Women's Rights Ralley
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October 2nd 11AM
70 Maple Street, Manistee MI 49550 On the Steps of City Hall
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Annual Country Picnic
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Place: Tim and Wanda's Farm
11171 Kerry Rd, Brethren, MI 49619 Date: October 3 - 3 PM - 6 PM Brats provide Bring Dish to pass, Cider making, Music, Friends and Compatriots |
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Mason/Manistee US-31 Billboard
Comments from the Chair
When confronted with the current divisive political landscape many people have challenged me with this question, “What do Democrats believe?”
I must admit that sometimes I do not have a quick and ready answer to this question. I realize that it should not be that difficult to come up with an answer, but it depends on who is asking the question and what is the most important issue on their mind at that time. We must first seek to understand why they are asking that specific question and respond appropriately. Currently with social media memes and quick labels it is too easy to fall into the trap of lapsing into the tell mode rather than taking the time to explore more in-depth reasoning and focus for the root of the question. This column will attempt to share some of the basic beliefs we Democrats adhere to. We consider these beliefs to be founded on common sense and human decency. We do not believe most readers will find them excessively radical. Democrats believe that people working 40 hours a week should not be living in poverty. We also believe that business leaders should not be compensated at a rate more than 3,000 times that of their average employee. We do not believe it is right that 80% of the wealth generated during the recent pandemic went exclusively to less than 1% of Americans. This is not advocating socialism or communism as some would have you think, it is simply good free-market business sense. Any business, large or small, is only as strong as its human capital/employees. Good business leaders recognize this and take action to insure their employees are properly compensated, trained, supported and fulfilled. Bad business leaders lose money when experienced employees leave, and they must find, hire and train replacements who are less effective and efficient. The example set by Dan Price, CEO of Gravity Payments, who cut his million-dollar annual salary to give every one of his employees a $70,000/year base salary shows how this concept can work. Three years later Gravity Payments has booked 80% more profitable business and his employees have been able to purchase homes and start their families while dropping manpower turnover to virtually zero. Many other progressive-thinking business leaders are adopting this approach with similar outstanding performance results. (Continued next column) 
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Officers for Local Executive BoardAt the county Democratic party convention on Saturday, a new slate of county officers and executive ommittee was chosen. Lets welcome them and work support our democratic values.
Mandatory Members of the Manistee County Committee
Slate of Remaining Members of the Manistee County Committee
2021
It’s going to be a great year!!
Democrats believe that businesses should not be able to trash the earth in the name of making a profit. We also believe that profitable corporations should not be eligible to receive government subsidies just because they have historically received them. Here again, good business leaders are proactive in their efforts to ensure their companies are good stewards of the natural resources and the environment in which they operate. Realistic and well-crafted regulations are one way of ensuring compliance for those who may be less enlightened, but many business leaders see the bottom-line benefit of reducing, recycling and reusing resources like water and energy. Democrats and many business leaders understand that operations like an aging pipeline importing environmentally toxic Canadian tar sands crude oil under the Straits of Mackinac are not worth the risk to our freshwater legacy. Democrats believe that access to quality, affordable healthcare is a human right that should be provided to every U.S. citizen. For-profit health insurance is not sustainable and should be replaced by Medicare for all as soon as possible. The typical America worker is currently spending an average of $6,000 a year in health insurance premiums, co-pays and deductible charges. Many workers are not even able to afford that rate, so they gamble they won’t get sick or injured and face bankruptcy when confronted with their outrageous medical bills. We are not advocating that health care should be free. We need a better way to manage those annual costs we currently have for health care insurance. We can and we must do better! We have a proven program in Medicare that works for all over age 65. There is no reason we can’t build on this foundation. As voters, we must demand action from our federal and state elected officials to make this happen sooner rather than later. Democrats believe that our federal and state governments can provide necessary services to their citizens when we elect qualified and capable representatives. As voters, we have allowed ourselves to become easily manipulated by social media and enamored with candidates who are better qualified as charismatic reality/talk-show celebrities, political extremists or media pundits than effective lawmakers and statesmen. Democrats want elected leaders who are not afraid of telling us the truth even if the truth may be against current popular opinion. Our allegiance should not be to any one individual no matter what their perceived voter base of support may be. Our allegiance must be to the rule of law and the people of this country who deserve a government that works for them. Democrats also believe that all legal U.S. citizens should be able to vote in every election without having to overcome obstacles intended to suppress those who may not align or agree with the political party that is currently has the power of a legislative majority. Finally, Democrats believe that we should work at all levels to help make this country better for every person who lives near us. We will be the ones you see who are volunteering to help with local projects like food pantries and environmental clean-ups. You will see Democrats volunteering to lead youth groups, coach youth sports and help at schools. Many civic service clubs will have Democrats leading the way in doing great things for our communities. We do not volunteer just to be recognized. We volunteer because there is a need that must be filled by people who are willing to act rather than just complaining about how difficult or complex the situation may be. We hope you will join us (with our sweat-stained blue hats) in taking action to continue improving our community, our state and our country. John Helge is a veteran U.S. Army officer and has recently retired after a 40-year career leading technical sales teams focused on the challenges of industrial water and energy sustainability. He is currently serving as chairperson of the Manistee County Democratic Party. He can be contacted at johnmhelge@gmail.com. |
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