Causing Progress

While Congress is on recess, now is the time to attend a town meeting hosted by the member of the House of Representatives for your Congressional District.

This round of meetings may be more contentious than previous cycles due to the probable shift to a Democratic majority in the mid-term elections and war-related issues (in Iraq and Lebanon). Republicans seem to sense their weakness, so they are in attack mode. Expect very negative campaign barrages in the Fall.

The Congress members and their staff attempt to control the event, but, unlike the faux ‘town meetings’ produced for W and Dick, Congressional staffers can’t control who attends these events. The staff watches for banners and projectiles, however the peer pressure from other attendees restrains the behavior of the fringes (right, left, and off-the-wall).

Here are some tips for making your attendance at a public meeting hosted by your Congressional Representative effective and less stressful for everyone involved:

• Clearly print your specific question on the cards provided. Refer to the title of legislation, particularly if the Congress member co-sponsored it. Do some homework.

• Assume that the Congress member will not read aloud your rapier-like screed that starts “You $%*&#@ spineless coward…”

• If you absolutely must communicate your screed to the Congress member and the audience, then bring a stack of leaflets and hand them out to the incoming audience. Include contact information, in case someone agrees with you.

• Some people can’t resist loudly arguing, muttering insults, and shouting questions. The other attendees wrote down their questions and expect the Congress member to ignore the loudmouths and answer the next written question. Dissent means never having to say, “I’m an asshole, and so is everyone who agrees with me.”

• Listen to the questions other people are asking. You may have a few narrow issues that push your buttons, but try to understand the other issues that may concern large segments of your community. How are the issues related?

One axiom of Christian-Republican faith holds that government cannot deliver high-quality , low-cost services to a community. The faithful argue that only a for-profit business can ‘deliver the goods.’ So, it’s interesting to see what happens when a city turns over the task of maintaining public property to a business owned by a Christian-Republican, who is also a member of the city council.

City threatens to yank councilman’s contract reported JournalStar.com in Lincoln, NE.
Ken Svoboda’s business holds the contract to maintain the medians on the streets of Lincoln, Nebraska. Perhaps he believed his position on the city council would protect him from complaints from a dissatisfied customer. Maybe it did, for a while. When the Public Works Director threatened to terminate the contract, the councilman finally fulfilled his obligation. Of course, he blamed his failure on others; his employees (“When I’m not there, things don’t get finished.”) and the general public (“This is a casualty of public service.”).

So, does your city outsource the maintainance of public property? To elected officials?

From the Austin (TX) Statesman (5/24/06): Texas Supreme Court Justice Admonished

For a glimpse of what we might expect from the political operatives appointed to the US Supreme Court by Bush the First and Bush the Second, consider;

Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht crossed an ethical line last year when he quietly assured conservative leaders about high court nominee Harriet Miers’ views on religion and abortion, a judicial review panel concluded.

Hecht also erred in coordinating his advocacy of Miers, a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, with the White House providing daily reports of his media contacts and allowing administration officials to send reporters his way, according to a public admonition by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

In more than 120 interviews Hecht used his solid credibility as a Christian-Republican politician to drum up support for Miers. The White House even recruited him to lobby James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, who infamously stated “When you know some of the things that I know, that I probably shouldn’t know, you will understand why… I believe Harriet Miers will be a good justice.”

As we work our way through the primary season and approach the general elections in November, be sure to research the candidates for judge in your area. Do we really need another former prosecutor running our criminal courts? If Christian-Republicans control the judiciary from municipal courts to the US Supreme Court, where will America find merciful justice?

When experts talk about the cost of rents or mortgages for low income individuals and families, the phrase “deeper affordability” comes up. The question; How do we make homes available to people with incomes lower and lower on the income scale (below the median income for an area)?

For most of us above the median income, the cost of our homes is relative based on the number of acres, bathrooms, detached buildings, and stainless steel applicances. For those well below the median, the cost of a home involves the more basic issues of safety, access to grocery stores, and the day-to-day security of having a place to call home.

During a recent discussion of financing “deeper affordability,” an expert mentioned Low Income Housing Tax Credits as a Federal housing program unlikely to be slashed by the Bushies. Would Bush cut a tax credit that primarily benefits insurance companies and pension funds? That the credit may help low income people have a stable home probably doesn’t factor into the equation when an insurance company ‘pencils out a deal.’ However, like the Earned Income tax credit, it may be necessary to structure a ‘tax credit’ rather than an ‘income subsidy.’

For information about Low Income Housing Tax Credits, check out Novogradac and Company LLC at http://www.novoco.com/resource.shtml Don’t be put off by the fact that this is a CPA firm. Click the Policy and Legislation tab.

What agencies (public and private) in your area provide local financing of low income homes? How are Community Development Block Grant funds allocated?

A few years ago MoveOn.org published 50 Ways to Love Your Country. 50 Ways consisted of brief first-person accounts by progressive activists about how each became an activist. Each ‘way’ also included a few, brief MoveOn Tips of guidance. Recently, the less high-profile Earth*Works Action Network released 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Fight the Right. This is the latest in their 50 Simple Things book series. Between Ways and Things, I recommend 50 Simple Things. What it lacks in inspirational witness, it makes up for with some Background, several Things You Can Do, and lists of Resources for each ‘thing.’

Despite the title, the book does not simply focus on opposition to the rightist movement. It provides ideas about positive activities for progressives and liberals to address political, social and economic issues.

The suggested Things You Can Do are grouped under three headings; Simple Steps, It Takes an Effort, and For the Committed. These headings give the reader some sense of the level of commitment, in time and resources, that may be necessary to successfully complete an activity.

Each of the fifty activities usually begins with a fact or quotation, a Background section, some general information, Simple Things You Can Do, and a Resources section. If your attention wanders at the description of familiar ‘things-to-do,’ the authors provide red-meat quotations from some of the nastiest rightists; James Dobson, Ann Coulter, and Tom DeLay.

Thus instructed and inspired, I got involved in ‘thing-to-do’ #32, Volunteer for a campaign. So, Saturday I spent two hours waving a laser wand across call sheets to digitize the results of campaign phone banking earlier in the week

For ten bucks 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Fight the Right provides motivation and activities worthy of your time and energy. Buy it today…and do something new tomorrow.

Santa Fe Planning Commission: Group booed after hearing delayed

This article and the comments on it from the Santa Fe New Mexican sound all too familiar to those of us engaged at the local level on issues related to the environment (particularly related to our pertroleum-dependent economy and communities) and economic or social diversity.

The American Dream of a detached house with a multi-car garage and surrrounded by heavily-watered lawns didn’t make much sense fifty years ago, and makes even less sense today with oil at $75 per barrel. But, those who still believe in preserving their slice of the Dream still fight for an unsustainable lifestyle. Although some may trivialize these folks as having a NIMBY or drawbridge mentality, we should look closely at their very fundamental conservative ideology and activism.

• A deep denial of the unsustainability of the suburban lifestyle and of the environmental damage it causes.
• A clear rejection of economic diversity within a city, even if only in the limited form of “affordable housing.”
• A dismissive Fox News or AM radio talk-show style of political dialogue.

Too often progressives appear to focus on international and national issues, forgetting the struggles on our blocks, in our neighborhoods, and in our ciities.

To learn more about land use issues and their impact on the environment, check out the Sierra Club’s Challenge to Sprawl Campaign. To get an integrated persepctive on inclusionary zoing from the perspective of both non-profit and for-profit home builders, you might be interested in On Common Ground-Joint Principles on Inclusionary Housing Policies.

…and then attend the next meeting of your local Planning Commission.

Tarrant deposits another $450,000 into campaign account - Boston.com

Bernie Sanders, a truly progressive Congressman from Vermont, reported that he had raised $2.9 million for his US Senate campaign. The likely nominee from the Christian-Republican Party doesn’t raise money for his campaign, he simply writes a check.

The latest contribution, made on Friday, raised the total Tarrant has given his campaign from his own money to $3 million. Just a week earlier Tarrant had also put $450,000 into his campaign.

I urge you to contribute to the Bernie Sanders for Senate 2006 campaign.

Went over to Kepler’s bookstore in Menlo Park (CA) this evening to see Jerome Armstrong (MyDD) and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga (Daily Kos) talk about their book; Crashing the Gate — Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics.

Turnout seemed very good. The San Mateo County Democracy for America group did a good job co-sponsoring the event and recruiting a crowd. I was near the front, so I couldn’t count noses. Somewhere around 75 to 100 people showed up.

Armstrong and Zuniga spoke very briefly before taking questions. Because I only bought their book tonight (Support your local bookstore!), I have to assume it’s consistent with their comments tonight:

• They appear to support the movement of grassroots Democrats to wrest control of the national Democratic Party from the campaign consultants operating inside the Beltway.

• Armstrong supports Warner for President. Kos supports Angelidies in the Democratic primary for California govenor.

I made a comment (asking a question) along the lines of “Too often we pay attention to international and national issues and forget politics and government at the state, county, and local level.” Armstrong pointed out that they were national bloggers, who focus on the Federal level. However, he also said that he expected that as the blogosphere develops that state and local blogs would become more important. Kos said that local elections provide a training ground to develop strong Democratic candidates with experience running campaigns and raising the money necessary to fund Congressional campaigns.

I plan to read their book in the next few days, so I may have more comments.

In the meantime, I hope you have a chance to attend one of their book tour stops.

Last Sunday Garry Wills wrote an Op-Ed in the NY Times, Christ Among the Partisans, that discussed why Christ is not a Republican or a Democrat. What caught my attention was;

Those who want the state to engage in public worship, or even to have prayer in schools, are defying his injunction: “When you pray, be not like the pretenders, who prefer to pray in the synagogues and in the public square, in the sight of others. In truth I tell you, that is all the profit they will have. But you, when you pray, go into your inner chamber and, locking the door, pray there in hiding to your Father, and your Father who sees you in hiding will reward you” (Matthew 6:5-6).

While we have a President who enjoys prancing his form of co-opted Christianity in the public square, are we forgetting that Christ may have been a sketchy character, a bit more Frank Zappa than Trent Lott. (No, silly, I did not say Zappa was Christ-like.) Much of what passes for Christianity today seems to be more a manifestation of conformity than compassion. To paraphrase; “Do unto others, whatever they are doing.”

Aside from charitable acts, what does your congregation do to bear witness and advocate for the poor, the strangers, the sick, and the prisoners among us?

A large auto parts manufacturer is preparing to cut over 75% of its U.S. workforce and move almost all production to Mexico and China.

From Business Week Online:

…(the CEO of Delphi, which manufactures and sells $20 billion dollars in auto parts , about half to GM) wants to use the bankruptcy courts to drastically slash Delphi’s U.S. presence, thus freeing it up to focus on its already vast overseas production. Miller filed for Chapter 11 protection only for his U.S. operations, which employ 32,000 UAW and other union workers. He was careful to exclude Delphi’s 115,000-worker foreign factories, many of which operate in low-wage countries such as Mexico and China.

Many defenders of globalization suggest that we need to ‘innovate’ our way to higher incomes through better education and training. That’s a fine idea, but is America ready to make the investment in its own children? If we need to spend the money needed to develop the skills of Americans, can we do that in a political culture that rejects new taxes and funds a major war with debt?

Are you familiar with how the public schools in your area are funded?