Jeremy Martin To Speak To DCRC In November

Jeremy Martin, North Mississippi Service Coordinator from the Secretary of State's office, is slated to speak to the DCRC at its next meeting (Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 6:30 pm).

Prepare to be enlightened...and a little agitated! Mr. Martin will explain Mississippi's election process, discuss voter habits and turnout and educate us on Mississippi voter law. Some of the information is truly shocking!

When were MS voter laws written, and how often have they been updated?

What crimes are disenfranchising crimes?

Do convicted felons still have the right to vote?

How are election laws amended?

Why the big push for Voter ID?

Get answers to all these questions and more! If you haven't brought friends and family to a DCRC meeting yet...the November meeting is the perfect time! Don't miss this opportunity to become more knowledgeable about the MS election process and voter law.

Your Voice: Childers' Vote on 72 Hr Review Period for Bills Questioned

This installment of "Your Voice" was submitted by Jim Jinkins. Jim writes:

Last week I called the Hernando MS office and Washington DC offices of Rep. Travis Childers, Democrat, MS District 1, asking if he had signed the discharge petition for H.Res.554, which amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to require that legislation and conference reports be available on the Internet for 72 hours before consideration by the House.Initially, staffers said they had not heard of the resolution, then that "It has already been adopted".

Finally, this morning, I was told that the House Rules already require a 72-hour wait before the House begins consideration of a bill. The congressman has not signed the discharge petition because there is no need for it. I trusted Rep. Childers and his staff to be truthful, but a wise man once said,"Trust, but verify."

I searched the THOMAS website at The Library of Congress to find its most recent status for H.Res.554. Go to this page:

http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/d?d111:500:./list/bss/d111HE.lst:[[o]]&items=100&TOM:/bss/111search.html.

Scroll down by hundreds and then by ones to find the resolution's entry.

There, I clicked on the link to H.Res.554 and selected the legislative language.The significant text forbids `a rule or order proposing awaiver of rule XIII 6(c) unless a question of consideration of therule is adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present'. There are similar changes to Rule XXII 8 for 'AVAILABILITY OF CONFERENCE REPORTS AND AMENDMENTS REPORTED IN DISAGREEMENT.'

To me, the difference between needing a simple majority and needing amajority of two thirds to ignore the 72-hour requirement is a significant change to the rules. We can go back through the news since January to see how much difference it has made.

I still trust Rep. Childers and his staff to be truthful. After all,I finally got a direct answer to a yes-or-no question. He has not signed the discharge petition. However, it appears I cannot trust them to tell the whole truth.

Make Your Voice" heard, too! Comments to this "Your Voice" post can be submitted by clicking the title of the post. Comments are encouraged!!

Send your submissions for "Your Voice" to desoto4gop@gmail.com. Unless you request otherwise, your name will be printed with your submission. The DCRC reserves the right to refuse to post submissions that are deemed inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the DCRC. Opinions expressed in submissions (or comments) are not necessarily that of DCRC leadership or individual DCRC members. The DCRC may not always verify facts presented in submissions or comments.

Call for volunteers! The DCRC needs you!

The DCRC is officially off the ground...and running! We now need to include members on advancing DCRC efforts, and that's where you come in!

Get involved with the DCRC by...

Helping with Voter ID petition efforts...

Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, we need folks to sit at a table and help get signatures on the Voter ID petitions at the Southaven Arena (Gun Show). We need volunteers to coordinate this effort, set up the table(s) and sit at the table to collect signatures! Please e-mail Amanda Herring at desoto4gop@gmail.com to get involved and support this important effort!

Helping with November meeting efforts...

I need your help! The November meeting is slated to be one of the best yet, and I can't do it alone. Please sign up to help provide refreshments, come early to decorate, deliver the Invocation at the meeting, introduce a speaker at the meeting, take pictures, greet folks at the door and see people out as they leave. To help prepare for the meeting or participate in the meeting, e-mail Amanda Herring at desoto4gop@gmail.com.

If you're willing to donate supplies, the DCRC needs postage stamps, construction paper, a package of ballpoint pens, a package of name tags, copy paper and copy services (if you have the ability to make black and white or color copies free). To donate supplies, please also e-mail Amanda about what you can donate.

Helping with meeting flyers...

Know where you can post a flyer about next month's meeting? Let me know! We can place flyers in libraries, at coffee shops, on store windows (with permission, of course), on public bulletin boards, etc. If you're in Olive Branch, Walls and Southaven, I need your help posting flyers about upcoming meetings. Please let me know if you can take a few to post!

Thank you for helping the DCRC become more successful! We can't do it without you!

- Amanda Herring

RWDA Christmas Dinner

The Republican Women of the DeSoto Area (RWDA) will hold its annual Christmas Dinner and Silent Auction on Monday, December 7, 2009, at Whispering Woods Conference Center. The Silent Auction will begin at 6:00 pm with dinner to follow at 7:00 pm. Senator Alan Nunnalee is the guest speaker.

This event is the single largest fund raiser for the RWDA. Proceeds benefit the RWDA and help further Republican initiatives. The RWDA is an active and influential group, and your support is vital. Please make plans to attend this event. It's going to be a great evening!

Tickets are $40.00 each and may be purchased from any one of many Republican Women. Please e-mail desoto4gop@gmail.com should you wish to buy tickets, and one of the ladies will contact you right away. This is not a ladies-only event, so come as a couple, invite your families or escort a friend. All are welcome!

Should you wish to donate items for the Silent Auction, you may also send an e-mail for more information on how to contribute to this effort. Household items, art work, jewelry, purses, handmade items, homemade confections and other desirable goodies are appreciated.

The RWDA is grateful for the support from fellow Republicans!

Next DCRC Meeting - UPDATE!!

The next DCRC meeting will be held Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 6:30 pm, at the Bank Plus Training Center building in Southaven. Please note the new time and location. The Club has invited Jeremy Martin, North Mississippi Service Coordinator from the Secretary of State's office, to be guest speaker. You DO NOT want to miss this meeting!

(Due to a scheduling conflict, Senate President Pro Tem Billy Hewes is not available to speak to the DCRC in November. We hope that Senator Hewes will be able to join us at later date.)

The Bank Plus Training Center building is located at 7168 Moore Drive in Southaven. From Goodman Road turn onto the street immediately next to Burger King (west of Airways Blvd) . This is Moore Drive. You'll see Comfort Suites on the left, and directly across the street (on the right) just beyond TCBY is the Bank Plus Training Center. It's clearly marked...you can't miss it!

Lots more is anticipated, so stay tuned to hear what's on tap for the next meeting!

DeSoto County Republican Club Blog

Wow...we have a blog! One centralized place reserved especially for members and guests of the DeSoto County Republican Club sounds great to me, and I hope you'll help us make it successful. I am so proud to be a part of this energized group of folks who are passionate about making our communities, this state and our country the best that it can be.

Your comments, suggestions, questions and concerns are welcome here. But as always, I graciously ask that you follow the "pool rules" to make our blog the interesting, thought-provoking, sometimes funny, open line of communication that it can be. Here goes...

1) Our Club is cohesive - we lift up fellow Republicans. We are not devisive - we do not gossip here, and we don't run down fellow Republicans (even if they deserve it, because God bless us, we all get off track sometimes!). :)

2) Our Club seeks to understand then to be understood. We play fair, disagree respectfully and in a public forum such as this, we think before we speak. :)

3) Our Club is a team. No one person shall post and post, thus flooding the blog with his own comments. Each voice is valued, and if the only voice we ever heard was mine (or yours), we'd all be bored to tears. :)

4) Our Club is full of Go-Getters! Participate in discussions, post your comments, add your suggestions! An empty blog is a sad, lonely blog nobody will ever visit or benefit from. So enjoy!

Thank you again for visiting. I hope you'll make this a "Favorite" of yours and spend time here. It is you who makes the DCRC, you who makes the DCRC successful and you will make others want to join the DCRC.

Amanda Herring, President