Ned Lamont in New Canaan
Sunday, March 7, 4-6 pm
New Canaan
Coffee and Conversation: Ned Lamont will discuss fixing our State budget, creating jobs, and leveraging our strengths in education and entrepreneurship.
RSVP at the site below that the hosts have an accurate headcount, even if you don't make a contribution:
http://action.nedlamont.com/Mar7NewCanaan
Wednesdays, March 10, 8 pm
Westport
Democratic Governor's Forum, Westport Town Hall.
Thursday, April 15, 8 pm
Westport
Democratic Candidates' Forum, Westport Town Hall
NOTE: This is a change of date from Monday, April 19, as schools are on holiday.
Connecticut's Taxing Problem
Crafting a Better Tomorrow: Policy Choices for
Professor Fred Carstensen
Director,
7 PM on Wednesday, March 3rd
Silver Star Diner in
Professor Carstensen is a leading progressive economist at the
Historically,
Strong leadership is needed if
Professor Carstensen will be discussing the challenge—immediate and urgent— facing
Be sure to join us and be part of the action – and the solution – your voice counts!
Call 203-401-8065 for directions or more information.
P.S. Congressman Jim Himes will be speaking at the Iving Freese Apartments at 57 Ward Street in Norwalk on Saturday March 6th at 2:30 PM Call Elizabeth Kerr at 202-225-5541 for more information
Jim Himes at DFA
Congressman Jim Himes spoke at a special DFA meeting on Monday, February 15th. You can see Jim Dean's introduction and Jim Himes' opening remarks by clicking on this link.
Here are notes from the meeting by Kate Tepper and Scott Kimmich.
February 3rd MeetUp with Congressman Jim Himes
Jim Dean, Chair of Democracy for America opened the February 3rd MeetUp by saying that as primary spokesperson and fundraiser for DFA, he travels to all 50 sates promoting the goals of the organization. As the nation's largest grassroots progressive political action organization DFA has over a million members nationwide with branches in almost every state and works for political change from the bottom up. On his travels Jim meets with progressive candidates, organizers, party leaders and activists providing campaign training, organizing resources, and media exposure that gives DFA members the power to support progressive issues and candidates.
Jim said that he was proud indeed to introduce another Jim who was also working for progressive change Congressman Jim Himes.
Congressman Jim Himes answers questions from Democracy for America
Q. What does the Massachusetts election and the Supreme Court Citizens United decision mean for Democrats?
Feb 3rd Meetup Recap
Working Families
Lindsey Farrell from the Working Families Party (WFP) gave a brief outline of the WFP agenda. She emphasized that WFP focuses only on the domestic agenda and cross-endorses those candidates that support its platform for (among other things) minimum wage, publicly funded ‘clean’ elections, healthcare reform and paid sick days. Working Families also promotes its own candidates for local and State office and, particularly in Bridgeport, has been very successful at getting those candidates elected. For other endorsed candidates, the WFP votes have made the difference between winning and losing.
Ned Lamont
In his introductory remarks, DFA moderator John Hartwell recalled that in 2006, despite being an unknown ‘outsider’, Ned Lamont took on the political establishment of Connecticut by running for, and winning, the Democratic nomination for United States Senate on a message that our nation’s fiscally reckless Iraq war policy was distracting us from the pressing issues here at home. Unfortunately, Lamont received less than enthusiastic – or financial - support from either the State or National Democratic parties both of whom failed to recognize that his principled stand against the Iraq war was one that resonated not just with Connecticut citizens, but throughout the United States.
Hartwell continued by noting that the Bush administration was so concerned about losing the seat held by conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat Joe Lieberman - a war proponent - that poured Republican funds into Lieberman’s campaign.
In the next few weeks Ned Lamont will decide whether or not to run for Governor of Connecticut and has contemplated that possibility because he sees the immense fiscal crisis facing Connecticut as the result of years of unfocused leadership in Hartford with Democrats as well as Republicans ducking the immediate financial problems facing the State. It was a bit like the movie “Ground Hog Day” he complained, the legislature and Governor Jodi Rell keep trying unsuccessfully to get it right. Ned believes that, like the conclusion of the movie, he has the experience and knowhow to not only ‘get it’ but get it right.
The New Declaration of Independence from Corporate Interests
The New Declaration of Independence from Corporate Interests
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the bonds between those politicians who take money from corporations and other special interests and no longer serve the interests of the people they purport to represent, it also becomes necessary to declare the reasons which impel us to separate ourselves from them.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We further hold that these inalienable rights do NOT apply to those entities other than individuals, be they corporations, unions or non-profit organizations. That the principle of one man one vote does not apply to any of these non-individuals and that any government that becomes corrupted and unduly influenced by these non-individuals no longer has the legitimacy upon which it was once based. That whenever any government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
When a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object of accruing the absolute dominance of corporate interests over the interests of the People, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of our People and such is now the necessity which calls upon us to change our political process and take back our Republic from the moneyed interests. The history of the growing rapacious oligarchy that has come to drive the United States of America to its collective knees is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations of power, all having in direct object the establishment of an increasing tyranny and domination over the citizens of the Republic. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.
- American corporations have eliminated millions of jobs by moving operations overseas, thus benefitting a relatively few stockholders to the detriment of jobholders and drastically lowering tax revenue
- American corporations have spent tens of billions on lobbying and pedaling influence at all levels of government
- American financial corporations have swung government to deregulate their functions, allowing them to engage in high-risk secretive operations that cause deep recessions, bankrupt investors, and build ungainly fiefdoms that require taxpayer rescue
- American corporations, using the threat of offshore hiring, have kept real wages stagnant for four decades
- American corporations in the insurance sector have immorally and virtually fraudulently dispossessed millions of clients by denying or depriving them of health insurance, even after years of paying inflated premiums
- American corporations in the armament/ security sector have received sweetheart deals with scant oversight often based on politics, not the national interest, and have cheated and defrauded the government, only to be rewarded with more contracts.. Their influence perpetuates wars and leads to enormously expensive military misadventures that have killed and maimed hundreds of thousands of American troops and foreign civilians
- American corporations have led the fight against climate change, thus placing our planet and future generations of mankind at risk of a dramatically reduced quality of life. Instead of leading the world in green technology, they squander beneficial opportunities
- The right-wing branch of the Supreme Court has equated corporate money with the right to vote, thus virtually defranchising all individual voters and taxpayers
- Corporate influence over the years has succeeded in a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class to a handful of Americans with unprecedented tax breaks, thus further reducing government revenues that could provide programs in the public interest
- Concentrated corporate ownership of the media has severely compromised distribution of information. Misinformation dominates the media, hampering good decision-making
We, the people of the United States, have petitioned our representatives for many years but increasingly to no avail. The influence of corporate money has drowned out our collective voices and, with this recent Citizens United decision, our Supreme Court has basically told the citizens that corporate influence is now fully injected into the political process, bringing us close to a dictionary definition to fascism.
We have become a government of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation. We must re-establish the cherished freedoms enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Constitution. In that spirit we propose the following actions and commit ourselves to work for their implementation in every way our hearts and souls and bodies can muster:
We pledge to support with our money, volunteer effort and votes any progressive candidate who demonstrates political and financial independence from corporate sponsors by refusing to accept large contributions of any kind from “special interest” corporations or organizations. We say “enough is enough” and any candidate who becomes beholden to special interests is a candidate who is not free to vote in the public interest.
Goals
- Amend the Constitution to overturn the recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United vs FEC
- Change laws to prevent the corporate takeover codified and legalized in CU vs FEC
- Election of candidates who refuse to accept corporate or special interest money
Action Steps
- Look for common goals and actions with state, regional and national DFA organizations
- Attempt to join forces with other progressive organizations with similar grievances against special interests
- Form a national coalition to curb the influence of corporations and other powerful special interests
Obama -- FDR or Carter?
From Roy Fuchs
Let me start with a semi-provocative question: Is President Obama this generation's FDR or its Jimmy Carter? Is he too willing to try to see the good in everyone and assume that everyone else sees it and will, of course, seek achieve "what's right?" Is he utterly clueless or terminally cautious? Are his advisors so wired into "the system" that he believes "change we can believe in" need only address symptoms and not the underlying disease?
To my mind we are where we are today for two broad reasons. One is that Mr. Obama has elected to ignore the fact that what he is facing is not an innate philosophic or political difference, but rather simple political opposition to him and to everything he stands for. The other is that while he admonishes the American People to look ahead, and not at what he inherited, conservatives have defined the condition of the country to his disadvantage. The bank bailout program, as he belatedly noted in his SOTU speech, was a Bush program; if Obama is building a massive government it is by rehiring first responders, teachers and other government employees who had been laid off when tax receipts fell off. I am not sure that any president has stepped into as many problems as Mr. Obama. You might push me to say perhaps George Washington, but at least he had the support of virtually the entire nation. Lincoln did not have a piece of shit economy and FDR didn't have a war or two.
The prescription for the future is to attack the bully, not slink around and try to pretend that the left is so correct that we don't need to engage.
Special Election in Stratford
"What?" you say, "The Special Election was that MASSacre where the teabaggers elected one of their own to fill Ted Kennedy's Senate seat!" Wake up Connecticut! There is a Special Election on March 2nd for State House of Representatives seat for the 120th District in Stratford!
Here is our chance for pushback - Let's get Janice Andersen elected March 2nd and let's not wait until a week before the election to get to work.
- Walk Door-to-Door on behalf of Janice every weekend between now and March 1st. People in Stratford may not be aware of the Special Election, so spread the word.
- Make phone calls from the Stratford Headquarters on weeknights
- Stuff envelopes - a sewing bee for politically hopped up people.
Janice has already qualified for the Citizen's Election Program (no more fundraising required!)There can never be too many volunteers.
Campaign Headquarters: 919 Stratford Ave, Suite 5, Stratford, CT
Phone Dave Mooney to volunteer: 203.645.2900
email to volunteer: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Report on our Special Meeting - 1/26/10
An emergency meeting of DFA was called to discuss the current disastrous state of our government. The topics that were paramount for discussion were the Supreme Court decision regarding corporate financing, the election results in Massachusetts, the healthcare debacle and last, but by no means least, the lack of leadership by the majority of the Democratic Party.
Despite substantial majorities in both houses the Democratic Congress has, in many cases (healthcare, global warming, financial reform,) been unable to overcome either Republican opposition or the subversion of policy by its own party. The effect of the “New Democrats” in the House and the “Blue Dogs” in the Senate has undermined many progressive policies, often bringing legislation to a virtual standstill. Instead of standing their ground, Democrats have capitulated to the corporate power-brokers. This basic lack of backbone appears to be the major cause of Democratic and Independent disaffection with the current administration.
Call Congress on Health Care
(from CCAG)
Please call your member of Congress right now: thank them for their hard work on health care reform so far and have them tell Speaker Pelosi to keep as much of the House bill intact as possible!
CD1 John Larson (202) 225-2265 [DC] - (860) 278-8888 [CT]
CD2 Joe Courtney (202) 225-2076 [DC] – (860) 886-0139 [CT]
CD3 Rosa DeLauro (202) 225-3661 [DC] - (203) 562-3718 [CT]
CD4 Jim Himes (202) 225-5541 [DC] – (866) 453-0028 [CT]
CD5 Chris Murphy (202) 225-4476 [DC] – (860) 223-8412 [CT]
Please call right now because the House Democratic caucus is meeting today and we want to send a strong and clear message that the Senate bill fails to deliver affordability for consumers and accountability for insurance companies. The following items should be addressed in crafting the final bill:
- Make good health care affordable.
- Taxing health care benefits is wrong.
- Low and middle income families must be able to afford health insurance, and employers must provide good health insurance coverage for employees.
Hold insurance companies accountable. If the insurance companies win, we lose. They must be held accountable trhough strong regulations. We must have a choice of a strong national public health insurance option available on day one across the United States.
Our Connecticut delegation has been strong on reform all the way through. Help them continue to be champions for reform within their caucus. Call Congress now!
Links
Latest Comments
- Obama -- FDR or Carter?
Good day, Barak Obama is hardly another Jummy Carter or FDR. He is s corporate candidate like George Bush, Bill Clinton, Bush 41, Ronal... More...
14.02.10 - Call Congress on Health Care
My thought of the day is from Thom Hartmann's book: SCREWED The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do About It :... More...
26.01.10 - Call Congress on Health Care
THE DEMOCRATS NEED BETTER LEADERSHIP AND NEED TO INSTITUTE THE FOLLOWING: 1) WE ALLOWED THE HEALTH CARE BILL TO LANGUISH WITH COUNTLESS... More...
24.01.10 - Thoughts on Massachusetts
There's nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos. More...
22.01.10 - Call Congress on Health Care
Let this be a lesson to us for 2010... Dick Blumenthal is an amazing candidate, with great credibility statewide, but we CANNOT take th... More...
21.01.10