Next Meeting is Thur. 6/13; 1PM Refreshments, 1:30 Meeting

Our June program is a group discussion of current topics. Arnie Frigeri, our Programs Director, is preparing a list of topics for discussion. Come on out, hear what others are thinking, and give your opinions also!

We will meet at the South Shore Regional Library,15816 Beth Shields Way Ruskin. View map here.

All Democrats and like-minded individuals are welcome.

Congress Created the IRS Mess and Can Fix It -- IF They Want To

The IRS staffers vetting hundreds of tea party groups and conservative outfits seeking nonprofit status for potential political activity weren't themselves sure what they were looking for. And who bears the ultimate responsibility for this? The very folks who are getting so worked up about the alleged abuses and the dark-money explosion that made them possible: Congress.

The law is vague and only Congress can create a concise definition of what is political activity for these purposes

To prevent further confusion, Congress needs rewrite the law clarifying whether 501(c)(4) nonprofits can get involved in politics and to what degree. Read Full Story.

Congress Budget Appropriations to Blame for Benghazi

Washington Post, Oct 2011 - The State Department is still reeling from deep cuts made by Senate and House appropriations panels to the Obama administration’s budget requests for next year, with some officials warning of national security risks.

Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state in its Bureau of Political Military Affairs, told a meeting last week of the Center for New American Security that the hefty cuts will compromise national security. He noted that the 2012 funding bill for State Department and foreign operations was cut 8 percent by the full Senate Appropriations Committee and a whopping 18 percent by the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had sounded similar concern in March 2011, telling the House Foreign Affairs Committee that threatened deep cuts would be “devastating” to her agency.