17 January 2010

Monday’s King Day Observances in New Britain
The city Human Rights and Opportunities Commission will hold its annual breakfast and program in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Monday, January 18th with a 9 a.m. breakfast and program at Angelico’s Restaurant on East Street followed by a brief ceremony at the King Park monument at the corner of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Stanley Street. The King Park ceremony will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m.

A program sponsored by the Mary McLeod Bethune Club will be held in the afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. at the McCullough Temple on Chapman Street, New Britain. The guest speaker is Rory Edwards.

Forum on Fate of Clean Elections Law Planned for Tuesday, January 19th
An informational forum on the status of the citizen’s election program will be held on Tuesday, January 19th from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the University of Hartford in West Hartford. The forum is being organized by Common Cause Connecticut.
Connecticut’s campaign finance law, put in jeopardy by a court ruling last year that found the law abridged the rights of minor party candidates, requires immediate action by the Connecticut General Assembly to make the law more accessible to minor parties and to preserve a new “clean elections” system hailed by supporters as a model for the nation. Maine (through a referendum) and other states have previously enacted public financing laws that have been in effect for years.
The case has brought the Connecticut American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU), representing the Green Party, and the Connecticut Association of Lobbyists (if you are thinking politics makes strange bedfellows you’d be right in this case) together to kill election reform unless the Legislature acts to change the law in time for the 2010 election for Governor and all state offices.
According to clean elections advocates, “the Governor and legislature need to amend the law as soon as possible to make sure it continues to be successful for the 2010 elections. This law has made it possible for people who are not rich or well connected to lobbyists to run for state legislature and for statewide office. It is a model for the nation. Without making changes to the law we risk going back to the John Rowland days of pay to play politics.” The widespread corruption of the Rowland administration – a legacy that taxpayers still pay for every day – spawned the clean election law that is in jeopardy in the first gubernatorial year it would effect.

The Clean Elections law received the strong support of New Britain’s legislative delegation and a strong push for a special session to revise the law is anticipated in the coming days. Fighting the issue in the courts has proven to be ineffective with no hope of a remedy that would preserve the move to clean elections that took effect in 2008.

For more information call Connecticut Common Cause at 860-794-8342

Happy Birthday Harriet!


New Britain realtor Harriet Geragosian (Unique Realty) celebrated her 80th birthday this past week with the good wishes of her many friends, including New Britain Democrats. Harriet, a longtime election volunteer and supporter of Democratic candidates, is a past recipient of the Connecticut Democratic Party’s women’s leadership award and was one of the early recipients of the New Britain Democratic Party’s Distinguished Service Award. New Britain Democrats congratulate Harriet and look forward to her continuing service in 2010. [NBDTC Photo: Harriet Geragosian with Atty. Harold Geragosian and State Rep. John Geragosian at a Democratic awards ceremony]

Massachusetts Senate Race: Call Goes Out To Support Democrat Coakley (No Matter Where You Are)
President Obama’s appearance at a Boston rally Sunday underscored the importance of Democrat Martha Coakley winning the U.S. Senate seat for health insurance reform to be adopted in the Congress under the current cloture rules.
The closeness of the special election contest and the expected low turnout on Tuesday, January 19th, is bringing appeals from our neighbors to the north to help Get Out The Vote in the Bay State.
New Britain Democrats wishing to help get out the vote in MA may go to www.democrats.org to be connected to the “neighbor to neighbor” campaign; the technology will enable volunteers to call five or more voters on behalf of Coakley and the passage of health care reform.

Haiti Relief: A compilation of resources to help from Google

www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=haiti%20charity

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So, yes, we're passing through a hard winter. It's the hardest in some time. But let's always remember that, as a people, the American people, we've weathered some hard winters before. This country was founded during some harsh winters. The fishermen, the laborers, the craftsmen who made camp at Valley Forge -- they weathered a hard winter. The slaves and the freedmen who rode an underground railroad, seeking the light of justice under the cover of night -- they weathered a hard winter. The seamstress whose feet were tired, the pastor whose voice echoes through the ages -- they weathered some hard winters. It was for them, as it is for us, difficult, in the dead of winter, to sometimes see spring coming. They, too, sometimes felt their hopes deflate. And yet, each season, the frost melts, the cold recedes, the sun reappears. So it was for earlier generations and so it will be for us.

President Obama, speaking Sunday at the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.