Progressive Democrats Sonoma County

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.

Read the Rest Here

Conor Boylan, National Field Director, Progressive Democrats of America speaks with host Norman Solomon about current activism on behalf of progressive political agendas in the United States.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Can Progressives still Hope for Change? Karen Bernal answers. from Jon Stiffler on Vimeo.

Progressives Moving Forward! from Jon Stiffler on Vimeo.

Real News Network
February 6, 2010

Former PDA Advisory Board member Jeff Cohen is the founding director of the Park Center for Independent Media and endowed chair/associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College. In this interview, Cohen discusses progressives and the Democratic Party in light of the current politcal landscape.

PART ONE:

VIEW PART TWO HERE

By Norman Solomon
Marin IJ
February 2, 2010

WHEN A LARGE crowd gathered at the Sausalito Cruising Club to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama, euphoria was in the air.

Many of us there had worked hard to make the historic moment possible. On that bright winter morning, we were proud, excited and hopeful.

Fifty-four weeks later, the mood is very different.

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Norman Solomon interview 1/27/10 from Jon Stiffler on Vimeo.

Norman Solomon on KPFA Radio, “The Morning Show” — talking about themes in his piece “Democrats Boosting Right-Wing Populism.” The 25-minute live interview begins at 7:35 a.m., at 94.1 FM in Northern California… and streaming at kpfa.org .

CLICK HERE to listen to this archived program.

BBC World Service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p005td2n

The Program is 53 mins long, and Karen’s segment is from 27:05 – 31.35 .

Karen is the PDA Northern CA Co-Coordinator and is Chair of the CDP Progressive Caucus.

Norman Solomon
January 20, 2010

In his triumphant speech on election night, the next senator from Massachusetts should have thanked top Democrats in Washington for all they did to make his victory possible.

For a year now, leading Democrats have steadily embraced more corporate formulas for “healthcare reform.” In the name of political realism, they have demobilized and demoralized the Democratic base. In the process, they’ve fueled right-wing populism.

The Democratic leadership on healthcare and so much else—including bank bailouts, financial services, foreclosures and foreign policy—has been so corporate that Republicans have found it easy to play populist.

Read the Rest Here

January 15, 2010

The following is the PDA reply to Lynn Woolsey’s response to the January 13 open letter concerning Woolsey’s scheduled appearance at a fundraising event for Jane Harman:

Dear Lynn,


Thank you for your letter, which we’re sending to PDA members and other progressives along with this response.


No effort to sugarcoat Jane Harman’s political record can change the realities that are overwhelmingly in sync with a salient pair of facts: In Congress, she is not a member of the Progressive Caucus. She is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

Read the Rest Here

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PDA Board member David Swanson speaking about his new book DAYBREAk: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union on Jan. 13 as part of a nationwide book tour.

More info about the book can be found here: http://davidswanson.org/book

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN to David’s Jan. 13 talk

Norman Solomon
December 22, 2009

The winter solstice of 2009 arrived as a grim metaphor for the current politics of healthcare, war and a lot more. “In a dark time,” wrote the poet Theodore Roethke, “the eye begins to see.”

After a year of escalation in Afghanistan, solicitude toward Wall Street and the incredible shrinking healthcare reform, we ought to be able to see that the biggest problem among progressives has been undue deference to the Obama administration.

In recent months, the responses from the progressive base to the Obama presidency have often resembled stages of grief—with rotations of denial, bargaining, anger, depression and acceptance.

Mobilization of progressive movements to pressurize Obama in the White House and Democrats on Capitol Hill has always been essential. It hasn’t happened. Instead, among Democratic loyalists, reflexive support for the latest line from the administration has made it easier for Obama to move rightward.

Read the Rest Here

Great interview! Afghanistan, Healthcare Not Warfare, latest updates on healthcare bills in Congress, organizing with PDA, electing progressives, and more!

Tim Carpenter was recently interviewed on the Nick and Paul Show, from December 10th 2004.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Join a PDA Issue Organizing Team; learn more here

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http://tinyurl.com/ygvrczp

Support HR 3699: A Bill to prohibit any increase in the number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan.

http://www.cadem.org/site/c.jrLZK2PyHmF/b.5611367/k.9FF4/Committee_Update.htm

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December 8, 2009

Martha Coakley is the Democratic nominee

We are sorry to report that despite our best efforts, the Capuano campaign was unable to overcome the huge influx of cash from the Democratic Party to the Coakley campaign in the waning days of the campaign. After coming within a few points of each other, Coakley surged at the end. We congratulate her on her victory.

Over the last two weeks, the virtual phone bank effort and financial support from PDAers enabled Mike to close the gap between himself and front-runner Coakley. Voter turnout was very low, and we were unable to get our voters to the polls in sufficient numbers to win.

While he will not be representing Massachusetts in the Senate, Mike will continue on as the congressman for the 8th district. During the campaign we developed a strong relationship with Mike, and we look forward to working with him in Congress on Medicare for all, ending our involvement in Afghanistan, issues of accountability, and climate/energy legislation.

Norman Solomon
November 16, 2009, San Diego, CA

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

There’s a significant new straw in the political wind for President Obama to consider. The California Democratic Party has just sent him a formal and clear message: Stop making war in Afghanistan.

Overwhelmingly approved on Sunday (Nov. 15) by the California Democratic Party’s 300-member statewide executive board, the resolution is titled “End the U.S. Occupation and Air War in Afghanistan.”

Read the rest here

by Marcy Winograd
November 13, 2009

I’m heading down to San Diego from Los Angeles (CA-36) this weekend to attend the California Democratic Party Executive Board meeting, where we will debate an End the Occupation and Air War in Afghanistan resolution I co-authored with Progressive Caucus Chair Karen Bernal and prolific author Norman Solomon. Already, we are hearing push back on one particular word. Occupation.

Read the rest here, including Resolution

Dear Single Payer Supporter,

The following message comes from ActforSinglePayer.

If you wish to engage in direct action tomorrow (Nov. 3), with the risk of being arrested, here are the plans.

Healthcare Reform Is a Four-letter Word
November 2, 2009

URGENT ACTION ITEM: Save the Kucinich Amendment—TODAY!

The following alert was issued to PDA members last night:

We are all frustrated by the Affordable Health Care for America Act—H.R. 3962—the House’s lamentable healthcare reform bill, if you can call it reform at all. We think of it as tweaking a badly broken system—at best it’s a band-aid on a hemorrhaging system—although, it does appear to be drawing fewer flies than the Senate version.

There’s still time to make it better—much better—but not a lot of time. The bill will be finalized by 5:00 PM Monday evening.

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October 19, 2009

“We’re going to organize and change policy”

Congratulations from the national PDA team! Norman Solomon has received the Marin Democratic Party’s first Alex Forman Peace Award.

The award is named after a beloved environmentalist and peace activist. Alex Forman was generous and unflagging in his community work. When he died in July from chronic lymphocytic leukemia, he was serving as board president of the Marin Municipal Water District.

Since returning from a trip to Afghanistan last month, Norman has been speaking widely in the North Bay and beyond, warning against escalation of the war.

by John Nichols
The Nation
9-01-2009

Republicans are horrified, horrified, horrified by the bluntness of Florida Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson.

The tough kid from the Bronx (and Harvard Law School) who represents an until recently Republican Orlando-area district pulled no punches Tuesday, when he declared on the House floor:

“The Republican health care plan is this: Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.”

After his GOP colleagues recovered from the shock of a Democrat actually calling them out, they demanded an apology.

Grayson returned to the House floor to announce that:

“I would like to apologize, I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven’t voted sooner to end this holocaust in America.”

Read the rest at the PDA Blog (with video)

June 17, 2009

Sonoma County Democratic Party opposes proposal to close California state parks
Closures will devastate local economies dependent on park tourism

Santa Rosa, CA ­– The Sonoma County Democratic Party passed a resolution at their June meeting opposing Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposal to close 220 California state parks at the end of the summer to help cut California’s budget deficit.

By John Nichols
The Nation
June 16, 2009

Thirty-two Democrats broke with the Obama administration and House Democratic leaders Tuesday to oppose a $106 billion supplemental appropriation to maintain the occupation of Iraq, surge more troops into the quagmire that is Afghanistan and fund the International Monetary Funds anti-social policies of forcing developing countries to sacrifice programs for the poor in order to bail out big banks.