June 14, 2012 Newsletter for our Bucks County Moveon - Penn Action Group

Happy Father’s Day to all!

 

1.  June 14 –  Movie and Discussion at Mike Sullivan’s!  TONIGHT!!

                      GET MONEY OUT OF OUR POLITICS

                The Koch Bros out of the shadows and into the spotlight

                               10 shocking facts about the Koch Bros

                                        KOCH Bros. EXPOSED

                                        the 1% at its very worst

                    Come see the movie on June 14th at 7:00pm at

                                      116 Indian Creek Dr

                                       Levittown, Pa    19057

Meet members of the Bucks County Moveon.org and Penn Actions groups. We work to inform and help see positive changes in our area for our families and the county, the state, and the US.

rsvp: mjsull116@gmail.com

         267-243-5795

 2.  Sign the petition to get Money out of Politics: http://pol.moveon.org/amend/  Pass it on to your friends!

3.  Thursday June 21, 4pm  Petition Drop off at Fitzpatrick’s office!

 GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!!!!

Details and sign up here for event https://www.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=130407

4.  Very important in Pennsylvania – sign ASAP

Here’s the link to the petition at SignOn.org.

http://signon.org/sign/big-money-is-buying-bad

5.  Rapid Response – when Supreme Court gives decision on Affordable Health Care Act

Hi,Please make room in your schedule to be at the rapid response to the Supreme

Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).   I will send out a notice

as soon as I hear that the Supreme Court is releasing its decision.

Rapid Response details are:

WHEN: NOON on the day after the Supreme Court announces a decisionWHERE: We’ll be gathering at Rep. Tina Davis’ office on Green Lane in Bristol.
Address: 3611 Green Lane - Levittown, PA 19057

WHY: No matter what the decision is, we will be calling on the state legislature to

move forward to create an exchange that protects the gains of the Affordable Care

Act.  That’s why we’ll be at Rep. Davis’ office.  She’s a State Rep on the Insurance

Committee so she’ll be involved with creating the exchange in PA.  Rep. Davis

has given every indication that she will support a strong exchange in PA so we

will be there to encourage her and to draw attention to the state legislature where

the important action will be after the Supreme Court releases its decision.

If you have a story to share about how the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)

has helped you specifically (adult kids on your plan, donut hole rebates, Medicare

wellness visits, small business rebates …) please let me know.

Any other questions, please feel free to contact me.

Thanks,

Robin Stelly

Penn Action
c: 203.216.9719
e: rstelly@pennaction.org

6.  Important for PA farms – submitted by Joan King

Dear Joan,Pennsylvania Dutch Country and our Amish farmlands are one of the state’s most iconic landscapes. We take pride in the region’s great history. And we’re relieved to know that nearby farmers are working hard every day to put healthy, locally grown food on our plates. We have two weeks to stop Gov. Corbett from changing all of that by ending the nation’s most successful farm preservation program. Email your legislators today and tell them that we want to help Pennsylvania’s family farmers and working farmlands—not turn our back on them. We know that Amish country—and other great farming areas in Bucks County, Chester County and throughout the Commonwealth—are under immense pressure from encroaching overdevelopment and sprawl. Many of these great communities look nothing like they did when I moved to Pennsylvania in the mid ‘90s—and it would have been much worse if steps hadn’t been taken to make sure we can protect as many family farms as possible from being razed and turned into the next strip mall or McMansion housing development. That’s why I was appalled to learn that Gov. Corbett has proposed to halt the funding that’s dedicated to Pennsylvania’s Farmland Preservation Program. Will you join me in standing up for the farmers who’ve worked to keep Pennsylvania beautiful and put food on our plates for years? Click here to send your legislators an email for Pennsylvania’s farms. Thanks for all your support. Sincerely, David Masur PennEnvironment Director PS. Do you know a family farmer or someone who enjoys Pennsylvania’s Farmers Markets and locally grown food? Send this alert to them today so they can help save Pennsylvania’s farmland.

7.

Update: Community Campaign for Voting Rights

Hi Everyone,

Here’s the news on the voting rights / Photo ID education front.  There’s

a lot to update so please read this entire email.

1. Phone banks are starting up to contact people most vulnerable to being

disenfranchised by the Photo ID law are starting up.  We need volunteers

to help make the calls.  Details for two in July are below.

This sort of outreach can work wonders.  In Milwaukee, during the recall election,

Citizen Action of Wisconsin focused on 50 low-turnout neighborhoods with this result:

The results:  Our 50 low propensity wards (precincts) had 77.4% turnout!! 

That beats the overall City of Milwaukee turnout of 76.13%.  We transformed 

low propensity wards into high turnout wards. 

We’ll be starting our phone banking in July, well ahead of the election in

November, to let the people we reach know that they are more than numbers

to us.  We want them to hear about the Photo ID law in time to be ready

for it.  We want to help.  And we want them to be able and encouraged to

vote in November.  Please join our phone banking and help us reach 77%

turnout (or higher) in Bristol!

WHAT: Phone bank

WHEN: Thursday, July 19  6:30pm

WHERE: Annex

             Norton Ave. First Baptist Church

             1230 Norton Ave

             Bristol, PA 19007

RSVP:  Please click here to let us know that you’ll be joining us.

WHAT: Phone bank

WHEN: Thursday, July 26 6:30pm

WHERE: Annex

              Norton Ave. First Baptist Church

              1230 Norton Ave

              Bristol, PA 19007

RSVP:   Please click here to let us know that you’ll be joining us.

2. The Photo ID Education Task Force met for the first time on June 7

in Doylestown.  It was an interesting meeting.  It’s clear that the members

of the committee want to do their best to educate the county about the

Photo ID law.  It’s also clear that whatever the county ends up doing, it

won’t be enough so we have to keep working on our own to reach out to

vulnerable communities in our reach.

The meetings of the task force are open to the public.  The next meeting

is happening on JUNE 20 at 7pm in Lower Bucks. The location hasn’t

been set yet.  Please make plans to attend the meeting.  I’ll send word

around about the location as soon as I know it.

Thanks,

Robin Stelly
Organizer
Penn Action
c: 203.216.9719
e: rstelly@pennaction.org

8.  Barb Stakes is scheduling a House Party in July for updating us with Health information from PHAN

PHAN (Pennsylvania Health Access Network) House Party, my house. July – Date to be determined.

The discussion will be moderated by Athena Ford of PHAN and will be about the Ryan budget’s negative impact on Medicare.

Please contact Barb for more info as it becomes available.

9.  email info from Frank Arcoleo

Sally,I meant to tell everyone today that I whole family went to a spectacular performance last weekend.  It’s Lillian Hellman’s “The Little Foxes” at the heritage Center right there in Morrisville.  The production was so relevant to the “greed” topic that we’re actually dealing with in our work.   But what I couldn’t get over was how fantastic the acting was from top to bottom. It plays Friday night, Saturday night, and Sunday afternoon this next week and the week after.  Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 with WHYY membership.   Please let everyone know how fantastic an opportunity this is.

Thanks,

Frank

___________

You are welcome to join us at events, and at our weekly planning meetings!

Our Core group meets every Wed. at 1pm at Joan and Sally’s house.  New Core members are always welcome.  This is where we plan, keep updated on news from Moveon and Penn Action, and share ideas.  email for directions sallykwitt@gmail.com.  

We are adding an evening meeting once a month on the 2nd Monday at 7pm, same place.  Please RSVP at sallykwitt@gmail.com for each meeting so that we know to expect you.

Getting Letters to the Editor, and Guest Opinions printed is so important.  Let us know if you are willing to write, or if you need help writing one.  Contact Frank Arcoleo Frank.Arcoleo@verizon.net or Bob Mason robmas1@verizon.net for ideas or help.  

Robin Stelly – Penn Action
Joan King, Sally Witt

Moveon.org Bucks County Coordinator -  Mike Sullivan

We are now doing a weekly newsletter for our larger group.  Questions, or suggestions can be sent to sallykwitt@gmail.com.