Stand Up! Take Action! Vote!
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.
Robert Naiman
April 7, 2010
Take Action: Tell Congress – No Money for War
Published by The Huffington Post.
In the next several weeks, Congress is likely to be asked to approve $33 billion more for the war in Afghanistan, mainly to pay for the current military escalation, whose focus is the planned assault on the Afghan city of Kandahar.
Some Members of Congress will vote no on the funding. A larger group of Members is likely to support efforts to pass language which would require an exit strategy or timetable for ending the war.
Chris Hedges
April 7, 2010
Take Action: Fight corporate personhood!
Sign the motion to amend | Get involved at FreeSpeechforPeople
Published by Truthdig.
Ralph Nader’s descent from being one of the most respected and powerful men in the country to being a pariah illustrates the totality of the corporate coup. Nader’s marginalization was not accidental. It was orchestrated to thwart the legislation that Nader and his allies—who once consisted of many in the Democratic Party—enacted to prevent corporate abuse, fraud and control. He was targeted to be destroyed. And by the time he was shut out of the political process with the election of Ronald Reagan, the government was in the hands of corporations. Nader’s fate mirrors our own.
Dan Murphy
April 6, 2010
Take Action: Tell Congress – No Money for War
Published by Christian Science Monitor.
A video released on the Internet Monday by WikiLeaks, a small nonprofit dedicated to publishing classified information from the US and other governments, appears to show the killing of two Iraqi journalists with Reuters and about nine other Iraqis in a Baghdad suburb in 2007 that is sharply at odds of the official US account of the incident.
John Nichols
April 6, 2010
Published by The Nation.
The video is clear, and devastating.
It shows a U.S. military helicopter targeting, shooting and killing a Reuters photographer and driver in a July 2007 attack in Baghdad.
The U.S. pilots are heard reveling in their “kills.”
By Norman Solomon
Marin IJ
April 6, 2010
THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE is making a lot of people mad at “elites.” Populist resentments are common these days – even in affluent Marin.
When the mood turns bitter and corrosive, appeals for civility are nice. But they won’t accomplish much unless we can address some key underlying causes of distress.
by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 4, 2010
On April 4, 1967, Martin Luther King delivered the now-famous “Beyond Vietnam” speech at the Riverside Church in New York City. He was assassinated one year later to the day. As you read the transcript of the speech or watch the video below, substitute the word Afghanistan for Vietnam:
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I need not pause to say how very delighted I am to be here tonight, and how very delighted I am to see you expressing your concern about the issues that will be discussed tonight by turning out in such large numbers. I also want to say that I consider it a great honor to share this program with Dr. Bennett, Dr. Commager, and Rabbi Heschel, some of the distinguished leaders and personalities of our nation. And of course it’s always good to come back to Riverside Church. Over the last eight years, I have had the privilege of preaching here almost every year in that period, and it is always a rich and rewarding experience to come to this great church and this great pulpit.
By Norman Solomon
April 3, 2010
Democracy is dangerous — for those who are eager to concentrate power in the hands of a few.
For many years, in California’s legislature, a minority of lawmakers — Republicans enjoying an inordinate proportion of corporate backing — have thwarted moves to boost state revenues with more progressive taxation. The conservative legislators have been able to send the state budget into a tailspin.
James Handley
April 2, 2010
Take Action: Tell your senators – Hands off the EPA, give us the carbon tax with revenue returned to households
Senate considering “three sector” approach:
Post-healthcare, the Senate is expected to move on to financial reform, immigration and, maybe climate! But the nascent Kerry-Graham-Lieberman (KGL) climate proposal portends to be even weaker and more ridden with subsidies and special favors for entrenched fossil fuel industries than the grossly-flawed Waxman-Markey (W-M) House bill.
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.”
Special Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections call with John Bonifaz on the Free Speech for People campaign, 3/31/10
John Bonifaz—former PDA board member, legal director of Voter Action, director of Free Speech for People, and active PDA member—spoke to participants from across the country representing several Issue Organizing Teams about the ramifications of the Supreme Court ruling Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST & TO LISTEN TO THE PODCAST OF CALL
April 1, 2010
Hello Sonoma County volunteers,
Our deadline comes up soon. Please broadcast this to all your friends…...
73% of Californians support restoring Democracy to Sacramento.
A remarkable seventy-three percent of California likely voters support majority rule in the legislature for both revenue and budget, a new poll by David Binder of DB-Research shows. This is overwhelming support for the California Democracy Act, a November 2010 ballot initiative that states,
“All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote.”
But first we must collect enough signatures to qualify George Lakoff’s initiative for the November ballot, and we need your help. Please take these steps TODAY:
Karen Plateau
April 1, 2010
A memo drafted last week by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel recommends a shift in strategy for Democrats discussing wars and the military. Emmanuel urges Democrats to claim credit for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and points out that shortly before this November’s congressional elections, Democratic congresses will have funded and overseen more of the Iraq War than Republicans.
Some excerpts from the memo, addressed to Democratic members of Congress, follow:
“Democratic presidents, historically, have engaged in war more than Republicans, and yet we have always been denied the credit. Only by claiming ownership of the current wars can we take away Republicans’ advantage on national security. The Republicans will not argue that wars make us less secure even if the wars belong to Democrats. They will cheer for the wars even if the wars belong to us. But no one will cheer for us if we speak about wars as activities we engage in with reluctance. ...”
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.
Norman Solomon
March 29, 2010
Take Action: Tell Congress – In Afghanistan, don’t escalate—remediate
President Obama has taken a further plunge into the kind of war abyss that consumed predecessors named Johnson, Nixon and Bush.
On Sunday, during his first presidential trip to Afghanistan, Obama stood before thousands of American troops to proclaim the sanctity of the war effort. He played the role deftly—a commander in chief, rallying the troops—while wearing a bomber jacket.
There was something candidly macabre about the decision to wear that leather jacket, adorned with an American Eagle and the words “Air Force One.” The man in the bomber jacket doesn’t press the buttons that fire the missiles and drop the warheads, but he gives the orders that make it all possible.
In this episode of Agitator Voices, Tim Carpenter turns our attention to the midterm elections and PDA’s endorsed candidates for Congress, Marcy Winograd and Tracy Emblem. Conor Boylan, PDA Field Coordinator, discusses Brown Bag Lunch Vigils.
March 25, 2010
SANTA ROSA, CA –
Progressive Democrats Sonoma County endorsed the following candidates running for local office in the June 2010 election: Pam Torliatt for Sonoma County Supervisor, 2nd District, Deb Fudge for Sonoma County Supervisor, 4th District, and Jamie Thistlethwaite for Superior Court Judge, Office #3.
In addition, the committee issued endorsements in state-wide races, for Dave Jones for California State Insurance Commissioner, Noreen Evans for California Senate, 2nd District, Michael Allen for California State Assembly, 7th District, and Debra Bowen for California Secretary of State.
Lynn Hamilton, Chair of Progressive Democrats Sonoma County, said “these endorsed candidates stand out for their passion and commitment to progressive values of government that is controlled by citizens, not corporate elites, with policies that serve the broad public interest, not just private interests; our endorsed candidates stand for peace and justice for all.”
Visit the CDP page of the Progressive Caucus of the CA Democratic Party:
March 25, 2010
The health reform bill passed by the 111th Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama does far more than fall short of extending healthcare to all.
See Rose Ann DeMoro’s analysis of the few pros and the many cons of this health insurance reform.
It is troubling to watch this bill touted as an equal in political significance and social implications to Social Security or Medicare. As advocates of an improved and expanded Medicare-for-all system, we must continue to educate more and more people about the difference between transformative healthcare policy that is yet to be achieved and this bill that will leave so many people without access to the basic human right of healthcare.
Californians for Democracy has a new look!
Help us reach our goal of 1 million signatures to place the California Democracy Act on the November 2010 ballot. Sign our Petition or better yet … become a Petition Circulator Today!!!
THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRACY ACT “All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote”Also known as the CA Majority Rule Campaign, it changes two words in the California Constitution: “Two-thirds” becomes “a majority” in two places. That’s all it takes to make California sane and solvent again.
Linda Milazzo
March 23, 2010, Los Angeles, CA
This article is based on one that will appear in the upcoming May/June 2010 issue of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: http://www.wrmea.com
Published by AlterNet.org.
Sunday, March 14, 2010, ushered in two welcome events to Southern California: the inauguration of the headquarters of the bustling Winograd For Congress primary campaign, and an extra hour of daylight to help Marcy Winograd’s swarm of supporters evict Jane Harman, the wealthiest Democrat in Congress, from her eight-term seat in the House.
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.
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, in order that we may enjoy Movie Night and still have time for an endorsement meeting to follow.
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.
Healthcare advocates from fourteen states met in Wayne, Penn., April 10, 2010. The following Declaration is a result of the meeting. Add your name to the Declaration! PDA is planning actions around the country when our goal of 25,000 signatures is met.
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