Whether it’s health care,
the cost of education, our environment or global trade, Corporate America is holding
us all hostage to the almighty dollar. Greed continues to trump need as corporations
make record profits while more and more Americans fall into poverty every year.
Congress allows industry to write policy, and legislators don’t even read the
bills they enact. The average person would lose their job for gross negligence.
The pharmaceutical/insurance lobbies make billions on the grief of others, systematically
denying people essential treatment or drugs in order to save a buck. Half of
our taxpayer money goes to the Pentagon who “loses” over a trillion dollars and
“it’s nothing but a thing” yet we
have to beg to fund health care for our children. Agri-Business dominates at the
expense of our environment and health as 85% of our food is now genetically
modified, our meat is ridden with hormones and antibiotics, and pesticides have
permeated the water table. Global trade agreements allow corporations to
exploit for profit with no safeguards in place for workers or the environment.
It is our moral imperative
to stand up and say no more! John Edwards seems to be the only candidate that
understands that we have to make an aggressive push to take our country back –
the key word being “take”. While it is important to be able to bring everyone
to the table, we can’t continue to allow Corporate America to eat all the food.
Which comes down to,
follow the money…
Edwards and Obama are my
two top picks but there are some important distinctions to be made here. I think
Obama is awesome and I will support him whole
heartedly if he gets the Democratic nod, but as an activist, and more
importantly as a mother and your sister, there is way too much at stake in this election, not
only for our country but for the planet. Corporate America
will never give up their stranglehold on America or the rest of the world so
we must TAKE IT from them! There is no negotiating a moral standard… and frankly, that’s
what this election is about.
There are two main issues
that concern me about Obama; the fact that he voted for the Peru Trade
agreement (more of the same of what ails us), and more egregiously, the fact that he is promoting nuclear energy. Coincidentally,
Obama has accepted a lot of money from Exelon Nuclear and only stopped taking
corporate monies this past year once he decided to run for President. I commend
him for that recent decision but I am horrified that he is promoting nuclear power.
The current energy bill before Congress may have 10 billion dollars allocated
toward renewable energy, and that rocks, but if you look at the whole pie, it’s
too little too late! 25 billion is allocated for guaranteed loans to build new
nuclear sites and billions more for coal fired plants. I mean, this is what I
am talking about people… Corporate America writing OUR policy! Do ya’ll
remember all the hoopla about storing the nuclear waste at YuccaMountain?
Do you want that in your backyard? Is it OK as long as it’s stored in someone
else’s backyard (out of sight, out of mind)? Do you really think our Earth Mother will be served by that? We need to save Her in order to save ourselves. Almost everything we do generates some
form of waste by-product. Instead of adding to it, especially nuclear waste, we need to use our
considerable ingenuity to invent our way out of this mess. It is our only true
hope. What we absolutely cannot afford
is more of the same… business as usual.
Corporate America has had the resources and the necessary information to create new technologies for decades. Rather than doing the right thing, and truly be leaders of innovation, much of their resources have been spent preventing said technologies from entering the marketplace because, God forbid, that could hurt their bottom line. If their shareholders weren't so blinded by their own greed, they would be able to recognize the incredible opportunity that is presenting itself NOW. Corporate America and our elected officials could simply CHOOSE to lead this necessary technological revolution, but it remains to be seen.... so it's up to us.
Controversial
Rabbi Michael Lerner to Speak at Spiritual Progressives Conference Nov. 3rd in the Quad Cities
By James Lee
As
the Election Season closes in on the Quad Cities, people are looking at the
vast challenges facing our country and questioning how
individual citizens can make a difference. According to
national polling, over 70% of Americans feel that our nation is on the "wrong
track".Organizers of the
Spiritual Progressives Conference feel the answers to many
of our concerns and worries are rooted in our values, faith and spirituality.
Quad
Cities Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) in conjunction with Churches
United of the Quad Cities, Democracy for America–Quad Cities,
Davenport Unitarian Church,
Edwards Congregational-UCC, First Congregational-UCC, Network for Spiritual
Progressives, and a host of other supporters are
sponsoring a Spiritual Progressives Conference on November 3, 2007. The theme of the conference is: Living our Faith:
Integrating Values and Politics in the Heartland.
PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
The purpose of this conference is to promote the voice of progressive
people into the national conversation on issues of values, faith and spirituality.
The conference is
designed to dig beneath the surface of controversial national issues &
public policy debates to get to the core of how we decide what makes our
society a healthy place to live.
It is our hope that the conference will help the public better
understand how to more effectively integrate progressive values with political
action that can create positive change in our nation.
Conference organizers assert that progressives have
been the social innovators who have initiated changes in our society that have
given us more freedom, liberty, and equality. Progressives believe in
continually improving our society in order to assist as many people as possible
to achieve a better life for themselves, their families and the community as a
whole.During this time of national
drift when confusion seems widespread over what America represents and truly
believes, progressive people must amplify their voices in the public conversation
on what we value as a nation.
We reject the tactic of using religion and spiritual traditions
to be a divisive force in our nation; pitting one group of Americans against
another group.We believe that ethics and morality cannot be claimed
as the property of a single religion or political group, but must be understood
in the context of furthering the well being of all humanity, present and
future.
The conference will cover three main
areas:
1) Promoting a conversation on Progressive Values, Faith & and Spirituality
2) Organizing Progressives for political action
3) Creating healthy personal & inner lives for progressive people
The key-note speaker,
Rabbi Michael Lerner, will examine the question of how our values are translated
into political action. Rabbi Lerner is an internationally
renowned social theorist, theologian, editor of Tikkun magazine, and author of The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our
Country from the Religious Right. He has a PhD from the University of California,
Berkeley and is
the founder of the Network for Spiritual Progressives.
Faith, values, and spirituality play an important role in responding to the many challenges we
face in our country today. The primary focus of
this conference will be to explore how our values, faith, and
spirituality can direct political action and transform our nation and our world. In so doing, this conference will be
addressing the most serious issues facing our
communities such as affordable, quality health care, the war, and global warming
to name a few.
Conference
workshops include topics such as "Challenging
the Misuse of God and Religion by the Religious Right", "Global Consciousness
and Ecological Sanity", "Our Common Values" and "Grounding Justice Work in
Spiritual Practice".
To learn more about other workshops which will be presented at this conference,
click here. To download the flyer to print (double-sided to conserve paper) go to our home page: www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
The Conference commences at 9:30am with a spiritual reflection on the state of
our world.Rabbi Michael Lerner will
speak at 10:15am.Workshops will continue throughout the day.
At 2:30pm Rabbi Lerner will be part of a panel discussion with local leaders on
the state of values and spirituality in our nation. Lunch will be served and
the conference will come to a close at 3:30pm.
This
event is open to the public; seating is limited.To Register, contact PACG at 563-676-7580 or go to our website for more information: www.qcprogressiveaction.org.
Event times and places
Interfaith
Service
The
conference begins with an Interfaith Service led by Rabbi Lerner on Friday evening,
November 2nd, 7pm at the Unitarian
Church, 3707 Eastern Avenue, Davenport, Iowa.
Spiritual
Progressives Conference
On
Saturday morning, November 3rd, the Spiritual Progressive Conference
will be held at the First Congregational Church-UCC, 2201 Seventh Avenue, Moline, IL 61265. Registration
starts at 9:30AM.
Book Signing with Rabbi Lerner
Saturday evening, November 3rd, 5:30pm at Borders Bookstore, 4000 E 53rd St in Davenport.
When pro-war Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was asked if any of his five sons had volunteered for military service, he replied that they were showing their support "for our nation by...helping to get me elected."
As Blogosfear's military consultant, General Snark, observed: "What an inspiring sight. Five strapping young men braving the heat of the Iowa corn fields in their air-conditioned, up-armored Winnebago." Now that's shared sacrifice for you.
Not to be outdone, Rudy Ghouliani tries to convince us that posing for photo-ops in front of the ruins of the World Trade Center put him at equal risk for health complications as the rescue and recovery workers digging their way through all that toxic rubble. No word yet whether he will accompany Michael Moore on his next mercy trip to Cuba for medical treatment.
Yesterday, Rachel Griffiths, a member of Quad Cities Progressive Action for the Common Good- www.qcprogressiveaction.org, asked Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, as an avid supporter of the war, if any of his 5 sons are enlisted in the military or have plans to enlist in the military. All of the media was present with cameras rolling... AP picked up the exchange and it was all over the Internet within minutes. Rachel wrote a diary about it on the DailyKos yesterday www.dailykos.com. Kos himself recommended her diary. In addition, the story was posted on the Huffington Post and other progressive blogs culminating in Jon Stewart mentioning it on the Daily Show!
The story has now made every major newspaper from coast to coast. Mike Gallagher, a conservative talk show pundit was playing an audio feed of Rachel's question to Romney, and of course defended Romney's response, which prompted another member of PACG to call into the show (live). James made a succinct statement drawing attention to the fact that the architects of the war and most avid war supporters have never served in the military; stating they have no "skin in the game."
Rachel will be interviewed live on MSNBC today at 11:35am and 1:10pm. If anyone is willing and able to tape this segment, please let me know 563-676-7580.
Presidential candidates, both Republican and Democrat, need to understand that when they come to Iowa, we will be asking them the tough questions because the American people want to know.
As many of you may know, PACG has put out many calls to action on VOICE - Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections. The passage of VOICE - SF 553 , in the state of Iowa would have a HUGE impact
on every issue across the spectrum - the passage of this bill
would give the people of Iowa an unprecedented opportunity to take back
control of our legislature from the special interest groups that have
too often dominated the outcome of policy. There are MANY reasons to
pass VOICE - passage of this bill would free-up our legislators
from the all consuming cycle of fundraising so they can spend more
time working on the actual issues that affect their
constituents, and citizens would have more faith in the system and
the legislators that represent them. Legislators would no longer be
beholden to the special interests that help get them elected. In other
states where similar bills were passed, they are seeing a big increase
in people running for office than ever before and in Arizona
voter turnout has increased by as much as 20%. The passage of
VOICE is a win-win for everyone involved... that's why WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW.
The VOICE
bill, SF 553, is in an Appropriations sub-committee comprised of
Rep. Dave Jacoby (D-chair), Rep. Jo Oldson (D) and Rep. Dwayne Alons
(R). It will come up for a vote in that committee
either Tuesday (3/27) or Wednesday (3/28). If passed, it
then goes to the full committee and becomes "funnel-proof." That
means the likelihood for debate on the floor of the House
increases. However, we learned on Friday that the Appropriations
sub-committee plans to "kill" the bill, at the request of
leadership.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
PLEASE make a push to call the committee members and the leadership on MONDAY,
urging them to support SF 553. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a firm
supporter of the bill so please call him, thank him for his
support and urge him to continue pushing for passage of the bill.
MOST IMPORTANTLY - contact Senator Mike Gronstal in the Senate and Speaker Pat Murphy in the House - urging them to support passage of the bill. We need to make a VERY BIG PUSH in order to make a difference.
VOICE has overwhelming support from citizens and community leaders - we need to remind leadership that people matter more, money matters less.
PLEASE call the Appropriations Sub-Committee members and House & Senate Leaders on MONDAY! - These
are only 6 telephone calls that will take up very little of your time
-- the small effort required on our part can make a BIG difference for
the future of our state! Please refer to the Word document (see
attachment) that outlines the general information and primary
benefits of the bill, SF 553.
Rod Roberts (R)
Rod.Roberts@legis.state.ia.us
House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221.
Speaker of the HouseRep. Pat Murphy (D) House District 28 – Dubuque County Pat.Murphy@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (563) 582-5922 House Telephone: (515) 281-5566
House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D) House District 67 – Polk County Kevin.McCarthy@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (515) 953-5221 House Telephone: (515) 281-7497 (PLEASE THANK HIM FOR HIS SUPPORT!)
Senate Majority Leader Senator Mike Gronstal (D) Senate District 50 -- Pottawattamie michael.gronstal@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (712) 328-2808 Business Telephone: (515) 281-3901
Take action! Call,
your local legislator today! Find out where they stand on the
bill, urge them to support it and ask them to urge leadership and
committee members to do the same! It's not
enough to simply ask them if they support the bill --- if they do,
ask them what they are doing to ensure passage of this bill.
The Pres. Races Heat Up (On Both Sides) By Sam Garchik
This
is getting strange. Barack Mania (at 17k in Springfield and counting)
is rolling through Iowa. Tom Miller and Mike Fitzgerald both endorsed
him, saying that the Iraq War was the reason they favored him. By the
way, I'm not including a web reference because the Obama campaign is
EMAILING IT ALL to me. So I'm kind of already disposed to wait and see
where this all goes. Can the Barackinator really keep this up for an
entire year? I mean, if every appearance is 10,000 a pop, he, heaven
forbid, won't have to go to the state fair for corn dogs.
In other caucus news, there's big action up at the Caucus Cooler.
This is an honorable blog, and one I read for real news and honest
reporting. I was surprised to see that they are in the midst of a heavy
controversy. Apparently, people criticizng Romney's religion have forced the Cooler to change the way they allow posts to appear. There reasoning deserves an extensive quote:
"What is even more sad is that while we are behaving like animals, Iowa
Democrats are acting like adults with respect and compassion. While we
are eating our own Drew Miller, Chris Woods and other Iowa Democrat
blogs maintain a civil and considerate discourse. That distinction
should make everyone involved extremely embarrassed. And we cannot blame
it on the out-of-staters that visit this blog, because the most
offensive comments and the comments with the worst language were
written by those who are part of the Iowa Republican community....This blog has been a part of the negative, self-destructive behaviour
that many in our party have participated in and we want to sincerely
apologize to anyone who was hurt because of that."
For
us Democrat bloggers, this news comes as a reminder that we need to
take our role seriously. Also, it reminds us that the Republicans are
capable of honest dicussions, and self-evaluation to a degree we may
not often ascribe to them. The Cooler deserves great praise in taking
this step.
Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG)
has reserved a passenger van to transport Quad City activists to Des Moines next Monday, January
29th. We will be joining other progressive activists across Iowa in order to lobby our
state legislators on the importance of clean elections and public
financing of campaigns. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI)
is the main organizer of this event and has already laid a lot of
groundwork around this issue. This is a price-less (pun intended)
opportunity to make a difference in the fight to reclaim our democracy.
Monday's Agenda:
We will leave from the NE corner of the Northpark Mall parking lot
(near Sears) at 8:00am. This van seats 12. We have 6 open seats available and will be stopping at the Perkins restaturant in Iowa City to pick up a couple more folks so if you live in the QC area or in Iowa City and would like to join us, please contact Caroline ASAP to reserve a
seat: 563-676-7580,
carolina1961@gmail.com. Others from the QC area will also be carpooling to Des Moines.
Please wear a green shirt (representing money) and if possible, bring a
dozen or more home-made cookies along. Currently, lobbyists are allowed
to spend a maximum of $2.99 on each legislator so we would like to
bring home-made cookies to share, to represent home-made elections. If
you are willing to contribute goodies for the cause please let me know.
If you are unable to attend, but would be willing to bake some cookies,
that would be terrific! Finally, to help defray some of the cost of
renting the bus, we are asking for a $10 donation from each
participant.
Once
we get to the Capitol, we will debrief at 11am to go over our talking
points and the day's activities. At noon, we will participate in a
rally and press conference. Former Congressman Berkley Bedell, Ed
Fallon, Pam Yoakum, and Mike Connelly will all speak to the importance
of voter-owned clean elections. From 12:30 to 3pm, we will all have an
opportunity to lobby each of our state reps on this issue. We will then
plan to leave Des Moines promptly by 3:15pm so we can return home in time for
dinner, around 6pm.
CCI is expecting an estimated turnout of
close to 150 activists from around the state. I am hopeful that we can fill the remaining seats in the van. We
expect to have a bill number to lobby around by next week.
Thanks for all you do - hope to see you in Des Moines! Caroline Vernon 563-676-7580
carolina1961@gmail.com
For more information on why this issue is so important, please read the following:
Are Political Action Committees trying to use money to influence OUR legislature?
Iowans shouldn't have to wonder.
Tell your legislators to support Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections!
The
Clean Elections Act will help restore fairness to our elections by
allowing everyday Iowans the opportunity to run for office, regardless
of how much money they can access. Voters won't have to wonder if
large contributors are gaining unbalanced access to OUR
representatives.
The Clean Elections Act would provide a limited amount of public financing for candidates
who:
Pledge to not raise any private money for their campaigns. Pledge to not use any of their own money for their campaigns.
Collect a set number of signatures and $5 contributions from within their own district to prove they are viable.
It Can Work! Maine and Arizona have been effectively using the system for four election cycles and the results have been good for democracy.
More people are running for office. More people are turning out to vote. Candidates report spending more time talking to voters. 9
of 11 statewide officeholders in Arizona, including the Governor and
Attorney General, have been elected without taking money from PACs and
big money contributors, spending only a fraction of what is used in
conventional races like Iowa's.
We Need it Now! Voter-Owned Elections help ensure a healthy democracy by:
Freeing candidates from the money chase and allowing them to spend all their campaign time talking with voters.
Creating a fair playing field by reducing the need to raise large amounts of money to win.
Giving
more Iowans the chance to run for office – regardless of their access
to big money or their willingness to accept PAC contributions.
Creating
a system where Iowans won't have to wonder if big contributions are
influencing votes at the capitol with their campaign contributions.
The Clean Elections Act = Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections
Background:
A
Clean Elections Act would create voluntary public financing for state
elections. Candidates would qualify for public funding if they vowed
to raise no private money, vowed to not use any of their own money, and
collected a set number of signatures and $5 contributions from within
their district.
In a contested general election, eligible candidates who chose to use the system would receive:
$3 million for a team running for governor and lieutenant governor. $200,000 for a candidate for attorney general.
$125,000 for a candidate for a statewide office other than governor, lieutenant governor, or attorney general. $40,000 for a candidate for the Iowa senate. $30,000 for a candidate for the Iowa house or representatives.
Summary:
Voter
Owned Iowa Clean Elections is a system that would free candidates from
the money chase and allow them to spend more time with voters and
constituents. The same system has been used in Maine and Arizona for
four full election cycles and has proven to be an effective way of
reducing the influence of big money on elections. 6 of 8 statewide
office holders in Arizona were elected without using any special
interest money. Voter turnout has increased by over 20%. The number
of people running for office has increased. And in the Nov 2006
Election, Governor Janet Napolitano won re-election, combining with her
challenger to spend only $2 million, compared to the combined $18
million spent by candidates in the Iowa gubernatorial race.
A
Clean Elections Act will allow every day Iowans to run for office
without having to worry about raising large amounts of money. Phase I
of CCI's "Money and Elections in Iowa" study shows that the majority of
money given to candidates is coming from PACs. Challengers are at a
huge disadvantage, needing to raise $65,000 to be competitive in a race
for the house and $100,000 to be competitive for the senate. And as
campaign spending has gotten out of control, campaigns have gone south.
The Clean Elections Act would limit unnecessary spending by placing
contribution limits on donors. The Clean Elections Act would also
require Media outlets to file reports outlining who is paying for
political advertisements, curbing the explosion of negative
advertising.
For the cost of $5 per voter, Iowans could know for certain
that their elected officials are working to address the needs of all
Iowans, and not have to wonder about where all the money comes from.
For around $10 million a year, our state elected officials would have
the chance to focus on ideas and meeting their constituents, not
chasing down the combined $32 million spent in the Nov. 2006 elections.
Tell your legislator today: "Iowans want Voter Owned Clean Elections!"
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
ICCI Voter Owned Lobby Day in Des Moines