Democratic Party

Leaked 2015 Memo Told Dems: ‘Don’t Offer Support’ For Black Lives Matter

September 1, 2016 Julia Craven, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Democratic Party, Leak

By Julia Craven for The Huffington Post - WASHINGTON ― “Don’t offer support” for the “concrete policy positions” of Black Lives Matter protesters, the chief organization charged with electing Democrats to the House of Representatives warned its candidates in an internal memo leaked online on Wednesday. The document was posted online by Guccifer 2.0, a hacker who has claimed to be responsible for the Democratic National Committee email leak.

DNC Emails: Entrenched Pay-To-play Culture In Democratic Party

July 31, 2016 Branko Marcetic, www.inthesetimes.com Educate! Corruption, Democratic Party, Money in Politics, Wikileaks

By Branko Marcetic for In These Times. Some of the nearly 20,000 Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails released by WikiLeaks illustrate a pervasive culture of pay-to-play within the Democratic Party, where wealthy donors are granted the type of unprecedented access to party officials and lawmakers that ordinary citizens can only dream of, all in the hope that doing so will unlock access to their checkbooks. In advance of this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the DNC was engaged in a furious scramble for cash. In an April 25 email, one staffer sent Naomi Aberly, a vice chairwoman of the DNC’s national finance committee and major Democratic fundraiser, a list of donors to contact “who have maxed the past few years but have yet to max this year.” Part of this scramble involved selling special “convention packages” to big money donors that promised them ever more impressive perks the more money they gave or raised. One of the documents released by WikiLeaks outlines these packages. The top-tiered package, called “Rittenhouse Square,” promises any individual who either raises $1.25 million or gives $467,600 to the DNC by June 1 a variety of benefits. Along with “priority booking in a premiere hotel,” nightly access to VIP lounges and parties, and an exclusive photo opportunity, the package also tempts donors with seats at “an exclusive roundtable and campaign briefing with high-level Democratic officials,” and participation in various business roundtables and industry panels taking place throughout the event.

Sanders Supporters Protests Against Dems Helping Create Local Change

July 30, 2016 Molly Knefel, www.truth-out.org Resist! Bernie Sanders, Democratic Party, Protests

By Molly Knefel for Truthout - Democrats in Philadelphia have spent this week reckoning with powerful divisions within their party, most visibly from Bernie Sanders delegates attempting to push the party to the left. The big question of the week is: what will the movement inspired by Sanders look like now that Hillary Clinton has secured the nomination? On Tuesday, a small group of elected officials from around the country gathered at the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia.

DNC Delegates Support Palestinian Rights, Even If Democratic Party Doesn’t

July 30, 2016 Nora Barrows-Friedman, www.electronicintifada.net Organize! Democratic Party, DNC, Palestine

By Nora Barrows-Friedman for The Electronic Intifada - Human rights activists converged in Philadelphia this week to campaign for Palestinian rights during the Democratic National Convention (DNC). While Hillary Clinton secured the party’s presidential nomination, activists attended alternative events and organized Palestine solidarity actions. Clinton has promised to bolster the US alliance with Israel.

She Stoops To Conquer: Notes From Democratic Convention

July 29, 2016 Jeffrey St. Clair, www.counterpunch.org Resist! Democratic Party, DNC

By Jeffrey St. Clair for Counter Punch - First things first. I want to apologize to the Sandernistas for any impolite things I may have written about you in the past 10 months. I especially want to apologize to those of you who rose up after your leader abandoned you, after Bernie wiped out your votes and muted your voices, after he turned you over to the DNC’s thuggish floor managers and security guards, after he sat passively as your brave chants of “No More Drones” were drowned out by the fascist war-cry of “USA! USA!!”

Democrats Divide Over Massive Expenditure To Upgrade Nuclear Weapons

July 26, 2016 Jason Ditz, www.truthdig.com Resist! Democratic Party, Nuclear Weapons

By Jason Ditz for Anti War - A potentially massive expense which rarely gets a lot of debate, the question of America’s nuclear weapons “modernization” scheme is the subject of a pair of rival letters from Congressmen to the White House, advocating different approaches. The first letter, signed by a bipartisan group of senators including Tim Kaine (D – VA), argues for massive expenditures to ensure the “interlocking triad” of US nuclear capabilities remains in place for decades to come, irrespective of the cost.

Blockaders Say Democratic Party Fails People And Climate

July 22, 2016 Staff, www.beyondextremeenergy.org Resist! Climate Change, Democratic Party

By Staff of Beyond Extreme Energy - For nearly three hours this afternoon, six Beyond Extreme Energy activists blockaded the doors at the Democratic National Committee, calling on the party to stand on the side of people and the planet instead of the fracked-gas industry. They and a crowd of supporters from BXE, Environmental Action and Greenpeace chanted “Fracking, Drilling, Oil and Gas: None shall pass” and “Hey Democrats, you can’t hide. We can see your corporate side.”

Battle Over Palestine May Spill Into Democratic Convention

July 21, 2016 Rania Khalek, www.electronicintifada.net Resist! Democratic Party, DNC, Palestine

By Rania Khalek for The Electronic Antifada - The Democratic primary race for president is effectively over following Bernie Sanders’ endorsement of Hillary Clinton. But the battle over Israel and Palestine within the party is just getting started and will likely spill over into the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia next week. Throughout the platform writing process, those appointed to the drafting committee by Sanders shattered the illusion of lockstep Democratic support for Israel

Massive Climate, Anti-TPP March Planned Before DNC

July 20, 2016 Nika Knight, www.commondreams.org Resist! Climate Change, Democratic Party, Fracking, TPP

By Nika Knight for Common Dreams. Philadelphia, PA - Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have conclusively shown that living close to fracking operations significantly increases asthma sufferers' risks of attacks, adding urgency to the battle against fracking within the Democratic Party as it prepares to convene in Philadelphia next week. The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, looked at 35,000 medical records in Pennsylvania from 2005 to 2012. The state has long been host to a controversial fracking boom, and many have clamored for politicians to pay attention to the industry's irreversible damage to the land and human health. "This study's findings confirm what we have known for years—that fracking is an inherently hazardous process that threatens human health and safety every day. More than 17 million Americans live within a mile of a fracking site, and they are all at risk,"

Marching On The DNC: Interview With Cheri Honkala

July 10, 2016 Ann Garrison, www.counterpunch.org Resist! Democratic Party, Poor people, Poverty

By Ann Garrison for Counterpunch. It was a struggle but we were adamant and told the ACLU over and over again for 48 hours that we would not change our permit request, and we have won the right to march on the south side of city hall at 3:00 o’clock, going all the way up Broad Street to the front door of the Democratic National Convention. And so we’re hoping that anybody that was afraid before will turn out in droves and join us. Our march has turned into a real symbol of the fight for political independence from the two corporate controlled parties. And I think we’re gonna look back and see this as an important historical marker. It’s really important that people understand that our march begins at 3:00 on the south side of city hall, because the Democratic Party is going to stop at absolutely nothing to make sure that the voices of poor and other front line communities are not heard in the Democratic National Convention.

Tax On Wall Street Financial Transactions Becoming Mainstream

July 5, 2016 Sarah Anderson, www.inequality.org Create! Democratic Party, DNC, Wall Street Tax

By Sarah Anderson for Inequality - The Democratic Party Platform Committee has taken a position in support of a tax on Wall Street transactions, according to a statement by committee member Rep. Keith Ellison. This is just the latest sign of the mainstreaming of a bold policy that would shrink the size and power of Wall Street. Even at a rate of just a small fraction of a percent on each trade, such taxes would slash the profitability of the high-speed speculation that dominates our financial markets but has no real economic value. At the same time, the tax could generate massive revenue for job creation and other urgent needs.

The Democratic War Platform

July 3, 2016 David Swanson, www.davidswanson.org Create! Democratic Party, Wars and Militarism

By David Swanson, The Democratic Party's draft platform takes a government that spends over half of discretionary spending on militarism, as much as the rest of the world combined, with troops in most countries and seven wars underway, and says: Keep it going, only more so! The Platform begins with support-the-troops propaganda, demanding military spending for the sake of the people recruited into the military, many of them of course for lack of the free college that the Democrats have left out of their platform. "Support Our Troops and Keep Faith with Our Veterans," is the opening headline on foreign policy. The words under that headline have nothing to do with what it suggests. Wouldn't a platform be the place in which to take a position on continuing or ending the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Pakistan, Syria, and Yemen? The Platform simply accepts wars, makes a nod to being aware of their existence, and moves along. The Democrats speak not of aid or diplomacy or disarmament, but of the need to "Confront Global Threats." The failed, counterproductive war on terrorism would roll on

DNC Torpedoes Majority Of Sanders’ Agenda

June 26, 2016 Hugh Wharton, www.usuncut.com Educate! 2016 Elections, Bernie Sanders, Democratic Party

By Hugh Wharton for US Uncut. St. Louis, MO - The battle over the official Democratic Party platform began in earnest this Friday at a nine-hour meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, and already the sparks of tension seem to be outweighing the calls for “unity.” The Democratic Party’s platform is an official statement of values on a wide range of issues, and while it is officially non-binding, the platform serves as a crucial guidepost for the entire party. The 2016 platform committee comprises fifteen members, with five members chosen by Bernie Sanders, six chosen by Hillary Clinton, and four chosen by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee. Bernie Sanders himself had conflicting feelings about the progress and concessions made on Friday.

The Cynical Sit-In

June 24, 2016 Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, www.jacobinmag.com Educate! Congress, Democratic Party, Sit-In

By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor for Jacobin Magazine - It’s the season of political antics and this time around, the Democratic Party refuses to be outdone. House Democrats, led by civil rights godfather John Lewis, have staged a sit-in to allow for votes on gun control legislation. Earlier in the week four such measures were rejected, including a bill sponsored by California senator Dianne Feinstein which called for expanding the “Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment,” known more commonly as the “terrorist watchlist.”

Shut Down The Democratic National Convention

June 8, 2016 Chris Hedges, www.truthdig.com Resist! 2016 Elections, Democratic Party, Hillary Clinton

By Chris Hedges for Truth Dig - On July 25, opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Cheri Honkala, leader of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, who was denied a permit to march by city authorities, will rally with thousands of protesters outside City Hall. Defying the police, they will march up Broad Street to the convention. We will recapture our democracy in the streets of cities such as Philadelphia, not in convention halls such as the aptly named Wells Fargo Center...

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