Donkey Tails
 By Maury Goodman
September 2007
 For the "Warrenville Today" Newspaper

Glitch in my last column

The final version of the my August column was not the one I sent in, so part of the column wasn’t coherent (no jokes please). Therefore, I repeat two of the items from August as follows:

Local Contacts for some of the Presidential Campaigns Some of the Democratic Presidential candidates have established contact people in DuPage County. For Hillary Clinton, the contact is Alex Eaton - alexeaton5@yahoo.com. For Barrack Obama it is Gayl Ferraro – chairman@dupagedemocrats.org. For John Edwards it is Laura Fletcher – dupage4edwards@comcast.net. For Bill Richardson it is Bob Wagner and Maury Goodman – yorkdems@aol.com & maurygoodman@dupagedemocrats.org.

Congressional District 14 – Linda Chapa LaVia out

Most of Warrenville is in CD14, represented by Dennis Hastert. It is widely expected that he will not run for reelection in 2008, (now it is certain). There is even a rumor he will resign early and we will have a special election. Aurora State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia had established an exploratory committee to run for congress, but now she says that she will not. That leaves three possible Democratic Candidates – Iraq Veteran and 2006 candidate John Laesch, Physicist and Businessman William Foster, and attorney Jotham Stein.

Barrack Obama for President

This is my continuing feature on Democratic Presidential Candidates for 2008, part 7. This week I will feature Illinois’ favorite son Senator Obama. From his website:

Senator Obama has been able to develop innovative approaches to challenge the status quo and get results. Americans are tired of divisive ideological politics, which is why Senator Obama has reached out to Republicans to find areas of common ground. He has tried to break partisan logjams and take on seemingly intractable problems. During his tenure in Washington and in the Illinois State Senate, Barack Obama has accumulated a record of bipartisan success.

· Strengthening America Overseas As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Obama has fought to strengthen America's position in the world. Reaching across the aisle, Obama has tackled problems such as preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and stopping the genocide in Darfur.

· Plan to End the Iraq War Before the war in Iraq ever started, Senator Obama said that it was wrong in its conception. In 2002, then Illinois State Senator Obama said Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the United States and that invasion would lead to an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. Since then, Senator Obama has laid out a plan on the way forward in Iraq that has largely been affirmed by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton.

· Creating a Healthcare System that Works I believe that every American has the right to affordable health care. I believe that the millions of Americans who can't take their children to a doctor when they get sick have that right...We now face an opportunity - and an obligation - to turn the page on the failed politics of yesterday's health care debates. It's time to bring together businesses, the medical community, and members of both parties around a comprehensive solution to this crisis, and it's time to let the drug and insurance industries know that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair." -Barack Obama, Speech in Iowa City, IA, 5/27/07

· Fighting Poverty There are 37 million poor Americans. Most poor Americans are in the workforce, yet still cannot afford to make ends meet. And too many poor Americans are single mothers who are raising children. Barack Obama has been a lifelong advocate for the poor -- as a young college graduate, he rejected the high salaries of corporate America and moved to the South Side of Chicago to work as a community organizer. As an organizer, Obama worked with churches, Chicago residents and local government to set up job training programs for the unemployed and after school programs for kids.

· Environment Barack Obama believes that we have a responsibility to our children to leave this Earth better than we found it. He has a plan to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and to turn the global warming crisis into a moment of opportunity for innovation and job creation. And as president, he will restore America’s promise of a clean and beautiful environment by cleaning up our air and water, building healthier communities with fewer toxins, and preserving our forests and other national treasures. In doing so, Obama will make sure that our environmental laws and policies balance America’s need for a healthy, sustainable environment with economic growth.

· Energy Senator Obama has been a leader in the Senate in pushing for a comprehensive national energy policy and has introduced a number of bills to get us closer to the goal of energy independence. By putting aside partisan battles, he has found common ground on CAFE, renewable fuels, and clean coal.

· Immigration and the Border Barack Obama believes the immigration issue has been exploited by politicians to divide the nation rather than find real solutions. This divisiveness has allowed the illegal immigration problem to worsen, with borders that are less secure than ever and an economy that depends on millions of workers living in the shadows.

· Cleaning Up Washington's Culture of Corruption Throughout his political career, Barack Obama has been a leader in fighting for open and honest government. As a U.S. Senator, he has spearheaded the effort to clean up Washington in the wake of the Jack Abramoff scandal. In a politically charged election year, Obama acknowledged that corruption was a problem that plagued both political parties. He subsequently enlisted the help of Republican allies to limit lobbyist influence, shine sunlight into the earmarks process and promote open government.

Upcoming Events

Many events of interest to Warrenville and DuPage County Democrats can be found at http://www.dupagedemocrats.org/dupagenews.html Send information about events that aren’t listed to webmaster@dupagedemocrats.org

Feedback

It is welcomed and appreciated maurygoodman@dupagedemocrats.org