JimSheppard.com ::

Healthcare reform

So I really don’t get it. Where are so many people getting so much misinformation about healthcare reform from. It simply amazes me. Some right wing radio talk show host or politician flat out lies about what the bill will do. The loddyists for the health insurance industry call up their strategists and their pr firms to create fake outrage and all of a sudden people are showing up at townhall meetings screaming that they don’t want the government to kill their grandparents. Ok, those among us who are inclined to believe the radio heads and right wing politicians need to take a step back for a moment. Think about what you are screaming about. Read the legislation, it is very much available. Now why in the world do you believe there will be “death panels”, what in the bill says anything about that. Agree or disagree about healthcare reform, but don’t spread lies and propaganda on behalf of the health insurance industry. Debate the bill on what the bill is. If you can’t find fault with it and have to spread lies and mistruths to have an argument against it, you are no long part of a healthy, democratic debate and deserve the name calling and slanders against you from the liberal media. You are living up to the names they call you. CRAZY ~Jim Sheppard 412-760-1410

New Apartment and CDA

Sorry for not posting much recently, its been a crazy couple of weeks.

We got everything moved into the new apartment and are still getting settled, then it was my birthday, then we went to Washington DC for the College Democrats of America national convention, then it was time to say goodbye to Jana.

The move went really well. I think we chose the hottest day of the summer to move though and it sucked having to carry all the furniture up the flight of stairs. We had to creative when it came to getting some of the larger items into the apartment. It didn’t look like we would have been able to get the bed, the couch, or some of the bookcases up the stairs and around the L shaped landing but we found away to get it all up here.

There’s still a lot of boxes to go through and unpack and paintings and pictures to put up, but on the whole its pretty much all set up.

Moving the cats from the Box was an interesting task. The General was an easier move than the Chairman. Chairman was very loud and fidgety. Next time we move him, he needs a steel cage.

The College Democrats of America National Convention was amazing. Pennsylvania was really representing there. We had the largest delegation with 15 chapters and 47 votes to allocate as we saw fit. We got to meet a lot of great speakers and saw the Capitol and the White House, volunteered for the CDA, and got to see Katie and Heather face to face instead of just over the phone.

We got Joe elected to the national executive board and Pennsylvania won Federation of the Year. Go Team!

And last night was Jana’s goodbye party. I’m going to miss her so much and I am determined to get her back to the ‘burgh as soon as possible. She was like our mom for so many things and without her hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t have been able to have such a successful trip to the national convention.

Next up on things to do, organize the Motznik stuff for the Brookline Breeze.

College Democrats Day in the City of Pittsburgh

WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats is an organization that was founded in 2002, and has since grown into a major resource of community activism for college students within Pennsylvania; and

WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats is composed of over 75 colleges and universities in Pennsylvania, and boasts over 3,700 active individual student members; and

WHEREAS, In order to promote a better America, with equality, opportunity, and freedom within a just and strong society, The Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats dedicate themselves to organizing the participation of college students so as to educate students about the political process and philosophy of the Democratic Party, empower students to engage themselves in the political process, and advocate for issues impacting the youth on the local, state, and national level; and

WHEREAS, In the 2008 election cycle The Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats registered over 10,000 college students to vote, and called for the unprecedented participation of college students in Pennsylvania during the historic 2008 Presidential Election; and

WHEREAS, The Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats has served its community by participating in neighborhood clean ups, volunteering at soup kitchens and in libraries, and raising thousands of dollars for a variety of charitable organizations across Pennsylvania in 2009.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh honors the Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats for their dedication to community service, and to providing a voice for students in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, recognizing the impact of the work of The Pennsylvania Federation of College Democrats, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh proclaims that Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 be hereby declared as “College Democrats Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.

SPONSORED BY COUNCILMAN JIM MOTZNIK AND COUNCILWOMAN TONYA PAYNE

Co-Sponsored by Council members:
President Douglas Shields, Rev. Ricky V. Burgess, Patrick Dowd,
Darlene M. Harris, Bruce A. Kraus, Bill Peduto, and Theresa Kail-Smith