Democrats

How Democrats Helped To Kill Low Cost Housing

November 5, 2014 James Tracy, www.prorevnews.blogspot.com Educate! Democrats, HOPE VI, Public Housing

Clinton’s housing policy was part and parcel of welfare reform. Certainly, both federal income assistance and public housing needed changes. But Clinton and Congress adopted a model based in punishment and austerity. He was literally worse than the Republicans at every turn. His version of HOPE VI, the program to demolish and rebuild public housing, removed the very reasonable guarantee of one-to-one replacement of demolished housing. Clinton was able to use progressive critiques of the worst aspects of federal housing such as the warehousing of the poor in substandard conditions to accomplish the conservative goal of privatizing formerly public housing.

Open Letter: Democratic Party Failing On The Climate Crisis

October 26, 2014 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Climate Change, Democracy, Democrats

While some in the Democratic Party acknowledge that the climate crisis is real, human-made and requires action, there has been no significant action taken by Democratic party officials. Instead, there is widespread support for hydrofracking for methane gas, mountaintop removal for coal and extraction of tar sands bitumen as well as seismic testing and drilling for off-shore oil. Democrats continue to financially support nuclear energy even though it adds to climate gases, is the most expensive source of energy, takes years to come online and creates environmental problems at every step, i.e. extraction of uranium, processing of uranium, production of energy and radioactive waste. At the same time, there has been inadequate support for wind, solar, ocean and other clean energy alternatives as well as decreasing wasted energy by improving efficiency.

Key Democrats Leave No Doubt US Doctrine Is Endless War

October 9, 2014 Glen Greenwald, www.firstlook.org Educate! Democrats, Wars and Militarism

Long before Americans were introduced to the new 9/11 era super-villains called ISIS and Khorasan, senior Obama officials were openly and explicitly stating that America’s “war on terror,” already 12 years old, would last at least another decade. At first, they injected these decrees only anonymously; in late 2012, The Washington Post - disclosing the administration’s secret creation of a “disposition matrix” to decide who should be killed, imprisoned without charges, or otherwise “disposed” of - reported these remarkable facts: Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade. Given the way al-Qaida continues to metastasize, some officials said no clear end is in sight. . . . That timeline suggests that the United States has reached only the midpoint of what was once known as the global war on terrorism.”

Top Dems Sell-Out Environmental Activists

August 7, 2014 Fractivist, www.fractivist.org Organize! Colorado, Democrats, Elections, Fracking

Dear Representative Polis: We watched in horror as you blatantly hijacked Colorado’s democratic process, by throwing out nearly 300,000 signatures for statewide initiatives 88 and 89 that you yourself said were “sensible regulations on fracking.” You represent a district where five communities passed local initiatives that voted “yes” to moratoria and bans on fracking, yet you failed to represent those constituents, your constituents. In the Colorado constitution, it states that all political power is vested in the people. Though our political process has largely been usurped by money and party rule, you the politicians forget that “We the people” are the party. You work for us and we have spoken. What you and the Democratic Party have done in this state is hijack our democratic process. In less than six week’s time, we made it clear that we expect our right to “clean air, pure water and natural and scenic values” to be represented in the Colorado Constitution. And we expect that our local governments are there to protect us. By withdrawing these initiatives, you also withdrew the voice of Coloradans.

Recent History: How The Democrats Became A Wall Street Party

July 28, 2014 Bill Curry, www.salon.com Educate! Democrats, Populism, Ralph Nader, Wall Street

In 2006 the Atlantic magazine asked a panel of “eminent historians” to name the 100 most influential people in American history. Included alongside George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Mark Twain and Elvis Presley was Ralph Nader, one of only three living Americans to make the list. It was airy company for Nader, but if you think about it, an easy call. Though a private citizen, Nader shepherded more bills through Congress than all but a handful of American presidents. If that sounds like an outsize claim, try refuting it. His signature wins included landmark laws on auto, food, consumer product and workplace safety; clean air and water; freedom of information, and consumer, citizen, worker and shareholder rights. In a century only Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson passed more major legislation. Nader’s also the only American ever to start a major social or political movement all by himself. The labor, civil rights and women’s movements all had multiple mothers and fathers, as did each generation’s peace and antiwar movements. Not so the consumer movement, which started out as just one guy banging away at a typewriter. Soon he was a national icon, seen leaning into Senate microphones on TV or staring down the establishment from the covers of news magazines.

Single Payer Advocates Should Bring Constant Pressure On Dems

July 26, 2014 Ted Van Dyk, www.crosscut.com Organize! Democrats, health, Obamacare, Politics, Single-Payer

The Western Washington Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates for a universal, comprehensive single-payer national health program, held its annual public meeting last Saturday evening at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus. The event provided a useful snapshot of things to come in healthcare politics nationally, but also here in Washington State. The meeting, held before a nearly full house that included numerous practicing doctors and nurses, also provided its share of surprises. Here are some highlights: There was consensus that a single-payer plan is at least several years away and that state- rather than national-level organizing efforts to institute one would bear the most fruit over the next two years. The Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) allows states, beginning in 2017, to seek exemptions from its provisions provided they present a credible alternative plan to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. The meeting’s speakers agreed that between now and 2017 lobbying efforts to enact single-payer alternatives should focus on governors and state legislators. (Such HHS approvals, Rep. Jim McDermott pointed out, would likely occur only during the administration of a President sympathetic to the idea).

Why Did Obama Really Stop Talking About Inequality?

July 12, 2014 Peter Hart, www.fair.org Educate! Barack Obama, Democrats, Inequality, Wall Street

The Washington Post's Zachary Goldfarb reported on July 4 that Barack Obama has stopped talking much about inequality. But instead of explaining why this is happening, the Post frames the issue as a debate between left-leaning populists and "moderate" Democrats trying to avoid "class warfare." The piece leads off with this: After making fighting income inequality an early focus of his second term, President Obama has largely abandoned talk of the subject this election year in a move that highlights the emerging debate within the Democratic Party over economic populism and its limits. Goldfarb adds that Obama has "shifted from income inequality to the more politically palatable theme of lifting the middle class," framing the decision as a clash of ideas: The shift also underscores the ongoing dispute between the Democratic Party's liberal and moderate wings over how to address inequality issues. Whereas the left takes a more combative tone, seeking to focus on the income gap and what it views as the harmful influence of big business and Wall Street, more centrist forces in the party favor an emphasis on less-divisive issues.

Californians Lose On Fracking, Corrupt Dems Sell Out

May 31, 2014 Emily Atkin, www.thinkprogress.org Educate! California, Corruption, Democrats, Fracking

A California bill that would have banned fracking while the state studied its risks was narrowly defeated in the state Senate on Thursday, despite polling that showed a majority of California voters favored the legislation. SB 1132, authored by Democratic state senators Holly Mitchell and Mark Leno, failed to pass with a vote of 18-16. In all, seven Democrats prevented the bill from moving forward, with four voting against the bill and three more abstaining from voting. The bill’s defeat was widely seen as a win for the state’s large oil lobby, led by the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA). The group, according to Truth Out, spent $4.6 million in 2013 on lobbying in California, and has so far spent $1.4 million in just the first 3 months of 2014. Altogether, the oil industry — including WSPA, Chevron, and BP — spent more than $56 million lobbying the California Legislature from 2009 through 2013.

The Democrats’ New Fake Populism

May 31, 2014 Shamus Cooke, www.globalresearch.ca Educate! Democrats, Inequality, Populism

It would have been hilarious were it not so nauseating. One could only watch the recent “New Populism” conference with pity-induced discomfort, as stale Democratic politicians did their awkward best to adjust themselves to the fad of “populism.” A boring litany of Democratic politicians — or those closely associated — gave bland speeches that aroused little enthusiasm among a very friendly audience of Washington D.C. politicos. It felt like an amateur recital in front of family and friends, in the hopes that practicing populism with an audience would better prepare them for the real thing. The organizers of the conference, The Campaign For America’s Future, ensured that real populism would be absent from the program. The group is a Democratic Party ally that essentially functions as a party think tank.

Republicans &Democrats May Rue Progressive Awakening

May 30, 2014 Rob Schofield, www.ncpolicywatch.com Organize! Democrats, History, Moral Mondays, North Carolina

There is a bit of mythology percolating through the mainstream news media these days that the Moral Mondays/Forward Together movement led by Rev. William Barber of the North Carolina NAACP is somehow acting as stalking horse for the state Democratic Party and Democratic politicians. Associated Press reporter Katelyn Ferral even “reported” as much in a “news” story this week that several media outlets ran under the headline “NC’s protests are Democratic tool in election year.” This is from the story: “The weekly protesters at the North Carolina legislature call their charge against Republican policies a moral imperative. But it is a moral imperative replete with a Democratic agenda in an election year. The “Moral Monday” movement has become a de-facto campaign tool for Democrats to publicize their platform and recruit volunteers to help them win elections. In a year where North Carolina’s heated U.S. Senate race can decide the direction of the upper chamber, results will hinge on the movement’s ability to translate the voices to votes come November.” Ferral’s conclusion is, of course, plainly and utterly off-base.

Democrats Wedded To Money, Not To The People

May 19, 2014 Lee Fang, www.vice.com Educate! Barack Obama, Corporatism, Democrats

Looking for the fight over the heart and soul of the Democratic Party in the waning days of the Obama administration? Next Tuesday morning, take the elevator to the eighth floor of a downtown Washington, DC, building and step into the offices of America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), the premier lobbying group for some of the largest fracking companies in the world. While much of the talk about a progressive revival revolves around populist figures like New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Senator Elizabeth Warren, there are other, better funded efforts afoot. Corporate titans from finance to natural gas to big retail to telecom are attempting to steer the party, and as the midterms shape up, these interests are pushing to ensure they continue to have wide sway over America's only viable outlet for center-left expression at the polls. Which brings us to the latest venture in corporate-centered party-building and the group hosting a chat in ANGA's headquarters: The NewDEAL. Created by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and Senator Mark Begich of Alaska, the NewDEAL is one of several cash-rich efforts to resurrect the Democratic Party's flailing bench of electable candidates. This NewDEAL has little in common with President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal platform, which pledged to save capitalism from itself by cracking down on predatory banking institutions and restoring workplace rights for Americans. No, this NewDEAL is a 501(c)(4) issue-advocacy nonprofit, a tax vehicle which allows campaign activity without disclosure of donors, and its name is an acronym for "Developing Exceptional American Leaders."

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