BERRIEN
COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
|
|
|
|
Did you know...
Increasing fuel efficiency by just 3% would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil more than all of the agrofuels combined. $1.5 billion – amount U.S. government spends a year on renewable energy research. $1 billion – amount ExxonMobil earns in a day. If the United States stopped growing food and converted its entire grain harvest into ethanol, it would satisfy less than 16% of its automotive needs. (Earth Policy Institute).
Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. residents now speaks a language other than English in their home. Of the 47 million people who converse with their families in another language, 28 million speak Spanish and 2 million speak Chinese. Next most commonplace languages are French, German & Italian. Over 5 million children come to school speaking a "first language" other than English; today our school teachers work with over 425 "first languages." (U.S. Census Bureau)
Five million Americans lost health insurance under George Bu$h.
There were 744,000 homeless people in the United States in 2005, according to the first national estimate in a decade. A majority of the homeless were single adults, but about 41 percent were families.
In 2006, 30 million new crops of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) were planted, bringing the total worldwide acreage to 252 million acres - about 7% of the world's cropland. Altogether, more than 22 countries planted biotech crops in 2006.
The personal savings rate for Americans is 1%, now at the "lowest level since the Great Depression." Economists "warn that the phenomenon exists at a particularly bad time with 78 million baby boomers approaching retirement age."
Currently, an estimated 70% of antibiotics and related drugs in the United States are used in the feed and water of healthy animals—a practice with serious consequences for human health. Bacteria that are constantly exposed to antibiotics develop resistance to these drugs. When humans get sick from resistant bacteria, the antibiotics prescribed will no longer work.
Life at the minimum wage means $206 a week: it means not being able to buy shoes for your children, putting in 10 hours a day just to pay for a room for the night, facing the hard fact that you can’t afford college, not knowing where your family’s next meal will come from.
Right now, there are 37 million Americans — including 13 million children — living in poverty in America.
In 1936, there were 43 workers paying the cost of Social Security for each retiree. Today there are 3.
The national debt has risen $3 trillion under George Bush; 24% of our debt is owed to foreign countries.
Over 45 million Americans are living without health insurance.
The Great Lakes encompass 95% of America's fresh surface water, provide drinking water to 40 million people, are the largest freshwater sports fishery in the world and provide habitat and migration routes to 400 bird species.
Nearly one in five (19.6 percent) Latinos lack sufficient access to nutritious food, compared to just 5% of non-Hispanic whites, according to findings by the National Council of La Raza.
Though U.S. employees at Wal-Mart have been blocked from unionizing, "Wal-Mart's China headquarters have set up a Communist Party branch" after the state-sanctioned labor body successfully set up a union
earlier this year.
The United States ranks 140th out of 163 of the world's democracies in average voter turnout. (Common Cause)
1 in 4 Americans earns less than $19,000.00 per year. (Department of Labor)
9 out of 10 children in this country attend a public school. (Department of Education)
Corporations in America used to pay 17% of the total IRS-collected taxes in America, but with off-shore tax shelters and other schemes and loopholes, corporations now account for less than 7% of all tax revenues collected in this country. The average worker's tax refund could be DOUBLED if corporations just paid their "fair share." (IRS)
From Harding in 1921 to Bu$h in 2005: Democrats held the White House 40 years, Republicans held it for 44 years. Democrats created 75,820,000 jobs while Republicans created only 36,440,000. Republicans had 9 presidents, 6 of which led this country into economic depressions or recessions. The DOW grew by 52% more under Democrats and the GDP grew by 43% more under Democrats. (Clarence Swinney, Political Historian)
Childhood asthma has hit epidemic proportions in the U.S., affecting more than 3.5 million kids under the age of 15; nearly twice as many children had asthma in 1999 as did in 1980. Asthma is now the top childhood disease in the U.S., leading to more missed school days and hospital stays than any other chronic illness. (CDC)
The average Fortune 500 CEO made $37.5 million in compensation during 2002 while the average employee made $38,000.00. (Now Television Broadcast)
Unemployment, credit-card debt and medical bills drove personal bankruptcy rates to an all-time high in 2004 in Michigan. More than 63,700 Michigan residents sought protection from their creditors by filing for bankruptcy - and this affects each of us as the cost is passed down through higher prices. (National Foundation for Credit Counseling)
A Pentagon investigation has found evidence that a subsidiary of the politically connected Halliburton Company overcharged the government by as much as $61 million for fuel delivered to Iraq under huge no-bid reconstruction contracts. The U.S. government is paying the Halliburton Company subsidiary an average of $2.64 a gallon to import gasoline and other fuel to Iraq from Kuwait, more than twice what others are paying to truck in Kuwaiti fuel. The subsidiary, Kellogg, Brown & Root, also submitted a proposal for cafeteria services that seemed to be inflated by $67 million. (New York Times)
In addition to their deficit spending, the GOP has removed $156 billion from our nation’s Social Security Trust Fund. (General Accounting Office)
2006 was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years -- capping a nine-year warming streak "unprecedented in the historical record" that was driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels.
Opium now accounts for half of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product. The total amount of the drug exported last year, about $1.2 billion, equals all international aid delivered to the country in 2004. 75% of the world's opium now comes from Afghanistan. (Los Angeles Times)
There is currently no way to verify electronic touch screen and/or computer voting because verifiable paper trails are not required in some states - and do not exist with these systems. Once a citizen votes and walks away, the software program - which is prone to tampering - is the only "record" of the votes; a recount of actual ballots cannot be performed.
The Bu$h White House, irritated by pesky questions from congressional Democrats about how the administration is using taxpayer money, has developed an efficient solution: It will not entertain any more questions from opposition lawmakers. All Democrat questions must be approved first by GOP committee chairmen. (Washington Post)
1 of every 4 Americans lives within four miles of a Superfund site. (GAO EPA Report)
44 million Americans, 15 percent of the population, including 8.5 million children, do not have health insurance.
40% of students are minorities and 9.9 million school-aged children speak a language other than English in the home.
There are 54.6 million students enrolled in school, K-12, and 14.1 million computers in our schools.
Berrien County is a county located in the extreme southwest of the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the population was 162,453. The county seat is St. Joseph.
As one of the Cabinet counties, Berrien county was named for John M. Berrien of Georgia, U.S. Attorney General under U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837).
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829-1837), hero of the Battle of New Orleans (1815), a founder of the Democratic Party, and the eponym of the era of Jacksonian democracy. He was a polarizing figure who helped shape the Second Party System of American politics in the 1820s and 1830s.
Nicknamed "Old Hickory," Jackson was the first President primarily associated with the American frontier. Although born in South Carolina, he spent most of his life in Tennessee. All previous Presidents had come from Virginia or Massachusetts.
The Democratic Party is one of two major political parties in the United States. The party traces its beginnings to Thomas Jefferson in the early 1790s, and is the oldest political party in the world. With the 2006 elections, the Democratic Party is now the majority party in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives.
The Democratic Party includes a wide range of political viewpoints, from right to left, but its center is defined in terms of concern for "the common man" and minorities.
Demographics of Berrien County
As of the census of 2000, there are 162,453 people, 63,569 households, and 43,354 families residing in the county. The population density is 284 per square mile. There are 73,445 housing units at an average density of 129 per square mile. The racial makeup of the county is 79.69% White, 15.93% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 1.14% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 3.01% of the population are Hispanic or Latino.
There are 63,569 households of which 31.20% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.20% are married couples living together, 13.20% have a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% are non-families. 27.10% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.80% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.49 and the average family size is 3.01.
In the county the population is spread out with 26% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 23.70% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 37 years. For every 100 females there are 94.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 89.90 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $38,567 and the median income for a family is $46,548. Males have a median income of $36,582 versus $23,800 for females. The per capita income for the county is $19,952. 12.70% of the population and 9.30% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 17.80% of those under the age of 18 and 9.00% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
|
|
|
Michigan
Democratic Party website: