Progressives Challenge the Cat Food Commission
Progressive Democrats of America is bringing an army of citizen activists to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, November 30, in advance of the full release of the Debt Commission’s report expected on December 1. Rubbing shoulders in congressional elevators with the usual representatives of corporate power will be ordinary unpaid citizens advocating for majority positions on jobs, election funding, energy, and Social Security.
The November 30 Citizens Lobby Day is in conjunction with the National Call-in Day to protect Social Security and Medicare: salsa.wiredforchange.com
“We the people have different priorities than wars and enrichment of those already disgustingly rich,” said PDA organiser Andrea Miller. “We don’t think further eroding the remains of our social safety net is justified by such goals.”
“We are dedicated to the great task remaining before us,” said PDA National Director Tim Carpenter, “to nonviolently demand that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from Washington, D.C.”
WHERE: 2226 Rayburn House Office Building
WHEN: Tuesday, November 30th, 10:00 a.m. ET
MATERIALS: tinyurl.com/24rr6t4
“The proposal from the two chairmen of the ‘catfood commission’ makes no sense on its own terms,” said Carpenter. “Congresswoman Schakowsky’s proposal strengthens Social Security, taxes the wealthy, and invests in jobs. Only on cutting the military do both proposals agree on a sensible course, although much bigger cuts would benefit both national security and the budget.”
PDA and allies will demand commitments to not renege on the trust that is our Social Security savings. Thus far 148 congress members have put their names down to protect Social Security:
www.ourfuture.org/handsoffsocialsecurity
Additional demands are for support and passage of:
–HR 4812, the Local Jobs for America Act, a bill that funds local governments and nonprofit agencies to save and create jobs providing local services for two years.
–HR 1826, the Fair Elections Now Act, which would go a long way toward making citizens’ votes count more in relation to the dominance of corporate dollars.
–HR 1337, America’s Energy Security Trust Fund Act of 2009, which would impose an excise tax on any taxable carbon substance sold by a manufacturer, producer, or importer and allow individual taxpayers a tax credit equal to carbon tax rebate amounts. The tax would go to America’s Energy Security Trust Fund to finance research in clean energy technology.
Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic Party and our country. We seek to build a party and government controlled by citizens–not corporate elites–with policies that serve the broad public interest, not just private interests. PDA is a grassroots PAC operating inside the Democratic Party, and outside in movements for peace and justice. Our inside/outside strategy is guided by the belief that a lasting majority will require a revitalized Democratic Party built on firm progressive principles.
For over two decades, the party declined as its leadership listened more to the voices of corporations than those of Americans. PDA strives to rebuild the Democratic Party from the bottom up–from every congressional district to statewide party structures to the corridors of power in Washington, where we work arm in arm with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In just five years, PDA and its allies have shaken up the political status quo–on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Medicare for all, voter rights, accountability, and economic and environmental justice.