,800 a year, which has a purchasing power 30 percent lower than what a minimum wage worker made in the 1960s, said Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a Manchester Democrat. Raising the minimum wage is one step toward closing a growing gap in income inequality, he said. Working for minimum wage makes it nearly impossible for people to buy food, find affordable housing and support families, he and other Democrats said.

“It should be understood that this legislation isn’t meant to address the kind of inequalities between the ultra-wealthy and the poor, it’s meant to nudge the unlivable wage earners across an important threshold,” D’Allesandro said.

But Republican senators pointed to a recent report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that said while raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would increase wages for millions of people, it could cost 500,000 jobs. When the federal minimum wage went up to $7.25 in 2009, 330,000 teenage jobs were lost, Bradley said. Bradley said he believed the legislation was “well-intentioned,” but that it would do more harm than good. Fellow Republicans agreed.

“Increasing the minimum wage reduces demand for entry-level workers,” said Sen. Peter Bragdon, a Milford Republican. “It’s a hidden tax on employment, and it’s paid by people trying hard to get their first jobs.”

Democrats disputed the characterization that most people making minimum wage are teenagers or entry-level workers. Data shows that 50 percent of people earning the minimum wage are under the age of 25, but almost 40 percent are over the age of 30 and 14 percent are parents. They also pointed to a 2009 study from the Economic Policy Institute that showed the impact on teen employment from raising the minimum wage is negligible.

Sen. Peggy Gilmour, a Hollis Democrat, said that Washington state began tying its minimum wage to the cost of living in 1998 and has not seen the massive job losses that opponents of raising the minimum wage predict.

Although arguments driven by statistics ruled most of the debate, Sen. Molly Kelly, a Keene Democrat, said it was clear either side could choose data points that played to their position. Instead of looking at numbers, she urged her colleagues to think about the people who make minimum wage.

“If a job is not (for) a livable wage, then I would argue it is not a job,” she said.

In a statement after the vote, Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat, said she was disappointed in the Senate’s vote.

“I will continue fighting to restore and improve our state minimum wage in order to boost our economy and strengthen the economic security of thousands of Granite Staters,” she said. 

The Northern Grafton County Democrats will be sponsoring a showing of the movie "Inequality for All" at the Colonial theater in Bethlehem on June 5th at 7PM.

The cost is $5 per ticket.   

Please try to join us then.     

Column: A Marine Speaks Out About Gay Marriage

Roger Dean Huffstetler
For The Washington Post

Friday, April 11, 2014
(Published in print: Friday, April 11, 2014)

I slept with a gay man for six months in Afghanistan.

No one asked. He did not tell.

In 2005, I and 200 Marines in my squadron deployed to Afghanistan to support the global war on terrorism. We were stationed at Bagram air base, a deep bowl surrounded by snowcapped mountains, where it rained and snowed while the sun beamed, prompting one Marine to remark, “Welcome to Afghanistan, the only place on Earth where you get all four seasons and a rocket in the same day.”

We lived in “B-huts,” wooden houses with no internal structure, subdivided into “rooms” by flimsy plywood boards. Every moment was spent in close quarters: working in small offices, eating meals in the chow hall, sleeping in our racks, exercising. We saw each other at our best and our worst, shared secrets and fears, lost patience with and supported one another through the duration of deployment.

Sgt. Santiago and I spoke often, if casually. He routinely had one of the highest physical fitness test scores in our unit and never missed a chance to go salsa dancing stateside with fellow Marines, including our senior enlisted Marine and his wife, whom he persuaded to join him a few times. He also proudly displayed his Puerto Rican flag in his barracks.

Nevertheless, he was a reserved man, quiet, private. I assumed these were inherent personality traits. I didn’t realize that he was hiding something.

I believed I knew the men in my B-hut better than I knew most of my friends at home, yet the man sleeping next door had a secret he dared not reveal for fear of being removed from active duty. It never crossed my mind that he was gay — or that I could have done so much more to be his friend.

∎ 

Even as a kid, Andy was exceptionally affable, the kind of person who could talk to a trash can. He never met a stranger, and he always seemed to know where he was going. Andy was surrounded by a close group of friends, always together, always laughing. It’s fair to say everyone enjoyed being around him.

In our teens, Andy and I would go on mission trips around the country, helping to clean or build homes, with a little vacation Bible school on the side. Perhaps Andy knew then that he was gay — it seems likely — but he flirted with girls, same as the rest of us. If he did know, he kept it to himself, and I lived in ignorance about it.

It would be 20 years before Facebook told me what I didn’t know about my childhood friend. About the same time, Sgt. Santiago’s news broke through the same social network: Both men were engaged to be married. To men.

There was suddenly nothing I wanted more than to make amends.

∎ 

No, I never gay-bashed. I didn’t bully, I didn’t hate, I didn’t torment.

But I did say “fag” to a fellow Marine in front of Sgt. Santiago. I did stay seated in the pew when my minister challenged, “Don’t let anyone tell you that this church is soft on homosexuality.”

Silence is a most powerful consent.

I would think: Civil unions, what’s wrong with that? I considered myself “accepting” and “tolerant,” excusing the soft discrimination that’s easy to shrug off, the implicit inequality of separate but equal.

The irony was that I had always imagined that if I’d lived in the time of segregation and the civil rights movement, I would be the white Southerner who was proud to march with the NAACP — that I would tear down bigoted beliefs and demand equality for all, even putting myself at risk if need be.

But I didn’t do those things. I watched the fight right in front of me without question, inactive and accepting — just like the generations before me.

Well, no longer.

∎ 

Andy and Sgt. Santiago both happen to live in New York now, and in a single visit I managed to apologize to, and feel the weight of, my embarrassment before each of them.

I blinked back tears as I spoke to Sgt. Santiago, who slept next door in Afghanistan, watching for my life as I watched for his:

“I’m sorry I let you down.”

To Andy, my childhood friend who still worships the same God as I do:

“Finding out you are gay has been instrumental in my supporting gay marriage. I’m sorry it took this long.”

And to both of them:

“I aim to do everything I can to make up for being late to the party.”

We don’t need to look backward for a chance to stand up for principles. Life isn’t about always being right — I was wrong for a long time — but about learning from mistakes and making amends. So I started with those conversations and writing about the effect these two men had on me, about how someone raised a Southern Baptist can love everyone equally and can advocate marriage equality.

If you’re reading this and you go to church every Sunday but you know that discrimination is wrong, or you’re serving overseas and worried that you or others in your squadron can’t be themselves, there is something you can do. Write. Speak out. Find the Andys and Sgt. Santiagos in your life and make amends. There is still time to be on the right side of history.

Roger Dean Huffstetler is a former Marine Corps sergeant.