TIME FOR THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO WAKE UP – AN OPINION

 

Democratic Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders speaks to a capacity crowd at Pine Ridge School on the Pine Ridge Reservation Thursday, May 12, 2016. Standing next to Sanders is Tatewin Means, Lakota Sioux Tribe Attorney General. Archive Photo/Custer Free Press

By Herb Ryan
December 26, 2017

Custer, SD – In 2020, Bernie Sanders will be 79, a prime example of an “old white guy” that needs to take the hint and get off center stage while he can still remember what he had for  breakfast. Other possible democratic candidates that are in the same category include former vice-president Joe Biden currently 75 and  U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren 68.

The average age of all 44 U.S. presidents when taking office is just over 54 years. The youngest was Theodore Roosevelt at 42 – that’s when he succeeded William McKinley after his assassination in 1901. John F. Kennedy was 43 when elected. President Barack Obama was 47. The current president Donald Trump is 71. It’s a difficult concept to accept that there are no qualified candidates to meet the minimum age of thirty-five to be eligible to run for the presidency and the average age of fifty-four anywhere in the nation.

The democratic control of both the house and the senate in 2018 as well as the 2020 presidential election is in the hands of the voters. Any protest votes or voter apathy just throws the election to the other party. Unlike the presidential election, state and local elections are won by popular vote, every single vote counts. You get the representation you vote for if enough people agree with you. The former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Tip O’Neill is most closely associated with the phrase, “All politics is local”, and so it is. The groundswell for change needs to happen now.

US Senator Corey Booker on Criminal Justice Reform – Fair Chance Business Pledge

Washington, DC – If someone had pulled aside the signers of the Declaration of Independence 240 years ago and told them that, one day, the country they founded would be home to the largest number of imprisoned people in the world, they might have been more than a little disappointed.

US Congressman Corey Booker (official congressional photo)

Yet this is where we find our country today: The United States, founded on the basis of liberty and justice for all, suffers from that distinction. Twenty five percent of all imprisoned people on our planet are imprisoned right here in America. And the fact of the matter is that, at the federal level, the majority of those imprisoned aren’t hardened, violent prisoners. Far too many are nonviolent, low-level drug offenders.

Thanks to policies enacted by Congress, our federal prison population has exploded by nearly 800 percent over the past the 30 years. And to pay for it, we’ve had to increase our prison spending by almost 400 percent. But the fact that these polices were enacted by our government in the first place should serve as a reminder that we have the agency to change them.

Momentum is building across America — in states, in the federal government, in both political parties — to change this misapplication of justice that so grossly misrepresents our priorities as a nation.

A diverse coalition of individuals, groups, and organizations — ranging from Democrats to Republicans to law enforcement officials and clergy — have come together to call for a comprehensive change in the trajectory of our justice system. And under President Obama’s leadership, the collective vision of these groups has found a home and a voice in the White House.

I have been proud to stand by President Obama as he has taken courageous steps in recent years to make our justice system more just.

Today, the White House is announcing that over 300 companies and organizations have signed the Fair Chance Business Pledge, a commitment to eliminate unnecessary hiring barriers facing people with a criminal record. Along with this step and a series of Administrative actions to enhance the fairness and effectiveness of the criminal justice system, he’s shown that the federal government can lead the way to progress.

President Obama has created a legacy of bold action that we must carry on to elevate the cause of criminal justice reform, from Congress to statehouses across the country.

But the conversation can’t stop there, and neither can the work. We must once again declare that we are a nation of independence, rooted in the spirit of interdependence. What happens to any of us, happens to all of us — and we won’t get where we want to go faster by leaving anyone behind.

I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with you in this fight to reclaim our criminal justice system in the years to come.

Thank you,
Cory Booker
U.S. Senator

SDDP’s Statement on Noem’s Support of Trump in Today’s Debate

October 10, 2016

Sioux Falls, SD – The South Dakota Democratic Party Executive Director Suzanne Jones Pranger released the following statement in response to State Rep. Paula Hawks’s debate with Rep. Kristi Noem today at the Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary meeting.   

“The State Party congratulates Representative Paula Hawks on a great debate, focused on the issues important to South Dakotans. From agricultural and economic issues to foreign policy, it was clear Paula Hawks is the best choice to represent South Dakota families in Congress.

“In addition, it was extremely troubling to hear Kristi Noem double down on her support of Donald Trump, even after the release of a video last week where Trump brags about actions that amount to sexual assault. Trump’s statements were bad enough for Republicans Senator John Thune and Governor Dennis Daugaard to call for Trump to withdraw from the race, but Noem continues to support Trump despite the racist, misogynistic, and erratic statements he has made during the campaign that show he is unfit to be President.  Given Noem’s history of voting against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, I suppose it is not surprising, but it is disappointing nonetheless.”

Paid for by the South Dakota Democratic Party. (www.sddp.org) Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.