What is a tweet and why would we send one?

How do we get the media to show up at our event?

What is our message and how do we frame it?

These questions and more will be answered at the Democracy for America Campaign Academy.

DFA-MC is scheduling an Academy for anyone who would like to run or work on a campaign, but we need at least 50 people to express interest by signing up here.

We are not asking you to commit now, just express interest.  We will send details to all when we reach the magic number and can schedule the two day training.

Corrine asked that we send letters to the Phoenix City Council concerning the working conditions at Sky Harbor  Airport.  Please copy the letter below or write your own drop them off at Democratic Headquarters or send them to Corrine Horowitz at UFCW99, at 2401 N Central Ave, 2nd Floor, Phoenix, 85004-1331.

August 4, 2011

TO:      Mayor Phil Gordon

Members of the Phoenix City Council

Danny Murphy, Phoenix Sky Harbor Aviation Director

Members of the Downtown Aviation Advisory Committee

Sky Harbor Airport workers take pride in making a great first impression.  They serve our guests coffee, offer them a ride to their gate, and keep them company while shining their shoes—and they do it all with a smile.

Because workers at Sky Harbor Airport are the first and last faces visitors to our great city see, they are extremely important to the local economy and community. As such, business that have contracts there, or anywhere else with the City of Phoenix, should be a source of high quality jobs for Valley residents.

Yet many Airport workers, who are also residents of our city, are struggling to feed their families and face difficult conditions at work every day.

A group of employees at GCA Services—one of the companies contracted by the City of Phoenix to clean the Airport terminals—recently began to respond to those conditions.  In May, over thirty of these working men and women went to GCA’s Mesa headquarters to talk to company management about these and other concerns. GCA management refused to even meet with the employees, and just days afterward, the company terminated three employees who were trying to form a union.

GCA employees have stated their wish to improve their access to health insurance, to earn fair wages, to share costs for their security badges and uniforms; and to end the requirement for a doctor’s note for even a single day in which they are sick and cannot work.

The men and women who make Sky Harbor “America’s Friendliest Airport” must be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.  In particular, employees at GCA, should be able to exercise their right to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions without fear of harassment, intimidation, or termination.

We, the undersigned, ask that you ensure that GCA and all other companies that do business with the city of Phoenix, treat their workers with dignity and respect.

Sincerely,

*****

Tim Hogan (The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest (ACLPI)) asked that we go to their website and support the work they are doing in court on behalf of the environment, education and healthcare.  http://www.aclpi.org/.

*****

Tim Schmaltz of PAFCO told us of their monthly training sessions for activists on the last Wednesday of the month at 3pm.  Check back for the location of training.  Tim emphasized that Facts are not enough. It takes a combination of facts, stories and persistent citizen action to make change or persuade a policy maker.  See the PAFCO website at http://www.pafcoalition.org/.

The next DFA-MC meeting is on Wednesday, May 2nd at 6:30pm.  Our speakers TBA.

Gourmet House of Hong Kong

1438 E. McDowell Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85006

Visit our website: http://www.dfamc.com

Follow us onFacebook and twitter

If you can’t get to a meeting check out our ustream: http://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/new/8728152

Just hours after President Obama said that Social Security cuts and privatization are off the table, Cantor said that Social Security had to be cut to balance the budget. But here’s the thing: Social Security does not and never has added a single dime to the federal deficit.

Let me try to explain this to Mr. Cantor. Social Security is paid for through the payroll tax. Currently, the payroll tax raises way more money than Social Security pays out and things are projected to keep going this way for another couple of decades.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? They add to the deficit. Tax breaks for billionaires? They add to the deficit. Subsidies for big oil? They add to the deficit. Bailing out Mr. Cantor’s friends on Wall Street when they make a bunch of shady deals, cause a financial crisis and almost ruin the world economy? That adds a lot to the deficit.

Simply put, Social Security will run a surplus for decades. The rest of the budget runs a deficit. So, why are we even talking about Social Security?

Here’s why: Eric Cantor and his right-wing friends want to destroy the program. That’s the only reason we’re having this conversation. Join me now and let’s send Eric Cantor and other members of Congress a message — Keep Social Security safe, stable and secure.

Please sign the petition now.

Eric Cantor’s comments aren’t anything new. Right-wing Republicans have been trying to tear down Social Security for generations. It’s the holy grail of the right-wing.

Now Republicans are playing with fire — they’re threatening to shut down the government. They’re holding the debt ceiling hostage. They’ll do whatever it takes to put cutting Social Security on the table.

But America is a community. We stand up for one another — including our seniors. That’s why DFA has launched it’s biggest campaign ever to push back against the right-wing lies and spin and to push a real solution to keep Social Security safe, stable and secure forever.

See, right now people like Mitch McConnell and Sarah Palin don’t pay the same percentage of their income into Social Security that most Americans do — and big surprise — neither does Eric Cantor. That’s because the tax is capped at $106,800, but most Americans don’t know it. All we need to do is scrap the cap and make the payroll tax fair and equal for everyone to keep Social Security safe, stable and secure.

Join the movement to beat back the right-wing and keep Social Security safe, stable and secure.

When we stand up for our values of community, security and liberty, America wins.

- Arshad Hasan, Executive Director
Democracy for America