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You are invited — March 25, Leslie Mehta speaking in Kilmarnock

Leslie Mehta, Democratic candidate for Congress, Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, is speaking at the Lancaster County Democrats’ meeting — LETS’ ALL JOIN THE LANCASTER DEMS AT THIS MEETING.
MARCH 25, 2024
LCDC Social and Meeting
Social begins at 6:30 P.M. Meeting starts at 7:00 P.M.
Lancaster Community Library,
16 Town Centre Drive, Kilmarnock
Speaker: Leslie Mehta, Democratic Candidate for Congress from Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, US House of Representatives

Leslie Mehta is a civil rights attorney, an advocate, a mom, and a proud Democrat running to flip Virginia’s 1st congressional district. As the former Legal Director of the ACLU of Virginia, and throughout her 20-year legal career, Mehta has championed justice and equity for people in the face of discrimination and fought to strengthen constitutional rights of all Virginians, whatever their political beliefs.

In 2021, after her daughter Brooke tragically passed away from Rett syndrome, a rare and sometimes fatal genetic disease, Mehta was determined to find ways of fighting back against our country’s broken healthcare system and being a source of support for other parents and families. From standing up for disability and special education programs to battling government bureaucracy, she took her experiences and fought back.

Mehta has a history of advancing smart policy and working with both parties to advocate and achieve needed reform. She is proud to have been appointed to leadership positions by both Democratic and Republican governors, serving from 2019-2021 on Governor Northam’s Commission to Examine Racial and Economic Inequity, then being asked in 2023 to sit on Governor Youngkin’s Rare Disease Council. Additionally, she has successfully petitioned Democrats and Republicans in Congress for funding towards healthcare research, providing her with a wealth of first-hand knowledge on how to get things done at the federal level of governing.

The daughter of a correctional officer and a social worker, Mehta grew up in a rural, no-stop-light in North Carolina. She graduated from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and then received her JD from Howard University School of Law. Leslie, her husband Tarun, and their daughter Blair, live in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Featured

Two Democrats vying to challenge Wittman

As of today, two Democrats have filed to run in the June 18 primary, the winner of which will face off in November against Rob Wittman to represent the First Congressional District in the US House of Representatives.

LESLIE MEHTA.  Here is her “About Mehta” from her website.

Civil rights attorney, mom, and proud Democrat running to flip Virginia’s 1st Congressional District.

For Leslie Mehta, advocating for others is ingrained in her DNA and woven through her lived experience. She was raised in a small rural town in North Carolina, with a population of 800 people and zero traffic lights. She is the daughter of a corrections officer and social worker, both of whom instilled in her the importance of leveraging your skills to give back. A determined child, Leslie worked hard in school and was offered the chance to complete high school at the prestigious North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. She later received her undergraduate degree at UNC Chapel Hill and law degree from Howard University School of Law.

After a rewarding career as a litigator and then civil rights attorney, Leslie was named the Legal Director of the ACLU of Virginia. At the ACLU, Leslie worked tirelessly to protect the constitutional rights of all Virginians, regardless of their political beliefs.

HERB JONES.  Herb ran against Wittman in 2022.  “Meet Herb” from his website.

As a member of the U.S. Army, Treasurer of New Kent County, and a small business owner and active community member, Herb Jones has spent his life serving our nation and communities to build a better future for all of us. He has seen that there is more that unites us than divides us, and that right now we need leaders who are willing to stand up and advocate for our shared values against threats to our freedoms and our democracy.

Herb retired from the U.S. Army after 30 years with the rank of full colonel having completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan a being awarded the Bronze Star for Iraq service. Herb has served New Kent County as their elected Treasurer for 12 years and built a successful small business here focused on cloud-computing, project management, and logistics. Now Herb’s community is asking him to serve again—this time in the halls of Congress.

Herb is a member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., Lead Virginia, Class of 2021, Leadership Metro Richmond, Class 1995, Charter member New Kent Rotary Club, Providence Forge Ruritans, former board member Thrive Virginia (formerly Quin Rivers) and current board chair, Williamsburg James City County Community Action Agency, Patrick Henry Chapter, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), the Wounded Warrior Project, and the NAACP.

Even Republican voters do not trust Republicans to save Social Security and Medicare

Even Republican Voters Don’t Trust the GOP To Save Social Security and Medicare
by Joan McCarter | February 28, 2024 – 7:14am
— from Daily Kos

A new survey from Navigator Research doesn’t just show how strongly voters feel about protecting Social Security and Medicare, but it also shows how much voters don’t trust Republican lawmakers to do it. And that’s including a solid majority—61%—of Republicans.

The survey finds that 75% of registered voters are either somewhat or very concerned that congressional Republicans “passed a tax plan that gave record-breaking tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and biggest corporations, but would result in cuts to programs that people count on like Social Security and Medicare.” Supporting tax breaks for the wealthy at the cost of Social Security and Medicare are the most concerning positions of Republicans in Congress on the issue of taxes.

Voters have good reason not to trust the GOP. Right now, House Republicans are plotting yet another fiscal commission that could fast track Social Security and Medicare cuts, in the name of deficit reduction, and they want to include that commission in the 2024 funding package. We’ve seen this ploy from Republicans before, with the Bowles-Simpson commission in 2010 and a congressional “super committee” in 2011. These committees are how Republicans have tried to cut Social Security and Medicare without dirtying their own hands. In this ploy, a committee would be responsible for coming up with the plan, and then Congress would have to pass it in order to save the country from the deficit.

This time around, however, the majority of Democrats aren’t going to play the deficit-peacock game, and they’re calling this plan what it is: “They should probably call this commission the Commission to Slash Benefits,” Rep. John Larson of Connecticut said at a recent press conference. “It’s tantamount to passing a death panel, because that will be the impact on so many Americans.”

more…

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/joan-mccarter/109541/even-republican-voters-don-t-trust-the-gop-to-save-social-security-and-medicare

Rob Wittman wants to ban contraception

Rob Wittman is coming after your birth control pills — he’s coming after you, your daughters, your granddaughters, your nieces.

Rob Wittman and the Republican Party continue their war against women by trying to ban contraception.  I know this sounds unbelievable but it is true.

For most of our history, contraception was whispered about.  In most states, it was illegal to manufacture, sell, or use, or to teach about contraceptive devices.   Under the Connecticut Comstock Act of 1873 it was illegal to use “any drug, medicinal article, or instrument for the purpose of preventing conception“.

In 1961 Estelle Griswold and Dr. Lee Buxton opened a clinic in New Haven to teach about contraception and provide contraceptives.  Griswold was arrested, found guilty, and appealed.  Her case went to the Supreme Court who ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965, that “marital privacy” is a protected right and contraception is a protected private matter — just as Roe v. Wade was based largely on privacy concerns.

In his concurrence with overturning Roe, Justice Thomas wrote:  “In future cases, we should reconsider all of this court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold. . . Because any substantive due process decision is ‘demonstrably erroneous’ we have a duty to ‘correct the error’ established in those precedents.”  According to Thomas, it is “erroneous” for people to have the right to contraception and Griswold was a mistake.

In an attempt to protect access to contraception, in July 2022 the House of Representatives passed the “Right to Contraception Act”.  ROB WITTMAN AND 194 OTHER REPUBLICANS VOTED “NAY”.

Now, the same groups who worked for 50 years to overturn Roe are quietly working to overturn Griswold because they claim contraception is a “form of abortion” – they lie, it is not.

Don’t be fooled: Republicans and Rob Wittman are coming after your birth control pills.

Wittman must be voted out of office in November.

What has the Biden-Harris administration done to earn my vote?

That’s a good question.

And the answer is — as Joe Biden would say: “A helluva a lot!!!”

Follow this link for an updated list of Biden-Harris accomplishments.  On the left side of the page is a list of accomplishments.  Click on the accomplishment and you will see in the right-hand column a graphic describing the accomplishment.

And after you have read the White House list of accomplishments, here are more for you.