The Young Democrats of America (YDA), the official youth arm of the Democratic Party representing Democrats age 14-36, held its fall conference in Orlando, Florida the weekend of November 20-22. At the conference, the YDA Women’s Caucus convened to discuss business for the upcoming year.

Members voted to add a new paragraph to the by-laws to specify that voting members include women “who self identify as female regardless of the gender assigned at birth.”

Women’s Caucus Chair Elena Weiss, of Georgia, said that the language was added “to express the feelings of the membership that all women, including transgender women, should feel welcome to be a part of the mission of empowering young women in the political process.”

The Young Democrats of America will meet again in February in New Orleans for their spring conference.

About the Young Democrats of America Women’s Caucus:
The Women’s Caucus of the Young Democrats of America is a grassroots youth and young professional women’s organization that has produced many of the current leading women activists and elected officials in all levels of the Democratic Party. It is the only official Democratic group that serves young women age 14-36. For more information, please visit: http://womensyda.ning.com

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APPLICATION FOR YDA PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTMENTS – Due August 25, 2009

MINORITY CAUCUS APPOINTMENT APPLICATION – Due Sept. 7, 2009

WOMEN’S CAUCUS APPOINTMENTS – Due Sept. 1, 2009

The Women’s Caucus of the Young Democrats of America is currently seeking talented young ladies to fill four administrative positions on the caucus and eight regional appointments. For two of the administrative positions we are seeking two individuals: one east of the Mississippi and one west of the Mississippi.

The four positions that are available are:

Political: (Only one appointment will be made)

The political director will work to identify relevant candidate, issue, and advocacy campaigns across the country to support through targeted Women’s Caucus efforts. (NOTE: YDA Women’s Caucus is unable to endorse any candidate in a Primary.) It will also develop and implement women-specific campaign plans for use by state and local chapters and women’s caucuses. It will work closely with the Caucus Secretary & Communications Director to ensure that Women’s Caucus members nationwide remain informed of these various campaigns. In addition, this committee will coordinate with the YDA National Office to include targeted efforts to young women and on behalf of women’s issues in YDA’s Alliance campaign programs. The Political Director will work under the director of the Chair & Vice Chair.

Finance Director: (Two appointments will be made)

The Finance Director will work to fund to fund all Women’s Caucus programs and activities. Under the direction of the Treasurer, the finance directors will develop and implement a fundraising plan to build and maintain a donor base for the Caucus.

Communications Director: (Only one appointment will be made)

The communications director will create and disseminate our message to Women’s Caucus members and the general public. The communications director will ensure that Women’s Caucus members are informed of both national events and the activities of fellow Women’s Caucus members and groups across the country. To that end, it will be responsible for maintaining the Listserv and developing and promoting a monthly E-Newsletter and website. The communications director will work under the direction of the secretary.

Organizing Director: (Two appointments will be made)

The organizing director will work to implement YDA’s Chapter Building program at the caucus level to increase the number of women’s caucuses and further develop and support existing caucuses. It will develop and implement programs designed to increase and diversify women’s participation in all levels of YDA. The Organizing directors will serve as a resource to local and state chapters to recruit and retain more women in their organizations. The organizing directors will work under the direction of the Chair & Vice Chair.

The Regional appointments will work with the administrative appointments and the caucus exec to do direct work on their region and support Women’s Caucus initiatives in their region.

All applicants will fill out an application. The applications will be reviewed by the Women’s Caucus Officers. All finalists will receive a phone interview by the Women’s Caucus Officers.

APPLICATION FOR WOMEN’S CAUCUS APPOINTMENTS 2009-2011

Name:

Address:

Phone:

E-Mail:

Date of Birth:

Position seeking (if multiple, please write the multiple ones in order of desire):

Please answer the following questions:

1- Please explain why you are interested in having a Women’s Caucus appointment?

2-How have you been involved in the Young Democrats in your state?

3-What do you wish to accomplish in this position?

4-What do you feel you can add to the caucus?

5-Are you available to sit on a minimum one conference call a month and attend national meetings?

6-Please provide the name, email and phone number of two political references in your state (Not necessarily for regional appointments).

Please submit your application to women@georgiayds.org by Aug 25, 2009 and title it “YDA Women’s Caucus Appointment Application.” You make also send it via facebook. Finalists will be notified of their phone interview by September 1, 2009.

RURAL CAUCUS APPOINTMENTS

For those of you that do not know me, my name is Cassi Peters and I am your new Chair of the YDA Rural Caucus. My team of great rural leaders across this country and myself are ready to get to work for you. We are very excited about the future of this caucus and will be working to formulate an action plan in the very near future.

The caucus does have appointed positions available. These positions will help very much with the elected officers and will become an integral part of our team. I encourage all of you to apply and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about the responsibilities or expectations of each position.

To apply for positions, please send the following info to ydaruralcaucus@gmail.com:

Name
Email
Address
Phone Number

What qualifications do you bring to the position?

What do you plan to do with the position that you will hold?

What rural issues are important to you?

If you are not on the national committee (state president, national committeewoman, or national committeewoman) please list a national committee member from your state that we can contact as a reference.

Thank you and I look forward to all of you applying!!

-Cassi Peters
Chair
YDA Rural Caucus

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR:
The Communications Director shall serve as a point of contact for media-related activity including the drafting and distribution of press releases. The Communications Director will also serve as the YDA Rural Caucus webmaster and also will maintain all social networking utilities of the YDA Rural Caucus.

POLITICAL DIRECTOR:
The Political Director will serve as the point of contact for rural policy issues and intiatives. The director will be responsible for providing YDA Rural Caucus membership with information on policy that is pertinent. The director will create a database of rural policy and issues for members to use as a resource.

FUNDRAISING DIRECTOR:
The Fundraising Director will coordinate all fundraising activities and will work closely with the Treasurer to create a fundraising plan.

DIVERSITY LIAISON:
The Diversity Liaison shall develop relationships with the other established YDA Caucuses and shall serve as the representative of the Rural Caucus to the Young Democrats of America Select Committee on Affirmative Action.

REGIONAL PROJECT LEADERS:
Regional Project leaders will serve as a representative to their areas based on the Regional Caucus system as defined by the Young Democrats of America. Regional Project leaders will spearhead the effort of creating Rural Caucus chapters in each of their regional states.

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The Young Democrats of America High School Caucus has published the names and statements of the candidates for their officer positions. Elections will be held at the YDA National Convention in Chicago.

You can find the High School Democrats at their Facebook Page.

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Our veterans serve with honor, yet our military still does not let many of them serve with dignity.

It’s time for our country to allow it’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender service members to serve openly as who they are. It’s time to end the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

Click here and write a letter to the editor calling on President Obama and Congress to end the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy.

This is urgent. The United States is at war in two countries across the globe and fighting a global struggle against terrorist networks. We need every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, and Marine that wants to serve their country with honor.

Instead, we’ve expelled over ten thousand troops from our military since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” began. Many of them served in critical fields, such as intelligence analysts or translators for Arabic, Farsi, and Pashto. It has cost America hundreds of millions of dollars, and we’ve dishonored those who volunteered to sacrifice for us.

The divisiveness introduced by the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy weakens our military’s, readiness, unit cohesion and troop morale. At least 24 nations allow gay soldiers to serve openly in the military, including several fighting with us in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tell the President and Congress that America must join them.

Write a letter to the editor and help end the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” Policy.

Our military is strained, and we need every hand on deck. Denying anyone the right to serve because of their sexual orientation is not only divisive, it’s immoral, and it’s hurting our country and our troops.

Stand up and fight for those who want to stand up and fight for you.

Sincerely,

MegHan Smith, YDA Veterans Caucus Chair

Rachel Kau-Taylor, YDA GLBT Caucus Chair

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The Women’s Caucus of the Young Democrats of America issued the following statement today on the 36th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, which outlaws sex discrimination in educational programs.

“Today, June 23, we celebrate the enactment of Title IX, landmark legislation that has helped ensure gender equity in education. While most of us who are members of the Women’s Caucus of the Young Democrats of America were not alive when this legislation was passed, we are the beneficiaries of a legislation that made it possible for us to believe from birth that we could reach for the stars. Title IX has provided opportunities for more than 2.7 million women and girls in all aspects of our educational system. With female university presidents, female engineers, female brain surgeons, and female professors in field after field, Title IX has left its mark for generations to come.

Before Title IX, many schools and universities had separate entrances for male and female students. Female students were not allowed to take certain courses, such as auto mechanics or criminal justice; male students could not take home economics. Most medical and law schools limited the number of women admitted to 15 or fewer per school. Many colleges and universities required women to have higher test scores and better grades than male applicants to gain admission. Women living on campus were not allowed to stay out past midnight. (Source: Report Card on Gender Equity, National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, 1997) This is a world, that as young women today we cannot imagine, and to the champions of Title IX, we lend our sincere gratitude.

However as young women, we must acknowledge that there is always more work to be done. For seven years the Bush Administration has worked to erode women’s rights, and John McCain offers more of the same. He has said he would appoint the same kinds of judges that have worked to undermine important laws like Title IX and he voted against the recent Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that would have allowed women to sue for pay discrimination in the workplace. We remember this in 2008 as we work to elect officials who will fight to further women’s equity”

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From YDA Veterans and Military Affairs Chair Cole Hickman:

This weekend at the Young Democrats of America National Conference in Nashville, TN, the Veterans and Military Affairs Caucus met to discuss the issues most important to them.

While ending the war in Iraq is extremely important to veterans and their families, there are many other issues that get less attention and are less understood. Here is an opportunity for you to make your voices heard on the challenges we face at home. In no particular order:

1. Mental health programs for veterans
2. Family counseling for families of deployed and returning service members
3. Homeless veterans
4. Diversity in the military among leadership ranks
5. Recruitment of disadvantaged people from inner city and rural areas
6. Traumatic brain injury
7. Small business programs for veterans
8. Employment discrimination among guard and reserve
9. Credit score freeze and grace period for deployed and returning troops

Each of these issues is posted individually in the Facebook group discussion board.

If there is an issue here that interests you, please post a description of the problem and, if you are aware of any, specific policies or legislation that will address the problem.

Also, if there are any specific issues not addressed here please post a response and describe the issue.

I will use this information not only to share with Young Democrat state presidents around the country and YDA leadership so they have talking points about our issues, but I will share this with legislative staff in Congress to see what bills we can support to solve these problems.

Also, if have not yet joined our Facebook group, here’s the link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8843248894

Regards,
Cole Hickman
Chair
YDA Veterans and Military Affairs Caucus

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Hijinks, shennanagins, tomfoolery. All valuable and descriptive words that could be used to express the silly and mischievous political stunts of the Republican Jewish Caucus. If only there were a place online that covered such a topic.

Lo and behold! Last month the Young Democrats of America Jewish Caucus launched RJC Watch, a blog with the mission of tracking the misadventures of the Republican Jewish Caucus.

Want to hear how the RJC has distorted a recent Gallup poll? They got it here. How about constantly asking candidates to reject endorsements? They have that too! Most recently RJC Watch has called out the misleading “I Used to be a Democrat” ads. Why, you ask? Because the RJC has been having a hard time finding former Democrats, unless of course they are Democrats that changed affiliation a quarter century ago.

So if you want to keep up on all the political stuntery, subscribe to the RJC Watch RSS feed or add RJC Watch to your bookmarks.

Republican Jewish Coalition Watch is a project of the Young Democrats of America Jewish Caucus (YDAJC; http://www.jewishcaucus.org). YDAJC is an organization dedicated to building the young Democratic Jewish political community. YDAJC seeks to engage young democrats in issues of particular Jewish concern and to invigorate young Jews to engage in politics from a progressive Democratic perspective. YDAJC accomplishes this task through a combination of education, awareness, and social interaction, as well as political advocacy on issues of Jewish concern.

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ABC 15 in Phoenix has a story on the 21st Century GI Bill sponsored by Arizona Congressman Harry Mitchell (AZ-05) and its effect on Arizona State University students.

Young Democrats of Arizona President and YDA Veteran’s & Military Affairs Caucus Chair Sgt. Cole Hickman is featured in both the print and video coverage.

Click here to read/watch the coverage on ABC 15.

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Don’t let John McCain kill the improved G.I. Bill!

Congress is voting this weekend on the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 (HR5740). This bill would dramatically improve the G.I. Bill to give real support to our veterans when they come home.  Senator McCain and the Republican Congressional leadership actually oppose this bill. Don’t let them ignore our veterans.

Call or email your member of Congress now!
Tell them to include the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 in the Emergency War Supplemental.
Democrats are fighting for veterans by giving them real support.  Here are a few words from Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) and Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) on the bill and why it is so important to our veterans.
“The current Montgomery G.I. Bill program is a benefit designed for peacetime service-not wartime service. Our men and women who have served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq deserve an education benefit that more accurately reflects their service in a wartime force.  A comprehensive G.I. Bill will be an important investment in our economy. For every dollar that was invested in the Post-World War II G.I. Bill, seven dollars were generated. Better educated veterans also have a more positive readjustment experience and lower levels of post-traumatic stress.”

Congress is voting this weekend! Act now and support Democrats in Congress who are standing up for veterans.  The estimated $2 billion a year needed for the program equals less than one week of war in Iraq.
Call or email your member of Congress now!

Senator McCain: 202-224-2235
Senator Kyl: 202-224-4521

Or you may call 1-800-473-6711 toll free*.

Rick Renzi, CD 1: 202-225-2315, 928-708-9120

Trent Franks, CD 2: 202-225-4576, 623-776-7911

John Shadegg, CD 3: 202-225-3361, 602-263-5300

Ed Pastor, CD 4: 202-225-4065, 602-256-0551

Harry Mitchell, CD 5: 202-225-2190, 480-946-2411

Jeff Flake, CD 6: 202-225-2635, 480-833-0092

Raúl Grijalva, CD 7: 202-225-2435, 520-622-6788

Gabrielle Giffords, CD 8: 202-225-2542, 520-881-3588

Tell your member of Congress to cosponsor HR5740, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, and support it in the emergency war funding bill.  Democrats are fighting for our veterans and your call can help them too.
Yours Democratically,

Cole Hickman

President

Young Democrats of Arizona

Chair, Veterans and Military Affairs Caucus

Young Democrats of America

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