The Rutherford County Democratic Party convened Saturday, April 13th at the Murfreesboro Courthouse  on the square where a new executive committee and executive officers were chosen by the party.

About a hundred residents showed up on a warm spring Saturday and gathered to choose new leaders during the re-organization meeting that takes place every two years.

Former Chair, Judy Whitehill did not seek re-election to the post and the new executive committee chose former Methodist Minister and State House Candidate Mike Williams of Smyrna as new RCDP chairman. Williams is currently Assistant Vicar at All Saints Episcopal Church. He also serves as Metropolitan National Airport Chaplain and on the Smyrna project assistance board.

“I want to continue the good work begun by former Chairman, Judy Whitehill and her fellow officers,” Williams said. “The task now for the Rutherford County Democratic Party is to help get Democrats elected to local, county, and state offices. We will also work to raise awareness that the Democratic party stands for the rights of all people and values social justice, human dignity and quality public education for all.”

Former Chairwoman, Judy Whitehill ran for and was elected 1st Vice Chair. The position of second vice chair is now held by Darrell Bouldin of Murfreesboro, corresponding secretary by Kimberli Rose Jensen of Smyrna, recording secretary by Charles Sprinkle of Smyrna and treasurer by Beale York of Smyrna.

In addition to the officers, one male and one female member each of 21 respective commission districts in the county were also chosen to represent the RCDP. All officers and the executive committee are set to serve for a term of two years.

The Rutherford County Democratic Party is holding a Biennial Reorganization Convention to elect new leaders on Saturday, April 13th at 10a.m. The meeting will take place at the Rutherford County Courthouse at 20 Public Square North on the square in Murfreesboro. All County Democrats Welcome!!

REGISTRATON BEGINS AT 9am and doors WILL CLOSE PROMPTLY AT 10am. Please come early to get in line and bring your I.D. and a valid voter registration card to sign in.

Local Democrats will get together to elect a new Chairperson, Vice Chairperson(s), Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary, Treasurer and the 2013 Executive Committee for Rutherford County for a two-year term. ALL Democratic residents who are eligible voters of Rutherford County are urged to attend. Invite your friends and Democratic neighbors! If you are currently on the EC and don’t wish to run again, you are encouraged to find someone in your district willing to run and to serve for the next two years.

For more information, Contact the Rutherford County Democratic office at 615-225-8201 or on the web at www.rcdp.org.

Many of us know that the process exists but how many actually know how a resolution is passed in Rutherford County?

Below is a simple explanation of the process.

Roy Herron graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1975, and from Vanderbilt University in 1980, with a M.Div. and a J.D. In 1975 and 1976 he was a Rotary Scholar in Scotland at the University of St. Andrews. Herron represented The University of Tennessee at Martin, and was the 9th Governor of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature, a statewide organization of college students. Before serving as Governor, he was Lieutenant Governor of the organization.

Herron works as an attorney, a businessman, and as adjunct faculty at Vanderbilt University. He is a former United Methodist minister, and is also the co-chair of FaithfulDemocrats.com, an online community for Democrats of Christian faith.

Roy  was also  a former member of the Tennessee House and  Senate and tell some of the most entertaining stories I have heard in years . He is also a friend of my wife’s family in Jackson (Madison County) TN . –Mike Cowger

The Rutherford Education Association and the Murfreesboro Education Association are hosting their annual Legislative Forum THIS THURSDAY, January 24, 2013 at Cason Lane Elementary School (1330 Cason Lane) in the School Library at 5:00 p.m.  Each of the Rutherford County legislators have been invited to participate.

This is an opportunity to hear their agenda for education legislation for this year as well as a chance to field questions from the audience.

Please make plans to be there!!

Written By Colleen Curtis

January 02, 2013

UPDATE: The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was also passed by a bipartisan majority in the House of Representatives on January 1, 2013.

President Obama has repeatedly called this a make-or-break moment for the middle class. That’s why we worked with Republicans and Democrats in Congress to reach an agreement that keeps income taxes low for the middle class and helps to grow the economy. And as the President promised, millionaires and billionaires will also begin doing more to help pay down the deficit through a combination of permanent tax rate increases and reduced tax benefits.

This is the first time in twenty years that a bipartisan agreement has increased tax rates on the wealthy. Additionally, this deal ensures that America will continue to invest in education, clean energy, and manufacturing to strengthen our economy and the middle class.

As President Obama noted in a statement about the deal, while neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country. And the President looks forward to working with Republicans to reduce the deficit in a balanced and bipartisan way.

The agreement passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in the Senate last night permanently extends the middle-class tax cuts and also extends credits for working families. It provides additional measures to protect families and promote economic growth. The lower tax rates, an expanded Child Tax Credit, and marriage penalty relief  will provide certainty for 114 million households and together will prevent the typical family of four from seeing a $2,200 tax increase.

By raising income tax rates on the wealthiest and keeping taxes low for the middle class, it means we will now have the most progressive tax code in decades. The agreement also prevents two million people from losing unemployment insurance benefits in January by extending emergency UI benefits for one year.

The agreement avoids a 27 percent cut to reimbursements for doctors seeing Medicare patients for 2013 by fixing the sustainable growth rate formula through the end of next year (the “doc fix”).

Tax credits that encourage the production of clean domestic energy, such as the Production Tax Credit (PTC), will be extended through the end of the year. And businesses will get to immediately write off 50 percent of capital investments made next year, helping to create jobs in manufacturing and other sectors.

The deal also postpones the sequester for two months, which will give Congress time to work on a balanced plan to prevent the automatic spending cuts that would threaten our national security and slash investments that build our economy. The postponement is paid for with $1 of revenue for every $1 of spending, with the spending balanced between defense and domestic: The agreement saves $24 billion, half in revenue and half from spending cuts which are divided equally between defense and nondefense.

There’s more work to do to reduce the deficit, and President Obama is prepared to work with Congress to do it.  But this agreement builds on the $1 trillion in spending cuts the President has already signed into law.

Watch President Obama discuss the agreement from the White House Briefing Room:

Read the Fact Sheet to learn more about the bipartisan tax agreement.

                                                For Making the First Annual “Democrats are Wonderful People” gala a success!

The Rutherford County Democratic Party is seeking poll watchers to view proceedings at each polling precinct during early voting between October 17th and November 1st) and the November 6th election. Poll watchers names have to be submitted in advance, so if you are interested in working some shifts at the polls, kindly submit your name to RCDP Chairwoman Judy Whitehill at the RCDP office number: 615-225-8201.

The following are state guidelines for poll watchers: