Yamhill County Democrats
Think Tank meeting notes January 21, 2009
Kris Bledsoe announced the formation of a new organization, Waste Not Yamhill County, which has been formed to oppose expansion of the Riverbend Landfill and address other waste disposal issues that face the county or may face it in the future.
Recommendations for reading included an article, “Sick in the Head,” in the current issue of Harper’s magazine, and a series of articles by Nicolas Kristof in the New York Times about the economy of globalization.
The issue was raised, as it has been previously, that the Think Tank should find ways to communicate its thinking to the “outside world”—other Democrats in the county, elected representatives, etc. It was suggested that a different person each time take notes for this purpose.
As at past meetings, Frank Nelson circulated a note pad on which those present were invited to list the three top issues they would like the new administration in Washington to address. Two issues emerged as the clear priorities of the group:
- Universal health care. There seemed to be universal consensus that access to health care should be universal and that the key is preventive care.
- The economy. Comments made during the discussion of this issue included:
- “Shovel-ready” projects that have been proposed would not be of much help to unemployed women.
- How about not just “shovel-ready,” but also “Internet-ready” projects?
- The World Trade Organization should be renegotiated and globalization reversed.
- Education needs to be free to produce an educated labor force.
Frank offered to draft a summary of the consensus on each of these two issues and circulate the two summaries via e-mail for approval as a resolution to be sent to our elected representatives.
