On June 16, approximately 300 citizens showed up at the Secretary of State's Voting Systems and Procedures Panel when it heard testimony on the certification of several Diebold Election Systems, Inc.'s voting equipment components and procedures. All but three citizen's present were there to ask the committee to not certify Diebold Election Systems as well as the Proprietary Software and the Heat Paper printers.
The panel is accepting written comments until June 30. Protect Your Vote! Let the panel know you do not trust Diebold Election System to provide trustworthy results. Send your comments to:
Secretary of State
Office of Elections Division
1500 11th St. 5th Floor
Sacramento CA 95814
Phone: 916-657-2166
Fax: 916-653-3214
e-mail: elections@ss.ca.gov
Reasons to object include:
For more information:
BlackBox Voting
Election/Reform Protection Website
California Voter Foundation
KALW is under attack by the Republican commissioners on the FCC. On June 6, the FCC began hearings in Washington, D.C. regarding the broadcast license for KALW. From a San Francisco Bay Guardian article published last year:
"[T]his pioneering public radio station could be shut down by the Federal Communications Commission, which is investigating KALW's faulty public record-keeping but ignoring similar problems at stations owned by corporate behemoths like Clear Channel that broadcast prepackaged music and reactionary talk shows featuring such personalities as Rush Limbaugh and Dr. Laura."
KALW NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT NOW. Send a clear message to the FCC that Bay Area listeners support and value KALW. Tell the FCC how important KALW is to you and our community.
Letters must be received by the FCC no later than June 30.
Join nurses, teachers, firefighters, and community members on Wednesday, June 22 to protest Schwarzenegger's special election and corrupt corporate fundraising:
Wednesday, June 22 at 4:00 pm
Stanford Park Hotel
100 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
Directions
Gather at 4:00 pm in front of the hotel.
Ample parking across the street at the Stanford Shopping Mall.
Governor Schwarzenegger's agenda attacks nurses, teachers, firefighters, police, home care workers, and the most vulnerable citizens that we care for...
For more information, including information on carpools,call 510-273-2240. Also, visit www.CalNurses.org, or contact your Labor Representative.
Both the Oakland City Council and the Berkeley City Council are scheduled to hear resolutions endorsing the Department of Peace.
The Oakland City Council will hear a resolution supporting the Department of Peace on Tuesday, June 21 6PM. This resolution has been introduced by Nancy Nadel. All Oakland residents are encouraged to write or phone council members to support this resolution.
The Berkeley City Council will hear a similar resolution at their meeting on June 28. Berkeley residents are urged to contact the remaining council members who have yet to endorse the resolution: Moore, Maio, Olds and Tom Bates. The others have signed on.
The next meeting for the PD–East Bay Health Care Committee is Wednesday, July 6. Please contact Moria for the location at moriala@hotmail.com. This meeting is combined with the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club Health Committee. We are also exploring other health issues such as stem cell research and the Sutter Healthcare network.
We continue to table for SB 840 every weekend. Two notable calendar dates are the weekend of July 4 where some of us will be going to the Alameda County Fair, and July 8 where the SB 840 coalition will have a booth at a senior event at Lake Merritt, Oakland. Contact Moria at moriala@hotmail.com to join us.
Join us for tabling in Red Counties on Social Security! Tabling will be happening every weekend throughout the summer!
Note: Special tabling opportunity! Social Security Action will be tabling ALL DAY JULY 4th at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton. Visit the fair and help Social Security,too.
Even though Social Security is not on the front pages of the papers at the moment, legislation to introduce privatization is being written in the House and the Senate. We must not let our coalition splinter. If you would like to help with this effort, please contact Jody Ginsberg (510-636-4149, jody@idiom.com). Tabling training will be provided.
Pete Stark will be conducting town hall meetings on Social Security, both online and in person.
Online: June 28, noon-1pm
Details at: www.house.gov/stark
In Person: Saturday, July 23rd at three locations
Details at: www.house.gov/stark/contact/townmeeting.htm
Congressman Bill Thomas (Bakersfield) has announced that he is going to "broker the deal" to reform the Social Security system in this Congressional Session. He hopes to promote the President's plan to establish private investment accounts and index benefits as the two cornerstones of the plan, as well as open the discussion so that all proposals can be brought to the table in an effort to address the "crisis" facing Social Security and win bi-partisan support.
WE SAY NO TO ANY PLAN THAT INCLUDES PRIVATIZATION AND REDUCTIONS IN BENEFITS TO CURRENT AND FUTURE BENEFICIARIES!
THURSDAY, JULY 7th – Bakersfield
12 PM: Lunch and Gathering: The LABOR HALL, 200 W. Jeffrey/ off Union St.
1:30 PM: Rally at Rep. Thomas' Office, 4100 Empire Drive
Join us in Bakersfield from one of the following locations:
EAST BAY: Vans leaving 7:30am from Alameda County Labor Council,
7992 Capwell Dr, Oakland.
RSVP to Jim Forsyth 510-581-5169
SAN JOSE: Bus leaving 7:30am from IBEW #332
2125 Canoas Garden Ave & Almaden Rd, San Jose.
RSVP to Rufus Wesley, 408-578-8113
MODESTO: Bus leaves 7:15am from Food Max,
Briggsmoore & Prescott
RSVP to Addie Brinkley, 209-545-8680
FRESNO: Bus leaves 9:45am from Manchester Mall (near Sears)
Blackstone & Shields.
RSVP to Gene Roza, 559-905-3521
CARPOOLS: Sacramento, Stockton, San Francisco, Contra Costa, etc. are organizing carpools.
Call Jodi Reid at 415-550-0828 to find out about one near you
Sponsored by the California Alliance for Retired Americans. RSVP: Nan Brasmer: 877-223-6107 (toll free) or Jodi Reid: 415-550-0828
PBS, NPR, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is under attack. This week, a House committee voted to slash public broadcasting by more than $200 million – cuts so drastic that they will decimate public television and radio stations across the country. We stand to lose the educational, news and cultural programs that Americans trust above all others. Kenneth Tomlinson, the Republican chairman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) – the government-funded organization that was designed to shield PBS from political pressure – is aggressively pressing PBS to correct what he considers "liberal bias."
This top-down partisan meddling goes against the very nature of PBS and the local stations we trust. Here are three things you can do to help save PBS, NPR, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Nancy Snedden of the PD–East Bay Media Reform Action Group has drafted a strongly-worded letter to John Conyers and key persons in Congress, asking Conyers to expand the investigation into the Downing Street Memos. She asks that the investigation also include:
If you are interested in co-signing this letter to Conyers and key people in Congress, please contact either Nancy Snedden (nsnedden@earthlink.net) or Vince Genovese (jovin@idiom.com), who are coordinating this effort.
Nancy Pelosi has offered an amendment to the defense budget that will say to the President:
"Within 30 days of the enactment of this legislation, Congress expects an accounting from you as to what the strategy for success is. What are the security and political measures that you are putting forth that can lead us to bring our troops home?"
We can no longer afford to sit quietly while we wait for lights at the end of the tunnel and corners to be turned. It will take a clear, transparent process and input from both parties in Congress to win in Iraq, something that is impossible as long as we do not have a plan to work from. This amendment, along with a parallel one in the Senate, says that Democrats will no longer allow Congress and the American people to be marginalized from this process. It is critical to our chances of success in Iraq.
Join Nancy Pelosi in this demand. Please sign on as a citizen co-sponsor to this monumental amendment: www.democraticaction.org/petitions/winningiraq.shtml
Independent World Television is building the world's first global independent news network. Online and on TV, IWTnews will deliver independent news and real debate from professional and citizen journalists – without funding from governments, corporations or commercial advertising. Using the web to organize and raise funds across borders, IWTnews is building an international movement for democracy.
Visit the IWTnews website to view a video featuring interview with Phyllis Bennis, Salih Booker, Jeff Cohen, Laura Flanders, Linda Foley, Amy goodman, Naomi Klein, Bob McChesney, Joanne St. Lewis, and IWTnews Chair Paul Jay. Learn how you can contribute to this effort.
Progressive Democrats of the East Bay is a growing chapter of Progressive Democrats of America, a national organization and Political Action Committee (PAC), started by supporters of Kucinich, Dean, and various social justice groups. It is not affiliated with the Democratic party but is dedicated to restoring to the Democratic party its progressive vision by engaging local support for national and local progressive causes.
Progressive Democrats of the East Bay will support progressive candidates for elected office from the small local boards to national offices. It dialogues and networks with a broad-based coalition of likeminded groups and people in our community to create a common agenda and an agreed-upon plan by which to realize our goals.
We realize that many who support our causes and endeavors cannot attend all our meetings or are too busy with other activities to be involved in an Action Group.
Please, if you support our work, become a member. Funds make it possible for us to create flyers, literature, and banners, rent the meeting room, and mail notices about events. These are all essential activities to our functioning as a progressive voice.
Dues are on a sliding scale: $10–$100 per year or a minimum of 2 hours of volunteer work a year.
Make checks payable to PD-EB, and send to:
Sara Shumer
1610 Kains Ave.
Berkeley, CA. 94702
Please provide the following:
Name: _______________________________________
Address: _____________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
E-mail and phone: ______________________________
_____________________________________________
Interest and skills: ______________________________
We try to make this newsletter a handy resource for upcoming progressive events and actions in the Bay Area. If you know of friends or colleagues who would be interested in this newsletter, please forward this to them and ask them if they would like to subscribe.
If you have not yet subscribed to this newsletter, please visit the subscribe link on our website (www.pdeastbay.org/subscribe.php).
If you have items you would like listed in this newsletter or on the PD-East Bay web site at www.pdeastbay.org, submit them to pdebListAdmin@PDEastBay.org. Events, activities, and action alerts about local progressive causes will be considered for inclusion. Note: All submissions subject to editing to fit the style and content of our organization.
The next PD–East Bay newsletter will go out on or around July 5th. Please submit items for inclusion as early as you can!
Check out www.pdeastbay.org regularly for updated information on progressive politics!