We Must TAKE Our Country Back!

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 Yucca Mountain? 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.

We must TAKE our country back!

DFA National Action:

Ask the Media to "Tell the Truth" about the War

The following Media Advisory was sent to all local media in the Quad Cities and surrounding areas of Eastern Iowa:

Scheduled Event -- Davenport, IA  

Event:        "Tell the Truth" Picket and Rally

Participating Organizations:

Democracy for America -  Quad Cites and the Peace Forum of Progressive Action for the Common Good

Contacts:      Alta Price: - 563-332-5051, 563-505-2996

                    Monica Kurth - 563-271-9332

______________________________________________________________________________

Following the Sept. 11 anniversary, we Americans demand that this president do what he has never done since he seized the office -- tell the truth.

The facts are clear: Iraq had nothing to do with Sept. 11, which even the Bush administration has admitted. Yet White House officials and many media pundits still continue the false position that the war in Iraq is "fighting terrorism."

Quad Citians will be participating in a "Tell the Truth" rally on Thursday, September 13th from 4:30 to 6pm asking Clear Channel WOC Talk Radio 1420 AM to TELL the TRUTH about the Iraq war.

We are asking 1420 AM (Rush Limbaugh and Jim Fisher) to tell the truth about the failure of Bush's "surge". We will also call on Clear Channel to return Progressive radio to the Quad Cities.

What:    Clear Channel and WOC picket
When:   Thursday, September 13, 2007, 4:30 PM
Where:  Quad Cities Radio Group
             3535 E Kimberly
             Davenport IA 52807

A majority of Quad Citians are against this war - the same is true nationally.

Last year, the Quad Cities lost Progressive radio immediately after the 2006 elections. We believe this is no coincidence given the shift in power as a result of the last election, and the rising tide of opposition to the war. The American people want our troops home and out of harm's way.

We demand that Clear Channel and WOC Talk Radio "tell the truth!"

America has never been told the truth about the Iraq war. Stop telling us that "Iraq will stabilize" when (pick one) Saddam Hussein is removed, Iraq has a constitution, Iraq has an election, Iraq has a security force, the troop surge has done its job. Stop telling us that "freedom is on the march" when we can see with our own eyes that Iraq remains a quagmire of corruption, sectarian fighting, death and destruction.

The truth is what the Government Accountability Office recently reported -- that the Iraqi government met three of 18 benchmarks, partially met four and failed to meet 11.

The truth is -- America had no business invading Iraq post 9/11. 

Progressive Action for the Common Good - Quad Cities Fall Summit

Spiritual Progressives Conference

Theme: Living Our Faith:  Integrating Values & Politics in the Heartland

Friday – Saturday, November 2 & 3, 2007
First Congregational Church – United Church of Christ
2201 7th Avenue
Moline, Illinois 61265

The purpose of the Spiritual Progressive Conference is to promote progressive voices on the issues of values and spirituality into the heartland of Iowa and western Illinois.  Our conference is designed to interject a clear progressive voice and consciousness into the public dialogue that coincides with the build up to the highly publicized Iowa caucuses and Illinois primary. We will be covering three main areas at our conference:

1) Promoting a conversation on Progressive Values & and Spirituality

2) Organizing Progressives for political action

3) Creating healthy personal & inner lives for progressive people

Keynote speaker:

Rabbi Michael Lerner - Rabbi Michael Lerner is a national and international leader in the areas of progressive spirituality & political action. He is the founder of the Network for Spiritual Progressives.   He is also the editor of TIKKUN magazine, rabbi of Beyt Tikkun synagogue in Berkeley and San Francisco, CA, and the author of eleven books, including most recently The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right.

Friday Agenda

6 PM   Shabbat Services with Rabbi Lerner at Temple Emmanuel

Saturday Agenda

9:30 AM     Registration
10:00 AM   Opening Session
10:15 AM   Key Note – “Who are Spiritual Progressives?”      

11:15 AM   Break

11:30 AM   Workshops (Round 1)
12:30 AM   Luncheon – Musical interlude
1:30 PM     Workshop (Round 2)
2:30 PM     Closing Plenary  
3:30 PM     End     

Iowa City Public Library
123 S. Linn St.
Iowa City, IA 52240

Please RSVP: http://www.dfalink.com/event.php?id=20502

  Why should you care about the Fair Share debate in the Iowa Legislature?

You probably know that Iowa is an Open Shop (so-called "Right-to-Work") state in which individuals who are represented by a union have to pay at least their Fair Share of the costs the union incurs in administering the contract.

But why is this issue one that all progressives should care about?  Well, Politics 101 tells us that states where organized labor is strong tend to elect many more Democrats than states where organized labor is weak.  The 22 Open Shop states consist of the Old Confederacy, Plains and Mountain West states.  These states typically have the lowest rates of union membership in the country.  All 22 voted for George W. Bush in 2004; only Iowa voted for Al Gore in 2000.

So, stronger labor unions in Iowa translate into a stronger Iowa Democratic arty, but that is not the whole story.  There is a direct correlation between the strength of organized labor and the rise of progressive politics.  As Washington Post columnist David Broder said, in September, 2004:  "When labor lobbied powerfully on Capitol Hill, it did not confine itself to bread-and-butter issues for its own members.  It was at the forefront of battles for aid to education, civil rights, housing programs and a host of other social causes important to the whole community.  And because it was muscular, it was heard and heeded."

The battle for Fair Share in Iowa is the front line of not just the fight for better paying jobs, or for a stronger Democratic Party.  It is the fight to rekindle a progressive brand of politics that has been missing for far too long. 

Unfortunately, not enough Democrats in the Legislature currently support organized labor and the Fair Share proposal.  Of the 53 House Democrats (one is presently serving in Iraq), there are not 51 votes to pass Fair Share.  Despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars organized labor contributed to House Democrats, and the hours that have been spent explaining Fair Share to candidates and legislators, and why it is the top priority of organized labor, a few House Democrats felt free to accept money from labor and withhold their support from Fair Share.

Reflecting this political reality, the House leadership has watered down the Fair Share proposal so that it only covers public sector, not private sector, employees.  According to a March 16th Des Moines Register article, after meeting in private for four hours, House Democrats could not muster 51 votes even for a public sector only version of Fair Share. 

According to the Register, Democrat Dawn Pettengill, "who has told Republicans she opposes the Fair Share proposal, had tears on her face when she left the room..."  It causes one to wonder, were those tears caused by guilt for taking $6,500 from 16 different Iowa labor unions in her campaign and then responding by turning her back on labor over the most crucial labor-related issue in a generation?

The Register said that Democrat McKinley Bailey "walked out in frustration, got in his car, and drove out of the Capitol parking lot....Bailey came back awhile later and said he'd left the meeting because it was 'pointless.'"  One wonders, were the $7,750 of contributions from 11 Iowa labor unions that he accepted in his campaign also "pointless?"

There are only two possible conclusions to draw:  either labor unions gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Iowa House Truman fund and individual legislative campaigns without asking these then-candidates how they would vote on Fair Share, or, once in office, some of these House Democrats are perfectly willing to renege on promises they made during the campaign. 

Pettengill and Bailey are not alone in holding up Fair Share.  Labor has identified 9 or 10 House Democrats who have expressed unwillingness to vote for Fair Share.

Please do not misunderstand.  I am not suggesting that any elected official should blindly do the bidding of their supporters.  As Senator Vinick (Alan Alda) said, "If you can't drink their booze, take their money, and then vote against them, you don't belong in this business."  In this instance, though, labor campaign contributions represent promises made to working Iowans, and, regrettably, the breaking of that promise by a few.

There do not appear to be any easy solutions out of this situation.  Even if the Legislature manages to pass a Fair Share bill for public sector employees, what happens to private sector unions?  Do they continue to be taken for granted and support Democrats unwilling to support them?  Or do they cut off campaign contributions and consider finding primary challengers for House Democrats who have adopted House Republican Leader Chris Rants' talking points on Fair Share? 

All of this will play itself out in the coming months.  For the time being, there will continue to be a lot of anxiety, frustration, and anger shared by legislators and labor leaders. 

Nobody ever said that being in the majority would be easy.

- Nate willems lives in Mt. Vernon

From the Spring 2007 issue of the Prairie Progressive, Iowa's oldest progressive newsletter, available only in hard copy for $12/yr. to PP, Box 1945, Iowa City 52244.  Co-editors of The Prairie Progressive are Jeff Cox and Dave Leshtz.

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