Gwen and Bob invite you to the 2008 Jefferson Jackson Celebration with Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer

SPRING TIMES

Vol 1 #7
May 2, 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please join us for the 2008 Jefferson Jackson Celebration!

Gwen and Bob Springmeyer
Co-Chairs

Schedule

Friday May 9, 2008

Cal Rampton Salt Palace (South Ballroom, Foyer and Patio)
100 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah

4:00pm REGISTRATION for State Convention and
Jefferson-Jackson Celebration

5:00pm CONVENTION CONVENES
(Call to order; election of national delegates)

6:00pm RECEPTION (Guests are invited to come early to socialize, enjoy musical entertainment and silent action)

7:30pm DINNER and ENTERTAINMENT
(Announcement of results of election of national delegates)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tickets: $65 per person
Group Discount (10 tickets): $50 per person
Single payment required for group discount.

Order 2008 Jefferson Jackson Celebration Tickets Now!

Please call 1-801-328-1212, x205 to purchase tickets by phone.

Contributions are not tax deductible. Federal law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation, employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $200 in a calendar year.

www.jjutah.org
www.utdemocrats.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keynote Speaker - Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer

On November 2, 2004 Brian was elected as Montana's first Democratic governor since 1988. Brian Schweitzer became the 23rd Governor of the great state of Montana on January 3, 2005.

Some of Governor Schweitzer Initiatives include:

Insure Montana: A Health Insurance Program for Small Businesses - Governor Schweitzer called for and signed into law a program creating a purchasing pool allowing small businesses to band together to negotiate and purchase affordable health insurance for their employees.

20 x 10: Energy efficiency in state government - A twenty percent reduction in facility energy requirements by executive branch agencies, by the end of 2010. Reductions will be sought in electricity, natural gas, propane and fuel oil use.

Making synthetic petroleum out of coal, while capturing and sequestering greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide - The proposal has received national attention. It was featured in the NY Times, Washington Post and LA Times, and he has been a repeat guest CNBC's Kudlow and Company and CNN's Lou Dobbs. His national energy ideas were the subject of a feature-length story by Leslie Stahl on CBS's 60 Minutes in 2006.

Incentives for bio-fuel and wind-energy production; an historic increase in public education spending along with a balanced budget and no new taxes; and stronger protection of public lands for hunting, fishing and camping.

John Bohlinger, a Republican, small business owner, and former member of both the Montana House and Senate was picked by Schweitzer as his Lt. Governor.

Quick Links...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Website
Donate on line!

If you agree that Utah Must Do Better and want to help Bob, please send needed donations to:

Bob Springmeyer for Utah Governor
1289 4th Avenue
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
801-558-1114
Info@BobforGov.org
www.BobforGov.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Run, Frank, Run!

WE WANT YOU!

Utah Democratic Party Officers appear in Major Motion Picture

NIGHT OF THE LIVING REPUBLICANS
Starring

Wayne and Katie Holland
With a Cameo Appearance by
Rob Miller as Rod Decker
Produced and Edited by Katie Holland

DOUBLE FEATURE INCLUDES:
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEMOCRATS

Nomination and Reelection Speech of USDC Chair Wayne Holland, Jr.

Nomination and Reelection Speech of USDC Chair Wayne Holland, Jr.

Gov. Bill Richardson at the Utah Democrats Jefferson Jackson Celebration

Gov. Bill Richardson at the Utah Democrats 2007 Jefferson/Jackson Dinner

Senator Pat Jones speaks in Iron County

To learn more checkout:
Southern Utah Conventions Turning out Democrats

Utah Democratic Party: We do advocate a "power grab" by the People of Utah

Two weeks ago we encouraged Democrats to assist with a petition drive to put the school voucher issue on the ballot. Since then we have been subjected to lectures on: the nature of “representative” gov­ernment; the wishes of our Founding Fathers; accused of a “power grab”; advised not to take a stance on things we care about because of how “popular” we are in rural Utah; told it is a “waste of time, energy, and means”; and, that we should not “put the community through such a divisive and futile battle.”

We would like to point out something: Article VI, Section 1 of the Utah State Constitution clearly puts the voters of Utah on an equal footing with the State Legislature by vesting Utah’s legislative powers with the Senate, House and the People of the State of Utah.

This voucher legislation has significant implications for every public school and family in Utah. As such, we do advocate a “power grab” by the People of Utah to assert their constitutional rights

Regardless of your opinion on vouchers, the use of referenda to put laws passed by the legislature to a vote of the people is written into the Utah Constitution, which explicitly recognizes that power in our state rests with the peo­ple as co-equal to the rest of the legislative branch.

With public opinion polls showing strong opposition to vouchers and support for our neighborhood public schools, it is 58 Republicans serving us in state government who are putting Utahns through an unnecessary and divisive referendum battle. Had any one of 38 Republican State House members voting to support this scheme adequately represented the will of the people, Utahns would not be asked to vote on this issue. It is ironic that the motto over the House chamber is “vox populi” or “voice of the people.” Clearly, Republican State House mem­bers really think they are people’s voice and have taken numerous steps over the years to limit the actual ability of the People to have their say through referenda and initiative as a co-equal legislative voice.

Referenda are a necessary check on legislative power and an important means of fostering debate within our repre­sentative democracy, especially in a state that has seen considerable gerrymandering making it difficult for the people to truly hold their representatives accountable on Election Day.

It is well within the Utah Democratic Party’s mission to adopt and promote statements of policy. We proudly do so. Utahns of every political stripe -- even those from rural Utah -- should assert their constitutional authority and place this issue on the ballot. It is our patriotic duty to jealously protect the power of the People of the State of Utah to have their say on important matters like the school voucher scheme.

Utah Democratic Party e-mail from 03/06/07 that PCE included in their "liberal" e-mail blast

Public Education advocates launch voucher referendum

During the 2007 legislative session, the Utah legislature passed a bill that allows your tax dollars to be spent to subsidize private schools in Utah through so-called “vouchers” ranging from $300 to as much as $3,000.

These vouchers would be a poor way to advance education in Utah under the best of circumstances, but with Utah ranking dead last in the nation in per pupil spending, vouchers are especially ill advised. Even with this year’s record increase in education spending, Utah has a long ways to go to catch up.

Every Democrat serving in the Utah legislature opposed this year’s voucher legislation. We encourage every Utah Democrat to get involved in the effort by Utahns for Public Schools to put the 2007 voucher legislation to a vote of the people. The group has until April 9th to gather the tens of thousands of signatures required to place vouchers on the ballot in 2008.

To learn more about the referendum drive email info@utahnsforpublicschools.org or click on the link provided below.

Notice the difference in the language used in our e-mail and Doug's e-mail:

"Republicans must not sign these petitions!"

"We encourage every Utah Democrat to get involved in the effort by Utahns for Public Schools..."