Temple University College Democrats

One of the biggest recent political events in the eyes of Democrats has been the replacement of one Democratic legend by another in the President’s Cabinet. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) will replace former First Lady and Senator from New York Hillary Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State.

Secretary Clinton’s tenure saw such momentous occasions in world affairs as the Arab Spring, the US military intervention in Libya, the end of the Iraq War, and the assassination of Osama Bin-Laden.

Her accomplishments and advocacy were extremely admirable. She worked with the UN to encourage developing countries to adopt the use of cook stoves to prevent the mass expulsion of black carbon into the air, which is caused by using traditional wood or coal burning stoves. Black carbon is a serious public health threat and a huge contributor to global warming. Also under Clinton’s watch the US Congress passed the New START Treaty, an important step toward reducing nuclear proliferation.

One of her most historic accomplishments as Secretary of State however was her insistence to world leaders that respect for LGBT rights be would a cornerstone in judging whether a country was truly respecting human rights or not. This was similar to her action during the 1990’s stating that women’s rights were human rights.

John Kerry meanwhile is a Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart awardee with years of distinguished service as Massachusetts Senator. He made his reputation in the Senate as an expert on national security issues. Senator Kerry was influential in investigating the Iran-Contra Scandal and was influential for his examining of issues of terrorism after 9/11. His run for President in 2004 under the Democratic ticket was noted for his campaigning against President George W. Bush’s handling of national security and for his getting the United States involved in the Iraq War.

What’s next for the both of them?

For Kerry he is undoubtedly qualified for the job and will face many controversial issues in world affairs. This includes resolving the implications concerning the US withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, making sure Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is kept out of the hands of Islamist terrorists, and potential signing off on or rejecting (hopefully) the US-Canadian Keystone XL pipeline.

For Hillary, lets just say her years as First Lady are probably not the last time she’ll be living in the White House.

But for right now we salute both of them for their service and expect to see great work from them both in the near future.

President Barack Obama began his State of the Union address noting the positive gains that have been made in the country, noting the wind down of the Afghan War and the resurgence of the American auto industry.

He implored Congress to get moving in proposing proactive job creation measures, particularly passing his American Jobs Act, which would create over 1 million new jobs. President Obama stated that now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform and also gave a forceful message that the country needs to take strong action to combat climate change and renew investment in our country’s aging infrastructure.

Basically it was a whole speech based on all kinds of good liberal priorities. The President advocated for some surprise stunners such as a Paycheck Fairness Act for women, raising the minimum wage to $9.00 an hour, supporting a universal pre-K education system, and then ended his speech with a forceful call for Congress to take action against gun violence.

As for TCD we had great time watching the President speak and had a really a good turnout at the Reel. We especially enjoyed skyping with DNC Deputy Political Director Steve Walker before the SOTU!

Hope all who came had a good time as well. Please, feel free to come to our meetings every Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. in room 220 at the Student Center.

On December 14, 2012 a horror unlike any other occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. A sadistic, deranged gunman murdered 20 children and 6 faculty members. The fact that the victims in this mass shooting were children made it exceptional, but sadly the fact that it was an American murder wrought by gun violence was not exceptional. Everyday Americans are killed by gun violence. Mass shootings seem to becoming more, and more common.

The United States has long led in death by firearms compared to other highly industrialized nations. For example, by the summer of this year Australia had 30 deaths by firearms, Germany had 58 deaths, France had 35 deaths, and the United Kingdom has had 41 deaths. The United States has had 9,146 deaths via firearms. This horrible record of massive gun violence is the result of having ludicrously loose gun laws. How much longer are we going to let this continue? And what can we do help end this awful trend?

For one, the fact that military style assault weapons can be bought by just about anyone is plain madness. This includes AK47’s and other guns with high capacity ammunition magazines. A gun with 30 round magazines was used at Sandy Hook, a 10 round magazine was used in the Tucson shooting of 2011, and a massive 100 round drum (a drum holds far more bullets than a magazine) was used at the Aurora shooting in Colorado earlier this year. These guns, with such high capacity ammunition holding magazines, would not have been legal to purchase had the Federal Assault Weapons Ban passed by Congress in 1994 still been in place. President George W. Bush and his Republicans in Congress let the ban expire in 2004. Reinstating that law might be able to save more lives in the future. Also important for stopping future gun violence is closing the gunshow “loophole” that allows mentally unbalanced and those with a criminal record to avoid background checks when purchasing firearms.

But instead of going more in-depth on this issue, let’s knock down some of the main clichés used by the NRA and others to dissuade politicians from enacting sensible new gun regulations. They think the answer is giving people more guns. That is, putting cops in every in single school and allowing more people to carry guns to keep them for “protection”. The Fort Hood shooting, Columbine, the Tucson shooting, and the Virginia Tech shooting all had security guards/armed professionals present, who were virtually helpless to stop the mad men with high capacity magazines. Also, more than 300 children die a year via an accident with guns in their homes. Introducing even more guns into a place with children does not seem wise.

So what we need is to have a serious conversation about guns and put thoughtful curtailments on the use of guns. In essence we need to have “gun control,” a policy that has too often been exploited by fear mongers and reactionaries from stopping any worthwhile attempt to mitigate the massive problem of gun violence in this country. Too many tragedies have happened for our politicians to just keep the status quo and allow more mass shootings and gun deaths to happen.

As for the Temple College Democrats, we want the gun madness to stop and want to see responsible gun control legislation enacted (for the first time in over a decade). Enough is enough and we believe most Americans feel the same.

-Charlie Hansler, TCD Policy Director

Temple College Democrats is excited to announce the final list of names for the Spring 2013 Executive Board!

President – Dylan Morpurgo
Vice President – Holly Genovese
Secretary – Jessica Cooper
Events Coordinator – Sonia Galiber
Financial Director – Elizabeth Clodfelter
Membership Director – Luke West
Policy Director – Charlie Hansler
Legislative Director – Matthew Miller
Community Outreach Coordinator – Liz Jones

Congratulations to everyone! And thanks to everyone who ran and applied for positions! We are all excited to make the spring semester a fun and exciting one!

Hey guys!!

Looking to join the Executive Board of Temple College Democrats? Well, you’re in for a treat.

We are currently looking for three positions to fill for the Spring 2013 semester:

Policy Director

Legislative Director

Community Outreach Coordinator

The deadline for applicants is Sunday, December 16, 11:59PM and feel free to apply to more than one!
Click on each link for more information and to apply for positions!

Join us on Tuesday, November 27 from 6-8PM in Student Center Room 200B for our exciting event “Women in Politics: A Panel Discussion of Women on Campaigns and in Elected Office.”

Speakers will include State Representative Cherelle Parker, State Senator Shirley Kitchen, Montgomery County Commissioner Leslie Richards, Bucks County Commissioner Diane Marseglia, Chester County Democratic Committee Chair Michele Vaughn, former Congressional and State Judge Candidate Kathy Boockvar, Temple Alumna Elliot Griffin, and more!

We are co-hosting with the National Council of Negro Women, Her Campus Temple, and Delta Sigma Theta.

All are welcome, so come out, bring your friends and your questions for what is sure to be quite an inspiring evening!!

Remember last semester when TCD and TCR held a debate on the issues?

WELL, due to acclaim and the presidential election that is so close, the Political

Science Department at Temple University has decided to host ANOTHER debate between the two organizations.

This semester’s debate will take place Tuesday October 30th in Gladefelter Hall 107 at 7:30 (right after our meeting). It will cover issues such as, the environment, education, foreign policy, economy and healthcare and is moderated by Professor Ryan Vander Weilen.

Come and bring your friends, questions and minds. This is sure to be a good one!!