There’s going to be a strategy meeting for the Coalition for Marijuana Regulation this Saturday. (Don’t worry, it’s right before the rally against gun violence, so you can make both!) It will be tomorrow, Saturday, January 26th from 10AM-12PM at Brown University, Smith-Buonanno Hall (95 Cushing Street, Providence, RI 02906).
http://www.rifuture.org/join-us-strategy-meeting-for-marijuana-reform.html
We’re holding a big rally against gun violence at noon at the state house this Saturday along with Mothers and Others Against Gun Violence, MoveOn.org, One Million Moms for Gun Control, The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and The Institute for Non-Violence. We’ve lined up a number of moving speakers, including David Cicilline. It’s going to be a great event. We must achieve meaningful action before the horror of Newtown fades from the public memory.
State Coordinator Sam Bell responds to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Dan DaPonte’s confusion on tax breaks for the wealthy.
We deliver our petition to the Governor’s office. More than 1800 citizens joined our call to end voter suppression in Rhode Island! Check out this article in the Projo:
Here’s a link to the petition:
http://signon.org/sign/reverse-the-ri-voter.fb23?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=394876
When we endorsed David Cicilline, the strong progressive running for reelection to Congress, one of our main concerns with his opponent Anthony Gemma was that Gemma refused to commit to backing Cicilline if he lost the primary. This refusal to stand with the Democrats has led many to cast doubt on Gemma’s Democratic credentials. It may explain why the motion to endorse Gemma could not even get a second at the Rhode Island Democratic Party Convention. It may also explain a recent interview with Buddy Cianci where Gemma broke with the Democrats so hard that even Cianci joined the chorus of voices doubting whether Gemma is a true Democrat, telling Gemma, “you’re a Democrat—or at least you say you are.”
In the interview, an excerpt of which can be viewed on our YouTube channel, Gemma has taken his rejection of his party even further. Gemma’s first dig at the left was praising the infamous Ryan Plan for—of all things—calling for defense cuts. What makes this odd is that the Ryan Plan was known for sparing defense from cuts. Instead, Paul Ryan’s plan attempted to balance the budget by hiking taxes on the middle class and taking a wrecking ball to social programs like Medicare and Social security. In fact, an analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concluded that the Ryan Plan actually increases defense spending! But this is nothing new. Factual accuracy has never been a major component of Gemma’s statements in support of Republican ideas. When we interviewed him, for instance, we were struck by the logical gymnastics that enabled Gemma to support the Keystone XL pipeline (which imports unusually dirty foreign oil) because importing foreign oil would somehow reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
The moment that really shocked us, though, was when Gemma took his rejection of his fellow Democrats home to Rhode Island: He refused to support Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. This refusal to stand with his supposed allies hardly inspires confidence in Gemma’s ability to stand up against the Republicans who crashed the economy and now block every move President Obama takes to fix the mess they landed us in. The pain that Republican obstructionism in Congress has caused Rhode Islanders is immense. We cannot allow it to continue. We call on Anthony Gemma to reverse his position. Please, Mr. Gemma, pledge to support Sheldon Whitehouse, David Cicilline, and Jim Langevin against their Republican opponents. If you are the nominee, Democrats will be there for you. You owe the same for us.
Both David Cicilline and Anthony Gemma have been claiming to be the true progressive in the Democratic primary for the District One US House seat. As the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats of America, we recently sat down with both candidates to figure out who holds the best progressive vision for our state and our country. Our answer—by a unanimous vote—is Congressman David Cicilline.
Their policy differences make this abundantly clear. For instance: Cicilline opposes letting public money go to private schools; Gemma supports it. Cicilline opposes ethanol subsidies; Gemma supports them. Cicilline opposes the Keystone pipeline; Gemma supports it. (Gemma supports the pipeline in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil–something that confused us because the Keystone pipeline is all about bringing foreign oil into America.)
In several cases, Gemma took reasonably progressive stances, but only Cicilline was able to fully express the reasoning behind those positions. For instance, when we asked about healthcare, Gemma said he wanted everyone to have healthcare. This we support. But when we asked whether he would back a single payer system or even a mandate system, he said he did not know enough about the issue to answer the question. Congressman Cicilline gave a well-argued and impassioned call for single payer, which is, of course, a key plank in the Democratic platform.
Or consider economic policy. When we discussed the difference between the Republican austerity strategy and the stimulus strategy favored by the left (and less radical Republicans like Reagan), Gemma did favor some great stimulus measures like the infrastructure bank Congressman Cicilline has fought so hard for. But he also expressed concerns about “bond vigilantes,” an argument Nobel laureate Paul Krugman has called a “bang your head on the table mistake.”
We must also register our concern that Anthony Gemma might not be able to survive the rougher world of the general election. There were a number of moments during our conversation when a more hostile interviewer might have been able to make considerable political hay. For instance, he got into some trouble when we asked him for an example from American history of a military intervention on humanitarian grounds that he would have supported. When we tried to help him out by suggesting the holocaust, he made some comments that were probably inadvisable. Although we tried to help him walk these (and several other comments) back, we have to express considerable reservations about how Gemma would hold up in a less friendly environment.
Right-wing special interests are already ramping up their spending. The general election will not be an easy race. Not only do we need the strongest candidate, but Democrats must stick together. But Anthony Gemma has refused to back Congressman Cicilline if he wins the primary and has repeatedly praised the Republican candidate. If Gemma wins the primary, Cicilline has pledged to back him, and so will we. If Gemma is a true Democrat, he should do the same for Cicilline. We call on him to reverse his position and stand behind the Democratic nominee even if he loses the primary.
A final consideration for us is experience. Anthony Gemma has not held public office. David Cicilline, on the other hand, has a long track record of fighting for Rhode Island in the General Assembly, the Providence City Hall, and the United States House of Representatives. We have full confidence that the man who finally cleaned up the infamous corruption in Providence is amply qualified to tackle the problems of Washington.
We encourage Rhode Island voters to watch our discussions with both candidates, available on our YouTube channel. For us, however, the choice is clear. David Cicilline is far and away the best candidate to represent the first district of the great state of Rhode Island in Congress.
The Transparency in Political Spending (TiPS) Act, which we’ve been lobbying for this session, has passed the house! It will require disclosure of all political contributions over $1000 to outside PACs that influence elections in Rhode Island.
Check our coalition, Rhode Islanders for Fair Elections, for more info!
We’re gathering at the Rochambeau Library to finalize our plans for our endorsement event in the District 1 US House primary between David Cicilline and Anthony Gemma. We’ll also do some strategizing on legislative races as we put together a plan for this summer’s primary season. New members are always welcome! For more info: email Sam Bell <sam@pdamerica.org>
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/MessageViewer?em_id=211465.0&dlv_id=181841
Click the link to find out more!
Agenda for RIPDA Meeting
July 11, 2011
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Introductions
1. Pass out copies of RIPDA By- laws for second review, additions and comments. Any further revisions will be posted on line before the next meeting. Final vote to accept will be taken at next meeting.
2. Update on open leadership positions. Anyone interested in running for the open positions that will be posted at the meeting should submit his/her name by the November meeting. Elections will be held at the January meeting.
3. Treasurer’s report
4. Event Planner’s report on possible upcoming events
5. Updates on local and national issues
6. Overview of PDA issue-oriented teams
7. Breakout groups of issue-oriented teams for planning and/or coordinating events.
8. Report back from groups
Schedule next meeting
RIPDA Statewide Meeting – July 11
By Alan Ginet | July 6, 2011
These are interesting times here in the Ocean State. We are still struggling to recover from an historic recession, and many of our neighbors are hurting. Progressives today are challenged to respond to calls for drastic cuts to state services, coupled with massive tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Restrictions on womens’ health, voting, and marriage rights may endanger all of our freedoms. On the national level we face similar obstacles, with a war-machine that consumes our national treasure. In short, we Rhode Island Progressives have much to do! Here at RIPDA, we have been working hard on issues of social justice, ending the wars, healthcare, the environment, and free and fair elections.
Please bring all your great ideas for bold, progressive actions!
Please come to our next meeting.
Monday, July 11
6:30 – 8:00
Weaver Library
41 Grove Avenue
East Providence, RI
RSVP here.
Topics: Anti-War / Peace, Economic Justice, Elections, Health Care, State Government | Edit | No Comments »
No More Bad Trade Deals!
Say Yes to Workers’ Rights, Jobs, and Democracy!
Since NAFTA, the U.S. has lost 5 million good manufacturing jobs, and now the big banks and rich corporations are financing another attack on workers – the NAFTA style Korea Free Trade Agreement – which is moving its way into congress. The Korea FTA will put another 3.5 million jobs at risk and would cost at least 160,000 jobs nationwide, further devastating the U.S. economy. Just like NAFTA, the Korea trade deal continues a race to the bottom where corporations send jobs overseas to wherever workers’ rights and wages are the lowest. This leaves U.S. workers to suffer more job losses and hard economic times, while corporate profits soar. Enough is enough.
Now is the time to ramp up the pressure! Tell congress to vote NO on this horrible NAFTA-style Korea trade deal. We must stand up to protect our jobs and livelihood!
Call Congress Now!
Demand congress defend the interests of working families and Vote NO on the Korea trade deal!
Not sure what to say… keep these facts in mind:
For more information – check out these links.
Our next statewide meeting will be on Monday, July 11. Details to follow. Our issue organizing teams are developing many bold actions. Please contact us if you would like to get involved!
These are interesting times here in the Ocean State. We are still struggling to recover from an historic recession, and many of our neighbors are hurting. Progressives today are challenged to respond to calls for drastic cuts to state services, coupled with massive tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. Restrictions on womens’ health, voting, and marriage rights may endanger all of our freedoms. On the national level we face similar obstacles, with a war-machine that consumes our national treasure. In short, we Rhode Island Progressives have much to do! Here at RIPDA, we have been working hard on issues of social justice, ending the wars, healthcare, the environment, and free and fair elections.
Please come to our next meeting.