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** Happy Thursday Democrats!
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Office News

Due to Covid and the risk of exposure, we have limited office hours. The office will be open on Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. We apologize for any inconvenience.


FEDERAL

Rubio Supported Extreme Budget Plan That Could Cut Programs Florida Depends On

Last week, Marco Rubio voted to support Senator Rand Paul’s radical Five Penny Plan, which would gut our federal budget, mandating “enormous cuts to practically every aspect of federal operations,” and putting defense, education, FEMA, and Medicare in jeopardy.

“Instead of voting for a budget plan that will lower health care costs and ensure no Floridian making under $400,000 will pay more taxes, Rubio decided to support an extreme budget proposal that could make dramatic cuts to Medicare, emergency management programs, and national security efforts,” said Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Grant Fox. “Once again, Rubio has shown he is not looking out for Floridians and their best interests and in 2022, voters will hold him accountable.”

Senator Rand Paul’s Five Penny budget plan would impose “austerity measures that would both hurt millions of American families” and undermine our economy. Read more on the budget below:

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Key Points:

Last week, as part of the debate over the Democratic budget plan, Paul introduced his own budget blueprint as an alternative and offered it as a proposed amendment. To no one's surprise, it failed in the face of unanimous opposition from the Democratic majority.

But this was not a 99-to-1 vote. On the contrary, as the dust settled last week, 28 Senate Republicans ended up voting for Rand Paul's budget plan.

To achieve such a goal, the GOP senator would mandate enormous cuts to practically every aspect of federal operations, slashing hundreds of billions of dollars in federal investments every year, imposing austerity that would both hurt millions of American families and severely undermining the domestic economy.

And while that helps explain why Paul's budget plan was defeated, it doesn't change the fact that most of the Senate Republican conference voted for it.

Among the Republicans who voted for the radical blueprint are members of the Senate Republican leadership -- Florida's Rick Scott, South Dakota's John Thune, and Wyoming's John Barrasso -- as well as some members who are up for re-election next year, including Florida's Marco Rubio, Wisconsin's Ron Johnson, and Iowa's Chuck Grassley.


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Immigration


The Biden administration must move forward with reviving the controversial Trump-era "Remain in Mexico" policy, the Supreme Court has decided. The policy forces migrants to stay in Mexico as they await their US immigration court dates. It was suspended at the beginning of Biden's term and formally terminated months later. However, Texas and Missouri sued to challenge the Biden administration's decision. A federal district judge appointed by President Trump then ruled that the way the Biden administration ended the program violated US law. The Supreme Court sided with this lower court decision, and its rejection could set the tone for how the court views emergency requests from the Biden administration in the future.


Source: CNN

STATE

Statement from Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz on FDA Approval of the Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine

On Monday August 23, the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the coronavirus vaccine produced by Pfizer-BioNTech for use by people aged 16 and older. Full approval means the vaccine meets the FDA’s highest standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality.

In reaction to this development, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz issued the following statement:

“Now that the Food and Drug Administration has fully approved the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people 16 or older, Governor DeSantis needs to put the same kind of energy and effort into promoting vaccination as he has poured into touting a treatment in which one of his top donors is heavily invested to the tune of millions of dollars.

“In fact, he needs to put about 40 times more effort into it, because that is the approximate difference in cost between a $25 vaccine and the $1,000 treatment he is so eagerly pushing. If he fails to do so, it will seriously call into question his motivations for promoting one approach versus the other.

“Additionally, it is high time he steps aside to allow local governments, educational institutions and businesses to require vaccinations for employees, students and customers if they feel that measure is called for to help save lives.

“DeSantis needs to set aside his desire to cater to the anti-vaccination radicals in the Republican Party base, along with any other considerations he may have, and enthusiastically champion a vaccine that has earned the ultimate endorsement of safety and effectiveness from the Food and Drug Administration. It is time for DeSantis to put the needs of Floridians above all else and become our state’s top promoter for vaccination.”
Feds Ready to Investigate Whether Students’ Rights to Safe Education Violated

Governor DeSantis seems to be under the impression that his desire to control Florida, and everyone who lives here, is above all law. He’s wrong. DeSantis’ demand that no schools require masks, is now under the watch of the Federal Department of Education. While some districts are defying his order, including the School District of Indian River County, let’s hope the Federal Government will step in to help our teachers, school staff and students have safe, healthy schools in the future.

You can read more here:

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LOCAL

School Board of Indian River County – ACTION NEEDED


Speaking of DeSantis’ desire to control mask wearing, last night the School Board of Indian River County voted 3-2 to mandate masks in Kindergarten through 8^th grade through September 15^th. After a lengthy debate during the Superintendent Workshop during the day, and the Business Meeting in the evening, the final vote was in the best interest of the health of students and staff and keeping our schools open.

The three School Board Members who voted in favor of the mask mandate were Dr. Mara Schiff, Dr. Peggy Jones and Mr. Brian Barefoot.

The two who voted against it were Jackie Rosario (citing Governor DeSantis’ order) and Teri Barenborg (citing parental rights).

We ask that you please send an email to the three Board Members who voted in favor, and to Superintendent Dr. Moore, and thank them for their advocacy for our students and staff. They truly are doing what is in the best interests of our school district.

We suggest you also include the two board members in that email so that they can see the community support for those who are doing the right thing. Or if you prefer, you can send them an email letting them know your disagree with their vote.

Here are their emails:

** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])



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** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

You can read more about the mask mandate and meeting here:

** [link removed] ([link removed])

DEMOCRATS OF INDIAN RIVER

Assistant Treasurer Needed

We are looking for someone who can assist our Treasure. This volunteer would help with filing paperwork, completing Supervisor of Election reports and do local banking. Being an accountant is not required but being organized is a must. If you are interested, please email Stacey at [email protected]

Democratic Women’s Club

We See It All: Liberty and Justice in an Age of Perpetual Serveillance by Jon Fasman is the next Book Group selection. The virtual meeting will start at 2:00 pm on August 27th. If you are not a Book Group member and would like to attend please contact Rita Milelli at ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
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Democratic Club of Indian River

The September Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 14th at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom.

A Zoom link will be sent to all members a week prior to the meeting with the meeting agenda.

Unfortunately, the Covid Delta variant numbers continue to rise in IRC. All future Club meetings will be held via Zoom until there is a marked improvement in the Covid numbers.

CALENDAR

Friday, August 27, 2021

2:00 p.m. – Democratic Women’s Club Book Club
If you aren't a book group member and would like to join in the discussion contact Rita Milelli at ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

9:00 a.m. – Orchid Town Council
For agenda and meeting information go to
** [link removed] ([link removed])



Thursday, September 2, 2021

7:00 p.m. - Fellsmere City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to
** www.cityoffellsmere.org/citycouncil ([link removed])



Friday, September 3, 2021

10:00 a.m. – Democratic Women’s Club Board Meeting. If you are not a DWC member and would like to attend, please contact Pat O'Hara at [email protected].



COVID UPDATE AND VACCINATIONS

Covid Update

Indian River cases continue to climb. Here is the latest from TC Palm.

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Statistics

A great place to check statistics for Indian River County is on Covid Act Now. You can access it here:
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The vulnerability level in IRC continues to be high so please continue to wear your mask and take necessary precautions.



Vaccinations

You can search for vaccination locations and details by clicking here:

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TIDBITS

I think these robots dance better than I do!

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That's all!

See you next week!

Stay Safe and Well!
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Democratic Executive Committee of Indian River County
2345 14th Ave.
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