Today we highlight a local effort in Alabama. OFA Alabama is pounding the pavement, reaching out to folks in beauty salons and barbershops around the state to GOTV for November 2010 and let communities know what important races are happening. Here’s what OFA-AL State Director Leanne Townsend had to say:

“In pouring rain, we reached out to over 16 places in only a couple of hours!”

Through a targeted campaign, OFA Alabama has identified over 40 beauty salons and barbershops in an effort to capture the enthusiasm of the many first time and disenfranchised voters who came out in droves to support the election of President Barack Obama.

Throughout the country the community is committing to vote in Florida:

Young and old are committing to Vote 2010-- will you take that pledge?

Yesterday’s special election was the first Congressional election since the passage of health care. Congressman-Elect Deutch’s opponent, Republican Ed Lynch, campaigned hard against reform – he pulled out all the stops and harnessed every scare tactic in the book to try to convince voters to cast their ballots for the Party of No.

In a district heavily populated by seniors, Republicans rehashed the same Medicare myths they used to try to stop reform, spreading misinformation to stop older voters from turning out for Congressman-Elect Deutch. They should have learned their lesson the first time – no matter what they say, the benefits of health reform to seniors are clear.

Health reform adds nearly a decade of solvency to Medicare, improves benefits, lowers the costs of prescription drugs for seniors, covers chronic care and provides free preventative care to seniors. Ed Lynch and Republicans across the country want to roll those benefits back. But in Florida, voters weren’t having any of it.

Not only did Congressman-Elect Deutch win – he won by a huge margin. Deutch got 62 percent of the vote, while Republican Ed Lynch got only 35 percent. This is similar to the performance of the former incumbent Congressman Wexler in 2008, a banner year for Democrats.

As Congressman-Elect Deutch told supporters last night:

“We’ve heard for months that tonight…is a referendum on health care, it’s a referendum on the [Obama] Administration, it’s a referendum on what direction this country is going. Let me tell you something, what we learned today is that in Broward County and Palm Beach County, Florida, the Democratic Party is alive and well.”

Not only is the lesson to Republicans coming out of Florida that the Democratic Party is alive and well there, but that voters want solutions and results, which Democrats have delivered, instead of obstruction, fear and ‘no,’ which is all the Republicans have to offer.]]> http://www.democrats.org/a/2010/04/victory_for_flo.php http://www.democrats.org/a/2010/04/victory_for_flo.php Blog Wed, 14 Apr 2010 11:48:45 -0500 North Carolina
Asheville North Carolina company, Alliance AutoGas is working with Virginia's Department of Energy on alternative fuel development. The company is introducing propane as a cheaper and cleaner fuel alternative throughout the southeast. Through funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the company expects to create about 350 new jobs to convert vehicles to hybrid propane systems and build fueling stations.

Florida
A local cosmetics company is working with Palm Beach county officials to build a new product development plant through funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The new plant will initially employee 350-400 new workers and expand to a total of 800 new jobs.

Washington
The Tulalip Tribe of Washington is receiving funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for restoration work to the Qwuloolt Estuary. The funds, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will create at least 25 new green jobs and restore habitat for fish and wildlife that is valuable to the region.

Here’s an excerpt from an article in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, “U.S. Economy Gets Lift From Stimulus”:

“…Economists say the money out the door -- combined with the expectation of additional funds flowing soon -- is fueling growth above where it would have been without any government action. Many forecasters say stimulus spending is adding two to three percentage points to economic growth in the second and third quarters, when measured at an annual rate. The impact in the second quarter, calculated by analyzing how the extra funds flowing into the economy boost consumption, investment and spending, helped slow the rate of decline and will lay the groundwork for positive growth in the third quarter -- something that seemed almost implausible just a few months ago.”

Thanks to the Recovery Act, 95 percent of Americans are already receiving the Making Work Pay tax cut and tens of thousands of teachers, law enforcement officials and firefighters have been able to stay on the job because of the billions of dollars in Recovery Act funds made available to state and local governments. More than 30,000 Recovery Act projects have already been approved. A few stories from around the country:

In Florida: A Deerfield Beach, FL cosmetics company is planning to build a new manufacturing plant in Palm Springs. The money for the $24 million bond issue comes from the Recovery Act, and will be used to build a 300,000 square-foot plant to develop and produce hair and skin products. The company will eventually employ up to 800 workers. Read about it in the Palm Beach Post.

In Wisconsin: The city of Rhineland, WI will be using more than $15 million in Recovery Act funds to build a new energy efficient water treatment plant (about 20 percent of ARRA’s funds are allocated to green projects). The new treatment plant will be cleaner, save on energy costs and help accommodate population growth. Rhinelander will also be using Recovery At funds to build a new addition onto the Fire Department allowing them to provide additional ambulance services. Both projects are expected to create new jobs for construction workers and plumbers in the Rhinelander area. Read more about it in the Lakeland Times.

In New Hampshire: A public health organization in Laconia, NH is expected to receive nearly $115,000 in Recovery Act funds through the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Disease Control. The funds will be used to help local schools get ahead of flu season and fund immunization programs for all types of flu, including H1N1. Read about it in the Laconia Citizen.

Republican lawmakers, who control both houses of the Legislature, have proposed sweeping changes to the state’s election laws, including new procedures on registering voters, and requiring voters to use a provisional ballot if they move shortly before an election.

The rules would also prevent anyone, including those with video or audio equipment, from getting within 100 feet of a line of voters, even if that line is outside a polling place. This would also prevent anyone from offering legal advice to voters in line.

Many Democrats in the legislature are opposing this legislation along with voting rights groups whose voter drives would be prohibited.

In recent days, some of the nation's more moderate Republican governors have bucked their fellow party members in Washington and come out in favor of the stimulus proposal.

"In some ways, as the governor of Florida, I'm concerned about what infrastructure projects can be supported by this plan, how we can help education, how we can help with health care for the most vulnerable in our society," Gov. Charlie Crist said on Friday. "We have a deficit in our budget that we are facing in our session coming up in March. And it looks like this could be a help to Florida if done right. From some of my colleagues I have spoken with in the congressional delegation, it will help Florida." [...]

In Connecticut, the state's moderate Republican governor Jodi Rell called up Democratic Rep. Jim Himes to ask how she could help move the stimulus through Congress.

"What can I do, who can I call to make sure this passes?" Rell told Himes, according to The Hill.

Check out the Obama campaign blog for photos from Barack Obama's swing through the Sunshine state.

Call 1-877-235-6226 or visit http://fl.barackobama.com to find your closest early vote location.

Americans' retirement plans have lost as much as $2 trillion in the past 15 months, Congress' top budget analyst estimated Tuesday. [...]

As Congress investigates the causes and effects of the financial meltdown, the House Education and Labor Committee was hearing from retirement savings and budget analysts on how the housing, credit and other financial troubles have battered pensions and other retirement funds, which are among the most common forms of savings in the United States.

"Unlike Wall Street executives, America's families don't have a golden parachute to fall back on," said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the panel chairman. "It's clear that their retirement security may be one of the greatest casualties of this financial crisis."

Yet, John McCain stlil wants to privatize Social Security.

And while Sarah Palin is in Florida promising that John McCain will "protect' entitlement programs, his economic advisers are telling the press that there will be massive cuts into Medicare and Medicaid. Perhaps she hadn't read in the newspapers her what her campaign wants to do just yet.

Staff at the Hillsborough County Democratic Party offices in Tampa have been getting barraged with phone calls from party members who have received what they say are deceptive mailers.

Some of the mailers sought support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain; others simply asked for a donation to the Republican National Committee. Most of the voters who have received them are elderly and registered Democrats, local party officials said.

"I still don't understand their angle," said Michael Steinberg, the county Democratic Party's executive committee chairman. "Frankly, it doesn't really make any sense."

One possibility, he suggested, was "vote caging." By sending the mailings to registered voters in envelopes that can't be forwarded, groups can compile lists of voters who might have moved or are part-time residents. Those lists could then be used to challenge the voters' registration and prevent their absentee ballots from being counted in the general election.

An editorial in the St. Petersburg Times calls the mailings some of the "sleaziest campaign tactics."

It apparently uses incorrect or fraudulent voter identification numbers, and it arrives on official-looking forms titled "voter registration tracking forms.'' One of its devious aims appears to be to build lists to challenge the eligibility of legitimate voters. Such an effort to confuse older voters is contemptible, and McCain should denounce it.

Florida Democrats:

Jacksonville, Florida's largest city with more than 800,000 people, voted for 58% for George W. Bush in 2004. When President Bush visited Jacksonville during the 2004 election, he had nearly 50,000 supporters fill Alltel Stadium. [Jacksonville Times-Union, October 24, 2004]

In contrast, John McCain only drew 3,000 at the most to see him this morning at Jacksonville Memorial Arena, which has a capacity of 16,000.

State Tax Collection Fell Short $263.9 Million Over Three Months This Year; Expected Worsen. "State tax collections fell a combined $263.9 million below anticipated levels in March, April and May. June figures are expected to be about $100 million short as the state sinks into recession, economists said." [Orlando Sentinel, 7/6/08]

Florida Is Facing $2 Billion Shortfall from First Year of Crist administration. Florida is facing a $2 billion dollar short fall from '07. [Tallahassee Democrat, 2/1/08]

Crist Using Half of the State Budget Stabilization Fund to Patch Hole in Current Budget. "Seeking to avoid a grim, budget-cutting session while they're running for re-election, legislators earlier this year gave Crist authority to use half of the state's budfund -- or about $700 million -- to patch holes in the 2008-09 spending plan." [Orlando Sentinel, 7/6/08]