THE GREAT AWAKENING!

“Think liberally, live conservatively” should be the new slogan for America’s progressive movement. It certainly sums up the new platform of the Democratic Party. During the August 29th College Democrat meeting the club’s officers were given a chance to talk about issues important to them. The issues discussed were, in my opinion, liberal and conservative. The Republican Party has abandoned the middle, thereby allowing Democrats to become the choice for moderates concerned with fiscal responsibility and human rights. Similar to metro-sexuals getting in-touch with their feminine side, liberals are getting in-touch with their conservative side. But we should proceed with caution. Democrats who pander to conservatives have consistently lost Left-Wing support. It’s also important to avoid apocalyptic rhetoric. Leave the scare tactics to Karl Rover.

--Brendan Sullivan


The following excerpt from a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speech is reminiscent of evangelical sermons.

“Our generation faces the greatest moral and political crisis in human history. Will we take the steps necessary to avert catastrophic global warming or will we doom our children to a new Dark Ages in a world that is biologically and economically impoverished and defined by ever diminishing quality of life. According to the grimmest forecasts, extreme global warming could give us a future where erratic and chaotic weather, rising sea levels, and melting snowpack usher in an epic of drought, crop failure, famine, flood and mass extinctions -- and the political instability that invariably accompanies dwindling resources. Millions of environmental refugees uprooted by these calamities will challenge the existence of democracy, freedom, justice and human dignity in every corner of the globe. Our grandchildren may look longingly at our era as the apex of civilization and human progress.”

Congressional Candidate to Visit ISU Dems

Media Advisory
August 26, 2005

Contact: Nick J. Daggers
njdagge@ilstu.edu
www.isudems.com

Congressional Candidate to Visit ISU Dems

United State Congressional candidate John Pavich will be visiting with the Illinois State University College Democrats during their first meeting of the school year, this Monday night on the campus of Illinois State University.

Pavich is a Democratic candidate running for the nomination to take on Congressman Jerry Weller in the 11^th Congressional district of Illinois. Pavich is a lawyer from Beecher, Illinois. He is a former operative for the Central Intelligence Agency and a lawyer with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.

For more information on John Pavich please consult his website www.pavichforcongress,com.

Event: John Pavich to meet with the ISU College Dems

Date: Monday, August 29, 2005

Time: 7 PM

Location: Illinois State University
Student Services Building
Room 375

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Conn. sues over Unfunded Education mandates

The state of Connecticut filed a federal lawsuit Monday challenging President Bush's No Child Left Behind school reform law, arguing it is illegal because it requires expensive testing and programs it doesn't pay for.

The lawsuit, which officials said was the first of its kind to be brought by a state government, asks a federal judge to declare that the federal government cannot require state and local money be used to meet federal testing goals.

"The goals of the No Child Left Behind Act are laudable," Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said. "Indeed, Connecticut has pursued these goals for decades, but the federal government has failed in implementing them."

A recent report projects that the state will be $41.6 million short in paying for the law's requirements through 2008, but federal officials question that estimate. A state law prohibits state money from being used to pay for the law's requirements.

- From Noreen Gillespie, AP

Many education majors here at Illinois State expect education funding and reform to be very important to those in the White House, but Connecticut follows Utah in protest of unfunded federal mandates. The numbers don't lie. States are having to pay the price for the White House's dine and dash when it comes to No Child Left Behind.

Californians Enjoy Benefits of Progressivism, all the way to the bank.

According to the August 15th edition of Newsweek “a half-dozen subdivisions in California” consist of energy efficient homes. “Almost unknown outside of California ZEH (Zero-Energy Homes) communities are the leading edge of technologies that might someday create houses that produce as much energy as they consumer.” With low-power appliances and solar panels “every home cuts power consumption by at least 50 percent.” The article mentions the pros and cons of this investment. The houses look normal and the families still enjoy all the creature comforts like dishwashers and air-conditioning. But the equipment (panels, inverter) can be expensive.
The residents of these ZEH communities are pioneers similar to the drivers of hybrid cars. As political activists we must encourage our representatives to support low-energy initiatives. Individuals and private institutions should receive federal grants for purchasing energy efficient products. Our government can send a strong message by purchasing hybrid vehicles and building low-energy public facilities.
Smoking cigarettes has been prohibited in government buildings nation-wide for the sake of public health. It’s time our government promoted energy efficiency for the same reason.

-Brendan Sullivan
Historian, ISU College Dems
Mole, IWU College Dems

And Then There Were 7...

Today the first GOP gubernatorial candidate dropped out of the race, leaving seven candidates who are believed to have intentions of running still fighting for the nomination. Congressman Ray LaHood (R-IL 18) was the first to say he will not seek his parties nomination to challenge Governor Blagojevich in November of 2006.

LaHood announced in January that he was going to set up an exploratory committee to look into the option of running for Governor in 2006. LaHood instead decided to seek reelection to his congressional seat in downstate Illinois. After consulting with constituents and former Governor Edgar, Lahood decided that it was in his best interests to instead run for reelection to the US House. LaHood also believes that Edgar is going to return to public life to challenge Blagojevich and he does not want to run against him...

What does this mean for the 2006 Governors race. For starters it means that the Republican Party now has the seven dwarfs running for governor:
Joe Birkett, DuPage County States Attorney
Bill Brady, State Senator
Ron Gidwitz, another millionaire republican
Jim Oberweis, milk magnate/frequent candidate
Steve Rausenberger, State Senator
Judy Baar Topinka, State Treasurer
Andy Martin, frequent candidate

Also this is should be good news for Bloomington local and State Senator Bill Brady. Many thought that Brady and LaHood would be forced to fight very hard to secure the downstate vote, as they are the only two running for governor from downstate...

For a quick history about Ray LaHood and his history with the ISU College Dems read this article by the Daily Vidette editorial board.

My parting words for Congressman LaHood; "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye..."

--Nick Daggers
Communications Director
ISU College Dems

Gov Day Part II

I wanted to share a great description of the Illinois Republican party. This is what Comptroller Dan Hynes had to say about the ultimate GOP ticket in 2006...

"Karl Rove is coming to Illinois to mine the GOP's "hall of shame" to create a "dream ticket."

"Big Jim 'let's make a deal' Thompson" for governor,
"George Homer 'the pork man' Ryan" for lieutenant governor,
"Jim 'I'm still thinking about it' Edgar" for secretary of state,
"Lee 'I was once minority leader' Daniels" for attorney general
"Pate 'you can find me in Wisconsin' Philip" for comptroller.
"Alan 'you can find me in Baltimore' Keyes," for treasurer."

I think that truly sums up the state of the IL GOP...

--Nick Daggers
Communications Director
ISU College Dems

Governor's Day

Today was Governor's Day at the Illinois State Fair. Today was an oppurtunity for Democrats from all corners of the state to unite under our party's banner. It was also a chance to prove to the GOP of Illinois that we are united and ready to come together for the 2006 Election. Illinois is a blue state but we have too many pockets of red, and ISU is in the heart of that. As College Dems we'll come together as a united front to help elect Democratic candidates from Governor to Attorney General to Comptroller to State House to County Clerk. The Democratic Party of Illinois is united in preserving Illinois as a blue state...

Logan and myslef attended the Governor's Day festivities at the fair today and had a blast. It was alot of fun and another chance to show the whole state how active the ISU College Dems. Everyone we talked about the ISU Dems is either ready to help us or already are. Today was a good day for the ISU College Dems and the Democratic Party of Illinois...

Below are some photos from the day at the fair...
--
===
Nick Daggers
ISUDEMS-Com Dir
IFCD-Leg Dir

Logan with Governor Blagojevich

Logan and Nick with State Comptroller Dan Hynes

Nick and Logan with Attorney General Lisa Madigan

Nick and Logan with Lt Gov Pat Quinn
Logan with Secretary of State Jesse White

Nick with former Comptroller and former Attorney General Roland Burris

Logan & Friends with 11th Congressional candidate John Pavich

College Dems Attend Gov Day

News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nick Daggers Phone: 815.953.4810
http://www.isudems.com/

ISU College Dems Attend Governor’s Day in Springfield

Normal, Ill. – The Illinois State University College Democrats will be represented by three members at Governor’s Day at the Illinois State Fair on Wednesday August 17.

Governor’s Day is annual event at the Illinois State Fair aimed at honoring the Democratic Party and the Governor. Events for Governor’s Day include; a brunch sponsored by the Democratic County Chairman’s Association, the state Democratic Convention, and a rally at the fairgrounds with all statewide Democratic leaders. Leaders scheduled to speak include; US Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, US Senator Barack Obama, Governor Rod Blagojevich, Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Secretary of State Jesse White, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, and Senate President Emil Jones.

The ISU College Democrats will have three members in attendance throughout the day in Springfield. They are President Logan Faron, President Emeritus Zach Koutsky, and Communications Director Nick Daggers.

“I am very excited to head to our state capitol for this great event. I think that Governor’s Day will be a great time and a chance for the ISU Dems to meet up with other Democrats from across the state,” said ISU College Dems President Logan Faron.

The ISU College Dems are a registered student organization at Illinois State University. The primary goal of the ISU College Dems is to help elect Democrats to office at all levels of government and to raise civic participation among the 20,000 students of Illinois State University and the surrounding community.
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Big Oil, Big Winners

All summer I have been living and working in Washington DC. For those of you that do not know Washington DC has one of the best public transportation systems in the country, the Metro. The Metro is clean, consistant, cheap and can get you almost anywhere in the city. When I recently returned to the suburbs of Chicago, I was quickly forced to fill my car with some gas, when it cost me over $30 to fill the tank of a sedan I was quite blown away. Thus I decided to share some facts about historical gas prices and some facts about profits for the big oil companies...

First some historical prices*+:

-*-When President Clinton took office in 1993 a gallon of gas cost: $1.45
-*-The high price of gas during President Clinton's eight years in office was: $1.85
-*-When President Clinton left office in 2001 a gallon of gas cost: $1.70

-*-During the OPEC oil embargo in 1973 gas was under a $1.50 a gallon
-*-When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 gas was $1.55 a gallon
-*-After 911 gas was selling for $1.75 a gallon

-*-Exxon Mobil has seen a 30% raise in profits this past quarter
-*-Royal Dutch Shell had a 34% rise in profits for the past quarter
-*-Marathon Oil saw an earnings of 91% profits

Question: Why won't the President of Congress step in?
Answer: This is just one more example of the Republicans looking out for the little guy by taking the side of big oil companies and leaving the American people to pay the price...

--
===
Nick J. Daggers
Communications Dir-ISU College Dems
Legislative Dir-IL Fed of College Dems

www.isudems.com
communications@isudems.com


*Source for fuel prices was http://zfacts.com/p/35.html also all fuel prices have been adjusted for inflation
+Source for profits was http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/business/12254301.htm

Bush Makes Time for Donors...

President Bush today showed his true colors by making time for GOP donors but not time for Cindy Sheehan. When leaving his Crawford Ranch, as part of his month-long vacation, the President's motorcade passed Cindy Sheehan and left her in the dust.

Ms. Sheehan's son Casey was killed in Iraq last year. She has recenly started a protest the War in Iraq and wants to meet with President Bush and tell him why she believes the US needs to pull out of the war. She has been camping outside the President's ranch and has vowed to stay there until she gets her meeting...

Bush today left his ranch to head to a Republican National Committee (RNC) fundraiser which will raise over $2 million for the RNC.

So my question is this, "Why can the President make time for GOP donors but not for a grieving mother?"

This is just one more example of President Bush having his priorities all mixed up...


--
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Nick J. Daggers
Communications Dir-ISU College Dems
Legislative Dir-IL Fed of College Dems

www.isudems.com
communications@isudems.com

W Comes to Illinois

Landscaping on the Ronald Reagan Freeway, $2.3 million

A brandnew snowmobile trail in Vermont, $5.8 million

Bridge named after Alaska's only Representative in Congress, $231 million

Another six years of useless pork projects, priceless...

For everything money can't buy, theres President Bush's signature...

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For more info on the transportation bill that President Bush signed today check out this editoral in USA Today or this article in The Chicago Tribune .

--
===
Nick J. Daggers
Communications Dir-ISU College Dems
Legislative Dir-IL Fed of College Dems

www.isudems.com
communications@isudems.com

Ed Markey's quote of the century

While Conservatives are good at getting angry, liberals make excellent smart asses. Take this hilarious quote from Rep. Ed Markey (D-Ma) on the passage of the new energy bill.

"Right now Adam Smith is spinning in his grave so fast that he would qualify for a subsidy in this bill as an energy source,"

Markey goes on to address the bill's shortcomings in a press release

"It does nothing to reduce the price of gas and remains silent on two critical issues: adopting minimum efficiency standards for our cars and trucks in order to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, and setting minimum renewable energy standards for our utilities to bring America’s sources of electricity into the 21st century."