Kind Corn Roast
Friday, September 14
6:00 to 9:00 P.M.
La Crosse County Fairgrounds
W4985 County Highway M
West Salem

Volunteers needed for Corn Roast: Please contact Matt Ullsvik at (608)212-4429 or 782-3444

LCDP General Party Meeting/Movie Night
"Sicko"
Monday September 17
Short Business Meeting: 6:45 P.M.
Movie: 7:00 P.M.
UW-L Cartwright Center - Ward Room

Octoberfest Maple Leaf Parade
Saturday, September 29
Lineup time to be announced La Crosse

Torchlight Parade Thursday, October 4
Lineup time to be announced La Crosse

LCDP General Party Meeting
Monday, October 15
7:00 to 9:00 P.M.
Ho Chunk Nation 3 Rivers House
724 Main St.
La Crosse

I'm writing today to give you a brief update on the issue that continues to be on everyone's mind - Iraq. Back in their home states this summer, my colleagues in the Senate heard again and again from their constituents that the American people want to end the misguided mission in Iraq. Thanks to you, that's a message I've brought to Washington for years, and one I heard again, loud and clear, in every Listening Session I held last month.

We all know that it is far past time to begin redeploying U.S. troops out of Iraq. However, the spin from the White House has already begun. President Bush and a handful of Republican stalwarts in Congress are pointing to 'new progress' since the troop surge began in April. They're saying that 'we just need a little more time.'

But what they fail to admit-and what you and countless other Americans have known for some time-is that the time has come for Congress to end what can only be described as the worst foreign policy mistake in our nation's history. President Bush's reckless drive to war, his botched handling of the reconstruction, his mismanagement of the occupation, and his escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq has been a complete disaster. The President's war in Iraq has actually made us less safe as a nation, not safer. And our occupation of Iraq has been a costly distraction from the real war on terror, and it has turned much of the world against us.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and I have introduced a bill that uses Congress's "power of the purse" to begin safely redeploying our troops out of Iraq in 2008. The Feingold-Reid bill requires the President to begin to safely redeploy troops from Iraq within 120 days from enactment. Our legislation would end funding for the war and establish a set of very specific restrictions upon which President Bush could spend any money in Iraq.

I am going to continue to push my legislation, and other measures in the Senate, forward to end the war and safely redeploy our brave men and women in uniform. I sincerely appreciate all of your support. Please continue to write letters to the editor of your local papers and talk to your friends and family to let them know exactly where you stand. Every voice added to our effort brings us one step closer to our goal.

But there is much more work to be done as we inch closer to 2008. My staff and I are continuing to travel the state, hold our steering committee meetings, and talk to folks on the ground in every corner of every county. We're continuing to build on the work we did together last year and will again do all that we can to elect Democrats at all levels leading up to 2008. However, we can't do anything without your help.

So I wanted to be sure you had our campaign's contact information. The easiest way to contact us is through my State Field Director, Paula Zellner. She may be reached at zellner@russfeingold.org or 715- 735-7811. We want to hear directly from you; whether you, or someone you know, are thinking about running for state office, or even if you just see something in your local paper that you think we should be aware of, we're counting on you to be our eyes and ears on the ground.

Again, the work that you do at the local level helps Democrats statewide. I can't thank you enough for your commitment and dedication.

Russ Feingold
United States Senator
www.russfeingold.o rg

The LCDP needs volunteers now to for party building and 2008 election preparation. We need a special effort in '08, particularly in the 94th Assembly District and in the 32nd State Senate District.

The membership committee will coordinate this effort. Please contact either:

Vicki Burke at 781-0737 or irelandv icki@aim.c om

Nathan Montgomery at 780-6654 or nmontg o20@aim. com

Hank Zumach at 457-2545 or zumach@m wt.net

The annual Fall Dinner will be held on Saturday, October 27th at 5:30 P.M. at the Concordia Ballroom, 1129 La Crosse St., in La Crosse.

This year, in addition to the traditional silent auction, we will be raffling off two Green Bay Packer tickets for the December 9th home game against the Oakland Raiders. We will also be raffling off two Milwaukee Bucks tickets to a game of the winner's choosing.

Invited guests include Senators Feingold and Kohl and Governor Doyle.

Items are needed for the silent auction. Please contact Barb Clark at 784-1887 or Kris Troyanek at 782=3135 to donate items.

We always appreciate help in setup during the afternoon as well. Please contact Fabio Burgos at 792-0878 if you can help.

Please join us for a good time and to help the party get ready for 2008.

REPUBLICAN BUDGET POSTURING HURTS OUR SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES

Budget Delays Put the Squeeze on Students and Families across the State

By Rep Jennifer Shilling

Earlier this month, students in La Crosse and across the state went back to school. From kindergarten through college, teachers and students are getting ready to put in countless hours of teaching and learning during the coming months. Unfortunately, Republican leaders in the Legislature don't have this level of commitment.

The Republican's insistence on political posturing and their unwillingness to have meaningful negotiations with the Democratic leadership has led to a budget stalemate that is putting the squeeze on students and families statewide. Teachers and school administrators are left to wonder what their budget is going to be for the coming year; college students are left to wonder whether or not their financial aid request will be accepted; and parents are left to wonder whether their children will receive a quality education.

During the past few weeks of Conference Committee budget negotiations, Democratic leaders have offered reasonable proposals on everything from higher education to renewable energy to shared revenue. Included in their higher education package, Democrats offered a 4% tuition cap, one of the main components of the Republican's higher education budget.

Instead of making a counter-offer, and attempting to find agreement on higher education funding, Republicans refused to discuss higher education entirely and instead offered a proposal on K-12 education funding. Forgetting that negotiations are about compromise, their K-12 proposal was almost identical to the devastating K-12 funding package included in the Assembly Republican budget.

So, the Conference Committee negotiation process continues to go nowhere, and Republican leaders continue to hold high-priced fundraisers and shakedown lobbyists for campaign contributions, meanwhile teachers, students and families are left to wonder. During the August 30th meeting of the Conference Committee, Senate Republican leader Scott Fitzgerald said, "Nothing was accomplished here today and nothing will be accomplished today and the reason is this is just a game that's being played." Senator Fitzgerald and his Republican colleagues need to be called in from recess so they'll stop playing games and get to work.

Budgets are about priorities. Democrats have made it clear that our priorities in this budget are: adequate funding for our public schools and universities; access to health care and human services for all state residents; and support for our local governments to reduce the property tax burden and keep our communities safe and clean.

Dear Fellow Democrats:

We are doing something different at the next general party meeting -- a showing of the Michael Moore movie "Sicko" in the Ward Room at UW-L's Cartwright Center. Whether one agrees with all of Mr. Moore's contentions or not, by all accounts the movie is entertaining and thought provoking. Most importantly, it addresses our nation's most important domestic problem: access to affordable healthcare -- an issue for which the Republican party, both in Wisconsin and nationally, offers nothing but the failing status quo.

A very short General Party meeting at 6:45 will precede the movie, which will begin at 7:00 P.M. I would like to thank UW-L College Dems and their president, Scott Staehler, for helping us arrange this meeting.

When speaking about healthcare it should be noted that two of our local Republican legislators, Mike Huebsch and Dan Kapanke, are frankly roadblocks to meaningful reform. Defeating each of them in 2008 will make the road to ensuring access to quality and affordable healthcare for all of our citizens that much easier. Please join us in that effort.

Fabio Burgos
Chair
La Crosse County Democratic Party

Please renew your memberships for 2007. If you have not done so, you can find our 2007 membership form at laxdems.com. (Left side of front page).

Our goal is to push party membership over 400 people. Please check our website at laxdems.com, which has a membership form or email laxdems if you cannot come to our future party meetings.

Again, a reminder about the membership rates, effective October 1, 2006, as established by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin:

Students, Senior Citizens: $10.00
General: $25.00
Pairs (two memberships): $35.00
Activist (up to three): $45.00
Family(includes all family members: $75.00
Supporter: $120.00
Friend: $240.00
Patron: $600.00
Investor: $1200.00
Benefactor $2400.00
 

Half of the above membership dues go to the State party, with the exception of the Family membership, where $45.00 of $75.00 goes to the local party. Those who join at the higher levels of membership ($120.00 and above) should remember that only $50.00 of those memberships will stay with the local party.

If your intention is to become a new member or renew your membership with the Democratic Party and you want more of your contribution to go to the Local County Party, I encourage you to join at the single $25 or $75 Family membership level and make additional contributions to the county party directly.