More photos here

For information on members of Democrats Abroad who have submitted delegate applications for the Global Primary:  Members can visit  www.democratsabroad.org  click on “Global Primary”, and click on “Delegate Applications for Global Primary”

Not only is this a chance to be involved in the democratic process, but high turnout from Democrats Abroad means a greater ability on our part to get politicians in Washington to take our issues as overseas Americans seriously.

During and after voting for our party, the party continues with music provided by the evening’s band – featuring Mike Russell guitar – Reggie Moore piano – Sir Charles Williamson bass and Joe Dicarlo drums, as well as visiting U.S. musicians. Enjoy great music, videos, discussion and conversation.  There will be a cash bar with food and drink (vegetarian & non-vegetarian dishes available).

In order to vote in the Global Presidential Primary, all of the following must apply: *You must be a U.S. citizen *You must be a registered member of Democrats Abroad (non-DA members can join at the event that evening (no fee or dues) *You must be a resident of Germany *You must not have participated in another presidential primary *You must have a valid I.D. with you (must be a U.S. passport if not already a member of Democrats Abroad)

You can also register to vote in the November general elections and request your absentee ballot that evening.   Berlin Chapter members will be available to assist you.

You can also register to vote and request your absentee ballot (for the November general election) at www.votefromabroad.org

If you can’t attend the Global Presidential Primary on the 5th, you can also vote absentee. Email Vote2012@democratsabroad.org to request an absentee ballot no later than April 30.

Entrance This event is for US Citizens and their guests (I.D. required)

We hope to see you on May 5th!

For more information: www.democratsabroad.org

And, please visit and send friends to the Berlin Chapter’s Facebook pages – “Democrats Abroad Berlin” & “Young Democrats Abroad Berlin”

Our local chapter website is www.demsinberlin.de

If you have any questions:  chair@demsinberlin.de

With Democratic Greetings,

Your DA Global Primary Berlin Team

Scott Ortiz             Event Coordinator Michael Steltzer    Chapter General Advisor Nancy Green         Chair & Voting Center Manager

Berlin Chapter Democrats Abroad Germany

Suggested Agenda:  

1. Words from the Chair

2. Have you registered to Vote

3. Results on the Global Primary Party on May 5th in the Amerika Haus

4. Report from the International Meeting of Democrats Abroad in Mexico

5. Discussion

(Details to follow)

____________________________________________________

We will be joined via video conference by Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager of the Obama campaign, who will give us an insider’s look at the state of play and the issues on which the campaign is focused.

All events start at 7:30 p.m. RSVP required. Minimum suggested donation to attend event: $25 Register for your local event at Germany4Obama.com.

Start Time: 19:30 Date: 2012-04-27

The sponsors of the Fundraising Cocktail Party for Barack Obama in Berlin are: Jessica Andrade Michael Steltzer

We have also received the following additional information about the above event from Jim Black, the head of Germany4Obama.  James Black is the head of this fundraising organization in Germany and Austria.  He writes:

“I wanted to pass on the great news that the special guest who will join us by video conference at the National Cocktail Party is Stephanie Cutter. Stephanie is Deputy Campaign Manager of the Obama campaign and has around 20 years of high-level experience in Democratic politics and policy. Her bio is as follows:

Stephanie Cutter, Deputy Campaign Manager, Obama for America

Stephanie serves as deputy campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign.  She worked for Bill Clinton as Deputy Communications Director at the White House during his administration and as Associate Administrator for Communications at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She also served as Communications Director for Senator Edward M. Kennedy and in July 2003 was named Communications Director for the Democratic National Committee. In November 2003, she was named communications director for the John Kerry campaign. In June 2008, she was appointed as chief of staff to the First Lady for the 2008 Presidential general election campaign. She served as the Chief Spokesperson for the Obama-Biden Transition Project. In 2010, she was named Assistant to the President for Special Projects, charged with managing the communications and outreach strategy for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In 2011, she was named Deputy Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama. Stephanie currently serves as one of National Journal magazine’s 100 “political insiders” surveyed weekly on important political and public policy issues and was named one of the 50 most influential people in Washington by GQ magazine.  She appears regularly as a Democratic strategist on CNN, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV and Fox News Channel.

Stephanie will speak to us about the current state of play in the campaign, important political and polling trends, and key issues that the campaign is focused on.  Participants at the National Cocktail Party will also have the chance to submit questions ahead of time, and Stephanie will try to address 2-3 of the questions at the end of her presentation.  I will contact all people who have registered for the event early next week to solicit questions.

An updated invitation is attached.  Please forward this email to your contacts and encourage them to join us for the party, as it should be a very interesting event and a unique opportunity for Americans abroad to gain an insider’s perspective on the campaign.

Many thanks!

Jim Black

To Democrats Abroad

22 April 2012

Tom Fina

Executive Director Emeritus

The November elections are seen by both parties as historic. Republicans want this to be a referendum on Obama’s performance. Democrats want voters to see this as a choice between sharply different concepts of governance. Each is positioning itself to project a fundamental choice for voters. Each is working to fix an unfavorable portrait of the other in the minds of voters – especially Independents who will likely determine the outcome.

This image shaping has been a part of party strategy through the past year and more as both prepared for the 2012 presidential elections. Republicans began earlier with their commitment to deny Obama a second term by making his achievement of his 2008 campaign commitments impossible. Their priority has been to create a scenario of Obama’s inability to restore pre-2008 prosperity, to achieve full employment, to reduce federal budget deficits and to dominate foreign events. While some traditional Republican congressional leaders were ready in 2011 to compromise with Obama to reduce deficits, the Tea Party and its sympathizers elected in 2010, sabotaged all those efforts.

Even at this late date, the Tea Party faction has forced Speaker Boehner to renege on the August 2011 agreement to reduce the deficit by $900 billion over a decade through automatic sequestration of equal amounts of military and domestic spending beginning in January, 2013. Now, Republican House appropriations committees have simply cut 2013 domestic spending by some $28 billion to avoid reductions in the military budget. Obama has warned that he will sign no appropriations legislation until Boehner’s House abides by the sequestration legislation approved by both Houses of Congress last August which makes significant reductions in military appropriations.

This confrontation is part of the opening skirmish over the end of the year budget Armageddon that is rushing up. Obama has pledged that he will not again accept a blanket extension of the Bush tax cuts when they automatically expire at the end of 2012. He wants to extend them for incomes below $200-250,000 but allow them to expire for upper income earners. And, he has been pushing for adoption of the Buffet Rule: any income over $1 million should pay at least a 30% tax. (Mr Romney, with an estimated income in 2011 of some $21 million, paid about 15.4% while Obama with a 2011 income of $790,000 paid 20.5%.) Romney opposes raising tax rates for the wealthy. (April 17, in Pittsburgh: :”I want the top income earners to continue to pay the share they’re paying now.”) Polling shows that the public favors Obama’s Buffet Rule and higher taxes for the wealthy. (Associated Press-GfK poll, 65 percent said they favored President Obama’s “Buffett Rule” and a June 2011 Pew poll found 66 percent of adults favored raising taxes on those making more than $250,000.)

During the brief window between the November 6 elections and January 2013, the president and the lame duck congress will be forced to face the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, the start of the sequestration, the end of the stimulus payroll tax reductions and a steep increase in the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

How that historic confrontation will be resolved will depend in large part on the outcome of the elections. No prudent pundit would guess at this stage who will become president nor which party will control the House or Senate.

The presidential outlook has changed abruptly since Santorum suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination making Romney the near certain candidate. Obama’s popular vote lead over Romney peaked in March at 54% to 42% at the climax of the attacks by his serial Republican challengers. Since, Republicans and Republican leaning leaders and voters have begun to close ranks behind him. By mid-April, both Pew (Obama 49% to Romney 45%), the NYT/CBS (46% to 46%) and the Gallup Daily tracking poll (43% to 48%) have shown a tightening of the race – at least in the popular vote. On the other hand, other polls show Obama leading (WSJ/NBC, Apr 17-19) 49% to 43% and the Real Clear Politics (RCP) average for Apr 14-19, gives Obama a lead of 2.7 points. The critical Independent vote breaks evenly at 43% in the NYT/CBS poll. In Electoral Votes, RCP estimates Obama at 227 (270 to win), Romney at 170 (down from 181 in February as Arizona has moved toward Obama) and 141 a toss up.

The in-depth polling (Pew, April 17) presents a voter profile that is too early to extrapolate to its final vote. On the one hand, Obama gets higher marks than Romney on health care (+15), the environment (+39), education (+22), birth control (+19), foreign policy (+6), Medicare (+7), Afghanistan (+3) and the economy (+4). Romney leads on the budget deficit (+19), Iran (+14), gay marriage (+7), jobs, taxes, energy and terrorism (+ 1 or 2) and gun control (+8).

In the NYT/CBS polling (April 19), Obama scores 46% favorable and 45% unfavorable but Romney comes in at 29% favorable and 34% unfavorable. 47% of registered voters say they can relate to Obama while 50% cannot. Romney gets 34% who can relate to him and 60% who cannot. On the economy, 51% say that Obama would make the right decisions while 55% say that Romney would do so.

Then there are favorability ratings. In the RCP average as of April 17, Obama’s favorable rating is 5.4 larger than his unfavorable rating. Romney is about the reverse: 5.2 points more unfavorable than favorable. The consensus is that, at this point, voters like Obama more than they like Romney.

Yet, voters almost break even on whom they would elect because they rank the economy (86%) and jobs (84%) as their chief concerns. And, a surprising 38% believe that the economy is unchanged while 28% say it is worse even though there has been a steady improvement in public confidence in the economy since mid 2011.

Finally, there is the lead that Obama has with women (53% to 40%), college graduates, blacks (90%), Latinos (69% WSJ), Asiatics and low income voters. During the Republican primary, Romney moved so far to the right to outflank his opponents that he has staked out positions on women, emigration, education and tax fairness that it is hard to see how he can now recover lost ground with these essential voting communities. His unequivocal embrace of the Ryan House budget for 2013, with its draconian cuts in domestic programs, preservation of military spending and exclusion of increased tax income, will be a hard sell to moderate and Independent voters.

All of these numbers are subject to change as the big money of both candidates and parties begin to be felt. Money talks. Neither candidate will accept Federal financing with its contribution limits and both aim at raising and spending between $800 million and a billion dollars. At this juncture, Republicans depend primarily on big donors and Democrats on small ones. The Republican Super PAC’s, unleashed by the Supreme Court when it knocked down campaign financing reforms, are far ahead of the those backing Obama. But, Obama has about ten times more cash on hand than Romney.

Another wild card is the fate of health care reform. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) , perhaps in June, but, in any case, before election day. How will its ruling affect the outcome of the election? If, the Court finds against the ACA, that could energize the liberal electorate and help Obama. If the Court bars the individual requirement to purchase insurance, Obama just might pivot to a campaign for “Medicare for all” which would not be vulnerable to constitutional challenge. If it leaves the ACA intact, the Republican world will be angered but it is hard to believe that it would deliver more Republican votes in either the presidential or congressional elections. In any case, the demand for universal health care will not go away.

Control of the Senate hinges on 4 seats which Republicans would need to get a majority. Democrats are defending 21 seats and Republicans only 10. In the House, Democrats would need to win 25 – 35 seats to regain a majority. That has become more difficult as Republican controlled states have redistricted to squeeze out Democrats and erected barriers to make it more difficult for likely Democratic voters to cast ballots.

On November 6, will voters vote for Obama because of their sympathy for him and his policies or vote for Romney in the hope that he will speed up economic recovery? Will the Tea Party wing of the Republican party maintain its steering power in the House and Senate?

It is too soon to guess what will happen. But, both the presidential race and the congressional races are nip and tuck with six months of brutal campaigning ahead that will set the direction of government for many years to come. The most likely outcome, at this point, would appear to be a continuance of divided power with one party able to veto the decisions of the other and the federal government, therefore, continuing to be unable to manage our, and the world’s, fundamental problems.

There was no Letter in March.

Comments: demsabrd@gmail.com

Come and shoot the political breeze

MANTEE Restaurant

Chausseestraße 131

10115 Berlin

Corner Hannoversche Str. / Oranienburger Tor

Tel.: 280 7759

A delegation of 8 members of the Berlin Chapter of Democrats Abroad took it upon themselves to go to the Annual General Meeting of Democrats Abroad Germany (DAG) in Stuttgart on the 10th of March, 2011.

Good organization by the Stuttgart Chapter made it possible for good workshops and great infrastructure.  We met in the Ratskeller of the City Hall.

Electronic Participation and Voting now possible at Annual General Meeting

I think the most important part of the AGM dealt with the change of the bylaws. In the future it will be possible for members to participate in the annual general meeting without being physically present.  Technology has made that possible.  With video conferencing it will be possible for members to participate and vote electronically at these meetings.  Hopefully this will lead to a larger grassroots participation in the decision making process.  The next AGM of DAG will incorporate these rules.  That will be in the spring of 2013 and will mean that we can vote for a new leadership in this fashion. A lot of preparatory work of  the Bylaws Committee and the pointed leadership of Donald Black, the chair of the Bylaws committe made that possible.

Shari Tempel steps down as Chair – Quaide Williams becomes new Chair

A big change in the leadership of DAG took place.  At the beginning of the meeting Shari Temple announced her resignation as Chair of DAG.  She has been elected to become Vice Chair of the EMEA Region of DA.  According to the Bylaws of DAG the Vice Chair assumes this vacancy until the next AGM, which will be in 2013.  So Quaide Williams from the Munich Chapter has become our new DAG Chair.

The assembly stood up and applauded the great 3 years of work that Shari has done of DAG as Chair.

Beverly Seebach becomes new Vice Chair

During an Executive Committee Meeting of DAG this morning (March 11th, 2012) Beverly Seebach from Frankfurt was elected to become the new vice chair.  Beverly has been very active in DAG.  She was Chair of DA Frankfurt, was presently active as an At Large Member of DAG and has taken on the responsibility of coordinating the Global Primary of Democrats Abroad in Germany in May.

€ 1500 donated for DAG / Great Chapter baskets

A raffle of baskets and bags from the 9 chapters of DAG generated € 1500,00 ( € 5.00 per raffle ticken) for the work of DAG after the evening meal.  The 8 submitted baskets included lots of specialties from the regions of the chapters and were supposed to have a value of about € 50,00.  The Berlin basket hat lots of fun goodies including a Berlin Coffee Cup and Berlin Umbrella, a bottle of Kümmelschnaps which looked like the Fernsehturm, Spreewalder Gurken, Lutherbrot from Wittenberg, a retro USA Map, a Barack Obama Action Figure that you can believe in, and other good stuff.  Thank you Nancy Green for putting this basket together for our chapter.

Great socialising events with members of DAG

The Stuttgart Chapter organized two social events: a get together at the Brunnerz Restaurant and Cafe Bar on Friday evening and a Gala Dinner at the Ratskeller in the Rathaus.  Both events were well attended and I had a wonderful time meeting some of the active members of DAG.  It was interesting to hear about the development of the Stuttgart Chapter and also how the members think about political developments in the US.  Many members are very interested in the Occupy movement and the repressive laws that are being passed to suppress that movement.

On Saturday night a number of members of different DAG chapters spontaneously went to a Karaoke Bar and had a great time there letting off a lot of steam.  It was fun to sing together. I had to film a little bit with the help of my iPhone:

See  The Karaoke Video

The COOP of DA Germany is getting very professional

The Coop of DA Germany is the place where you can get lots of Democratic material to help get out the vote.  At the moment it is not possible to post pictures here or to order them, but that will happen for sure in the next days.  We brought a lot of material back to Berlin, which you can see at the next meeting.  Great tote bags, pencils, luggage Tags with the logo from VoteFromAbroad.org.

Michael Steltzer – Berlin – March 11, 2012

Playing "Washington, D,C." Monopoly on the train back to Berlin

Resolution to Stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline

WHEREAS the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is designed to transport environmentally dirty oil extracted from Canadian tar sands to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries; and

WHEREAS the tar sands oil will not lessen U.S. dependence on foreign oil because it will be refined for a primarily non-U.S. export market; and

WHEREAS extracting tar sands oil uses massive amounts of water resources and climate-damaging energy, destroying in the process hundreds of thousands of acres of Alberta’s wetlands and boreal forest which is an important carbon sink, and resulting in polluted wastewater pools that are dangerous for groundwater and wildlife including migrating birds; and

WHEREAS the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will cross through America’s agricultural heartland, the Missouri and Niobrara Rivers, the Ogallala aquifer, sage grouse habitat, walleye fisheries and more; and

WHEREAS there are unique safety concerns posed by the particularly corrosive properties of diluted bitumen (raw tar sand oil), and that the submitter of the permit TransCanada predicted that its Keystone I tar sands pipeline would see one spill in 7 years when in fact there have been 12 spills in 1 year; and

WHEREAS a rupture in the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in America’s heartland could threaten the source of fresh drinking water for 20 million people; and

WHEREAS the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which both oppose the pipeline, stated in August 2011: “We need jobs, but not ones based on increasing our reliance on Tar Sands oil. [...] Many jobs could also be created in energy conservation, upgrading the grid, maintaining and expanding public transportation—jobs that can help us reduce air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and improve energy efficiency.”; and

WHEREAS climate scientists have been predicting for decades that global warming caused by human activity will lead to extreme weather events; and

WHEREAS in 2011 alone the United States has experienced the effects of climate change and natural variability in extreme weather events such as Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, the numerous deadly tornadoes in the Southeast and Midwest, the flooding of the Missouri River, massive snowfalls on the East Coast, the drought in Texas with resulting deadly and destructive wildfires; and

WHEREAS extreme weather events related to climate change continue to take place around world such as the ongoing drought in Russia and recent massive flooding in Pakistan and China; and

WHEREAS the effects of climate change are expected to have major negative impacts on U.S. national security, food security and economic security, and that in 2011 the United States reached an all time annual high of climate-related events costing more than $1 billion each, with over 10 such events by September of that year; and

WHEREAS climate scientists predict that massive droughts exceeding Dust Bowl levels of the 1930’s such as the drought currently being experienced in Texas will exist across much of the United States, including the breadbasket region, as soon as 2030; and

WHEREAS one of the world’s leading climate scientists, NASA’s top climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, says that fully developing the tar sands in Canada would add the equivalent of an additional 150 parts per million (ppm) of the greenhouse gas CO2 into the atmosphere, adding to the current approximately 390 ppm, a figure that is rising without the addition of the CO2 that would be generated by consequences of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline; and

WHEREAS according to Dr. Hansen this additional CO2 would essentially mean “Game Over” for the climate – in other words that it would become impossible to reduce rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere to a safer 350 ppm and thus avoid a predicted collapse of civilization; and

WHEREAS building the pipeline would increase the likelihood that humans will not be able to reverse rising levels of greenhouse gases and the increasingly dangerous, violent and fatal effects of global warming,

LET IT THEREFORE BE RESOLVED that Democrats Abroad supports all efforts of fellow Democrats to prevent the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline from being built.

Adopted by the Democratic Party Committee Abroad (Democrats Abroad), Arlington, Virginia, October 16, 2011.

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