Stand Up! Take Action! Vote!
Will you be in LA for the CA Democratic Party State Convention?
Don’t miss this special event!
Friends of the Progressive Caucus Present
Party with Progressives at the Convention!
with ….
JIM HIGHTOWER . JANE HAMSHER . NORMAN SOLOMON
And much more!
Friday, April 16th 7 – 9 pm
Details Here
Since several people tried unsuccessfully to join this month’s call, we’re happy to compensate for faulty technology with the recording from this rich and informative conference.
Mary Nichols-Rhodes spoke first, describing the plans for the US Social Forum this June in Detroit and the National Peace Conference this July in Albany. Michael Darner, Legislative Director for Rep. John Conyers, discussed the Afghanistan legislation in play, but his most important piece of information came as a response to the question of whether Representative Conyers will commit to voting no on the supplemental budget request for $33 billion for Afghanistan. Darner said that Conyers is committed to voting against any military funding and expansion. ...
Healthcare NOT Warfare co-chair Norman Solomon spoke about how the Brown Bag Lunch Vigils are a good tool in moving our representatives to “no” votes on the supplemental. ...
Finally, Bruce Taub, coordinator for the Israel/Palestine Action Group, addressed the efforts being made to cut off funding to Israel while it continues expansion into Palestinian areas and attacks on Gaza.
David Swanson
April 7, 2010
Add Jim McGovern to the list. That makes 15! See whip list: http://defundwar.org
And three have told PDA they will speak out and whip their colleagues: Kucinich, McGovern, and Conyers. The latter is forming an Out of Afghanistan Caucus.
Dear Fellow Progressive Democrats,
We can’t describe the pride we feel for you all as we announce the news you’ve been waiting for: not only did we make the 300 count threshold for obtaining signatures for Marcy Winograd, we did so solidly! Progressive Democrats everywhere stepped up, proved their mettle, and got the job done!
From Marcy Winograd:
“Many thanks to the leadership of the Progressive Caucus, the Chairs or Co-Chairs of the Progressive, Women’s, Rural, LGBT, Irish-American, Senior’s and Veterans’ caucuses, as well as to my staff and statewide volunteers who worked tirelessly to ensure debate on the Party’s endorsement in the 36th congressional district.
I am also grateful for the help and support that was given to me by leaders in the State Legislature, County Central Committees, Progressive Democrats of America, the Southern California chapter of Americans for Democratic Action, and individuals connected with wonderful progressive organizations and clubs throughout the State who happen to be fellow delegates to the DSCC.
When the California Democratic Party endorses a candidate, the endorsement is made in the name of the entire party, not just appointed delegates or elected officials guarding access to the incumbent.
April 2, 2010, Marina del Rey, CA
Congressional Candidate Questions Opponent’s Complicity
PDA-endorsed congressional candidate Marcy Winograd (CA-36) applauds federal judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling that the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program was illegal, and questions why her opponent Jane Harman went along so readily with a violation of the Bill of Rights.
Says Winograd, “As a ranking minority leader on the House Intelligence Committee, Jane Harman had a duty to provide oversight of the Bush administration. Instead, she went along with its law breaking, failing to clearly object to the wiretaps or hold hearings on abuses of executive power.”
Members of PDA national team will be on the road in Pennsylvania and California from April 7th to the 21st, so we have had to change the conference call schedule a bit.
Kate Sheppard
March 31, 2010
Take Action: Tell Congress – Consider the Larson Bill
Published by Mother Jones.
As John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) continue to court industry support for a climate and energy bill, the Senate’s left flank is growing increasingly uneasy.
Rep. John Conyers
Six years ago I stood with PDA at Roxbury, Mass., when you began your journey. Together we have called for an end to the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and for “Medicare-For-All”–”Healthcare NOT Warfare.” During these fights I have appreciated the consistent support offered by people like you.
That’s one reason I’ve been so proud to be a PDA board member from the beginning. Together, we’ve pushed an inside-outside strategy that has taken our nation a long way since those dark days during President Bush’s first term.
However, as you know, we have a long way to go.
Steve Cobble
March 23, 2010
Thanks to Steve Spitz of Virginia PDA, Carol Gay of New Jersey PDA, and Mary Nichols-Rhodes and Michael Carano of Ohio PDA, our “Healthcare Not Warfare” signs were all over Lafayette Park across from the White House on Saturday, as PDAers from VA, DC, MD, NJ & OH (with no doubt others that I missed) joined a couple thousand peace protestors to call for an end to both the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.
PDA marchers linked up with Gene Bruskin and U.S. Labor Against the War in the front of the AFL-CIO building for some preliminary speeches, then marched over to nearby Lafayette Park from there.
PDAers also demonstrated Saturday—the 7th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War—in cities and towns around the country—in Northampton, MA, PDA signs were featured prominently on the local news.
Saturday’s March and Rally will be a perfect place to distribute PDA Healthcare Not Warfare and Brown Bag Lunch Vigil flyers.
Available Here:
http://pdamerica.org/pdacms/sites/default/files/HNW_-_1-15-10.pdf
http://pdamerica.org/pdacms/sites/default/files/BBLV-%201-15-10_1.pdf
Ann Wright
March 20, 2010
Take Action: Eat lunch for peace—become a brown-bagger.
Published by CommonDreams.org.
Seven years ago today I resigned from the U.S. government in opposition to the Bush administration’s war on Iraq.
I had worked for the State Department for sixteen years and had been in the Army and Army Reserves for 29 years. I was one of three U.S. diplomats who resigned over the Bush administration’s decision to invade and occupy Iraq and one of tens if not hundreds of thousands of government employees that knew the war on Iraq would jeopardize our national security, not improve it.
While I was in the process of making my decision to resign, millions of Americans and tens of millions of people from around the world took to the streets to protest the pending invasion and occupation of Iraq and the inevitable deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
March 19, 2010
I hope you had a chance to read my article on the PDA home page yesterday entitled “Healthcare Torture.” It’s a short analysis of the history of the current healthcare legislation with an inside/outside perspective.
In the article, I point my finger at well-funded organizations, MoveOn and HCAN, who failed to join with the majority of Americans and organizations (like PDA) in supporting enhanced Medicare for all. They endorsed the “politically feasible” public option—over the best option—and moved the course of the debate rightward.
(For more analysis, see Norman Solomon’s “Zero Public Option + One Mandate = Disaster.”)
Political feasibility, combined with the corporate health insurance industry and a Congress unable to embrace simplicity, was the death knell for meaningful reform. Whether this bill passes or not, healthcare reform will be back in our lifetimes.
Highlights from the past week in PDA land, plus a couple future dates for our calendars.
http://blog.pdamerica.org/2010/03/pda-field-report-31210-31910/
Laura Bonham
March 17, 2010
Kucinich: “Not the Bill I Wanted to Vote for”
Today, Dennis Kucinich announced in a Washington DC press conference that he will vote YES for the healthcare bill. For weeks, Democratic leadership have been pressuring Kucinich to change his vote. Kucinich had been seeking insertion of an ERISA waiver, to begin immediately, for states pursuing Medicare-for-all plans. The waiver was stripped from the bll before it passed the House in November. Several states including California, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio are working to institute Medicare-for-all type healthcare plans.
No one can say the healthcare reform battle has not been an interesting one—it has definitely been a disappointing one for those of us who support the most efficient and effective option—Medicare-for-all.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 15, 2010
UPDATE: Since press release, BBLV have increaed to 89!
Labor and advocacy groups organized “brown bag” lunch vigils against war funding in 22 congressional districts in January and 67 in February. Currently 82 are planned for March 17th, with more being added. Organizations participating include: Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), AfterDowningStreet, the Backbone Campaign, Democrats.com, the California Nurses Association / National Nurses Organizing Committee, Healthcare Now, CodePINK, and United for Peace and Justice.
On March 10th, 65 members of Congress voted to end the occupation of Afghanistan. Yet only 14 have publicly committed to voting No on funding the same war. A $33 billion supplemental spending bill for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is expected to be voted on in April or May. Brownbaggers are asking members of the House to publicly commit to voting No on any bills that fund wars, and to publicly urge their colleagues and the House leadership to make the same commitment. As lesser steps in the same direction, the Brown Bag Vigils are encouraging congress members to cosponsor HR 2454, calling for an exit strategy from Afghanistan, and HR 3699, prohibiting any increase in the number of U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan. Congress members’ commitments are tracked at http://defundwar.org .
Vigil participants, who support a shift in resources from warfare to healthcare, are also asking their representatives to join the growing movement calling for “Medicare for All” by demanding passage of the Kucinich amendment facilitating state-level single-payer healthcare and by offering their support to single-payer efforts moving forward in state legislatures, including in California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Accountability and Justice Issue Organizing Team conference call, 3/10/10
Over 80 PDA members joined this special call with Guest David Cobb, attorney and Green Party activist and a founder of Move to Amend, which has as its goal amending the constitution so that human beings—not corporations—have rights. David laid out the problem by defining corporate personhood and gave background on the constitutional amendment granting corporations the same rights as people, and brought the group to the present time, with the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which, by confirming corporate personhood opened the door to unlimited corporate influence over elections and our government.
David answered the questions submitted in the PDA chatroom, giving generously of his time in this call that ran over its usual hour. David also participated in after-call dialog in the chatroom, which had lively activity among its participants, both developing questions for David and generating discussion within the group.
David Swanson
March 11, 2010
Take Action: Eat lunch for peace—become a “brown-bagger”; learn more here .
Published by AfterDowningStreet.org.
Sixty-five congress members, including 60 Democrats and 5 Republicans, voted to end the occupation of Afghanistan on Wednesday. But 356 congress members, including 189 Democrats and 167 Republicans voted to keep the war going. The vote followed three hours of debate created by Congressman Dennis Kucinich’s introduction of a privileged resolution.
In the third installment of the Agitator Voices of PDA, Tim Carpenter interviews two PDA Advisory board members. Get the lowdown from the always witty and cheeky Jim Hightower. Following Jim, hear Rep. Donna Edwards inside-the-beltway perspective on Healthcare NOT Warfare.
March 9, 2010
We highly encourage signing up for a PDA Issue Organizing Team (IOT) if you wish to actively engage in the work of PDA and PDSonoma County. If you have not already done so, you can get started by clicking on ‘Committees’ on the menu at the top of this website page and there you can:
**sign up for a PDA Issue Organizing Team via the PDA website and
**find the name and contact information for the local PDSonoma chapter team leader for that IOT. If you have not already done so, let that person know that you have signed up for the PDA IOT and they can add you to their local chapter list of activists on that particular issue.
This IOT conference call had its usual stellar lineup of guests, including last-minute guest Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
PDA Conference Call Guests: David Swanson, Cole Harrison of UFPJ, PDA Field Director Conor Boylan,
Brown Bag Lunch Vigils (BBLV) partner David Swanson started the call off with comments on and advice for the BBLVs, to move the vigils to a higher degree of action, and he spoke about the legislation to halt Afghanistan funding.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN & to read more
Join PDA’s End War & Occupations, Redirect Funding Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.
We’d love to have you join us on our new Facebook Page, created for PDA supporters and Friends in Marin Co. and Sonoma County, CA. Invite Friends to join!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Progressive-Democrats-North-Bay/289138693740?ref=mf
On this month’s Stop Global Warming/Environmental Issues Organizing Team call, the following topics were covered: assembling a new leadership team for the IOT, and our campaign to achieve national climate legislation based on direct carbon pricing with revenue recycling. We discussed the Price Carbon Campaign’s strategy workshop and legislative lay of the land, and meeting with Congressional staff in Washington, DC, and around the country.
Join PDA’s Stop Global Warming/Environmental Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here
On this call we had -Donna Smith, Healthcare NOT Warfare co-chair, updated us from the Hill on where we stand and also the Brown Bag Lunch Vigil campaign from DC.
Chuck Pennacchio, Executive Director of Healthcare 4 All PA, updated us on single-payer progress in PA.
Ben Day, Executive Director of Mass-Care, updated us on MA.
The BBLV Team updated the group on where the campaign currently stands on the eve of the February BBLVs.
Join PDA’s Healthcare for All Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here
By Marcy Winograd
For OpEd News
February 22, 2010
Imagine if in 2010 we did not spend one more borrowed penny to manufacture new weapons, occupy new lands, or recruit new mercenaries. Going cold turkey on military spending would wipe out nearly $1 trillion of our 1.6 trillion dollar deficit. A year and a half of war & weapons abstinence could erase our debt entirely.
February 22nd 2010. Donna Smith and Norman Solomon discuss Healthcare NOT Warfare and Brown Bag Lunch Vigils
Listen to “Healthcare NOT Warfare” national co-chairs Donna Smith and Norman Solomon in the next installment of Agitator Voices of PDA, a new series of podcasts from Progressive Democrats of America’s. It was a busy week for PDA activists and our allies as we gathered in front of 65 congressional offices for the second Brown Bag Lunch Vigil.
We are an affiliated chapter of Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
MOVIE NIGHT!
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
NOTE: Early start time for Wednesday’s meeting. Agenda to include brief updates on PDA & PDSonoma campaigns, actions and announcements, followed by our featured movie!
PDSonoma meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month except December.
New Members and Guests Always Welcome!
Refreshments can be ordered and enjoyed in our meeting room. Please arrive early if you wish to order refreshments.
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