Progressive Democrats of America in NC Update June 2007
From Susan Oehler, North Carolina Coordinator for the Progressive Democrats of America
Hello to all members of Progressive Democrats of America in North Carolina! This is my once a month email update for June 2007. First - it looks like we are having some movement on health care issues (FINALLY) thanks to Michael Moore's film SiCKO. PDA is asking progressive democrats to go to the movie theaters where SiCKO is showing and hand out a flyer as the people come out of the theater. This will promote both PDA and HR 676, which is Conyers bill to promote national health insurance for all Americans. I am going to include a small note that says "For more information on the Buncombe County Progressive Democrats, please send an email to Susan at dancewater2@gmail.com." This will give people a chance to get involved locally.
Here's a link to the PDA flyer about healthcare: http://pdamerica.org/tools/pda/hcfa.pdf
And more information on the SiCKO campaign: http://www.pdamerica.org/
And here is a piece from Common Dreams website: What a difference a movie makes. Michael Moore's "SiCKO" is breathing new life into the movement for non-profit national health insurance: "Enhanced Medicare for All." Energized by "SiCKO," Progressive Democrats of America is intensifying its campaign in support of HR 676, which would establish single-payer Medicare for All. The House bill - authored by PDA advisory board member Rep. John Conyers - was endorsed by Michael Moore at a press conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill. HR 676 already has 75 co-sponsors. PDA activists will be out in force this summer leafleting for HR 676 at "SiCKO" screenings nationwide, beginning with sneak previews this Saturday in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Cleveland and many other cities. Contact Diane Shamis (845-661-3754) for more details. The Conyers bill/HR 676 is endorsed by dozens of labor, civil rights and consumer organizations, as well as thousands of physicians who have witnessed the takeover of healthcare by private insurance companies. For the full article, go to: http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0622-14.htm
Second - please consider becoming a sustaining member of PDA. The note was sent out from a Congressional district point person for PDA. I would like to encourage everyone to become a sustaining donor to PDA (for as little as $5 per month) because it is PDA that is behind the Representatives who are supporting the right issues and voting in a progressive manner. They are the ones behind Woolsey, Lee, Waters, Kucinich, McDermitt, McGovern, Conyers and the other members of the Progressive Caucus. I hope you will join me in being a sustaining member!
Hi PDA friends,
Most of you know about Cindy's stepping back from her current form of activism. If you heard her on Democracy Now yesterday, you may have heard her plea to financially support organizations working to turn our country from the cliff it is ever approaching. She talked about how hard it is for these good groups to survive. This made me think of PDA.
You may not know how close to the bone this organization is. The tiny paid staff--Tim, Sherry, Laura and Diane--work so hard for so little money. If you believe in trying to work inside the Democratic Party with those who truly get the progressive agenda, and you believe in connecting with our friends outside the Party to bring their views inside, then please consider becoming a sustainer for PDA. This means pledging as little as $10/month (one movie with popcorn!) but to us it would mean everything! Small donations from hundreds of people can change this country.
PLEASE do this if you have time to do nothing else!! Go to pdamerica.org and click on DONATE.
Thank you!! Susie Patlove, PDA point person for Olver's district
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PDA Congressional Districts in NC Updates
UPDATE from CD #11: Next meeting is a 7 PM on July 10, 2007 at North Asheville Library.
UPDATE from Cumberland Country Progressives: For more information, contact Roderick Lewis at 910. 426-0587 or email RoderickLewisCCProgressives@yahoo.com Their website is terrific:
http://www.cumberlandcountyprogressives.com/index.html
News from Guilford County: Two members, Nick Divitci and Lee Baker, participated in lobbying the state legislature for the Same Day Voter Registration legislation, which passed the next day. Members in Greensboro are still working on a minimum wage law for the City and against the recruitment of soldiers for the war in Iraq going on in our nation's high schools.
UPDATE from Progressive Democrats of NC: This is a part of the email sent out by Matilda Phillips mdewp@yahoo.com concerning PDNC: "The good news is that all over the country people are organizing for progressive change. The Progressive Democrats of North Carolina (PDNC) is one strategically very important part of this movement in North Carolina. PDNC is committed to the progressive vision of peace, and social, economic and environmental justice. In practical terms, our mission focuses on being the link between the people and organizations working to advance progressive issues and the policy and electoral apparatus of the NC Democratic Party. We work to bring key issues to party activists across the state, have policy positions adopted by the Party, and (the hardest part), to educate Democratic candidates and elected officials on those positions and hold them accountable to those positions. Our work includes policy development and legislative advocacy, as well as recruitment, training, endorsement and funding of progressive candidates for political office across the state. We are also very proud to be a partnering organization in NC-NAACP's People's Alliance and the HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) movement.
To win, progressives must engage the political system. The Democratic Party, for all its many problems, is open to everyone, is by and large democratic, has progressive core values and a platform, and can exert
vitally important leverage on the politicians that claim allegiance to it. If progressives don't fight to have the party and its politicians live up to its ideals, corporate political donors and their lobbyists will have it to themselves." Please email her if you are not on their list and wish to be.
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On a personal note, I did a week of lobbying and activism in DC earlier this month. I stayed at the Code Pink House, and participated in the End The Occupation Rally and march (to end the US support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine). I also did lobbying visits of Dole, Burr and Rep. Shuler. I did an action on Lieberman's office and attended Senate committee meetings. It was great staying there, and I recommend that anyone consider going to Code Pink House for a week or weekend, and support them by getting active in DC. You can read my stories of what I did in DC on my own blog (http://dancewater.blogspot.com) or the Code Pink blog (http://codepinkdc.blogspot.com/). And if you can't go to DC, try to make phone calls to elected officials, write letters to elected officials, write letters to the editor, or engage in some actions to promote peace or other social justice issues. Just do whatever you can do! And thanks for ALL THAT YOU DO!!
Sincerely,
Susan Oehler, Coordinator for PDA in NC
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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FROM FREE PRESS:
Thank you for taking action to support Low Power FM Radio. Please take a moment to:
Tell Your Friends: http://action.freepress.net/campaign/lpfm/forward
We can't do this alone. Tell your friends and family to take action on this issue.
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Peace Vigil in Washington, NC
Hi all -
We have permission from city to have a weekly Peace Vigil on the
waterfront at Stewart Pkwy (on the grass) from 5:30 - 8 every Friday
from June 29 to August31. We are required to stand about 10 feet
apart and not block traffic or pedestrians with signs no larger than 2
ft x 2 ft. This is a quiet vigil. Hope some of you can join us.
thanks, pat seibert
252-975-0241
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Please sign the Cheney impeachment poll:
http://www.usalone.com/cheney_impeachment2.php
Promote IMPEACHMENT: HONK TO IMPEACH ON JULY 4, 2007
