Blog

Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz sent the following email to supporters encouraging them to stand up against Republicans and defend SNAP funding.

Friend --

House Republicans are voting today to cut food stamps by $40 billion, which would kick up to 6 million people off the program.

I can throw a lot of stats and numbers at you about how terrible that would be, but I think an article from the New York Times a couple weeks ago sums it up best. Here's the part that really got me:
As a self-described "true Southern man" -- and reluctant recipient of food stamps -- Dustin Rigsby, a struggling mechanic, hunts deer, doves and squirrels to help feed his family. He shops for grocery bargains, cooks budget-stretching stews and limits himself to one meal a day.
...
For the Rigsbys, both 20, the priority is three meals a day for their son, Drake, who is 1. Some months they run out of milk. Mr. Rigsby, who is out of work with a knee injury, recently sold his truck for cash; his wife, Christina, works part time as a clerk at J.C. Penney. On the refrigerator in their sparsely furnished apartment is a calendar marked with the date -- the 6th -- that their card is refreshed. "FOOD!" it declares.

"When we got married, we told each other that we want to be able to sit down at the table and eat as a family," Mrs. Rigsby said. "But we don't really get to do that."

In Washington, House Republicans propose cutting $40 billion more in food stamps over the next 10 years by imposing work requirements and eliminating waivers for some able-bodied adults. The cuts would push four million to six million low-income people, including millions of "very low-income unemployed parents" who want to work but cannot find jobs, off the rolls, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Those proposed cuts are being voted on today. And we need to stop them.

Add your name, and call on Republicans to stop playing games with food stamps:

http://my.democrats.org/Protect-SNAP

Thanks,

Debbie

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Chair
Democratic National Committee

In an email, Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz shared the Democrats' four-point strategy for winning elections in 2013, 2014 and beyond and encouraged supporters to get involved.

Friend --

I just got back from the DNC summer meeting in Arizona, so I thought I'd let you in on our strategy for the upcoming year and beyond (because I'm really excited about it).

We have a four-pronged plan for the coming year:

Recruiting and training top talent. Our party is only as strong as the people in it. So we're going to focus on identifying great candidates for state and local offices, training organizers across the country, and helping talented young people from all backgrounds break into politics through our Hope Institute program.

Maintaining and building our digital edge. A big part of the reason we won last year is because our online program and tools were light years ahead of the Republicans. But that's the thing about cutting-edge technology -- it stops being cutting-edge pretty quickly. We're not going to rest on our laurels. We're going to work hard to maintain our edge while developing the next generation of tools.

Expanding access to the ballot box. Every single thing we do as a party centers on our most fundamental right as Americans -- the right to vote. You've seen Republicans across the country restrict that right by taking advantage of the recent Supreme Court decision to gut the Voting Rights Act. And we're going to be fighting back by launching a national voter protection program.

Holding Republicans accountable and promoting the Democratic agenda. You've heard Republicans talk a lot about how they're "rebranding" their party and agenda to be more inclusive after last year's election. But if you've been paying attention to the policies they're supporting, you've noticed that they've only gotten more extreme. We're going to make sure they don't get away with that bait-and-switch.

Many people are going to work very hard to make sure this plan succeeds, but I have to be straight with you: a main factor in its success or failure will be whether we have the resources to pull it off.

Chip in $10 or more today and make sure we can put our plan into motion:

https://my.democrats.org/Our-Strategy

This is a winning plan -- and I can't wait to get to work on it with you, because we saw last year what we're capable of.

Thanks,

Debbie

Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Chair
Democratic National Committee

P.S. -- You've seen what we can do when we get this organization operating at its peak -- let's do it again.

Seventy-eight years ago today, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law, making a promise to America’s seniors to help them retire with the dignity and security they earned through a lifetime of hard work. Social Security has provided millions of Americans a level of stability for not only retirees, but also for individuals with disabilities and those receiving survivor benefits.

Today, I am proud to stand with President Obama as we continue to fulfill the promise made so many years ago. Democrats remain committed to preserving and protecting Social Security for millions of seniors across the country and for future generations of Americans. We believe that a sustainable retirement does not just have to be a benefit for the privileged few, but for all hard-working Americans.  This assistance helps make sure seniors can pay their bills, buy groceries, and purchase life-saving medications.

Seventy-eight years later, Social Security continues to ensure Americans can live with the dignity they deserve—part of the vision that if you work hard and put in your time, you have earned the basic benefits of a secure future. I stand by the President as we work to continue that vision, and live up to the promises made to our nation’s seniors by fighting to strengthen and protect their hard-earned benefits.

As Chair of the Democratic Party, I've been to more GOTV events than I can count. I've visited almost every state and have been involved in everything from the Presidential election to Governorships to ballot initiatives and small town races.

But never have I seen an election like the one that's happening in Colorado right now.

After the Colorado legislature passed commonsense gun violence prevention measures, national deep-pocketed gun lobbyists and their allies decided they weren't satisfied. They weren't going to let a small thing like the democratic process get in their way. So instead of waiting until the next election (which is only a little more than a year away), they're bankrolling a wasteful recall effort on two current elected officials — elected officials who have strong track records on job creation, education and strengthening Colorado's middle-class families.
 
This effort is a blatant attack on our Democratic principles and it's a waste of Colorado taxpayer dollars. A recall will cost Colorado's citizens hundreds of thousands of dollars. It also sets a dangerous precedent for communities across our country. Local elections are supposed to be about the people in their districts, not extreme national groups trying to impose their policies.

These national gun lobbyists have already tried to buy votes in Congress. Let's not let them buy elections, too.

To learn more about these elections, visit: http://www.coloradodems.org/

Governor Scott is back at it.  In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, Governor Scott announced he is taking another shot at purging Florida’s voter rolls of ‘noncitizens.’

Just to be clear, we’re talking about Republican purging efforts botched so badly that Governor Scott himself had to vote by provisional ballot in 2006 because the purge had determined he was dead.

Seriously.

You’d think that would have been a wake-up call that this sort of purging is deeply flawed and unnecessary.

Governor Scott and his Republican Administration claim this is simply an effort to suppress voter fraud, but Floridians know better.  This shameful attempt to shrink the electorate was highly controversial in the months leading up to the 2012 presidential election, when the Department of Justice sued the state of Florida for attempting to disqualify thousands of voters less than 90 days before an election.

The ability to cast a vote and have one’s vote counted is central to the functioning of our democracy.  But too often, Republicans have systematically turned how ballots are cast into a manufactured issue in swing states across the country.  Too often, these Republican-led so-called anti-voter fraud efforts are nothing more than thinly veiled attempts to disqualify voters that reek of politics.

Such is the case in Florida.  Of the 180,000 potential noncitizens identified for purging in 2012, less than 0.02% were actually ineligible. Nearly 60 percent of those included in the initial list were Hispanic – meanwhile, Hispanic voters make up only 13 percent of Florida’s electorate.

Unfortunately for Governor Scott and national Republicans, Florida’s voters won’t be fooled again.   Attempts like what is now happening in Florida, and what is happening in many states across the country, go against the spirit of our democracy and are exactly why Congress must answer President Obama’s call to restore the Voting Rights Act to its full authority.