Health Insurance

* Today 30 percent of young Americans are uninsured up 8 percent since 2000. Due to this rise, more than half of all young adults living in poverty are without health insurance.

Higher Education

* During the Bush Administration, college tuition has increased by 28 percent.
* Tuition and fees at four-year public institution tuition and fees have increased 35 percent in the past four years
* Tuition and fees at public two-year institutions have increased 16 percent since Bush took office.
* In 2003, tuition and fees increased in 49 of 50 states.
* Four years ago, President Bush promised to increase the Pell Grant to $5,100. For the past four years the President and the Congressional Republicans have frozen or cut the maximum Pell Grant award.
* Due to the Republican inaction of the past 4 years on Pell Grants, the purchasing power of the Pell is now the weakest it has been in 30 years.
* This year 400,000 qualified high school graduates won't attend a four year college because of financial barriers. 220,000 won't attend college at all.

Iraq

The Bush Administration has put many young Americans in harms way - 70% of troops in Iraq are 18-30 years old.

Jobs

* Almost 60 percent of teens were jobless in June 2004, the highest June jobless rate since the data were first collected in 1949.

* In July 2004, the jobless rate for African American youth hit a historic high and the rate for Latino youth was near the all time worst. The jobless rate for all 16 to 19 year olds reached 56.1 percent in July, while the jobless rate for African American youth reached 75.1 percent and Latino youth reached almost 66 percent.

* Today 13.3 percent of young Americans (18-24 yrs old) are unemployed, up 3.7 percent since 2000. See more on jobs in the past FOUR YEARS

The Environment

Cuts overall funding for EPA by 7 percent. The Bush budget proposes cutting funding for the EPA by $606 million or 7.2 percent below this year's enacted level. The Bush budget will result in about 5,000 fewer inspections than conducted in Fiscal 2000 to detect violations of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other key environmental laws.

YDM Supports the MDP Delegate Selection Plan for the Democratic National Convention in 2008!

As you may be aware, the Maryland Democratic Party (MDP) recently posted on their website for public comment the draft Delegate Selection Plan for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. The plan is available for your review at www.mddems.org.

As part of this year's plan, the MDP Rules Committee has suggested an aspirational goal for the inclusion of 13 youth delegates from Maryland to next year's convention. This is a material change from the 2004 Delegate Selection Plan, where no such goal for youth delegates was included. As such, the Young Democrats of Maryland Executive Board is strongly urging adoption of the draft Delegate Selection Plan.

President Jennifer Kramer and Executive Vice-President Stephen Thibodeau, as part of the MDP Affirmative Action Committee and MDP Rules Committee, respectively, worked hard to ensure that the youth provision language was part of this year's draft plan. We are asking you, as a Young Dem or Young Dem supporter, to contact Maya Goines, Executive Director of the MDP, as part of the public comment period to urge adoption of the plan at the next Maryland State Democratic Central Committee meeting on June 16th, 2007.

This is a great step to ensure that youth have a voice in the upcoming Presidential race as well as encourage further participation and inclusion in the Maryland Democratic Party. We are so excited that MDP has taken this step, and our full support for this step should be voiced.

The public comment period runs until June 15th, 2007. Please submit your comments in support of the plan to webdem@mddems.org, or via fax to 410-280-8882.