Sunday, February 26, 2012   11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Vespucci Restaurant (10579 Fairfax Blvd, Fairfax, VA 22030; map, click here). Additional parking is available in the business lot next door on the left side (east) of Vespucci’s.

• RSVP by ordering your tickets on ActBlue, click here.
• Flier, click here.
• Share on Facebook, click here.

John Sturdivant Award, honoring a member of the labor community for his/her commitment to Democratic ideals and values.

11th CD Community Service Awards, honoring three Democrats from the respective jurisdictions of the 11th Congressional District (Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Prince William County) for community service:

• The Joseph V. Gartlan Award, Fairfax County – Linda Byrne,
• The Deloris Hampton Award, Prince William County – Fred Parish, and
• The Frederick W. Silverthorne Award, Fairfax City – TBA.

Questions, more Info contact George Burke, Chair (chair@11thDistrictDemocrats.org).

VOTE THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET

Virginia House and Senate, Mason District – vote for one in your district. Refer to your new voter card if you are not sure of Senate or House district.

• Senate
  • 34th J.C. “Chap” Petersen
  • 35th Richard L. “Dick” Saslaw
  • 37th Dave W. Marsden
• House
  • 38th L. Kaye Kory
  • 39th Vivian E. Watts
  • 49th Alfonso H. Lopez
  • 53rd James M. “Jim” Scott

Fairfax County, Mason District – vote for all.

• Commonwealth’s Attorney
  • Raymond F. Morrogh
• Sheriff
  • Stan Barry
• Chairman Board of Supervisors
  • Sharon S. Bulova
• Board of Supervisors Mason District
  • Penelope A. “Penny” Gross
• NoVA Soil & Water Conservation District Director
  • Johna Good Gagnon
  • George Lamb
• School Board at Large
  • Ryan McElveen
  • Ilryong Moon
  • Theodore S. “Ted” Velkoff
• School Board Mason District
  • Sandy S. Evans
• School Bond to Build and Improve Public Schools
  • Vote YES

Virginia would change radically if the McDonnell-Cuccinelli Cantor Republicans take over the Senate
In less than three weeks Virginia voters will go to the polls and make decisions that will affect the future of our Commonwealth and the families who live here. If Republicans are successful in taking over the state Senate they will have complete control of our government and free rein to advance their backward agenda – unless we spend the next 20 days doing everything we can to stop them and elect our Democratic candidates. To read Chairman Brian Moran’s rundown of what’s at stake and how you can help click here. To read an Associated Press column on the many radical right-wing laws that would go through if Republicans have full control of our government click here.

McDonnell’s Department of Education credits President Obama for saving or creating more than 7,000 jobs
As President Obama visited Virginia again to talk about his plan to put more Americans back to work and more money in their pockets, Governor Bob McDonnell’s Department of Education told the Huffington Post that the President has already saved more than 7,000 jobs in Virginia. Maybe McDonnell’s thank you card got lost in the mail. To read about the jobs that President Obama saved in Virginia click here.

Jason Flanary signed Norquist’s anti-tax pledge before he didn’t
Controversy erupted this week in the 37th Senate District race (incumbent, Democrat Dave Marsden) about whether Tea Partier Jason Flanary did or did not sign Grover Norquist’s anti-tax pledge. During the primary Flanary seemed all too eager to bow to Grover and kiss the ring, but now that he’s running in a general election against a results-oriented leader like Dave Marsden, Flanary seems to have changed his tune. Luckily, Norquist isn’t letting him off the hook. To read more about the right-wing spat between Flanary and Norquist click here.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz stresses the importance of keeping the state Senate this year
At the recent DPVA reception in Arlington DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DPVA Chair Brian Moran and U.S. Reps. Jim Moran and Gerry Connolly urged all Virginia Democrats to do everything they can to get out the vote for our Democratic candidates in the Senate and the House of Delegates this year. To view a video of each leader talking about this year’s elections click here.

Virginia communities brace for McDonnell’s budget cuts
Governor Bob “McGimmick” McDonnell has dropped his self-congratulation over the “budget surplus,” and has replaced it with dire warnings of looming budget cuts to state agencies that could further damage education, transportation and other core services. To read more about the potential for new budget cuts to Virginia communities click here. To read statements from Democratic leaders across Virginia urging the Governor to put middle class families ahead of the Tea Party click here.

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The Washington Post did not merely endorse Bulova for Chairman, they super-endorsed her …

If any elected official in Northern Virginia deserves to be returned to office Nov. 8, it’s Ms. Bulova. … With her gracious, civil, inclusive political style, two decades of previous experience on the board and mastery of the county’s $6 billion budget, Ms. Bulova is indisputably the right person in the right job at the right time.

Editorial Board Opinion
Bulova for Fairfax chairman

By Editorial, Sunday, September 25th, 2011

SHARON S. BULOVA, a Democrat who as chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has more constituents (1.1 million) than any other locally elected official in the Washington region, has been in her post for 2-1/2years. It happens that her ascent to the job, in a special election in February 2009, coincided with the most dizzying plunge in municipal revenue that Fairfax, like most counties, had suffered in decades.

That coincidence is Fairfax’s good fortune. With her gracious, civil, inclusive political style, two decades of previous experience on the board and mastery of the county’s $6 billion budget, Ms. Bulova is indisputably the right person in the right job at the right time. Her bid for reelection, against an unimpressive Republican and two obscure independents, should be a slam dunk. If any elected official in Northern Virginia deserves to be returned to office Nov. 8, it’s Ms. Bulova.

Her trademark, as the board’s chair and as a district supervisor for 21 years before that, has been to stick to her guns while working collaboratively with her colleagues. Remarkably, given her long tenure and the array of issues she has handled, she has almost no enemies. Yet she has not shied away from the most volatile controversies.

A recent example was her role in pushing for nearly $1 billion in cuts from Metrorail’s expansion to Dulles and points farther west. The cuts, though sensible and politically necessary, were bitterly opposed by the airports authority board, which is overseeing construction of the $6 billion project. Despite an array of robust personalities and what appeared to be an intractable impasse, Ms. Bulova — businesslike and non-confrontational — played a critical role in nudging the board into negotiations and toward an eventual deal.

Similarly, she has helped shepherd painfully austere budgets through the county board for three years, allowing Republicans their say and managing disputes over taxes and funding for affordable housing with an emollient style. And having led the board’s budget committee for years before becoming chairman, Ms. Bulova commands respect on a subject of no small complexity.

Her Republican opponent, Michael J. “Spike” Williams, a businessman and real estate agent, is utterly unversed on the budget — a disqualifying trait in a county of Fairfax’s size and sophistication. Mr. Williams speaks airily of excising “waste, fraud and abuse” from the budget, but he cannot offer a single example. He claims the increase in Fairfax’s budget over the past decade was too rapid, without acknowledging it was barely faster than the rate of inflation plus population growth — and no faster, and in many cases slower, than in similar jurisdictions. He complains that property taxes have soared; in fact, they have been flat for most homeowners since 2007.

Why did Republicans, with their considerable Fairfax constituency, especially outside the Beltway, not put forward a heavyweight to run for the premier local elected position in Northern Virginia? The explanation, in addition to Ms. Bulova’s prowess as a fundraiser, may lie simply in her sterling record, reputation and record of accomplishment. In all, it’s an easy choice for voters.

Sunday, September 18th, 2010 4-6:30 pm

Kommen, essen und trinken – German music and food! German beer and wine. New: dancing and polka instruction!

Join Chairman of the Board Sharon Bulova for her annual fundraiser at the new location in the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center (9601 Ox Road, Lorton, VA 22079; map click here).

4:15 tours of the historic Workhouse Facility

Tickets online, click here. Mail-in registration form, click here.
Individual Ticket $50; Family $75; Friend $500; Sponsor $1,000; Patron $2,500; Benefactor $5,000; Angel $10,000.

Annual Fundraiser to Re-Elect Sharon Bulova, PO Box 19 Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039, www.SharonBulova.com. Please RSVP by mail or mail to BulovaRSVP2011@gmail.com. For more information, call 703-663-8001. Make checks payable to: “Re-Elect Sharon Bulova”. Paid for and Authorized by Sharon Bulova.

Your members came out in the downpouring rain to put up the lights and the tent for the Mason District Democratic Committee Crab Feast (44th Annual) even though we scratched it for the day. What troopers they are!! If you see any of these guys at the crab feast please be sure to thank them!

Victory for Women’s Health

Thanks to the affordable care act, women can receive preventive care without additional costs

President Obama worked tirelessly to ensure Americans have access to quality and affordable health care and the Affordable Care Act achieved that goal.

• One of the highlights of this legislation is its focus on preventive care, which helps stop health problems before they start. And on Monday, Health and Human Services announced new guidelines for women’s preventative care.
• Before the Affordable Care Act, women were more vulnerable to high health care costs than men.
• Since women require more regular contact with health care providers for preventative measures like yearly pap smears and mammograms, their out-of-pocket costs are higher.
• And too often, the combination of women’s lower incomes and burdensome out-of-pocket health costs means that women forgo necessary preventive services.
  • Women have unique healthcare needs throughout their life and many can struggle with chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
  • Yet, while women are more likely to need preventive health care services, a recent national survey found that nearly half of women (44%) reported delaying or avoiding needed care because of cost, compared with 35% of men.
• But thanks to these new preventative care guidelines, the cost sharing requirements are removed. This improves women’s access to important preventive services.
• One study found that the rate of women getting a mammogram went up as much as 9 percent when cost sharing was removed.
• The Affordable Care Act requires new health insurance plans to cover women’s preventive services including well-woman visits, screening for gestational diabetes, breastfeeding support, domestic violence screening, counseling and screening for sexually transmitted infections and access to FDA contraception without charging a co-payment, co-insurance or a deductible.

Additional Stats:

• Virtually all women (more than 99%) aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method. [Guttmacher Institute, accessed 8/3/11]
• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using a method. [Guttmacher Institute, accessed 8/3/11]
• Almost one-third (31%) of these 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active. [Guttmacher Institute, accessed 8/3/11]
• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives. [Guttmacher Institute, accessed 8/3/11]