Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

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.

Link to Original

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.

Read the Rest Here

Amy Goodman
March 16, 2010

Join PDA’s Healthcare for All Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here.

Published by Democracy NOW!

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich joins us to discuss two House debates in which he’s played a central role this week. The Ohio Democrat is threatening to vote against his party’s healthcare reform package because it does not contain a robust public option. Meanwhile, Kucinich’s bill to force the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan was taken up on Wednesday. After a rare three-and-a-half-hour debate on the war, the majority of House Democrats joined with Republicans to defeat the measure.

Read the Rest Here

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.

Read the Rest Here

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.

September 29, 2009

Ed. Note – article contains a nice shout out to PDSonoma County!

National and grassroots leaders from Progressive Democrats of America attended a series of meetings in California, culminating with the Western Regional Meeting at the headquarters of the California Nurses Association in Oakland on September 26.

The one-day conference covered the nuts and bolts of PDA organizing: Chapter building, congressional district organizing, issue organizing, electoral strategy, broadening outreach and organizing tools.

Participants heard from PDA CA-endorsed candidate [Marcy Winograd www.winograd4congress.com/]. Winograd is challenging Jane Harmon in California’s CD 36. This is her second attempt to defeat Harmon, a defense industry favorite. Winograd jumped into the 2006 race just three months before the primary but garnered 35% of the vote.

In addition, CD 10 candidate for Congress John Garamendi made an impromptu visit to address the 70 activists present. Garamendi is running to fill the seat vacated by Elen Tauscher. Former California Insurance Commissioner, Garamendi is a supporter of single-payer healthcare.

Michael Lighty, California Nurses Association Political Director, delivered a compelling presentation on the politics of single-payer healthcare and the next steps in this human rights battle.

Dennis Kucinich Saturday, August 22, 2009, Cleveland Ohio. The Single-payer Healthcare Movement: Washington and Across the Nation

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

By David Swanson
April 6, 2009

One member of Congress stood alone 7.5 years ago against the original authorization to attack Afghanistan. And one member of Congress, a different one, stood alone last week against funding a massive escalation of that war.

On September 14th, 2001, Congresswoman Barbara Lee spoke, in tears, on the floor of the House of Representatives. She, alone, would vote No on letting the president decide on going to war in Afghanistan. She, alone, would refuse to authorize the president to use powers the Constitution does not give him, and trust him to use those powers wisely. .....

Read the Rest Here