Democratic Coalition Forum  

The first event sponsored by the Coalition will be a Forum called “How to be a Constructive Activist.” The Forum will emphasize specific issues such as protection of the environment, promotion of education and human rights.   The Forum will be held on Sunday, August 14, at 3:30 pm, in the United Church of Christ in Cornwall, Congregational on Bolton Hill Road in Cornwall. Be sure to mark your calendar.  (For further details on this invitation, see back page of Newsletter.)

Note: The DCNC wishes to acknowledge with great thanks for the use of their building for this forum.  The church is not a sponsor of this event nor are the views expressed here endorsed by the church.

Blumenthal, Dean to Speak at Forum

Keynote speakers at the Forum are:  Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General; Jim Dean, Chairman of Democracy for America; and Sam Pratt, Executive Director of Friends of Hudson.  Also participating are Nancy DiNardo, Chairwoman of the Connecticut State Democratic Party, as well as State Representatives George Wilber and Roberta Willis.  Everyone is invited and the floor will be open to full audience participation.

Richard Blumenthal is renowned as our indefatigable, four-term Attorney General since 1990, who has brought effective legal actions to defend Connecticut’s environment from industrial pollution, enforce the standards of the Clean Air Act, shut down corporate fraud, protect consumer rights, obtain federal funding for our schools, and promote health care and human rights.  Blumenthal is an honors graduate of Harvard and Yale School of Law, and he has served in many legal activist capacities in his distinguished career. 

Jim Dean, the brother of Vermont’s Howard Dean, is chair of Democracy for America, dedicated to strengthening grassroots participation and the recruitment and election of fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates at all levels of government.  Dean is an experienced campaign manager and activist.  A Connecticut resident, he has a background in business development, marketing and sales in private enterprise. 

Sam Pratt is celebrated in Northwest Connecticut as the activist Executive Director of Friends of Hudson, whose successful “Stop the Plant” efforts over six years blocked foreign-owned St Lawrence Cement from building on the Hudson River a giant new cement plant that would have spewed tons of particulate matter and toxic pollutants over New York, Connecticut and the other New England States.  He’ll tell us how he did it. 

Nancy DiNardo is the newly elected, first woman Chair of the Connecticut State Democratic Party.  A native of Trumbull, CT,  DiNardo has a background in local politics, finance, health policy and education, and she ran Diane Farell’s  US congressional campaign in the CT 4^th District in 2004.

How to be a Constructive Activist
It is crucially important at this time in our national history to be an activist. It is not enough to be right on the issues. We also have to be effective in conveying the message and turning out the vote. We have to out perform the opposition.  Read more & discuss

Saving Social Security
We all know of family members, friends and others, who absolutely rely on their monthly Social Security payments just to survive.  We all know those who have had to quit working due to illness, and cannot survive without Social Security disability coverage.  We all know, irrespective of party affiliation, we have to save Social Security.  Read more & discuss

Stem Cell Research Saves Lives
The bad news is that the U.S. President has announced, on alleged Religious” grounds, that he will veto any bill out of Congress that widens the use of embryonic stem cell lines for research and therapeutic purposes.  The argument is “We must not create life in order to destroy it.”  Read more & discuss

Education and the "No Child Left Behind Act"
The 2001 Federal No Child Left Behind law  (NCLB) changes our public schools in ways that are fundamental, expensive, and possibly unconstitutional.  These changes impact the best and brightest, as well the most vulnerable children and families.  Read more & discuss

Freedom versus the Patriot Act
The Patriot Act was hastily pushed through Congress following “9/11” before many of the legislators could read the proposal. Many provisions were passed with "sunset" clauses, which, unless extended, are set to expire at the end of this year.  Read more & discuss

Environment and the "Clear Skies" Initiative
The “Clear Skies” Initiative, introduced by the Bush administration in 2003, if adopted, would lower the standards set by the Clean Air Act and  delay the enforcement of these standards for as much as fifteen years. What would this mean for the health and beauty of Connecticut?  Read more & discuss

This web-site is published by the Democratic Coalition of Northwest Connecticut.  It is a joint venture of the Democratic Town Committees of  Canaan, Cornwall, Falls Village, Kent, Salisbury and Sharon.  To contact or join the DCNC call 860-672-0500 or click here.