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Page 14 Course Correction Needed for Democrats in the 2014 Mid-Terms By Clarence B. Jones April 2014 The AC Phoenix Clarence B. Jones The resignation of Kathleen Sibelius as sec retary Health and Human Services and the announced enrollment of 7.5 million of applicants under the new Affordable Care Act provide the Democratic Party, and the White House, with the opportunity to re think their strategic political strategy for the 2014 mid-term elections. A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll reports that 70 percent of Republicans in dicate they would most likely support can didates who oppose the Affordable Care Act; and, 77 percent of Democrats indicated they would most likely support candidates who pledged to defend the Act against ef forts to repeal.This is not surprising. Our ad vice is: Don't let the Republican Party and its allied Super PACs define and limit the con gressional districts'playing field to only the issue of supporting or opposing candidates who voted against or in support of "Obam- acare." We believe the Democratic Party political strategy for the mid-terms elections should be based on national issues, such as: mini mum wage, equal pay for women, income inequality, immigration reform, and protec tion of the right to vote. Without the benefit of any on the ground polling data from the various congressional districts, our "30,000 feet" advice is that these issues should con stitute the "game plan" for the Democratic Party's offense playbook for the House and Senatorial seats contested this November. We just experienced a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This, indeed, was an important mile stone for the Civil Rights Movement and our entire nation during the presidency of President Johnson. More relevant, however, to the forthcoming Congressional elections than the Affordable Care Act or the 1964 Civil Rights Act is this August's 50th Anni versary of the Voter Registration Drive of th’e summer of 1964 to register unregistered negro voters in the state of Mississippi. During the summer of 1964 more than 1,000 students from the Midwest and Northeast, mostly white, assembled in a pilgrimage to Mississippi under the leadership of the Stu dent Non-Violent Coordinating Commit tee's campaign to register eligible black vot ers. The Ku Klux Klan in Philadelphia, Miss., murdered three of those summer student volunteers, two white and Jewish, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman and one black, James Chaney. The summer 1964 voter registration cam paign and the killing of Chaney, Good man and Schwerner ignited the nation's conscience and outrage. This created the moral and political groundswell in sup port of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The enactment of the Voting Rights Act may be the most significant political piece of Civil Rights legislation since the Emanci pation Proclamation and the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to our Constitu tion. Last year's decision by the United States Supreme Court in Shelby County vs. Hold er declared Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Section 4 in cluded a formula that determined which states, based on past racial discrimina tion, must receive prior approval from the Justice Department, before changing their voting laws. The regrettable repeal of Section 4 opened the floodgates for the enactment by various state legisla tures of efforts to limit or suppress the rights and opportunities to vote in their respective states. The Democratic Party mid-term election response to Chief Justice Roberts' deci sion should not be to try to match dollar for dollar Republican Super PAC money, but instead to engage in a massive grass roots voter turnout. The best way to com memorate the legacy of the summer of 1964 and the memories of Chaney, Good man and Schwerner is to engage in such grassroots campaign to get out the vote for the mid-term elections. At a minimum, the goal of the Democratic Party strategy in the mid-terms, especial ly in African-American communities (not withstanding certain formidable Repub lican gerrymandered districts), should be to reach the same level or greater, in voter turnout, than that which occurred in the presidential election of 2012. When we have written in earlier blogs that sometimes the exercise of political power requires "taking names and kicking butts" this is what the Democratic Party must NOW do in the mid-terms. To do less would dishonor the efforts and legacy of those extraordinary young peo ple who, in August of 1964, put their lives on the line during their heroic efforts to register blacks to vote in the state of Mis sissippi. This is the most effective political answer to the Roberts Court's decision overturning section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and to commemorating the Voting Rights legacy of the summer of 1964. Finally, we remain concerned that the "Hillary Clinton waiting in the wings cam paign for President in 2016"may have and adverse effect on the energy, funds and efforts needed to successfully implement the Democratic party mid-term election strategy recommended in this blog. Does Mom Have Life Insurance -or Does She Have Enough? By Jeffrey Williams It’s up to you! VOTE MAY 6TH Jeffrey A. Williams Working moms: Group coverage isn't enough. While some working moms may have group life through their employer, they may not realize the benefits of hav ing coverage that's portable. This is an ex- celient opportunity for moms to learn the differences between whole life and term. Women should view their group coverage as a good supplement to individual whole life insurance, which provides more cover age options to ensure the financial secu rity of their family.Here are some reasons why moms can't rely solely on group life: o Amount of coverage is typically 1-2 times an annual salary.This is usually not sufficient coverage. o The company could choose to stop offering the benefit or change the plan. Hold, she is maintaining the household o If she loses her job or chooses to leave and doesn't have individual WL, she may have a harder time getting it in the fu ture due to medical conditions Stay-At Home Moms: Their time is money Though a stay-at-home mom isn't bringing income into the household, she is maintain ing the household with services that would cost money, if some one was hired to com plete them. And Mom's time isn't cheap. The website salary.com estimates that the annual salary of a stay-at-home mom is roughly $117,000 depending on the ages of the children. Where does this figure come from? If you take the hours Mom spend do ing the laundry, cleaning the house, watch ing children, preparing meals, etc and mul tiply them by the hourly cost for a profes sional service to complete these task, you'll arrive at Mom's "salary."The surviving care taker would either have to cut work hours or pay someone to complete these respon sibilities. Either way, the family would have less money available for the essentials. Moms' trusted advisor Royal Neighbors offers affordable whole life insurance for every mom's needs. Whether they are looking to preserve their family's lifestyle or preserve life style and replace income, moms are looking for the peace of mind that their family's financial future is se cure. If you're a mom, let us use our helpful tools to walk you thru assessing your needs. Let us help you understand how to get the coverage you need at a premium you can af ford. Also let us offer you coverage for your children. Jeffrey A. Williams is an Independent Representative for AmeriLife He make be reached at 336 854 1000 or 800 854 6131, email address: amlh@amerilife.com Letter From Birmingham Jail During the April 1963 campaign against racial segregation in Birmingham, Ala bama, Dr. Martin Luther King was incar cerated. From a cell he penned an open letter to his critics—members of the clergy,The widely published letter served as a key point of reference in the Civil Rights Movement of that day. In it. King defended nonviolent resistance to unjust laws, asserted that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and asked whether we will become "extremists" for hate or for love. More than 50 years later, does this docu ment hold relevance for us today? Join an engaging discussion on activism and so cial change in twenty-first century Amer ica led by: Rev. Reggie Weaver, Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, NC Dr. Love Crossling, Director, Human Rela tions Department, City of Greensboro, NC Dr. Wayne Moore, Professor, School of Social Work, NCA&TSU and UNCG, Greensboro, NC Admission Fee: Adults: $6.00 Students: $4.00 Museum Members: Free (Free with purchased guided tour ticket) Re-Set Your Mind By John Raye [continued from page 17 (3) Practice prayer and daily meditation. Prayer changes things. Meditation be comes things. Pray with passion, promise and purpose. Pray without ceasing. Pray to a higher power. (4) Wake up your imagination—visual ize, then energize your imagination, with dreams, visions and pictures of what you really want in your life. See where you are going before you get there. Conceive and believe before you achieve! Act like it's al ready yours! (5) Just think! First the thought—then the thing. Repeat often: "Every day, in ev ery way, I am getting better and better". Nobody gets better and better or worser and worser at the same time. The mind can only entertain one thought at a time, so choose carefully what you think about: choose to re-set your mind! Then, with that rhythm in your spirit... rocksteady! -John Raye, a life-health-wealth and wellness coach, is an 8-year cancer cham pion. He lives in Kernersville, NC with Miss Rosie.rayeandrosie@aol.com (336) 782-8383
The AC Phoenix News (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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