September15,

1, 2015
September
2014 August Primary Election Issue #1 No.
No.15-10
14-11

Republicans Cant Agree

on a Congressional Map
Redistricting
Still No Agreement

Yet
Another
Legislative
Session Between Oct. 19-Nov 6
there will be a Special Legislative
Pfft! The Florida Special Session on new maps for the
Legislative Session on the new Florida State Senate districts.
Congressional Maps ended with
no agreement between the House The Courts did not provide guidance on how many State Senate
and the Senate.
districts need to be changed. It
Although a Conference Commitmay be that 70% of the distee met to resolve the differenctricts have been inappropriately
es in their maps, it was clear that
drawn.
neither side would budge.

There is little hope that this session

will be any more productive than
http://interactive.orlandosentinel. the one that just concluded.
com/florida-redistricting-2015/
Linda Geller-Schwartz, National
legislative-differences/index.html
Council of Jewish Women-Florida
Impasse The Senate asked
for the session to be extended, the
For Shame
House refused and abruptly adIf Florida Republican leaders were
journed (followed by the Senate).
capable of feeling shame, they would
So now it will be up to the Florida be feeling it now. After spending
Supreme Court to come up with millions of dollars to fight the Fair
a new Congressional map by District amendments over three
October 17th. It is expected that sessions in three years, the GOP has
the Court will have before it given up on their efforts to produce
not only the maps of the Senate a constitutional Congressional map.
and House, but also one from There are no excuses for this obscene
the Governor (and maybe some and unprecedented waste of taxpayer
others).
resources, and for the illegal actions
Meanwhile, U.S Rep. Corrine that got us here.
Brown (D-Jacksonville) has al- Floridians will not forget that when
ready gone to federal court to Republicans were asked to govern
block the major changes to her constitutionally in the sunshine, they
current district (5th district).
simply refused. --Florida Democratic
Party Chair Allison Tant
To see the differences go to:

15-10

TALKING POINTS
1. The GOP has given up on its
efforts to redistrict.
2. Redistricting is now in the
hands of the Florida Courts.
3. Today, nearly 95 percent
of American workers
contribute 6.2 percent of
every paycheck to Social
Security. Yet high-income
earners stop contributing
once they hit the current
$118,500 capmeaning
that a CEO earning $2
million pays an effective
payroll tax rate of just .37
percent.
4. You cant influence your
partys candidate choice
in the Presidential Primary in March if . . . (see page
5)
5. See Dr. Robert Watsons 10
Thoughts on the Iran Deal . . .
(see page 6}
Republicans know many
things that arent so, and no
amount of contrary evidence
will get them to change
their minds. Paul Krugman
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On August 14th Social Security Turned 80

There Are Two Kinds of People

There are two kinds of people who want to cut Social

Securityliars, and people who believe the lies.
Theyve heard the conservative talking points:
yySocial Security is going broke
yy Social Security wont be there for me
when I retire
yyThe only way to save Social Security
is to cut benefits.
Lies Unfortunately, these Wall Street funded
lies have gotten plenty of traction in recent years.
So much so that a recent survey shows that
43 percent of young people believe that Social
Security wont be there for them when they retire
no matter how much that same survey shows that
these same young people want it to.
Facts Its time to set the record straight. This
4th of July weekend, when youre speaking with
your Chris Christie-loving cousin at the family
BBQ, you have the facts on your side:
yySocial Security has a $2.8 trillion
surplus and can pay out every benefit
owed to every eligible person for
nearly two decades. After that,
even if we do nothing, it will pay out
approximately 80% of benefits owed
for the next 75 years.
yySocial Security has not contributed
one penny to the deficit because it
is independently funded by the FICA
payroll tax.
yyProposed tweaks to Social Security
would hurt seniors, disabled veterans
and people with disabilities.
yyAll we need is to ask millionaires and
billionaires to start paying into Social
Security at the same rate as the rest
of us and we not only extend the life
of the Social Security trust fund,
but we can expand benefits to the
majority of Americans.
Support With the facts on our side, we have
begun to see a dramatic shift in the national conversation around Social Security. It wasnt that
long ago that we were still fighting a chained
CPI benefit cut being proposed by President
Obama, all Republicans and some Democrats in
Congress. Today, 44 out of 46 Senate Democrats
and 116 out of 188 House Democrats have gone
on record supporting expansion. And 79% of
15-10

likely votersDemocrats, Republicans and Independentssupport expansion! eridani, Democratic

Underground.com

###

Aug 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt

signs the Social Security Bill
To view a Seattle Times article on changes
needed to save the program, go here.

Social Security Primer

Social Security is a lifeline: In 1935, after bank
failures and a stock market crash had wiped out
the savings of millions of Americans, the nation
turned to Washington to guarantee the elderly
a decent income. In those days, only a handful
of workers had access to pensions from their
employers or through State governmental pension
programs.
The Truth About Social Security Social
Security is one of Americas most effective and
efficient intergenerational social insurance
programs. Yet opponents of the current system
want to force very large cuts in existing Social
Security benefits.
Federal Income Security Federal programs
that support income security and health are often
mistakenly characterized interchangeably. From
television pundits to average citizens, we often
hear someone refer to Medicaid when they mean
Medicare; Supplemental Security Income benefits
are often confused with Social Security benefits.
[Continued on page 3, PRIMER]

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[PRIMER, continued from page 2]

Direct Deposit of SS Benefits On March

1, 2011, the Federal Government began requiring
new federal benefit recipients to collect their
monthly benefit via direct deposit. Recipients
whose benefits started before that date will be able
to continue getting paper checks until May 1, 2013.
Women and SS Benefits While Social
Security is a program that is vitally important to
all Americans, it is especially important to the
financial security of women. There are a number
of reasons why this is so. First of all, women live
longer than men. On average, women today who
reach age 65 outlive men by four years. These
additional years of longevity increase the risk that
women may outlive their savings or that their
pensions may lose their purchasing power.

rates, and rely on Social Securitys family benefit

features disproportionately. Social Security
provides many elderly Hispanics with their sole or
primary source of income in retirement. Todays
Hispanic workers are concentrated in low-wage
jobs that typically lack pension coverage. Hispanics
experience high poverty and underemployment,
and have less ability to save and invest for
retirement than most other Americans.
Beneficiaries By Age About four-fifths of all
OASDI (old age, survivor and disability insurance),
beneficiaries in current-payment status were aged
62 or older, including 22 percent aged 7584 and
10 percent aged 85 or older. About 15 percent were
persons aged 1861 receiving benefits as disabled
workers, survivors, or dependents. Another 6
percent were children under age 18.
How Social Security is Financed Social
Security is financed through a dedicated payroll
tax. Employers and employees each pay 6.2
percent of wages up to the taxable maximum of
$117,000 (in 2014), while the self-employed pay
12.4 percent.

Disability Insurance and Survivors As

Congress and the American people debate the
future of Social Security, it is critical to remember
that, unlike private retirement plans, Social
Security has broader policy goals than merely
providing retirement benefits. This fact often tends Child Beneficiaries About 4.4 million
to be overlooked by those who want to restructure children receive approximately $2.5 billion each
month because one or both of their parents are
the program through privatization.
African Americans and Social Security disabled, retired or deceased. Those dollars help to
Social Security protects families in the event provide the necessities of life for family members
that a worker retires, becomes disabled or and help to make it possible for those children to
dies. These guaranteed insurance benefits are complete high school. When a parent becomes
especially crucial to people of color who tend to disabled or dies, Social Security benefits help to
have fewer alternative resources, become disabled stabilize the familys financial future.
at higher rates, and disproportionately rely on Disabled Beneficiaries Aged 18-64
Social Securitys family benefit features. Social Payments were made to 12.4 million people aged
Security provides many elderly African Americans 1864 on the basis of their own disability. Sixtywith their sole or primary source of income in two percent received disability payments from
retirement. Todays African-American workers are
the OASDI program only, 27% received payments
concentrated in low-wage jobs that typically lack
from the SSI (Supplemental Security Income)
pension coverage. African Americans experience
program only, and 11% received payments from
high poverty and underemployment, and have less
both programs.
ability to save and invest for retirement than most
Average Monthly Benefit By Sex Among
other Americans.
Hispanic Americans and Social Security retired and disabled workers who collected benefits
Social Security protects families in the event that based on their own work records, men received a
a worker retires, becomes disabled or dies. These higher average monthly benefit than did women.
guaranteed insurance benefits are especially For those with benefits based on another persons
crucial to people of color who tend to have fewer work record (spouses and survivors), women had
###
alternative resources, become disabled at higher higher average benefits.
15-10

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The Protecting and Preserving

Social Security Act (H.R. 1811)

Social Security Insurance

When you make a claim for an accident,
your insurace company is not giving you
welfare. You make insurance payments
in advance so that when you have a need,
you may collect based on the terms of your
insurance policy. The money you pay your
insurance company is not called a tax, it is
called a premium.

A Plan to Expand Social Security

Florida Congressman Ted Deutch has proposed a
plan to expand Social Secrity.
His Protecting and Preserving Social Security Act
extends the solvency of Social Security by slowly
phasing out the cap on contributions from highincome earners and improves benefits for seniors
and other beneficiaries by using a cost-of-living
adjustment formula that better reflects seniors'
rising expenses. It accomplishes both without
increasing the retirement age or cutting benefits in
any way.
Congressman Deutch reintroduced this bill in January 2015 to make clear that Social Security is not
going broke, has not added to the federal deficit,
and should not be targeted for cuts or privatization. He believes politicians should keep their
hands off the Social Security Trust Fund. Social
Security is not welfare, but an earned benefit that
protects all of us from poverty when we retire, suffer a disabling injury or illness, or experience the
death of a breadwinner.
The promise of Social Security is that hardworking
Americans pay into it their whole lives and then
count on it to help make ends meet during their
retirement years. This bill makes sure that will
happen for generations to come.
How It Works Lifting the cap on high-income
contributionscurrently no Social Security
contributions are collected on income above
$118,500. While 95 percent of American workers
contribute 6.2 percent of their income to fund
Social Security, high-income earners stop paying
once they hit the cap each yeara lawyer earning
$400,000 effectively pays 1.84 percent; a CEO
earning $2 million pays just 0.37 percent. This bill
would phase out this tax loophole, so that higherincome Americans pay into Social Security all year,
just like everyone else.
Adjusting and improving benefits to be
fair to seniors Today, Social Security benefits
are adjusted by the Consumer Price Index for
workers. Yet costs for seniors rise faster than most
working Americans. As seniors spend more of
their income on medical care, prescription drugs,
and energy costs, the purchasing power of their
benefits shrinks. This bill replaces the formula
with a calculation specifically designed to more
accurately measure the costs of goods and services
seniors actually buy.
###
15-10

Thus, monthly payments collected by the

government from your pay for Social
Security insurance is more rightly called a
premium, not a tax.
Tell that to your misguided friends.

In The Two Years When The

Democrats Had The White
House And The Senate
We got:

yy Wall Street reform,

yy student loan reform,
yy credit card reform,
Rachel Maddow
yy healthcare reform,
obviously,
yy the fair pay act,
yy expanding of the G.I. Bill,
yy reauthorized the childrens health
insurance programs,
yy they fixed the sentencing disparity
for crack cocaine versus powdered
cocaine.

We got:

yy the 9/11 first responders bill,

yy the hate crimes act,
yy they ratified the START treaty between
us and Russia on nuclear weapons,
yy they repealed dont ask dont tell,
yy they did cash for clunkers,
yy they did the stimulus which included the
largest middle-class tax cuts ever.
That was all done by the Congress that was elected at
the same time as President Obama in 2008.
Then the Republicans took control of the House for the
first time in years.
And since then there has been not a single significant
piece of legislation enacted into law.
Rachel Maddow

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Election

Voter Registration
Deadline

Election
Date

February 16, 2015

March 15, 2015

Absentee Ballot Request

Your request can be made by phone, fax, letter,

e-mail, by going to our website and completing the
August 1, 2015
August 30, 2015
on-line application, or by request in person at any
one of our offices. A request to have a ballot sent to
October 11, 2015
November 8, 2015
an address other than your permanent address is
now required to be made in writing with signature.
You Cant Influence Your
To use our online application, click on the icon
Partys Candidate in the March
Vote By Mail on the homepage of our website.
Presidential Primary If . . .
Please include your name, date of birth, permanent
Did You Check? When you registered to vote address, and the election/s you would like an
did you check the No Party Affiliation, or select absentee ballot for in your request. Selecting All
a Minor Party in this box?
As Permitted will guarantee you absentee ballots
for all elections through December 2016.
Presidential
Preference
Primary
August Primary
Election
November
General
Election

Party Change
All party change requests must be submitted
with a written request accompanied by an
original signature.

If you did, then you will not be offered the

opportunity choose your preference for either a
Democratic or Republican candidate in the March
15th Presidential Preference Primary. (You will
only be offered a choice from candidates running
in the party you registered for.)

The Florida Voter Registration Form is available

to download from our website

www.pbcelections.org
Or you may simply write a request that includes
your name, date of birth, address, the party you
wish to be affiliated with, and signature.

If you prefer Ted Cruz, or if you hate Donald

Trump, you will not be given the chance to make
your druthers known. If you prefer Bernie Sanders
to Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden, you will not be
given the chance to make your druthers known.

You must complete a party change 29 days

before an election to be eligible to vote that
party in the next election.

Do You Want a Chance To Make Your

Preference Count To vote in the Democratic
or Republican Presidential Preference Primary
you must be registered as either:

If it is important to you to make your preference

known on March 15th, you need to re-register and
Change Your Party Affiliation before February 16th.
How Do I Re-register? In Palm Beach
County go to:
http://www.pbcelections.org/items.aspx?id=18

You may register on line or print out a form to fill in,

sign, and mail in (see below).
###

15-10

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10 Thoughts On The Iran Deal

5. Monitoring
We cant trust Iran but the deal is premised
on verification/inspections, not trust.
The IAEA takes the lead in monitoring all of
Irans nuclear facilities and activities (with
input from the P5+1).
Physical, computers, sensors, video will be
used in the inspections protocol.
Long term inspections protocol
Monitor nuke programs for next 25 years
(Fordow, Arak, Natanz)
Monitor centrifuges for 20 years
Long-term presence in Iran (details to be
determined)

by Robert Watson

[ed: Everyone has an opinion about the Iran Deal. For

many of us, our opinion is based on lack of complete
information. Agree or disagree, Dr. Watson raises
questions which we all ought to consider.]

10. There Are Essentially Three Options

1. Do nothing; Iran will eventually develop a nuke
2. Attack Irans nuclear facilities; WWIII (Israel
is attacked, the entire Middle East boils over
to resemble Syria, a decade-long, economically
ruinous war)
3. Try diplomacy with inspections/verification
9. There Is Historical Precedent For The Actions
Kennedy/Kruschev 1962 (Cuban Missile Crisis)
Nixon/Mao 1972 (produced several accords in
subsequent years)
Carter/Begin/Sadat (Camp David 1978; Peace
Accords 1979)
Reagan/Gorbachev (Rekjavik summit 986;
Nuclear reduction 1987)

4. Concerns Over The Deal

Iran will test our resolve and try to limit access
by the inspectors.
The process for granting access to military
facilities is bureaucratic inspectors can go to
any nuclear facility, but must get permission to
go to military facilities. The good news is that
a committee decides and we have majority of
votes (USA, Brits, France, Germany) Iran may
have support from Russia and China).
In return for degrading their nuclear weapons
program, Iran gets sanctions relief.
Frozen investments will be released
Banking, oil, auto parts
Arms embargo partially lifted (But NOT missile
technology)
Iran can keep its Arak nuclear facility but only
in accordance w/ other guidelines.
3. Reasons To Support Deal
Iran is not monolithic there are moderate
elements in Iran and the deal strengthens the
political power of moderates (Pres. Hasan
Rhohani and Foreign Minister Zarif).
If the deal is defeated, it would embolden the
radicals and hardliners in Iran.
If the deal is defeated, Iran will continue its
nuclear weapons program.
If the deal is defeated and Iran pursues a nuke,
it will likely prompt Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and
Egypt to pursue a nuke.
Either way, the sanctions protocol will fall apart
at the end of year; Russia and China wont
continue to cooperate in the sanctions.
The deal may help bring Iran into the community
of nationsa bit, and trading partners generally
dont go to war with one another.
There is a snap back provision to reinstate the
sanctions if Iran fails to cooperate.
Some folks say that we should defeat the deal
because some Iranian leaders and mullahs

8. The Sanctions Protocol Was Effective

It devastated Irans economy and brought Iran
to the table
Comprehensive, international, long-term
[ed: The sanctions were only to bring Iran
to the table in order to attempt to negotiate
a nuclear deal (The aim was never a
larger Mideast peace, elimination of Irans
support for terrorism, regime change in
Iran, and so on).]
7. Like The Sanctions, This Is An International Deal
Not a bilateral treaty
P5 + 1 [ed, The P5+1 is a group of six world
powers which, in 2006, joined together in
diplomatic efforts with Iran with regard to its
nuclear program. The term refers to the UN
Security Councils five permanent members (the
P5); namely China, France, Russia, the United
Kingdom, and the United States; plus Germany.]
6. The Deal: The Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action
Iran retains its civilian (energy) nuclear
program.
Irans nuclear facilities will NOT be dismantled.
But, Irans military nuclear program is incapacitated
through the following restrictions:
Irans uranium enrichment levels are held to
3.67% (They were at roughly 20%).
Irans uranium stockpile reduced by 98% (from
10,000 kilograms to 300 kg).
Irans centrifuges will be reduced over the next
10 years (from 20,000 to 5,000).
Iran cant build another reactor for 15 years.
Irans nuclear R&D is restricted to civilian/
energy applications for 8 years.
15-10

[Continued on page 8, IRAN DEAL]

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On

Your Side

[Your legislative representatives are on your side.]

Senator Joe Abruzzo (District

25) With community input
and advocacy, Senator Abruzzo
(FL Senate, District 25) championed a variety of issues during
the 2015 Legislative Session. One
such bill, The Rights of Grandparents was signed into law and
Sen. Joe Abruzzo
outlines specific circumstances
under which a grandparent or great-grandparent can
petition a court for rights to visitation of their grandchildren.

French TV Show Laughs At The

Credibility Of "The Fox News
Clowns"
Jan. 15, 2015 Earlier this week Fox News hosted
Steven Emerson, an alleged terrorism expert,
who claimed that the entire city of Birmingham,
England was occupied by radical Muslims and
was inaccessible to anyone else. His remarks were
widely ridiculed, including by David Cameron, the
British Prime Minister, who called Emerson an
"idiot." Emerson later recanted and apologized
for his "terrible error." But Fox wasn't done
embarrassing itself with false tales of horror.

Congressman Ted Deutch

While at home in South Florida,
Congressman
Deutch
has
pursued unique ways to engage
students of all ages in civic life
and the democratic process. In
September 2014, Ted launched
his 2014-2015 Congressional
Youth Cabinet, made up of high
school students from throughout Congressman Ted Deutch
Floridas 21st district with an
interest in public service. As one of just two programs
of its kind in the country, the Congressional Youth
Cabinet meets regularly to participate in legislative
simulations, hear from guest speakers, and explore
federal policy issues. Ted also holds Congress in the
Classroom, events at elementary, middle school,
and high schools throughout the district to walk
students through the legislative process and provide
a firsthand glimpse of what it is like to serve in
Congress.

The Fox News Cult Of Ignorance.

Over at Fox & Friends, Elisabeth Hasselbeck

interviewed a former Air Force pilot who claimed
to have personal knowledge of the deterioration
of French society. Nolan Peterson said that there
were "741 no-go zones throughout France."
Peterson described his adventures in the wilds of
Paris saying that..."It was pretty scary. I've been to
Afghanistan and Iraq and Kashmir, India, and at
times it felt like that - those places in these no-go
zones. [...and that...] You see young men wearing
Osama Bin Laden t-shirts in a hookah shop."
Really? This veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq was
scared of Paris? The segment was seen by Yann
Barths, the host of the French television program
"Le Petit Journal." His response was to mercilessly
flog Fox and Peterson while exposing the glaring
errors in their analysis. For instance, Fox made
reference to a poll that said that 16% of the French
people had a favorable view of ISIS. However, that
poll was debunked by the Washington Post, a point
that Barths noted.
Fox also displayed a map of the so-called nogo zones in Paris which brought spontaneous
laughter from the residents of Paris in the
audience who knew better. It also inspired Barths
to courageously send his crew into the no-go zones
for some person-on-the-street interviews. And
just to be on the safe side, they were suited up in
safety gear and helmets, which turned out not to
be necessary.
###
15-10

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Presort First Class

US Postage
PAID
Boca Raton, FL
Permit#1767

[IRAN DEAL, continued from page 6]

immediately began speaking against the deal

and calling the US evil. However, they dont
speak for everyone in Iran and are often
using such rhetoric for domestic political
opportunism and most Republicans were
saying similar things about the deal, Iran, and
Obama throughout the process. We cant let
some hardliners undermine a chance to avert
war!
The breakout time (time needed for Iran to
weaponize its uranium) is estimated by experts
to be only 2-3 months! The deal would extend
that crucial time to 12 months.

September 1, 2015

No. 15-10

Republicans Cant Agree

on a Congressional Map
Dan Isaacson, Ph.D., Editor
Voter Education, Inc.
St. Andrews Estates South
6055 Verde Trail South, Apt. H219
Boca Raton, FL 33433-4423
561-470-7258

2. The Dust-Up Between Bibi And Obama Is

Very Disappointing
But
They have met roughly 12 times (more than
with any other leaders).
US and Israel are communicating and
cooperating daily on an array of other issues.
Obama and the Congress have and continue to
provide Israel with massive loan guarantees,
national security assistance, key vetoes in the
UN, funding for the Iron Dome, and an array of
additional supports
Several other US and Israeli leaders didnt like
one another (Kissinger and Golda could not
stand one another).
1. I Am Mostly Upset By The Sloppy Political
Reporting And Politicization
Bibis constant condemnation of US foreign
policy is not constructive; nor are some of John
Kerrrys comments or Obamas failure to again
adequately explain or market his policies.
The media coverage of the deal has been more
like a horse race or episode of the Kardashians,
rather than an opportunity to truly and
accurately assess the numerous threats facing
Israel or the long, productive relationship
between the two countries.
Even though some politicians and certain media
outlets are signaling the end of US support for
Israel, it could not be further from the truth.
Rather, it appears they are trying to politicize
the debate, which is unfortunate. This is no
time to drive a partisan wedge between US and
Israel. Both parties have been very good for
Israel.
Mostly, I hope everyone realizes that the deal is
only a first step and there is much work to do on
this and the larger issues in the Middle East. It
will require cool heads to prevail, bipartisanship
in foreign and security policy, and vigilance by
all involved.
###
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