A plea from GA-6

davidmac2003

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday February 10, 2017 · 5:54 AM PST

2017/02/10 · 05:54

First, GA-6 would like to apologize for newly-confirmed HHS Secretary Tom Price. ::sadface::

But maybe we can atone for that by flipping the seat. In Georgia, we have a jungle-style special election, with all candidates on the ballot, and then a runoff if no one gets to 50%+1. Unfortunately, due to DNC and GADP rules, the local party apparatus can’t and won’t help limit the number of D’s on the ballot to just 1. Three Democrats have declared their interest — Ron Slotin, Sally Harrell, and Daily Kos-endorsed Jon Ossoff. The date for the election will be set by Gov. Deal within the next few days.

But without party help (the candidates will not be receiving Party funds, and will have to buy walking lists and voter lists), we need to kick in our own Big Data work. GA-6 is full of corporate Republicans, less so social conservatives. It’s also racially diverse.

I did a quick search of my zip code on Opensecrets and found a number of contributors to Kasich and Bush and their associated PACs. One person contributed $50k to Bush’s PAC — and then $0 to Trump. Intriguing, eh? I wonder if he could be enticed to vote for a Democrat...

My plea is this: find the persuadables. Use data mining to make a database. Help the candidate(s) have this information at their fingertips so they can press the flesh and campaign effectively. Speak out against Trump and how the House needs to step up its oversight of the executive branch. Speak out on how the independence of the judiciary is threatened. Ask if they want their companies publicly threatened on Twitter by the president, as he has done to other companies.

Thank you.

SCOTUS is important. So is the Solicitor General.

davidmac2003

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday September 30, 2016 · 8:02 AM PDT

2016/09/30 · 08:02

Supreme court building — Education and special needs at SCOTUS this winter

Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted cert in Endrew F. v Douglas County (10th Circuit).

An autistic boy’s parents withdrew him from school and placed him in a private school, which the district refused to pay for. The family alleges that the IEP wasn’t sufficient to help Endrew access education; the district replies that “more than de minimis” improvement from the IEP is all the law requires.

Any parents with kids having either a 504 or IEP need to follow this. Does a district have to do only the bare minimum, or do they need to demonstrate "meaningful improvement" to be in compliance with IDEA? What constitutes providing a fair and appropriate public education (FAPE)?

As a further point, the Court called for the view of the US Government (executive branch) in this case too. The Solicitor General's brief is worth reading. Think about that - will your candidate support your kids' right to access education?

Will your candidate even know what FAPE, IDEA, IEP, and the ADAAA mean?

What's Jeb doing today?

davidmac2003

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday March 01, 2016 · 8:30 AM PST

2016/03/01 · 08:30

Yup.

Strike back against anti-gay bigotry via sports economics

davidmac2003

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday February 23, 2016 · 12:55 PM PST

2016/02/23 · 12:55

The Georgia Senate combined and passed the relatively innocuous “Pastor Protection Act” with a “First Amendment Defense Act” that puts state protection on bigots being bigots. The bill, HB 757, is pending in the GA House.

Many major corporations and organizations (Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Delta, Hilton, etc.) have issued statements against this legislation, but one is notably silent: the NCAA.

The NCAA recently awarded their College Football Championship to Atlanta for January 2018. The NCAA’s nondiscrimination policy and threats of sanctions against the state of Indiana helped win the fight against Indiana’s RFRA last year. A similar threat to revoke the CFB championship would likely drive the GA legislature into a tizzy to kill this bill.

Please signal boost and tweet at NCAA’s press/media/legal contacts:

@NCAAStacey @NCAAgail @NCAAChristopher @NCAAEmily

Why has NCAA not spoken out against pending Georgia RFRA-with CFB 2018 championship in ATL

New Morality Clause for Teachers in Cincinnati Catholic Schools

davidmac2003

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 07, 2014 · 6:43 AM PST

2014/03/07 · 06:43

If you're LGBT, if you support marriage equality, if you need IVF - you can't teach in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Archdiocese of Cincinnati expands moral clause in teacher contracts [WLWT]

"Such conduct or lifestyle that is in contradiction to Catholic doctrine or morals includes, but is not limited to, improper use of social media/communication, public support of or publicly living together outside marriage, public support of or sexual activity out of wedlock, public support of or homosexual lifestyle, public support of or use of abortion, public support of or use of a surrogate mother, public support of or use of in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, public membership in organizations whose mission and message are incompatible with Catholic doctrine or morals, and/or flagrant deceit or dishonesty."

This new contract is the direct result of Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC and Dias v. Archdiocese of Cincinnati - teachers are now "Teacher-Ministers," which means the boss can discriminate against you in any way he wants - maybe even firing you for wishing a friend "good luck" on their IVF treatment.

More below.

RSS