Dem Club meets Tuesday!

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2023 Theme - National Women's History Alliance

MARCH is WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
CALENDAR

Friday, March 24, 2023

2:00 p.m. - The DWC Book Group will meet at the Brackett Library on the IRSC Mueller campus and discuss “I, Eliza Hamilton” by author Susan Holloway Scott

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

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6:00 p.m. - Democratic Club of Indian River annual election of board of Directors at the Irish American Club at 1314 20th St, Vero Beach, 32960. Potluck and Cash bar.

Thursday, March 30, 2023

9:00 a.m. - Indian River Shores City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to
[link removed]


Democrats of Indian River

Democratic Women's Club

Friday, March 24, 2023

The DWC Book Group will meet 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Brackett Library on the IRSC Mueller campus and discuss “I, Eliza Hamilton” by author Susan Holloway Scott

Democratic Club

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Democratic Club monthly potluck dinner meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the Irish American Club. Annual Board election will be held.

Slate of Candidates;


Clay Wild - President

Elle Shaw - Vice President

Caryl Zook - Secretary

Betty Morrow - Director

Howard Conklin - Director

Bonnie Ollinger - Director

Rhea McKenna - Director

Angela Weber - Director

Julie Lawton - Director

Treasurer, Charlie Berbick is up for election in 2024.


Thanks to all of you who have offered to serve! Please contact Claudia Martino ([email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or 954-290-5661) if you have any questions.

SAVE THE DATE

Saturday, April 15, 2023

11:30 a.m. - DWC SCHOLARSHIP LUNCHEON at Bent Pine Clubhouse. Dr Terri A. Graham, President of IRSC Mueller Campus, to speak. More information to follow.

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NOTICE: Democrats of Indian River Office is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. You can also reach us at (772) 226-5267 and at [email protected]

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Paper version of our weekly newsletter is now available in the office and in all Indian River County public libraries.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR


Banning books hinders free exchange of ideas



I am writing to express my strong belief that we should not ban books. Books are a fundamental aspect of our culture and have played an essential role in shaping our society over the years. They have the power to enlighten, inform and inspire us, and they give us the opportunity to explore different perspectives, beliefs and ideas.

Banning books, on the other hand, is a harmful and dangerous practice that can have severe consequences for individuals and society as a whole. When we ban books, we limit people's access to information and knowledge, and we deny them the opportunity to form their own opinions and beliefs. This can lead to ignorance, prejudice and a lack of understanding among different groups of people.

Moreover, banning books can stifle creativity and freedom of expression. Writers, artists and other creators need the freedom to express their ideas and beliefs, even if they are controversial or unpopular. By banning books, we send a message that certain ideas and beliefs are unacceptable, which can discourage people from expressing themselves and contributing to society.

Banning books can have a chilling effect on academic and intellectual inquiry. When books are banned, scholars, researchers and students may be afraid to explore certain topics or to express their opinions openly, for fear of repercussions. This can hinder the advancement of knowledge and the pursuit of truth.

Books are an essential part of our culture and society, and they play a crucial role in shaping our thoughts and beliefs. Banning books can lead to ignorance, prejudice and a lack of understanding, and it can stifle creativity and intellectual inquiry. Let us continue to promote the free exchange of ideas and information, and let us cherish and protect the freedom of expression that is so vital to our democracy and our way of life.

Chrisi Thanos, Port St. Lucie

DeSantis lacks leadership on issues critical to Floridians


I find it very interesting Gov. Ron DeSantis finds it very important to address subjective issues like “wokeness” and library book “bans” and ignore objective and real issues like home insurance and electric rates.

Is he really looking out for all the people of Florida or just those who think like him? Good government should protect people from things out of and beyond their control, not tell them what or how to think.

Instead of giving parents and citizens the freedom to make decisions on their own, he is trying to dictate the choices they have. It does not sound like freedom to me.

Drumming up fear on subjective issues is not real leadership. When was the last time some leader did that?

Jack Siplak, Vero Beach


To submit your letters to the Editor, go to:

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

LOCAL

Treasure Coast International Airport to expand commercial air service

George Landry, St. Lucie County's newly minted administrator, who officially started his new job at the beginning of the month, recognizes that the airport, at 3000 Curtis King Blvd. in northern St. Lucie County, has "unlimited potential."
His predecessor, Howard Tipton, who l** eft St. Lucie County for a job as town manager of Longboat Key ([link removed])
, had dreams of bringing commercial passenger service to Treasure Coast International.

** Vero Beach Regional Airport ([link removed])
is already in this game, with ** Breeze Airways ([link removed])
launching ** commercial flights to three cities ([link removed])
last month. Todd Scher, the Vero Beach airport's director, said it's uncertain at this point whether there will be an expansion of commercial air service there, and that includes whether Elite Airways, which flew out of Vero Beach from 2015 until last summer, will resume that service.

"We're still in a learning curve on how that impacts our airport and our staff," Scher said. "We are not actively soliciting any other airlines."

George Stokus, assistant county administrator in Martin County, said there absolutely are no plans to add commercial service at Witham Field in Stuart.

"We are not built for it. We are not staffed for it. It doesn't make financial sense," Stokus said.

St. Lucie County officials are in a much different posture with Treasure Coast International, though.

They already have taken many of the necessary steps by improving airport lighting, signage, infrastructure ― even painting markings on the tarmac ― in hopes of getting ** Part 139 certification ([link removed])
from the ** Federal Aviation Administration ([link removed])
.

That certification is a necessary precursor to getting passenger service.

There's already a terminal building that looks like it could comfortably seat about 36 passengers. There's also a ** U.S. Customs ([link removed])
office next door to the terminal.

Many travelers prefer to use Treasure Coast International when taking international flights to or from South Florida because it was much easier to clear customs here than at some of the region's larger airports.

There's a restaurant, Airport Tiki, a short walk from the terminal. There's a rental car business that serves some of the airport's current users, which include a variety of aviation-related businesses.

The main runway is about 6,400 feet, long enough to accommodate 737 aircraft capable of transporting about 90 passengers, according to airport officials. (President Barack Obama few in on an even-bigger Boeing 757 — the substitute Air Force One — when he came here to golf.)

There are facilities available on site for aircraft refueling, storage and maintenance.

And the airport has had passenger service before. In 2018, Fly The Whale airline flew to Tallahassee during Florida's legislative session, but the service was canceled in 2019 because of low demand.

Yes, the current terminal building is small and lacks amenities such as snack bars, shops, jetway bridges and a conveyor-driven system for handling luggage. Guess what? I've flown commercially in and out of a lot of smaller airports that didn't have all of those amenities, either.

And if commercial air traffic reached a level where a larger terminal and/or other support facilities were needed, there is about 2,000 acres of developable land on the airport property. Here's a fun fact: Treasure Coast International is actually larger, in terms of total land, than the airports in Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Orlando.

Treasure Coast International has some geographical advantages over Vero Beach in attracting passengers from throughout the region.

Palm Beach International Airport, which offers more flights and better facilities, is closer than Vero Beach for people living in Martin and southern St. Lucie counties. People living in northern Indian River County also have the options of catching commercial flights out of Melbourne Orlando International Airport or Orlando International Airport.

Treasure Coast International sits near the geographic center of the three-county region. The ** Port St. Lucie metro area ([link removed])
, which includes all of St. Lucie and Martin counties but not Indian River, has a population of more than 500,000.

Strategically, Treasure Coast International needs to focus on carriers with routes that would generate the most direct traffic, and on providing service to larger hubs such as Orlando, Miami, Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Besides offering a new travel option for people living in the region, commercial service at Treasure Coast International could provide other benefits.

For example, it would help the airport become less reliant on the county's general fund to support its operations. Landry said fees and revenues generated by the airport currently cover only about half of the operating expenses.

"The goal is to make the airport self-sustaining," he said.

Pete Tesch, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County, said commercial air service would also be a selling point for businesses that might consider expanding or relocating to the Treasure Coast, including possibly corporate headquarters.

"We would probably see another echelon of business opportunities," Tesch said.

More:** Treasure Coast airports boost economies; only one has brought passenger service here ([link removed])

More:** St. Lucie laying groundwork to attract airline to Treasure Coast International Airport ([link removed])

More:** FAA to St. Lucie County: Fix, this and that before you offer passenger flights from airport ([link removed])
** Blake Fontenay ([link removed])

Treasure Coast Newspapers




STATE


‘Open carry’ is now on the table as permitless carry bill goes to the House floor


Gov. Ron DeSantis has said that he would sign an open carry bill if the Legislature passed such a measure, something noted by Florida Democrats in their response to the amendment being filed.

“Ron DeSantis is encouraging lawmakers to introduce more and more extreme legislation as he works to boost his nation profile and win over the MAGA base,” said Florida Democratic Party spokesperson Devon Cruz.

“The open carry amendment introduced today could make it easier for criminals to openly carry guns in Florida. Law enforcement and citizens alike oppose this bill, which would make our state more dangerous. This extreme amendment is just another example of DeSantis putting his own political ambitions ahead of Floridians.”
Jared Moskowitz, a former state agency head in Florida and a current Congressman in Washington, D.C., posted a tweet Tuesday evening connected to what’s happening in the FL Legislature on guns. It’s quite scary.

What had become a proposal about permitless/constitutional carry—requiring no permit or training class — has now moved into something else: “Open carry.” That means Floridians could openly carry firearms in public, if approved by the Legislature.

On Tuesday, Hillsborough County Republican Mike Beltran filed an amendment to the proposal in the House (HB 543) that calls for allowing open carry in Florida. The amendment would have to be approved.

Here’s what Moskowitz said on Twitter:
"Should this pass, you will see people wearing AR-15s on their back in @Publix @Walmart @Target. Explain that to your 5 year old while buying cereal. I am hopeful cooler heads will prevail.

Mitch Perry, Senior Reporter
Florida Phoenix and
Diane Rado, Editor-in-Chief
Florida Phoenix

FEDERAL

Election-denying donors pour millions into key Wisconsin supreme court race.


‘An organized group of insurrectionists’ is seeking to swing a vote with big implications for voting rights, redistricting and abortion.

More than $3.9m has poured into the Wisconsin supreme court election from individuals and groups involved with promoting election disinformation and attempts to overturn the 2020 election, according to an analysis of campaign spending by the Guardian. The contributions, in support of the conservative candidate Daniel Kelly, come amid a race that has broken national campaign spending records. According to a campaign finance tracker by the Brennan Center for Justice, political ad orders for the liberal county judge Janet Protasiewicz and conservative Kelly have reached at least $20m in anticipation of the 4 April general election.

The Wisconsin supreme court is currently made up of three judges who lean liberal and four conservatives. Whoever replaces the conservative retiring justice Patience Roggensack will determine the ideological composition of the court, which has been dominated by the right wing for 15 years. ** At stake ([link removed])
in the Wisconsin supreme court race are redistricting, abortion rights, and voting rights and elections policy. And these decisions go beyond the state: Wisconsin has been a critical swing state in recent presidential elections, so its voting policies affect more than just state residents.

Among the election-denying funders behind Kelly’s run are anti-abortion thinktanks and Super Pacs, conservative billionaires and a constellation of groups funded by the Wisconsin shipping supply tycoon Richard Uihlein.

Meanwhile, prominent election denier Charlie Kirk of the rightwing Turning Point USA has voiced support for Kelly’s campaign. Kirk has been ** blamed ([link removed])
for funding the travel of a large number of the Capitol rioters on January 6.

“There is an organized group of insurrectionists who are trying to actively fund candidates for elected office, including judgeships,” said Jeremi Suri, a professor of public affairs and history at the University of Texas-Austin.

The funding comes after prominent election deniers lost their efforts in the 2022 midterms to oversee elections in swing states including Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

“I don’t think the insurrectionists have given up,” Suri said. “They’re still looking for candidates, and they’re particularly interested in someone like Kelly, who, if he can get on the supreme court, will have a 10-year term and will be pretty much unaccountable.”

Looming behind the biggest campaign splurges is Richard Uihlein, ** heir ([link removed])
to the Schlitz beer fortune and founder of Uline, a shipping supply company based in Wisconsin. Uihlein has gained notoriety for his financial support of groups involved with the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot and thinktanks that stoked unfounded fears of election fraud during and following the 2020 election – ** including ([link removed])
the Conservative Partnership Institute and the Federalist Society.

Campaign finance reports show the group Fair Courts America, Inc, which is largely bankrolled by Uihlein, spent at least $1.5m in independent expenditures on pro-Kelly television ads before the 21 February primary. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, Fair Courts America has ** booked ([link removed])
more than $3.9m in ads scheduled to run by 4 April.

Uihlein’s influence in the Wisconsin supreme court race extends beyond Fair Courts America. Restoration Pac, a funding vehicle that Uihlein has poured millions into, finances other pro-Kelly groups, including Women Speak Out Pac. Reports show Women Speak Out Pac has spent more than $100,000 on the primary and general election so far.

American Principles Project Pac, which has reported contributing more than $66,000 on pro-Kelly digital advertising before the primary, is also funded by Restoration Pac.

Although Uihlein dollars figure prominently in the Wisconsin supreme court race, the billionaire is one of multiple mega-donors behind Restoration Pac. The Florida private equity billionaire John Childs ** contributed ([link removed])
at least $800,000 to the Pac in 2022, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Childs has also contributed to America First Action, the Super Pac that supported Trump’s 2020 run for office.

The Texas billionaire Brett Hendrickson, who has contributed to the campaigns of the Missouri congressman Eric Burlison, Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina and the Illinois congresswoman Mary Miller, has also ** contributed ([link removed])
to Restoration Pac. Burlison, Budd and Miller have all aligned themselves with Trump in questioning the results of the 2020 election.

According to campaign finance filings, the Federalist Society chairman, Leonard Leo, contributed $20,000 to Kelly’s campaign – the maximum amount an individual donor can contribute to a supreme court campaign in Wisconsin. In addition to his work with the Federalist Society, Leo has ** ties ([link removed])
to the Concord Fund and the 85 Fund, groups that have pushed the widely disputed independent state legislature theory that claims state legislatures have full jurisdiction to conduct federal elections.

Also donating the maximum $20,000 to Kelly’s campaign was Diane Hendricks, ** chairwoman ([link removed])
of the multibillion-dollar building company ABC Supply. According to the FEC, Hendricks has also ** donated ([link removed])
at least $4m to Trump’s 2020 America First Pac, and more than $500,000 to Trump Victory and Make America Great Again, Again! Inc.

The deluge of cash from the same groups that financially supported election denialism and Trump’s failed bid to overturn the 2020 election also played an outsize role during the 2022 elections. Billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Trump-allied conservative strategist Larry Ellison, for example, reportedly spent more than $40m during the 2022 election cycle.

A bombshell ** report ([link removed])
in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel raised questions about Kelly’s own participation in 2020 attempts to overturn the presidential election. Kelly, the report found, had provided special counsel to the Republican party, advising on the subject of fake electors. He has also been paid close to $120,000 for his work on “election integrity” by the Republican National Committee and state GOP.

Given that the winner of the supreme court race will help decide the future of legal abortion in Wisconsin, money has ** poured ([link removed])
into the race on both sides of the abortion fight. Planned Parenthood Pacs promised more than $1m for Protasiewicz and the anti-abortion Women Speak Out Pac has spent at least $100,000 on pro-Kelly materials. The anti-abortion groups and funders behind Kelly’s campaign have also taken part in efforts to cast doubt on the 2020 election results – highlighting the common cause rightwing Christian activists have found with election deniers.

On a 21 February episode of the Charlie Kirk Show, Julaine Appling – president of the Christian, anti-abortion Wisconsin Family Council – endorsed Kelly while invoking fears of electoral fraud.

“Just take the ballot harvesting,” said Appling. “That was something that the liberals were pushing and pushing and doing these bizarre things during the 2020 election that were clearly outside the law.”

Wisconsin Family Action, Inc, which Appling also heads, has reported about $6,000 in independent expenditures to support Kelly’s election.

Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA and played a prominent role in mobilizing protestors for rallies that preceded the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, concurred.

“Dan Kelly is the best of all of them.”

Alice Herman,
The Guardian
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Available in the Democrats' office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
VIDEO of the WEEK

John Oliver on DeSantis

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



Office Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
10am to 3pm

2345 14^th Ave. Suite 7
Vero Beach 32960

(772) 226-5267

[email protected]


STAY SAFE OUT THERE!


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