Kendall County Area
Democratic Women
March 1, 2014 ● Volume 15, Issue 3
KCADW Voice
President’s Corner
I hope you did not miss the February
membership meeting. Our speaker was Janie
Godines, an Affordable Care Act Navigator who
covers a multiple county area, including Kendall
County. If you, or someone you know, need help
understanding or enrolling in the ACA, please email
her at [email protected] or call 1-800-9605201. Current enrollment is ending March 31, 2014
and will begin again in October 2014. This is a
complicated procedure and Janie is there to provide
any assistance you need; or if you know someone in
another county that needs help, she will put him or
her in touch with the proper person.
you fall into the “gap” between insurance coverage
and Medicaid because Texas won’t expand
Medicaid coverage (even though it’s being paid for
almost exclusively by the federal government). Too
bad if you are a Dreamer and need a pathway to
citizenship in the country where you’ve lived your
entire life.
Elsewhere in The Voice is Cindy Offutt’s
excellent Boerne Star article about a study done by
the Corporation for Enterprise Development, which
gave Texas a D in financial assets and income and
an F in health care. At the same time Governor
Perry wrote a column in The Express News in
which he said “ … Texas is not only unique, but it
strongly adheres to the core American principles of
individual freedom, limited government and
personal responsibility.”
Our 2014 Retreat will be held at the Waring
School in the village of Waring on March 5th. I
hope you will attend, as we’ll be making plans for
the rest of the year. We will also have fun trying to
identify members from their high school, or
younger, pictures - so be sure and bring a picture
with you and don’t show it to anyone else. You can
bring your lunch or buy one from the café across the
street. Beverages and dessert will be provided. See
details on page 3 of this Voice.
I guess that means that the citizens of Texas
are on their own and if their lives are tough, it’s
their own fault. Too bad if you need help in getting
an education or job training. Too bad if you are
sick and too poor to see a doctor until you have to
go to the ER. Too bad if you have to work two or
three jobs that pay minimum wage just to feed your
family and keep a roof over their head. Too bad if
you are on food stamps and they are cut. Too bad if
There are some races in the Primary that
have Democrats running against each other, so if
you haven’t already voted, be sure and vote on
March 4th and take a friend or two or more with
you!
Like us on Facebook!
To me, these are perfect examples of the
difference between Texas Conservatives and
Progressives - and it’s a good incentive to work as
hard as we can as a club and as individuals to help
elect Democrats.
See you at our Retreat,
Bobbie
http://www.facebook.com/kcadw
Volume 15, Issue 3
KCADW Voice
Page 2
2014 Executive Board & Committee Chairs
President
Vice-President
Activities Officer
Treasurer
Secretary
Past President
At-Large Members
Bobbie Grover
Marvel Brittmon
Miriam Pedersen
Janice Shoemaker
Cay Yanowski
Janice Shoemaker
Sue Kothman
Rebecca Rogers
Patricia Westbrook
210-862-5742
510-432-8387
Program Chair
Publicity Chair
Membership Chair
Newsletter Chair
Marilyn Harrington
Cindy Offutt
Rebecca Rogers
Cindy Offutt
210-387-1053
210-698-5009
830-249-1808
210-698-5009
830-537-4427
830-537-4427
830-331-8528
830-249-1808
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
KCADW Website: http://kcadw.com
Mark Your Calendar:
March 2: Fundraiser for Wendy Davis in Comfort. 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Faust Hotel, 717 High Street,
Comfort. Tickets are $100 / person. Contact Stephanie Schweitzer at 917-847-6675 or
[email protected]
March 3: BBQ Dinner & Fundraiser for Leticia Van de Putte. 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Leon Springs
Dance Hall, 24135 IH-10 West (at Boerne Stage Road & IH-10, across the highway from the HEB).
$150/person, $225/couple. RSVP to 512-560-7753 or [email protected]
March 5: Annual KCADW Retreat, 10:00 a.m. at the Waring School. See page 3 for more
information. The retreat replaces our regular March membership meeting.
March 26: KCADW Board Meeting. 10:00 a.m. Patrick Heath Public Library (in the downstairs
community room).
April 10: KCADW Membership Meeting. 10:00 a.m. Patrick Heath Public Library.
This newsletter is intended for people interested in the
work of the Democratic Party in general and of Kendall
County Area Democratic Women specifically. To be
removed from this mailing list, please
contact the editor at
[email protected] or
210-698-5009.
Volume 15, Issue 3
KCADW Voice
Page 3
ANNUAL KCADW RETREAT
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014
Our 2014 Retreat will be held on Wednesday, March 5th, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Luster has
arranged for us to meet at the historic Waring School in the village of Waring, Texas. Coffee, tea,
lemonade and water will be provided, and Luster is bringing homemade cinnamon rolls, sausage
rolls, and kolaches for breakfast. For lunch, you can bring your own from home or order a
hamburger off the menu from the store/cafe right across the street from the school. Just be sure to
bring cash – no credit cards accepted! Janice will be bringing homemade ice cream for dessert!!
This is shaping up to be a great Retreat and we hope you will attend and take part in setting the
direction KCADW will take in 2014.
Ø How do we participate in Get Out The Vote efforts?
Ø How do we help to get Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte, as well as other Democrats,
elected in November?
Ø Do we want to contribute to political campaigns - and if so, how much?
Ø Is there somewhere you want to go or something you want to see in July on our annual field
trip?
Our Retreat is also a great time to get to know your fellow members a little better. One of the ways
we are going to do this is by trying to identify one another from our younger days! Bring a photo of
yourself from junior or senior high school and pencil your name on the back of it. Don’t let anyone
see it. We’ll see who’s best at gleaning who’s in each photo!
Bottom Line: It’s great fun to visit over lunch, discuss politics and diss the politicians with whom we
don’t agree. In Texas, that’s a lot to talk about!
Directions to the Waring School: Drive west on IH-10. Take exit # 533 towards Po-Po’s Restaurant.
Just past Po-Po’s, veer to the right on Waring Welfare Road (towards Luster’s home). Go past the
Culver Farm for another 5.5 miles or so. The road is windy and has a number of low water-crossings,
so be careful. You’ll drive past the Don Strange Ranch, Welfare, Southern Oaks. When you get to
the 4-way stop sign in Waring, turn right. Drive less than a normal block and turn left along a white
rail fence. You will see the school at the end of that street.
Car pools will be organized, as parking at the school is somewhat limited. If you need a ride, please
contact Sue Kothmann at [email protected] or 830/331-8528.
Please plan to arrive a bit earlier than 10:00 if you want to visit with others and enjoy some of
Luster’s rolls. We’ll be starting the official part of the Retreat right at 10:00 with John Weir’s
presentation about what’s in the works for the KC Democratic Party.
Volume 15, Issue 3
KCADW Voice
Page 4
TEXAS-SIZE POVERTY
By Cindy Offutt
“Half of Texas households are one crisis away from slipping into poverty.”
-­‐ Center for Public Policy Priorities
A recent study by the Corporation for Enterprise
Development (CFED) finds that though the national
economy is improving, 49.8 percent of Texas
households remain mired in a persistent state of
financial insecurity. Or to put it another way, half
of Texas households are “liquid asset poor,”
meaning they have little or no savings to cover
emergencies or to start building a better life – let
alone to plan and save for retirement.
The report, CFED’s 2014 Assets & Opportunity
Scorecard, found that a majority of Texans who live
below the income poverty line ($23,550 for a family
of four) are “liquid asset poor.” Though certainly
troubling, this is not particularly surprising.
What is surprising, however, is that many who
consider themselves middle class are also “liquid
asset poor.” Roughly one-third of households
earning $54,049 to $90,468 annually have less than
three months of savings to cover emergencies such
as a job loss or health crisis.
In addition to ranking the financial security of the
residents of every state, CFED’s Scorecard also
ranks the policies that every state uses to encourage
increased financial security. CFED’s study put
Texas at 37th overall in financial security of
residents and 41st in policies adopted to help
struggling families. This puts Texas near the
bottom - as one of twelve states that, thanks to weak
policies, also sees weaker outcomes.
It goes without saying that a state’s policies are not
the sole driver when it comes to financial security.
That said, a state’s policies can certainly level the
playing field, establish the ground rules, and
encourage desirable behaviors (or discourage
undesirable ones). CFED’s Scorecard assesses
state policies on, among other things, how well they
help people learn financial skills and build their
human capital; how well they increase earnings and
maximize public benefits; how well they encourage
creation of affordable financial products and
savings incentives; and how well they expand
opportunities to invest in assets that generate wealth
and income.
Texas has many things working in its favor that
should help improve outcomes for all its residents,
not just those making over $250,000 per year. For
example, Texas’s job growth rate has for years
exceeded the nation’s by a 2-to-1 margin.
Moreover, Texas’s cost of living is relatively low
compared with many other states.
Still, for way too many Texans, things are not so
rosy. Texas has one of the worse poverty rates in
the nation, having experienced for every year since
1980 a higher poverty rate than the U.S. Texas also
continues to have the highest rate of uninsured
residents, to include roughly one-third of our
children.
And then there’s income inequality. Texas ranks #5
for that particular indicator, but what’s worse there’s growing evidence that upward mobility has
significantly declined over the past several decades.
More and more, it’s mainly the children of the
affluent who stay affluent, whereas children from
low-income homes tend more and more to remain
low-income. Pulling one up by one’s bootstraps has
become more and more problematic rather than
more and more accessible.
What does all this mean? Quite simply this: if ever
there were a place where policies could use some
tweaking, it’s here in Texas.
Unfortunately, the data shows that Texas has made
no such changes. While conservatives like to brag
about the “Texas Miracle,” the bottom line is that
the so-called “Miracle” hasn’t trickled down, hasn’t
been shared across the board, hasn’t worked to
improve the lives of all Texans.
Continued on next page.
Volume 15, Issue 3
KCADW Voice
There are many policy changes that would improve
the lives of all Texans. As a first step, Governor
Perry’s obstinate, thoughtless, politically-driven
insistence that he won’t expand Medicaid under the
Affordable Care Act could be reversed (as has
already been done by numerous conservative
governors around the country).
In addition, the legislature could put raising Texas’s
minimum wage at the top of its To-Do list for the
next session. Though conservative pushback
usually runs along the lines of, “No, no, no - doing
so will cut jobs,” the reality is that by nearly 4-to-1,
leading economists, relying on over two decades of
rigorous economic research rather than partisan
Page 5
dogma, agree that the benefits of raising the
minimum wage outweigh its costs.
Another way that state policies could be changed to
make it easier for Texas’s children to move up the
income ladder is to make college more affordable
(and therefore more accessible) and to invest in jobtraining programs that would lead to higher-paying
jobs – as well as in universal pre-school for all little
Texans.
Weak policies lead to weak outcomes. It’s past
time to change the policies that don’t work for all
Texans and replace them with progressive policies
that will improve the lives of everyone in our state!
This Progressive Views piece appeared in the Boerne Star on Friday, February 7, 2014.
Just A Few More Things …
Sarah White is having a pace-maker put in on Tuesday. She should be in the hospital for only a night
or two. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Sarah!!
Margaret Vanderhider has moved. Her new address is Regent Care Medical Center, 3935 Medical
Drive, Room 412, San Antonio TX 78229. She’d love to hear from us, so drop her a card now and then!
So many of our KCADW members are just so incredibly talented! One of these very talented women is
Mary Hinton. She has volunteered to make absolutely beautiful, one-of-a-kind, hand-made cards for us
to use to personally invite potential members to join our group. If you know of anyone who might be
interested in joining KCADW, please let Mary know. She’ll provide a beautiful card for you to use to
write a personal invitation.
The Texas Victory Committee is holding an event in support of Senator Wendy R. Davis in Comfort on
Sunday, March 2, 2014. A reception will be held at the Hotel Faust (717 High Street) from 6:00 – 7:00
p.m., followed by a concert at the Plaid Goat (708 High Street). Tickets are $100 – all proceeds will go
to Senator Davis’s campaign for governor. POC: Stephanie Schweitzer at 917-847-6675 or
sschweitzer@wendydavis texas.com
Some things you might like to read:
Ø “Can Wendy Davis Have It All?” by Robert Draper – New York Times Magazine, Feb 12, 2014
Ø “Mr. Castro Goes to Washington” by Joaquin Castro – Texas Monthly Magazine, Jan 2014
Ø “Little-known Aspect of Medicaid Now Causing People to Avoid Coverage” by Sandbya
Somashekhar – The Washington Post, Jan 23, 2014
Volume 15, Issue 3
KCADW Voice
WHACKO QUOTE OF THE MONTH:
“I have obviously failed to galvanize and prod, if not shame, enough Americans to be ever vigilant not
to let a Chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like
the ACORN community organizer gangster Barack Hussein Obama to weasel his way into the top
office of authority in the United States of America”
-­‐ Ted Nugent (in an interview with Guns.com)
That’s right. Washed-out rocker Ted Nugent called the President of the United States a “subhuman
mongrel.” Where have we heard that before? Think 1930s Nazi Germany, where the terms were used
as part of Nazi propaganda to justify their “Final Solution” to the “Jewish Problem.”
Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott has been campaigning with Nugent, and has so far
been unwilling to forcefully disavow Nugent and his obscene views.
Which apparently makes very little difference to way too many Republicans, since it remains likely
that Republican primary voters will nominate Abbott to run for Texas Governor against Democratic
Senator Wendy Davis.
See the Progressive Views item in Friday’s Boerne Star for more information about this.
Kendall County Area Democratic Women
(KCADW)
P. O. Box 2132
Boerne, TX
Page 6