Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

with NORMAN SOLOMON

Thursday, July 14, 7:00pm
Peace & Justice center of Sonoma County
467 Sebastopol Avenue
Santa Rosa

Norman Solomon is a national columnist and award-winning author of a dozen books – including War Made Easy, which was turned into a powerful documentary film. He played a prominent role in the movement to prevent the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He has led fact-finding missions to Iraq and Afghanistan and has appeared regularly on TV and radio, from CNN and MSNBC to PBS’s NewsHour and NPR’s All Things Considered. His columns have run in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Washington Post, as well as CommonDreams, Truthout and AlterNet.

Seating is limited so come early. For more information, 707-575-8902
This event is Co-sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center of Sonoma County

Flyer attached

April 18, 2011

Dear Representative Woolsey,

It is time to begin the “safe and orderly withdrawal” of troops and contractors in Afghanistan. The best way to effect this is by enacting HR 780, Rep. Barbara Lee’s “Responsible End to the War in Afghanistan Act.”

This is legislation whose time has come, and your cosponsorship can lead to the end of America’s longest war, with its tragic loss of life and debilitating loss of money that can better be spent here at home. Thank you for cosponsoring this vital legislation.

San Francisco Labor Council Resolution – Adopted unanimously March 28, 2011

Support April 9-10 Rallies and Marches:
Oppose the Wars against Working People
at Home and Abroad

Whereas, the wealthy and corporations now in control of our country continue to take more, while we get less, continue to destroy our environment, exploit our labor and reduce our services for ever-increasing profits, using half of our Federal tax dollars for military purposes, and our youth, under an economic draft, as cannon fodder to invade and occupy other countries, and

Whereas, the price of wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya is creating a permanent war economy draining the US of trillions of dollars that could be used for jobs, education, and social services, draining funds at the state and local level, while providing a convenient excuse for draconian cuts in services and extreme austerity measures resulting in the decimation of collective bargaining agreements now being carried out in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and other states.

Therefore be it resolved, that the San Francisco Labor Council join the Bay Area Chapter of US Labor Against the War, and hundreds of social justice organizations, nation-wide, calling for an immediate end to these wars, and endorsing the bi-coastal marches and rallies occurring on April 9th in New York City and April 10th in San Francisco, sponsored by the United National Antiwar Committee.

The House of Representatives voted on HConRes28 “Directing the President to remove the United States Armed Forces from Afghanistan.” 93 voted aye.

If you see your Representative below, please contact and thank him or her. If not, contact him or her ask why not, and express your support for a rapid, responsible withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Read the Rest Here

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For a schedule of all of the upcoming PDA IOT calls, click here

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March 16, 2011
Santa Rosa, CA

Dear Representative Woolsey,

Since January 2010, the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils have been out in front of our representatives’ and senators’ offices, on street corners, and in parks to get the word out to our community that this country can give everyone access to healthcare, make jobs available to those who need them, stem the increase of carbon in our air, and correct the balance of power and wealth between those who have and those who have not. The common thread among many of our goals is that naysayers must be able to step out of their comfort zones and understand the terrible effects these problems have on ordinary people.

That’s no easy task, even for the most enlightened of us. Something that helps people see the importance of making sure that others in our country can take care of themselves—or receive help when they can’t—is seeing a goal laid out in print in a piece of simple legislation.

PDA Press Release
March 15, 2011

Progressive Democrats of America and allies have planned vigils at congress members’ offices in districts all over the United States for midday Wednesday. They will be demanding an end to the war in Afghanistan the same day General David Petraeus is questioned by the House Armed Services Committee and the day before the House is scheduled to vote on ending the war (resolution HCR 28).

“People everywhere have been supporting the activism in Madison, Wisconsin, this week,” said PDA National Director Tim Carpenter. “We’ve seen a people’s movement compel Democrats to stand up straight and push back, a far superior outcome than continued ‘bipartisanship,’ in the view of most Americans. We’re taking that energy national this week to insist on a change in priorities. Our country is bankrupt morally, not financially. We need to move the money where it can do some good.”

Read the Rest Here

March 2, 2011
by Tom Hayden
The Nation

The Democratic National Committee—whose leader, after all, is President Barack Obama—passed a resolution at last weekend’s Washington, DC, conference calling for an acceleration of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan more rapidly than the president’s current 2014 timeline. The policy resolution demands a “swift withdrawal” of troops and contractors starting with a “significant and sizeable reduction [of troops] no later than July 2011.”

Read the Rest Here

February 25, 2011
By Tim Carpenter

After bailing out the bazillionaires on Wall Street, and throwing billions at a bad war in Iraq and a failed war in Afghanistan, the GOP’s answer to the voters of America is austerity and more sacrifice for anyone earning under a hundred grand a year—and that’s most of us. We can kiss goodbye our jobs, home ownership, our children’s education, healthcare, Social Security, and a host of other necessities that generate prosperity.

Read the Rest Here

February 20, 2011

A bipartisan group of representatives discussed their legislation to swiftly end the war in Afghanistan on a press conference call, February 17, 2011. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-9) opened the call by welcoming the reporters. She thanked her colleagues Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC-9) and Ron Paul (R-TX-14) for joining the call, and “working for our troops [to] bring them home and end the war.”

Read the Rest Here

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February 17, 2011

Nadler-Lee-Stark amendment would strike $90 billion from Afghanistan war funding, leave $10 billion for troop withdrawal. Call Capitol Switchboard: (202)-224-3121.

Read the Rest Here

Clearing the way for a progressive future

by Norman Solomon
January 28, 2011

Sure you want to jump into that cesspool?”

I’ve heard countless variations of the same question in recent months, as the possibility of running for Congress has become more real. With all the big-money hit pieces and mud fights that pass for “politics” these days, no wonder so many people see election campaigns as little more than depravity masquerading as democracy.

But there are lives in the balance, near and far, from the North Bay to Afghanistan. A list of what’s at stake would be endless: the rights of workers, the ecology of rivers and the injustices of a healthcare system largely run for corporate profit.

Read the Full Story Here

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January 19, 2011

Dear Representative Woolsey,

It would seem counterintuitive that conservatives—especially those who describe themselves as supporting the Tea Party movement—would share common political opinions with progressives, but it has now happened: The Afghanistan Study Group’s poll of self-identified conservatives concludes that “71% of conservatives overall, and 67% of conservative Tea Party supporters, indicate worry that the costs [of the war in Afghanistan] will make it more difficult for the United States to reduce the deficit this year and balance the federal budget by the end of this decade.” (1)

**********************BBLV gets a thumbs up!*********************

CLICK HERE to view photo album.

by Norman Solomon

Last week, soon after President Obama made his stunning tax deal with Republican leaders, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey told the Marin Independent Journal: “I think when you hold unemployment and the needs of the poorest and most desperate people hostage, that it is blackmail, and I don’t think we should give in to blackmail, ever.”

In the same article, I made a comment that’s often heard among progressives: “This is not what we worked for.”

Read the Rest Here

Anne Flaherty
December 21, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here .

Published by The Associated Press.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation that authorizes the Defense Department to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations.

Read the Rest Here

Sally Weiss, co-chair of the PDA End War and Occupation IOT
December 20, 2010, Northampton, MA

Rep Richard Neal of western Massachusetts CD-2 joined the Out of Afghanistan Caucus on December 16, 2010. This is the story of how it came about.

It took an entire year of tireless lobbying to achieve this small but significant victory, last Thursday.

Our monthly Brown Bag Lunch Vigils at Rep. Neal’s district office in Springfield, MA, played a big part, along with a series of other events and actions that brought us to this point

Dave Lindorff
December 19, 2010

Published by This Can’t Be Happening.

There was a black-out and a white-out Thursday and Friday as over a hundred US veterans opposed to US wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world, and their civilian supporters, chained and tied themselves to the White House fence during an early snowstorm to say enough is enough.

Washington Police arrested 135 of the protesters, in what is being called the largest mass detention in recent years. Among those arrested were Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst who used to provide the president’s daily briefings, Daniel Ellsberg, who released the government’s Pentagon Papers during the Nixon administration, and Chris Hedges, former war correspondent for the New York Times.

Read the Rest Here

Afghanistan Call to Reason
December 13, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Published by Afghanistan Call to Reason. See related: Afghans Overwhelmingly Want US Troops Out—and Soon

Mr. President,

We have been engaged and working inside Afghanistan, some of us for decades, as academics, experts and members of non-governmental organizations. Today we are deeply worried about the current course of the war and the lack of credible scenarios for the future. The cost of the war is now over $120 billion per year for the United States alone. This is unsustainable in the long run. In addition, human losses are increasing. Over 680 soldiers from the international coalition—along with hundreds of Afghans—have died this year in Afghanistan, and the year is not yet over. We appeal to you to use the unparalleled resources and influence which the United States now brings to bear in Afghanistan to achieve that longed-for peace.

Read the Rest Here

By Richard Halstead
Marin Independent Journal
December 7, 2010

Liberal Marin Democrats expressed deep frustration with President Barack Obama on Tuesday after the president announced he had agreed to a deal with Republicans that would extend tax cuts for the wealthy for another two years in exchange for a 13-month extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed.

“I was at the White House Christmas party last night, and Democrats — not just progressives, but all Democrats — were just beside themselves,” said Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma. “They were furious.”

Read the Rest Here

Norman Solomon
December 7, 2010

Join PDA’s End War and Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Last Friday, in a column about economic policy, Paul Krugman focused on “moral collapse” at the White House—“a complete failure of purpose and loss of direction.” Meanwhile, President Obama flew to Afghanistan, where he put on a leather bomber jacket and told U.S. troops: “You’re achieving your objectives. You will succeed in your mission.”

For the Obama presidency, moral collapse has taken on the appearance of craven clockwork, establishing a concentric pattern—doing immense damage to economic security at home while ratcheting up warfare overseas.

Read the Rest Here