The Spooktacular Appeal Continues | Monthly Meeting Tomorrow

Monthly Meeting Tomorrow (Potluck at 6 PM!)

Our next General Meeting will be tomorrow at 7 PM. You do not need to be a member to attend our monthly meetings, and we would welcome your attendance.

Don’t forget - we’re holding a Potluck at 6 PM. Bring a dish to share - whether homemade or store bought - and enjoy some quality time with your fellow Dems before we settle down to business at 7. And don’t worry, if you’re not a good cook and don’t have time to shop, we’d still love for you to stop in and enjoy some food and conversation.

IN PERSON: The meeting will be held in-person at the Super 8 Motel in Houghton.

REMOTE ATTENDANCE: Remote attendance is via Zoom. Email readers can click the button below at 7 PM on Wednesday to be connected to the Zoom session.

The Spooktacular Appeal Continues - We Still Need Your Help!

Thank you to all of you who have donated so far to our Spooktacular appeal. We appreciate everyone who has stepped up even though we’ve had to cancel the event. If you haven’t had a chance to donate, we still need your help.

This year’s Spooktacular was envisioned to be a follow up to the very successful virtual event we held a couple of years ago during the pandemic. But we have not been able to generate the same level of interest in a virtual event this year.

Even though the event is cancelled, one thing about our Spooktacular appeal remains true - your support is crucial for the upcoming election season.

We had hoped to raise $2500 with our Spooktacular. That’s a portion of what we’ll need for the upcoming campaign season.

Office space will be our biggest expense next year. Typically we’re able to share those costs with local candidates. Even so, with the rental prices we are seeing, your county party could easily be looking at a need to raise $10,000 or more for rent and utilities for a centrally located office to support campaigning and get-out-the-vote efforts in 2024.

If everyone reading this newsletter were to donate $25 dollars we would exceed the target we set for the Spooktacular. If everyone could donate $75, we’d be within striking distance of our office space need.

Our Spooktacular ActBlue donation page is still open, and you can donate by clicking on the button below. Thank you.

Donations can also be made by mailing a check payable to the HCDC or Houghton County Democratic Committee PO Box 763 Houghton MI 49931.

Booming Economy - Our Meme of the Week

In last week’s Meme of the Week choice we highlighted the dysfunction of House Republicans. Well, on Wednesday they finally emerged from the chaos with a new Speaker. Not Jack Bergman, but another back bencher who is worse - the vocal Trump supporter, election denier, homophobe and far right Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

This week we’re choosing not to dwell on that bad news (though if you would like to understand more about just how bad a choice the House Republicans have made you can look here or here or here or here or here.)

The Economy is Booming!

On Thursday the Bureau of Economic Analysis delivered their report on the US economy in the third quarter, showing blockbuster performance over the summer. The economy grew 4.9%, the fastest since the fourth quarter of 2021, and well above the 2.1% pace in the April-June quarter.

This growth comes after repeated and consistent warnings from right-leaning economists (and Republicans) that the US is on the verge of a recession - warnings that are so old now they are going gray. And those folks are still at it. We don’t get paid for our economic predictions, and we can’t know what the future will bring - recessions do happen after all. But what we can say with certainty is that the sky-is-falling predictions of recession have failed to come true for over a year.

Our Meme of the Week comes from the Threads account of the Biden Harris campaign, and pokes fun at those grumpy recession warnings.

“Exactly 1 year apart

‘Bloomberg tweet from Oct. 26, 2022: A US recession is effectively certain in the next 12 month.’

‘Bloomberg tweet from Oct. 26, 2023: The US economy grew at the fasted pace in nearly two years last quarter…’ “

If you’re not familiar with Threads, it’s the Twitter alternative from Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. If you’re already on Threads, why not click on the image above and give the Biden Harris campaign a little ❤️.

And while you’re there, search for and follow us - we’re houghtondems on Threads.

At the Capitol

• Michigan’s new “filter first” law is being heralded for putting our state at the vanguard of the national fight against lead contamination. Michigan is the first state to mandate filtered drinking water in all educational and childcare establishments. MORE: Michigan Chronicle 

• A portion of The Reproductive Freedom Act has passed the state Senate as a package of four bills and now moves to the House. The bills do not address Medicaid reimbursement for abortions or the removal of the state’s 24-hour abortion waiting period. Those issues have faced opposition in the House, where Rep. Karen Whittset remains a Democratic hold out. MORE: Michigan Radio

• The state Senate on Thursday passed a series of bills to require that all of the state’s energy come from clean sources by 2040. But some are not happy with the definition of those “clean” sources. MORE: Detroit News

• The Board of Trustees at MSU is involved in another internal squabble, with Board Members calling for the resignation of Chair Rema Vassar. This latest issue has Gov. Whitmer responding “Yes” when asked if there should be a change to how university boards are elected. The state Constitution requires the Boards of MSU, U of M and Wayne State be elected by voters. MORE: Bridge Michigan

Around the State

• Besides visiting with us last weekend Lt. Gov Garlin Gilchrist toured Michigan Tech’s new H-STEM Complex and took in other local high tech enterprises. MORE: Daily Mining Gazette

• On Tuesday Lt. Gov Gilchrist took part in a gun violence prevention policy summit in Washington hosted by the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association event. MORE: Michigan Advance

• While there is no election taking place here in Houghton County on November 7th, that’s not the case elsewhere in the state. At least 38 communities are putting early voting through its paces for the first time since the state constitutional amendment was approved last year via the Promote the Vote ballot initiative. MORE: Bridge Michigan

• The UAW has now secured tentative agreements with all of the Big Three automakers, with significant wage increases, reinstatement of cost of living adjustments, and additional retirement benefits. This success is prompting many to say a “new era” for unions has just begun. MORE: The New Republic

• In a ruling issued Wednesday a Michigan Court of Claims judge denied former President Trump’s request to dismiss the lawsuit that seeks to force him off 2024 ballots in Michigan. He also denied his request to be party to the lawsuit. The judge had already agreed to fast-track the lawsuit. MORE: Michigan Advance 

HCDP Monthly Meetings: First Wednesday of each month. Potluck at 6 PM, Meeting at 7 PM. In the conference room at the Houghton Super 8, and by Zoom (starting at 7 PM).

NEXT MEETING: TOMORROW, NOV. 1ST

Community Events

Thur 11/5

The South Range Village Council meets Thursday at 6 PM in the South Range Community Building. For more information contact the Village at [email protected] or (906) 482-8833

November

November is Native American Heritage Month. The month long recognition was the result of a 1990 joint resolution of Congress approved by President George H.W. Bush.

To celebrate, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society at Michigan Technological University is holding the Baashkaakodin-Giizis Freezing Moon Traditional Powwow. The Powwow takes place this Saturday, November 4th at the Gates Tennis Center on the MTU campus. According to the event website the doors will open at 10AM “for the public to check out our craft and food vendors, and the powwow begins at noon.”