Thank You For Your Service

Shouldn't It Be More Than A Slogan? 

Today's the day we honor the service of our Veterans.  It's a day our veterans deserve, but is a day and a slogan enough?

Veterans can face a lot of challenges finding work when they return from service. While overall the unemployment rate for veterans is 4.5 percent, those who have served since 2001 to the present have an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent. Nearly one in 10 veterans with disabilities were without employment in 2010. They are also disproportionately likely to live in poverty and to be homeless. In 2010, nearly a million veterans ages 18 to 64 had experienced poverty over the past year. As of 2011, nearly one in seven homeless adults was a veteran and more than four in ten homeless veterans were without shelter. They are therefore heavily impacted by cuts to the social safety net.

Yet Congressional Republicans have been stonewalling all attempts to get the nation (and our veterans) back to work. To get a budget from the Republican controlled House last year, about 900,000 veterans took a nearly 25% hit in Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP or Food Stamps) benefits. Now that both Houses of Congress will now be under Republican control, expect far more hits to support for veterans to fund tax cuts for Republican campaign contributors.

So go ahead. Thank a veteran for her/his service. But don't stop there. Keep our members of Congress feet to the fire. We owe a debt to the men and women who stepped-up to defend our Country.  We don't owe it to men (and a few women) who offshore our veteran's jobs to make more money for themselves. 

California Democratic Party LGBT Caucus Meeting/Reception 

In conjunction with this weekend's e-Board (Executive Board) meeting here in San Diego, the CA Dem LGBT Caucus will be holding its regular meeting. The meeting will be Saturday, November 15th from 6-8:00 PM in the Palm II room at Hyatt Regency, Mission Bay -1441 Quivira Road; San Diego, California, 92109. 

The Caucus meeting is open to all interested Democrats (you must join the Caucus - Annual Dues: $15.00) and it's an excellent opportunity to meet and work with LGBT Democrats from around the State. As the host Club, we need 4 - 5 volunteers to help with sign-in for the caucus meeting. Volunteers will need to be there by 5:45 PM and a couple volunteers will be required at the sign-in table for the duration of the meeting, but sign-in should be completed by 6:15.  If you can be a volunteer for this event, please click HERE and put VOLUNTEER in the email subject line. 

San Diego Democrats for Equality will also be hosting a reception for the LGBT Caucus attendees.  The reception is sponsored by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, and SDUSD Board President Kevin Beiser and will be at the Chef's Table in the Red Marlin Restaurant at the Hyatt from 8:30 - 10:00 PM. The event is free (cash bar) but it is only open to LGBT caucus meeting attendees. We'd love to have a good Club presence at the caucus meeting and reception.  If you will be attending, please send us an email RSVP HERE with LGBT CAUCUS in the email subject line. 

Is it Time to Re-Up?

The Club depends on membership dues to keep the lights on and promote our candidates and issues to the community. A large number of community members depend on our Voters Guide to help them make an intelligent choice when marking their ballots so your membership renewal is critical to ensure those Guides get into those hands. If your membership has lapsed or if you know you're membership is soon to expire, please re-up now. You might also consider upgrading your membership to a higher level.

You can find out more about the Club's membership levels and benefits online HERE. You can also renew with a credit card there.  If you would prefer to use a check, send the check, made out to Democrats for Equality to:

San Diego Democrats for Equality

PO Box 33050

San Diego CA 92163

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Elections Matter

No way around how much the National mid-term election hurt. We lost in States we expected and States we thought of as toss-ups.  There were even a few true-blue States that went against us. We had the money against us. We had VWD* laws against us. We had low voter turn-out against us. Bottom line though, we lost and we need to take every opportunity to turn a spotlight on who will be hurt and how they will be hurt by Tea Party Republican policies over the next two years.

Locally, the big news is obviously the reelection of Scott Peters to a second two-year term. Scott's race was a priority for Dems for Equality and we're thrilled that he was able to emerge victorious with a nearly 3% spread after a nasty, expensive campaign.

We would have preferred another outcome for our other priority campaign - Carol Kim's campaign for San Diego City Council. Carol was an impressive candidate who put together an impressive campaign, but she just wasn't able to overcome the fact that she was outspent by her lobbyist opponent by more than 4:1.

Democrats also picked up other local offices throughout the County and both of our members, Speaker Toni Atkins and Board President Kevin Beiser won reelection with lopsided wins. California once again provided a little light on an otherwise very dark election night.

* Voting While Democrat