The time has come to tell the Democratic Party, "Enough."
Enough
accommodation.
Enough politics based on polls rather than
principles.
Enough focus on big bucks rather than big
problems.
It comes down to this: We simply don't
have the time to mess around. We need a real plan, we need
real leaders, and then we need to make real things happen.
We, the people, need to reclaim our democracy. And we need to
reclaim politics, because it's just too damn important to be
left to the politicians.
How do we do that? One good place to
start is next week's leadership elections in the House.
Dick Gephardt officially stepped down as House Minority Leader
today. The Democratic House leadership position is an
important one -- a good leader in that role could bring the
party together around the issues we care about, fire up the
base, and send the right wing packing in 2004.
Luckily, there's a great candidate in the
wings. Back in early October, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
broke ranks with Gephardt on the Iraq war resolution.
Through principled leadership, Pelosi persuaded more than half
of the House Democrats to vote against it, despite the fact
that their purported leader was four-square behind Bush's
plan. She's great on the environment, great on women's rights,
and great on civil liberties. She could remind the party
what it's all about.
Pelosi's heaviest challenger is Rep. Martin
Frost (D-TX), who told the New York Times today that the
Democrats needed to move further to the right. Frost's
strategy is to beat the Republicans by being Republicans.
It's doomed to failure: after all, Republicans will always be
more Republican than Democrats.
That's why we need to stand up and be counted.
As a group, we've given over $3.5 million to Democratic
candidates just in the last year. We've volunteered.
We've made phone calls. We've done everything within our
power to sway the balance and make sure that those big
decisions work for everyone. But we just can't do it
without real leadership.
Please call your Democratic Representative and
your state Democratic Committee today, and tell them that you
demand strong Democratic leadership and will no longer put up
with accommodation. Use your own words. Give 'em hell.
Remind them that they work for you.
You can reach them at:
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.htm#fl
(list of all FL reps)
Florida Democratic Party Phone: 850-222-3411
Fax: 850-222-0916
Then please let us know that you made your call
at:
We want to keep track of the calls pouring in.
It's like the man said: We're mad as
hell, and we're not going to take it any more.
Sincerely, --Eli, Peter, Wes, Joan, Doug, and
Carrie for MoveOn.org PAC November 7th, 2002
From: The Executive
Committee Against Uppity Citizens Dear friend, On behalf of Shell, Mobil, and Exxon; Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and GE; all the Enrons, Halliburtons, and Harkens; President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the other CEOs of the Cabinet; and thousands of us who are working for a better life for the wealthiest Americans, we have one simple request: Could you please just stay home tomorrow? See, we have things to do. Nations to invade. Wetlands to destroy. Oil to drill. Courts to pack. Corporate taxes to cut. What's frustrating for us is that we're coming up against some pretty stiff resistance. We've spent hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the Senate, but it looks like we just may lose it. Heck, we may even lose the House. We don't quite get what it is about our agenda that you people don't like, but it's clear that this time, you may be upset enough to actually do something about it. That's why we're writing this message to you today. Please don't vote. Ask your friends not to vote. What could the harm be in sitting this round out? If you could just stay home on Election Day, we can get back to the important business of running the nation for you, and we won't have to bother you again. Thank you, Don't Leave Home Without Your Voting Rights on Nov. 5PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY FOUNDATION
PROTECT YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!
People For the American Way Foundation is leading
a national
coalition effort to have thousands of Election
Protection/Know
Your Rights volunteers at the polls on November
5th. It's the
nation's most ambitious and comprehensive
nonpartisan effort to
increase turnout, protect voters at the polls,
and provide same-
day remedies to voting problems so that every
eligible voter's
vote counts on Election Day. Reminiscent of the
civil rights
movement for the right to vote, some students,
such as those at
Howard University in Washington, D.C., are
traveling hundreds of
miles to join Election Protection efforts.
VOTERS' BILL OF RIGHTS
Know your rights when you go to the polls! If you
live in one
of our 20 states with and Election Protection
program, download
your Voters' Bill of Rights:
Take it into the polling place. It tells you what
to do if your
right to vote is challenged--backed up by
citations from the
election code to show poll workers. If you have
friends or
family who live in these states, send the Voters'
Bill of Rights
on to them.
TOLL-FREE VOTERS HOTLINE 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Lawyers are ready at our Election Protection
hotline for free
and immediate legal assistance directly to voters
and, where
necessary, to help voters deal with election
officials.
RIGHT TO VOTE MONITORS AT THE POLLS IN SIX STATES
In Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, Texas and
Wisconsin
we'll have trained volunteers to monitor polls in
key precincts
and assist voters in person. See location/contact
information:
THIS IS A CRITICAL ELECTION.
VOTE AS IF OUR DEMOCRACY DEPENDED ON IT !!
Earth Charter
Community Summit September 28th "Celebrate What We All
Learned As Children"
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Mar 12 2002 |
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The Taco Bell Truth TourOn Monday, March 11, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) Taco Bell Truth Tour reached its apex with a march and rally at Taco Bell World Headquarters which attracted more than one thousand participants. For the first time, representatives from Taco Bell met with members of CIW to discuss the farmworkers' demands. Tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida's largest farmworker community, have been organizing since 1997. They are demanding the right to join in talks with the state's corporate tomato growers to improve farm labor conditions and raise the crop picking piece rate, which remains nearly unchanged from pre-1980 levels. They must pick and haul two tons of tomatoes to make $50 in a day. The Taco Bell Truth Tour, which began on March 1 and will continue to criss-cross the country until March 17, was organized to call attention to the struggle of farmworkers who pick Taco Bell's tomatoes and their demand for a living wage. Taco Bell has the power to double the price paid to farmworkers by paying a single penny more per pound of tomatoes. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), which organized the Truth Tour, is a non-hierarchical organization of farmworkers united together to fight for their right to fair pay. Read the ongoing coverage of the Truth Tour from the following IMCs:
Atlanta IMC: Report
from the action. |
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| WORKERS' RIGHTS | Mar 9 2002 |
The Taco Bell Truth TourSince 1997, tomato pickers in Immokalee, Florida's largest farmworker community, have been organizing. They are demanding the right to join in talks with the state's corporate tomato growers to improve farm labor conditions and raise the crop picking piece rate, which remains nearly unchanged from pre-1980 levels. They must pick and haul 2 tons of tomatoes to make $50 in a day. The Taco Bell Truth Tour rolled out of Florida March 1st, stopping in selected cities across the country, to call attention to the struggle of farm workers who pick Taco Bell's tomatoes and their demand for a living wage. Taco Bell has the power to double the price paid to farm workers by paying a single penny more per pound of tomatoes. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), which organized the Truth Tour, is a non-hierarchical organization of farmworkers united together to fight for their right to fair pay. Already, colleges, mutual funds, and unions have joined to pressure Tricon Global, Taco Bell's parent company to press their agricultural contractors to change their practices. The Taco Bell Boycott leverages young people's increasing antipathy to global coroprate domination of human nutrition. In addition to CIW's Taco Bell campaign, many different groups are focusing on Starbuck's labor and environmental standards and Pizza Hut's failure to pressure their Pictsweet mushroomers to pay living wages. Pizza Hut is also part of the Tricon Global megalith.
The Truth Tour's ten day trip west culminates in Southern
California with two
days of major action. On the 10th, Rise Up 2002 (a
national gathering called by CIW) will unite LA-based
organizing struggles and the global justice movement. On March
11 the Tour arrives in Irvine, CA where organizers anticipate
a huge demonstration at Taco Bell's World Headquarters. After
Irvine, the tour continues back to Florida. Taco
Bell should help tomato pickers
Immokalee
farmworkers -
Farmworkers
want Taco Bell at table during wage talks
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Sierra Club calls for disclosure by Governor Bush of threats to state's drinking water
(Miami, FL) Drilling for oil offshore isn't the main threat to Florida's environment, according to Sierra Club leaders; drilling holes in Florida's aquifers is.
Treated municipal wastewater supposedly buried forever is rising toward the surface because a significant percentage of wells in Florida are failing. A similar technology to pump raw fresh water into Florida's drinking water aquifers is being promoted by the State despite the absence of science assessing risks to public health and the environment.
Pointing to growing disarray, Sierra Club leaders in Florida are calling for full disclosure by Governor Jeb Bush of the state's plans to protect the public health, drinking water, and environment. In a letter today, Club leaders have asked for the Governor to convene a meeting to answer the public's concerns.
According to John Glen, Sierra Club's chapter chair for safe drinking water, "These drilled wells are a more serious environmental threat than prospective spills from offshore oil because the toxic pollution is happening now, in clear violation of federal law and under the watchful gaze of state regulators."
Recently, Hollywood city commissioners voted $17 million to build two new injection wells claiming afterwards that they were unaware that similar wells in Miami, only thirty miles away, had failed, steering the county toward a $400 million investment in an effort to eliminate continued violations of federal law. (South Florida Sun Sentinel, Feb. 16, 2002, Noaki Schwartz).
Sierra Club is asking that for the Governor and state regulators to provide detailed information on the extent and scale of underground well problems throughout the state, whether the state supports weakening federal drinking water laws that would legalize existing pollution and risks to public health, how much money the state is spending to monitor and supervise the problem, the extent to which restoration of the Everglades relies on this risky technology, and the plans of the state with respect to reclaimed and water reuse.
...press release from the Sierra Club--Please address return correspondence to: John S. Glenn Florida Chapter Sierra Club 217 North 17th Street Fernandina Beach, FL 32034-2608 Contact: Alan
Farago, 305-796-3082 John Glen, 904-261-9468
Hundreds of Florida residents have used MPP's Web site to send letters to their state legislators, urging them to introduce a bill that would protect seriously ill patients from arrest for medical marijuana.
If you have already sent a letter, thank you. Please forward this alert to others who will add their voices to our call for compassion.
If you have not already done so, please visit http://www.mpp.org/FL to automatically send a pre-written letter -- or a letter of your own -- to those who represent you in the state legislature.
Each year, MPP hears from countless state legislators who say citizens are not interested in medical marijuana, despite its overwhelming support as noted in countless public opinion polls.
Medical marijuana, they say, simply is not an important issue for the overwhelming majority of voters.
Only you can change that perception. Please help make sure that
legislators know of the tremendous public support for medical
marijuana.
....Kate DeBurgh, 1/9/02
(The last day to request bills was January 10, but it's never too
late to have your voice heard)
Sierra Club Tallahassee Report
Sierra Club legislative reports moved click
here
(Top)
NEEDED: AGGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVES
Putting Public Interest Before Blind Patriotism
John Nichols interviews Jim Hightower:
"It is no secret that George W. Bush's current poll ratings --
transient though they may be -- have caused many Washington
progressives to lose their nerve. As a ridiculously complacent
broadcast media tries to fit every D.C. dispute into an "America
Strikes Back" frame, too many labor, environmental and civil
liberties groups since the Sept. 11 attacks have chosen the path of
least resistance. ...
The kid gloves approach has allowed the Bush administration and its
congressional allies to roll over opposition and common sense on the
$15 billion airline CEO bailout, federalization of airport security,
diminution of civil liberties with the "anti-terrorism" bill
and a host of other critical matters. Confusing patriotism with
complicity, the loyal opposition -- in Congress and out -- has proved
so loyal on so many issues that it cannot truly be said to be an
opposition."
http://tompaine.com/print.php3?id=2551
.... libertyman, 11/17/01
Will the Patriot bill stifle patriots?
I wonder how pertinent to the current PATRIOT BILL is the analysis laid out in http://www.fpcn-global.org/ I am very much concerned not so much about what happens to those who courageously still speak out their mind but to those who get scared and never speak out. Those who do not speak out will have been in effect forced into submission by this hysteria.
It is even more important in these times to speak out than in any other! This is the time of bifurcation, great and good changes might occur but also great and bad changes might occur. Change is inevitable! The question is, Are we lead by the change or do we lead it! There is no way to stay neutral!
I feel there is a chance for a great, spontaneous world-wide movement of consciousness that just might derail this fast-track train of self-destruction.
May we stay vigilant and alive to act!
...dubravko,11/1/01
(Top)
Why "www.stopsembler.org"
Could you post this link somewhere? (Maybe an action alert): www.stopsembler.org. There is an open letter to oppose the possible nomination of Mel Sembler (chief fund raiser for the G.W. Bush campaign, St. Petersburg developer and member of Council of 100) as Ambassador to Italy. The website explains in detail why he should not represent our county in any capacity. If anyone agrees they may sign the letter. Anonymous,8/29/01
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No Vacation for Activists - the softer side of the coup"We are entering into the most dangerous phase of the Bush offensive to date, as the Bushies hope to elude criticism for their draconian programs and supplant an imagined "compassionate" president for the actually tyrannical resident that we have. What the Bushies say is usually the complete opposite of what they do. We must remind the American public about what the Bushies do, and contrast that with what they say. Now is the time to remain vigilant, not to lapse into complacency." So writes Michael Rectenwald in American Politics Journal. |
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Felon Purges Are Spreading Like CancerFlorida's felon purge illegally removed thousands of voters -
mostly black - from the voter rolls. This was largely because of
"fuzzy" programming - such as an 80% match of the letters
in the last name. But this fraud-prone practice was recently adopted
by state legislatures in CO, GA, IN, KS, MT, SD, TX, VA, and WA.
Moreover, 16 other states are considering such bills. Meanwhile in
Congress, "Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) has introduced a
bill in which certain conditions in any state would trigger
mandatory voter list purges." This is exactly the WRONG
approach, as reporter Greg Palast details in this important article.
Tell your Senators: outlaw felon purges! |
Contacts:
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CONTACT THE ICHETUCKNEE MOBILIZATION
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