Northumberland County, Virginia. See "Editorial Opinion" for our comments on current events.
The Northumberland County Democratic Commitee Christmas Party will be:
Our next meeting will be January 17, 2019; 7:00 PM; Northumberland Public Library, 7204 Northumberland Hwy, Heathsville.
The Lancaster County Democratic Committee (LCDC) will hold its special, post-midterms, monthly meeting:
The meeting will include business essentials, a recap and analysis of the mid-term elections, and discussion of plans going forward. The evening’s analysis will focus on what worked, what needs to be improved, and how best to proceed.
The midterms were marked by an easy re-election for Senator Tim Kaine, and turnout in Lancaster County for Vangie Williams was 50% greater than the average midterm Democratic vote against Rep. Wittman. We’re requesting that attendees be prepared to share their analysis of what worked in the midterms, what can be improved and what we should do going forward. The Presidential Election in 2020 holds great promise for Democrats.
LCDC meetings are open to all. Northern Neck snacks are always on display. Attendees are encouraged to share and enjoy volunteer treats with the group. Please plan to join us.
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Visit the LCDC website at http://www.lancovadems.org
Democrats please “SAVE THE DATE” for our annual Christmas dinner/party. It will be on Tuesday December 11 at the Women’s Club in Lottsburg from 5:30-8:00pm. More information to follow.
The next federal census is in 2020 followed by 2021 in which all states — including Virginia — will redraw voting district lines for all legislative districts — federal (Senate and House) and state (Senate and House of Delegates).
Redistricting is done by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor. This practice results in the party — Democratic or Republican — that controls the General Assembly drawing district lines to favor their candidates — a practice known as “gerrymandering.”
OneVirginia2021 is a non-partisan organization that proposes to amend the Virginia constitution to establish an independent commission to conduct redistricting, thereby ending the practice of gerrymandering.
Liz White, Deputy Director of OneVirginia2021, will speak:
She will present the proposal for a constitutional amendment to remove the redistricting of legislative districts from the General Assembly, and assign the job to an independent commission.
This is an important matter; we urge EVERYONE to attend — invite a friend. This is a non-partisan matter that should be supported by Republicans, Democrats, Independents and anyone else concerned about fair elections.
Vangie Williams — our First Congressional District Democratic candidate — will be at the November meeting of the Northumberland County Democratic Party.
Vangie has announced she will run again in 2020. She wants to thank us for our support and tell us her plans for 2020.
Joe Schlatter will present an analysis of the 1st District voting results.
While Rob Wittman won over Vangie by 56% to 44%, Vangie had the highest margin against Wittman since he has been in Congress. With a lot of work over the next two years, we can overcome that gap and win with Vangie in 2020 !!!!
The promise of America has always been bright, especially with the words “WE THE PEOPLE” atop our most important document. At times in our history, these words have not always applied to all people. But they are the promise of the nation. They are the words that give hope to everyone in this country, and those who have given up everything to come here.
Today’s Republican Party is no longer the party of “WE THE PEOPLE.” Republicans have surrendered their souls to Donald Trump and are now proclaiming this nation is the party of only a few people.
Through our history, there are those who were on the wrong side of our nation’s history, while there are also those who have been on the right side of history.
We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free–honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.
We are at this same point in our country’s life once again. We know how to save the union. The entire world knows what we need to do to save the union, and if we do not act to save this country, then we will lose the last best hope on Earth.
The Republican Party, with its embrace of Donald Trump, is no longer the party of Lincoln, and it has not been for a long time. Fascism, racism, nationalism, anti-Semitism, and misogyny have no place in modern American society.
Standing against hate, standing up on the right side of history for all people, is not hate. It is doing the right thing. We Democrats am driven by a love of country, and we love this country and its people too much to allow it to fall into a pit of hate that the president is spewing. We believe in the promise of America, a promise where everyone is treated equally.
We Democrats stand for everything Donald Trump and his party are against. We do it not from hate, but from patriotism along with a deep sense of what is right and what is wrong.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said:
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.
We Democrats will not allow Trump and his vision of division and hate become the norm in this nation.
A critical function of our Congress — both House of Representatives and Senate — is OVERSIGHT.
Dictionaries define “oversight” as “watchful care,” and this approach has proven to be one of the most effective techniques that Congress has adopted to influence the executive branch. Congressional oversight prevents waste and fraud; protects civil liberties and individual rights; ensures executive compliance with the law; gathers information for making laws and educating the public; and evaluates executive performance. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions, and the presidency.
Congress’s oversight function takes many forms:
— Committee inquiries and hearings;
— Formal consultations with and reports from the president;
— Senate advice and consent for presidential nominations and for treaties;
— House impeachment proceedings and subsequent Senate trials;
— House and Senate proceedings under the Twenty-fifth Amendment in the event that the president becomes disabled, or the office of the vice president falls vacant;
— Informal meetings between legislators and executive officials;
— Congressional membership on governmental commissions;
— Studies by congressional committees and support agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office, the General Accounting Office, and the Office of Technology Assessment — all arms of Congress.
The oversight power of Congress has helped to force officials out of office, change policies, and provide new statutory controls over the executive. In 1949, for example, probes by special Senate investigating subcommittees revealed corruption among high officials in the Truman administration. This resulted in the reorganization of certain agencies and the formation of a special White House commission to study corruption in the government.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s televised hearings in the late 1960s helped to mobilize opposition to the Vietnam War. Congress’s 1973 Watergate investigation exposed White House officials who illegally used their positions for political advantage, and the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon the following year ended his presidency. Select committee inquiries in 1975 and 1976 identified serious abuses by intelligence agencies and initiated new legislation to control certain intelligence activities.
In 1983, congressional inquiry into a proposal to consolidate border inspection operations of the U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service raised questions about the executive’s authority to make such a change without new legislation. In 1987, oversight efforts disclosed statutory violations in the executive branch’s secret arms sales to Iran and the diversion of arms profits to anti-government forces in Nicaragua, known as the contras. Congressional findings resulted in proposed legislation to prevent similar occurrences.
Investigation by a bipartisan congressional commission and subsequent Senate hearings in 1996 and 1997 uncovered instances of abuse and mismanagement in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the federal agency responsible for collecting income tax payments. The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from IRS agents who claimed that the pressure on them to recover unpaid taxes was so great that taxpayers were sometimes harassed and from citizens who said they were wrongly accused and aggressively pursued by the IRS for failure to pay taxes. In 1998, the Congress passed IRS reform legislation that created an independent oversight board and expanded taxpayers’ protections, which included shifting the burden of proof in tax disputes from the taxpayer to the IRS.
Time and again, the oversight power of Congress has proven to be an essential check in monitoring the presidency and controlling public policy.
Vangie Williams, our Democratic candidate for the First Congressional District, is on the road every day taking her message to all corners of the district.
Now, in the closing days of the campaign, Vangie needs $20,000 to send out a mass mailing. While $20,000 sounds like a lot of money, if we each donate $10, $15, $20 or more, we can do it.
As we all know, gerrymandering — the practice of shaping electoral districts to favor or dis-favor one political party over another — is a real threat to our democracy. Virginia is one of the most gerrymandered states in the Union.
OneVirginia2021 is a group of concerned citizens, former and present elected officials and other individuals who want to change the way Virginia electoral districts are drawn. Currently, the General Assembly draws district lines. OneVirginia2021 plans to introduce an amendment to the Virginia Constitution that will establish an independent commission to draw district lines.
This is critical because — the 2020 federal census will result in re-drawing of district lines in 2021 — both state General Assembly districts and federal Congressional districts.
On THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, Liz White from OneVirginia2021 will describe their plans for the 2019 General Assembly session and their strategy to move Virginia to using an independent commission for redistricting.
Details:
Our next meeting: