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Volunteer Help Needed to Support FCDC Treasurer

The FCDC Treasurer’s Office needs help depositing checks, running credit cards, and entering data into donor management software. Volunteers should be available to come into FCDC headquarters in Merrifield during the day regularly for a few hours once or twice a week and should have basic computer skills. If you are interested, please contact Nadja Golding, FCDC Treasurer (treasurer@fairfaxdemocrats.org, 703.573.6811).

Evans for School Board – Volunteer Kick-Off

Please join us:

WHEN: Saturday, December 19th, 2009
WHERE: Magill’s – 7201 Little River Turnpike Annandale, VA 22003-3304, map: click here
PHONE: (703) 750-0210

WHAT:
10:00 a.m. for donuts and coffee.
10:30 a.m. pick-up a walk sheet and help Sandy hit the ground running
10:30-12:30 a.m. Knock on as many doors as possible and deliver Sandy’s literature
Noon-12:30—Return to Magill’s for pizza
12:30-2:00—Relax at Magill’s and celebrate a job well-done.

In case of rain, please still join us, we’ll make phone calls instead of knocking on doors. This campaign is going to be very quick—the Holiday season limits how much work we’ll be able to do, so please do help us get this campaign kicked off on Saturday.

R2R 2010

Please join FCDC for the 2010 Road to Richmond breakfast. It will help us start off the 2010 year on the right foot and send our Democratic legislators to Richmond knowing they have our continued support behind them.  We look forward to seeing you on Sunday, January 3rd at 11am at the Springfield Golf and Country Club, 8301 Old Keene Mill Rd, Springfield, VA 22152.

There will be a fantastic breakfast buffet including French toast with berries, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, assorted fruit, bagels, muffins, orange & cranberry juices, coffee & tea.

For Tables and Tickets Click Here!

For Program Ads download the flier and return by mail.  For more information or details contact Nancy Simmons at nancysimmons@cox.net or call 703.573.6811.

  Road to Richmond 2010 – Ad Form (17.3 KiB)

FCDC Breast Cancer Awareness Month Event with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)

FCDC recognizes October as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and we invite you to join us and the Congresswoman at an event to benefit FCDC’s Joint Campaign and the fight against breast cancer.

Wednesday, October 21  7-9 PM
At the home Supervisor John and Marilyn Foust (7822 Swinks Mill Court, McLean, VA 22102)

Click here to RSVP

RSVP and additional information: Leslie Mason 703.893.7007 or Ginny Peters 703.799.3418.

FCDC Endorses Health Care Reform

At the July 28 FCDC meeting a unanimous vote for a resolution in support of health care reform was passed, and in particular for the public option. The FCDC National Affairs Committee (NAC) was tasked with writing the resolution, and they put a lot of effort into it. The resolution was released September 3rd, 2009.

The Fairfax County Democratic Committee Unanimously Endorses Health Care Reform that Includes a Comprehensive Public Option Similar to Medicare

Whereas, health care is a moral issue; President Obama said,“ I think it should be a right for every American,” and Senator Ted Kennedy said, “We will…guarantee that every American…will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege”; and

Whereas, the 2008 Democratic Party platform called for guaranteed healthcare for all; the nation overwhelmingly elected President Obama and Democratic majorities to Congress with a mandate to deliver healthcare for all; FCDC members, other Virginia Democrats, and thousands of new volunteers gave their time, resources and trust to mandate Democratic candidates to fulfill this promise; and

Whereas, 14,000 Americans lose their health insurance every day; approximately one million Virginians lacked health insurance in 2007, and the economic downturn has driven those numbers far higher today; over the last nine years premiums have gone up four times faster than family incomes; health care costs cause a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds; 62.1% of all bankruptcies in 2007 were medical; most medical debtors were well educated, owned homes, and had middle-class occupations; three-quarters of the medically bankrupt were insured, but their coverage was insufficient to protect them from financial collapse; half of American families are rationing medical care because they can’t afford it, and within a decade, one out of every four dollars we earn will be spent on health care; and

Whereas, rationing health care according to ability to pay has diminished the overall health of our citizens to the point that, in comparison to other nations, the United States has been ranked thirty-six in quality by the World Health Organization; and

Whereas, skyrocketing health care costs are contributing to the current economic crisis, weighing heavily on American family, business, and government budgets;  health care reform is economic reform because the economy is an integrated system that includes health care, and to help restore our economy and secure our nation’s fiscal future real health care reform is essential; and

Whereas, President Obama has repeatedly stated …”that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices and ensure quality is a Public Option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest.”; and

Whereas, former Governor Howard Dean said,“ Medicare is cheaper, it is more efficient and a far smaller percentage of dollars that goes into it is spent on non-health-care items. It’s about five times as expensive to insure yourself with a private health insurance than it is with Medicare. So that’s what the Public Option looks like…”; and

Whereas, administrative costs for Medicare total around 3%; private health insurers spend 15%-20% on the administration of their plans (campaign contributions, underwriting, billing, sales, marketing, advertising, lobbyist and executive salaries, corporate profits), evincing the inefficiency of such systems in contrast to a comprehensive Public Option similar to Medicare; and

Whereas, if US private insurer costs aren’t constrained, private insurance premiums for employer-sponsored coverage are projected to rise 94% by 2020; these swelling private insurance premiums for employer-sponsored coverage reduce American business’s competitiveness in the international marketplace, particularly among other industrialized nations whose citizens enjoy universal health care and whose employers don’t have to subtract ever-increasing employee premium contributions from their bottom line; and

Whereas, lack of competition is a major source of the United States’ uniquely high and rising health costs; a comprehensive Public Option will persuade private insurers to compete more on efficiency and quality, compelling reductions in their administrative costs, and reining in the ballooning growth in overall health care costs; and

Whereas, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyses show that offering a strong, comprehensive Public Option as well as private plans through a health coverage exchange will help all Americans, not just the uninsured, by slowing the growth in premiums; and a recent Commonwealth Fund analysis found that offering a comprehensive Public Option alongside private plans to all individuals and employers is our most effective weapon in combating health costs, resulting in a savings as high as $3 Trillion between 2010-2020; and a comprehensive Public Option is the fiscally responsible option; and

Whereas, a comprehensive Public Option would also ensure health care coverage that is portable and available nationwide, regardless of employment status or preexisting medical conditions, while preserving choice of doctors and plans; and

Whereas, in the August, 2009 edition of the Kaiser Health Care Tracking poll, 59 percent of Americans favor “creating a government-administered public health insurance option similar to Medicare to compete with private health insurance plans”; and the American people should be allowed the freedom to choose between a comprehensive Public Option like Medicare or private insurance; and

Whereas, courageous Democratic Senators and Representatives have proposed legislation, including a comprehensive Public Option similar to Medicare, that would provide universal health care coverage and control costs; and

Whereas, there must be a comprehensive Public Option like Medicare in any health reform bill passed this year because providing subsidies for private insurance alone is not true health reform, as that would perpetuate unaffordable monthly premiums, unacceptably high deductibles, crushing co-pays, medical debt, bankruptcy, and denials of care.

Therefore, Be it Resolved that the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC) unanimously endorses Health Care Reform that includes a comprehensive Public Option similar to Medicare; and

Therefore, Be it Further Resolved that FCDC expects every Democratic member of the Virginia delegation to Congress to actively support health care reform legislation that includes a comprehensive Public Option similar to Medicare.

Mary Ann Hovis Elected FCDC Chair

With the resignation of Scott Surovell to run for the House of Delegates in the 44th District (open seat from Kris Amundson), the chairmanship of FCDC needed filling. Vice Chair for Finance, Mary Ann Hovis, was elected without opposition and by acclamation last night at the regular bimonthly meeting of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee.

A first action of Chairman Hovis was to appoint replacements for her position. Leslie Mason and Ginny Peters were appointed interim Co-Vice Chairs for Finance to be voted on at the September FCDC meeting.

FCDC July General Meeting – Electing A New Chair

Tuesday, July 28 at 7:30 pm FCDC will hold it’s regularly scheduled meeting at Sidney Lanier Middle School (3801 Jermantown Road, Fairfax, VA 22030; map:  http://tinyurl.com/LanierMS).

The main topic of business is the election of a permanent Chair for the remainder of Scott Surovell’s term (term of office ends January 2010).

Lola Quintela has served as interim chair since June 24th, when Scott Surovell announced his candidacy for the 44th House of Delegates seat (Kris Amundson retiring from the General Assembly).

At this time only Mary Ann Hovis, current FCDC Vice-Chair for Finance, has indicated she is running for the seat.

School Board Opening in Providence District

FCDC would like to thank Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner for his great service to the community on the School Board as the Providence District member.  As Phil moves on to a new chapter in his life FCDC is working to continue to support candidates for School Board who have strong Democratic principles.  As such we are making available an application and questionnaire for candidates who are interested in seeking FCDC’s endorsement for the special election for Providence District School Board Member.

Any individual seeking this non-partisan elected office (Fairfax County School Board) may request endorsement of his or her candidacy by the Fairfax County Democratic Committee (FCDC). Any individual seeking the endorsement of FCDC must complete an Application and Questionnaire and submit both, along with a $150 Application Fee, to the FCDC office by 5:00 PM on Monday, July 20, 2009.

For more information call 703-573-6811 or email mike.burns@fairfaxdemocrats.org.

CANCELLED *** Call to Caucus for 44th House of Delegates District

Fairfax County Democratic Committee Call to Caucus – CANCELLED [Scott Surovell is the sole filer by the July 3rd deadline and has been designated the Democratic candidate in the 44th.]

For Selection of Candidate for 44th House of Delegates District

Whereas, it is the duty of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee to issue the Call to Caucus for the purpose of selecting a candidate for the General Election to be held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 for 44th House of Delegates District.

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Message from Interim FCDC Chair Lola Quintela

Fellow Democrats,

How many times have you told yourself, coming home from work late in the evening on a Friday, “What a week!”? I guess today we can all say a collective, “What a week!”

Delegate Kris Amundson´s decision not to seek reelection triggered a series of events that directly affected the FCDC family. Scott stepped down from the Chairmanship to start a new and exciting endeavor and we will miss him. A lot. Fortunately, FCDC´s bench is deep. We have talented, committed, and passionate Democrats ready to take on the baton for the next leg of the journey. With everybody´s help we will turn the House of Delegates blue this November and we will keep the Governor´s Mansion.

There will be a few more changes still to come as we elect a new Chair on July 28. But I am confident that the institution will emerge as strong and effective as ever, ready to push forward the agenda that the Blue Team promised to implement when it was elected in January of last year. Since Scott´s resignation last Wednesday, the Steering Committee has met to approve a call for caucus, we have purchased new computers for the office, as called for in the business plan, and we are close to hiring all the organizers for our Red to Blue campaign. We are not slowing down!

Thank you for your help, support and understanding during this transition. Now, let´s keep our eyes on the prize, roll up our sleeves and get some good Democrats elected. Let´s make Scott proud.

Sincerely,
Lola Quintela
Interim Chair, FCDC

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