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Office Hours
 
Our regular office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 
Our address is 2345 14th Ave., Suite 7, Downtown Vero Beach.

Please note: Our office will be closed next Thursday, May 19th.
 
Newsletter Highlights
  
  • School board candidate Cindy Gibbs is on the ballot!  Now it’s time to donate. Find out how to help in the School Board Candidate section!
  • The Florida Democratic Party launches their organizing effort.  Read more in the State section.
  • Heather Cox Richardson breaks down what the Republican party has become in the Federal section

School Board Candidate
 

Thanks to all of you who signed a petition, Cindy is officially finished with the 1,245 petitions she needed to get on the ballot.  Thank you!
 
 
Now, Cindy needs our help to fundraise.  It will take a lot to be competitive in the race against Jackie Rosario.  We ask that you copy and paste the letter below and email it to your like-minded friends who share Democratic values.  Especially those who are pro-public education.  Let’s show Indian River that we support our candidates and believe Democrats are viable candidates too!
 
 
Dear Friends,
I am writing to ask you to join me in supporting candidate Cindy Gibbs who is running for Indian River County School Board, District 2.  
Cindy believes: 
  • Public schools are the foundations of a strong community; helping families to thrive and where children learn the knowledge and skills needed to become valued members of our society and the economy. 
  • Public schools must be properly funded and staffed for a whole host of reasons–salaries, school infrastructure and safety, learning materials, support staff and more. 
  • Public schools serve ALL children, so ALL children must feel safe in our schools, regardless of socio-economic status. family organization, gender, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. 
As a wife, a mother of two Indian River County Schools students, and an experienced educator, Cindy has seen the classroom from inside and outside. This unique perspective makes her the best choice for the work. 
I’m asking that you consider a donation to Cindy’s campaign.  Donations can be made by check for Cynthia Gibbs Campaign Account up to the amount of $1,000.  Mail your check to Cindy Gibbs, 1734 Mistletoe St., Sebastian, FL 32958.    
You can learn more about Cindy on her website at gibbs4schools.com or call her at (772) 228-0252 to talk about her campaign and how you can support it. 
 
 


DEMOCRATS OF INDIAN RIVER
 

Democratic Women’s Club

The next DWC luncheon will be at Marsh Landing Restaurant in Fellsmere on Saturday, May 14th.  Rabbi Michael Birnholz will be speaking about the complexities of the Israeli Palestine situation.
 
Anyone interested in attending as a guest, please RSVP to Julie Barone at [email protected]. Reservations required. Cost is $25 to be paid at the door.  Designate food choice:  Honey Lime Chicken, Shrimp & Grits, or Pasta Primavera (vegetarian choice).
 
Please bring a nonperishable food ítem as a donation suggested by the Environmental Committee for the nearby Fellsmere Food Pantry.
 

The DWC BOOK GROUP will resume in person meetings on May 27th at 2 p.m. at the Indian River County Main Library. The book to be discussed is titled “Black Was the Ink” by Michelle Coles. If you are not a book group member and would like further information, please contact Rita Milelli at [email protected].
 


Democratic Club of Indian River
 
Tonight is the monthly Democratic Club meeting!  Join us at 6:00 p.m. at the Irish American Club, 1314 20th St, Vero Beach, FL 32960!
 

 
 


FEDERAL


Heather Cox Richardson’s May 11, 2022 Editorial
 
In the last year, the Republican Party has transformed.
 
The modern Republican Party rose to power in 1980 promising to slash government intervention in the economy. But that was never a terribly popular stance, and in order to win elections, party leaders wedded themselves to the religious right. For decades, party leaders managed to deliver economic liberties to business leaders by tossing increasingly extreme rhetoric and occasional victories to the religious right. Now, though, that radicalized minority is driving the party. It has thrown overboard the idea of smaller government to drive economic growth and embraced the idea that a strong government must enforce the religious and social beliefs of their base on the rest of the country.
 
This religiously based government wants to control not just individuals, but also businesses. We are seeing not only the apparent overturning of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, but also the criminalization of contraception, attacks on gay and trans rights, laws giving the state the power to design school curricula, fury at immigrants, book banning, and a reordering of the nation around evangelical Christianity.
 
Today, when the Senate voted on the Women’s Health Protection Act, a bill protecting the constitutional right to abortion as originally recognized in Roe v. Wade, all of the Republicans voted against it, along with Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Manchin said the bill was too broad, although he did not say in what way.
 
Modern Republicans are not limiting this strong state to the policing of individuals. They are using it to determine the actions of businesses. Even two years ago, it was unthinkable that Florida governor Ron DeSantis would try to strip its longstanding governing power from the Walt Disney Company to force the company to shut up about gay rights, and yet, just last month, that is precisely what happened.
 
Similarly, in his quest to weaponize the issue of immigration, Texas governor Greg Abbott drastically slowed the trade routes between Texas and Mexico between April 6 and April 15, costing the country $9 billion in gross national product and prompting Mexico to change the route of a railway connection worth billions of dollars from Texas to New Mexico. And now Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is proposing to use the government to strip Disney of its copyrights, a plan Professor Paul Goldstein of Stanford Law School, who specializes in intellectual property, calls “blatantly unconstitutional.”
 
This is no longer your mother’s Republican Party, or your grandfather’s… or his grandfather’s.
 
Today’s Republican Party is not about equal rights and opportunity, as Lincoln’s party was. It is not about using the government to protect ordinary people, as Theodore Roosevelt’s party was. It is not even about advancing the ability of businesses to do as they deem best, as Ronald Reagan’s party was.
 
The modern Republican Party is about using the power of the government to enforce the beliefs of a radical minority on the majority of Americans.
 
After more than a year of emphasizing that he could work with Republicans, President Joe Biden yesterday went on the offensive against what he called “the Ultra-MAGA Agenda.”
 
He focused on Florida senator Rick Scott’s “11-Point Plan to Rescue America,” which offers a blueprint for creating the modern Republican vision, beginning with its statement that “[t]he nuclear family is crucial to civilization, it is God’s design for humanity, and it must be protected and celebrated.” To protect that family, Scott not only wants to end abortion rights, but also proposes requiring all Americans, no matter how little money they make, to pay income taxes, and to make all laws—including, presumably, Social Security, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and so on—expire every five years. Congress can then just repass the ones it likes, he says.
 
Yesterday, Biden laid out the difference between his economic plan and Scott’s. He pointed out that his policies of using the government to support ordinary Americans have produced 8.3 million jobs in 15 months, the strongest job creation in modern history. Unemployment is at 3.6%, and 5.4 million small businesses have applied to start up this year—20% more than in any other year recorded.
 
Now, he says, the global inflation that is hurting Americans so badly is his top priority. To combat that inflation by taking on the price of oil, he has released 240 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to boost supplies, and increased domestic oil production. To lower prices, he has untangled supply chains, and now he wants to reduce our dependence on oil by investing in renewables, to restore competition in key industries (like baby formula) now dominated by a few companies, and to take on price gouging. And he has asked the wealthiest Americans “to pay their fair share in taxes,” since “[i]n recent years, the average billionaire has paid about 8% in federal taxes.”
 
In contrast, he said, Republicans are proposing to raise taxes on 75 million American families, more than 95% of whom make less than $100,000 a year. “Their plan would also raise taxes on 82% of small-business owners making less than $50,000 a year,” he said, but would do nothing to hold corporations accountable, even as they are recording record profits. The plan to sunset laws every five years would give Republicans leverage to get anything they want: “Give us another tax cut for billionaires, or Social Security gets it.”
 
Republicans responded to the president with fury, recognizing just how unpopular Scott’s plan would be if people were aware of it. They suggested that it is a fringe idea; host Dana Perino of the Fox News Channel tried to argue that Scott “is eating alone at the lunch table.” Scott promptly called Biden “unwell,” “unfit for office,” and “incoherent, incapacitated and confused,” and said he should resign.
 
While Republicans have not championed Scott’s program, they have let it stand alone to represent them. White House press secretary Jen Psaki pointed out that Scott’s plan is the only one the Republicans have produced, since Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has said he will not release any plans before the 2022 midterm elections, preferring simply to attack Democrats. Until he does, Scott is speaking for the party. And Scott is hardly a fringe character: as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, he is in charge of electing Republicans to the Senate. Psaki went on to read a list of Republicans who supported Scott’s plan, including the chair of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, who applauded Scott’s “real solutions to put us back on track.”.
 
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also called out Republican far-right extremism yesterday in her defense of abortion rights, hitting again and again on how their stripping away of a right established almost 50 years ago is dangerous and radical. Polls show that a majority of Americans want the court to uphold Roe v. Wade, while a Monmouth poll published today shows that only about 8% of Americans want abortion to be illegal in all cases, as new trigger laws are establishing.
 
The unpopularity of the probable overturning of Roe v. Wade also has Republicans backpedaling, trying to argue that losing the recognition of a constitutional right that has been protected for fifty years will not actually change abortion access. Ignoring both the move toward a national abortion ban and the voting restrictions newly in place in 19 states that cement Republican control, they say that voters in states can simply choose to protect abortion rights if they wish. Wisconsin Republican senator Ron Johnson said, “It might be a little messy for some people,” but Wisconsin women could obtain an abortion by driving to Illinois. “[I]t’s not going to be that big a change,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
 
If overturning Roe v. Wade is such a nothingburger, why has the radical right fought for it as a key issue since the 1980s? In any case, Republicans are no longer able to argue that their extremists are anything other than the center of the party. As Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the third officer in Republican leadership in the House, said after Biden spoke: “I am ultra MAGA. And I’m proud of it.”
 


STATE


Florida Democratic Party Launches Organizing Effort
 
The Florida Democratic Party has announced the launch of Blue Shift Florida, a $15 million statewide organizing effort.
 
Blue Shift Florida represents the Florida Democratic Party’s first ever statewide coordinated campaign. With record investments in organizing, voter registration, voter protection, and data infrastructure, Blue Shift Florida will build the foundation for Democratic unity and institutionalize our vision to build a Democratic Party that can compete and win in Florida in 2022 and beyond.
 
“Nothing like this has ever been done in Florida. The record investments that we are making are part of a long-term strategy to unite and mobilize all Florida Democrats. Blue Shift will build the foundation to institutionalize unity among all our candidates, county party organizations and stakeholders, year-round work and staffing during on and off years, develop a joint strategy and budget, and foster a team organizational approach where all participants assume responsibility and benefit together," said Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz.
 
"Blue Shift will register voters, mobilize Democrats for races at all levels, sustain itself over time and make smart and efficient investments. Blue Shift will compete in all 67 counties building out neighborhood teams across Florida. This $15 million effort is just the start, and with the unity shown today by our candidates and stakeholders, I have no doubt that we will Shift Florida Blue,” continued Diaz.
 
Blue Shift will be funded with contributions from the Florida Democratic Party, U.S. Senate candidate Val Demings, the campaigns of gubernatorial candidates Charlie Crist, Nikki Fried, and Annette Taddeo, the leadership committees for Florida Senate Democrats and Florida House Democrats, the campaigns of Cabinet candidates, labor unions, and other state and national affiliated organization.
 
Quotes from Blue Shift Florida supporters:
 
Representative Val Demings
“I’m proud to work hand-in-hand with Democrats throughout the state to build a bilingual, grassroots movement that will take back Florida,” said Chief Val Demings. “We are fighting from the Panhandle to the Keys, leaving no community untouched and no voter behind in our fight to protect Florida’s families, protect constitutional rights, and elect people committed to that fight, up and down the ballot. We are in it to win, and together I know we will.”
 
Representative Charlie Crist
“Elections in Florida are about turnout, reaching voters in every corner of our Sunshine State. Blue Shift marks the earliest start to a coordinated Democratic statewide effort, ever. United, we will run the most coordinated field campaign Florida has ever seen, win up and down the ballot, and prove that this remains the most competitive swing state in the country.”
 
Nikki Fried, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture
“Florida has become one of the least affordable places to live in the country. Assaults on our freedoms, from our freedom of speech to a woman’s right to choose, are being eroded at an alarming pace. We can no longer afford to suffer from a Governor and state leaders that care more about their own political careers than the well-being of the people that they were elected to represent. That is why we must all stand strong, together, with a unified voice, and with a clear message: we will not surrender our liberty. We will not give up without a fight. The front line of this battle for our nation’s heart, soul, and spirit runs from Miami to Pensacola. It’s right here in Florida. I am proud to stand with the Florida’s Democratic Party to lead this fight. I hope you will join us.”  
 
State Senator Annette Taddeo
"I’m proud to join the Florida Democrats Blue Shift program. This last legislative session and now the leaked draft ruling from the Supreme Court feel like we are in a 1950s horror movie. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done and the only way we can accomplish it is by investing early and making sure we reach as many people as possible. The last time a top of the ticket Democrat won in Florida was 2012 because of the overwhelming grassroots support that President Obama was able to generate. In order to win, we need to get back out to every corner of Florida and win back a diverse coalition of voters so that we can truly make our state work for everyone."
 
Adam Hattersley, candidate for Florida CFO
“I’m so excited to be a part of Blue Shift, the Florida Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign, for the 2022 elections. As a combat veteran, I know the importance of early planning and investment to make sure the mission gets accomplished successfully. Blue Shift is about EVERYONE that makes up the Democratic Party, with a level of coordination never before seen in a midterm – and is ready to get our boots back on the ground so we can all work together to safeguard Florida’s future.”
 



Leadership Blue
 
The Florida Democratic Party is excited to share that our annual Leadership Blue Weekend has been scheduled for Friday, July 15 to Sunday, July 17 at the JW Marriott on Water Street in Tampa!
 
To see the latest updates and information on this year's Leadership Blue weekend, visit leadershipblue.com. We hope you will save the date and join us for a weekend in support of the FDP and Florida's Democratic candidates!
 
We look forward to sharing more details soon. To ensure you receive more information as we release it, please sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/floridadems/event/448158/
 
 

 


LOCAL


Bans off our Bodies
 
If you would like to participate in a Roe v. Wade rally on May 14th in Melbourne and Stuart.  you can find them here: https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/rightfully-ours/bans-off-our-bodies#events-list
 
The sign up for the one in Fort Pierce is here: https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/460576/
 
 


Land Visioning Workshops
 
 
Fellsmere Youth
 
 

 
 


Save the Date!
 

 


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR


Below are a couple of good letters to the editor this week.  Remember, if we stay quiet and don’t speak out, we become complacent.  PLEASE write a letter to the editor and speak up.  If you would like to write a letter to the editor to respond to any of these letters, you can submit your letter here:
https://static.tcpalm.com/forms/?wid=q1jkscld1v7h87e
 
 

Public Speech Need Not Be Vile
 
Some months ago I went by the house of a new person in town.
 
A single dad raising his young son, they seemed like a nice family. Recently, he put up a flagpole and a flag that reads: "(expletive deleted) Biden.” I see a few of these flags across our city as I travel about. They don't shock me too much anymore.
 
This flag was different, though. At the bottom it also reads "and (expletive deleted) You if you voted for him.”
 
Farther down the street there is a resident with two flags, one an upside down American flag (universal sign of distress), the other an "(expletive deleted) Biden" flag. To top it off, painted on the back of their pickup truck was "(expletive deleted) Ukraine.”
 
I've even seen a guy driving around town with an "(expletive deleted) Trump" sign on his car.
 
Is it just me or is anyone else disgusted and offended by this type of vile public free speech?
 
Welcome to the neighborhood ...
 
Chuck Proulx, Port St. Lucie

 
 
I'm Registered as a Republican — And I'm Tired of Many GOP Actions
 
Someone tipped off the media that the U.S. Supreme Court might kill Roe v. Wade — and the press warned the people.
 
What are Republicans angry about? The loss of women's health issues? No. They just want to know who “spilled the beans” about their fight to control a women's choice on her health and future.
 
These kinds of court decisions have already closed Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. Clinics that provided women with mammograms and other female physicals to keep them healthy.
 
As a registered Republican I am tired of Republicans sticking their noses into people's bedrooms.
 
I am tired of Republicans who block medical reports that show they are failing to protect the public and fire anyone who dares to release easy-to-understand hospital and death counts.
 
I am tired of Republicans who show up for newspaper pictures of themselves "shocked — shocked” by the blue-green algae poisoning the Indian River Lagoon, sickening our people, killing manatees, making our fish uneatable — and then correct nothing.
 
I am tired of Florida Republicans who learned nothing from past oil spills and continue to support oil rigs off our east coast.
 
I am tired of Republicans we elect to represent “We the People,” but spend their time representing “special interests.”
 
I am especially tired and dismayed about the many fine Republican representatives we have lost through phony attacks by their fellow Republicans who decided to follow a “star” — and not the one over Bethlehem.
 
Ruth Sullivan, Vero Beach
 
 


CALENDAR



Thursday, May 12, 2022
 
 
6:00 p.m. – Democratic Club of Indian River Monthly Meeting, Irish American Society, 1314 20th St., Vero Beach, FL 32960
 


Tuesday, May 17, 2022
 
9:00 a.m. – IRC County Commission
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://ircgov.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
 
9:00 a.m. – Vero Beach City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to https://covb.org/AgendaCenter and you can watch here:  https://www.covb.org/341/CTYVB-13---City-of-Vero-Beach-Official-T
 
 
 
Thursday, May 19, 2022


6:00 p.m. - Democrats of Indian River, DEC Meeting via Zoom.  Contact Stacey at [email protected] for meeting link.
 
 
7:00 p.m. - Fellsmere City Council, 22 S. Orange Street, Fellsmere, FL 32948  For agenda and meeting information go to www.cityoffellsmere.org/citycouncil
 
 
 
 
TIDBITS

This Golden Retriever is pretty adamant about the name he wants for his son!  Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huwo2I8-xP0
 
 

 

 
 




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