Progressives to Congress: Make Jobs Not War

March 12, 2012 - PRLog -- Who: Constituents led by Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), National Nurses United (NNU), Democrats.com, U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), the New Priorities Network, Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare, and Healthcare NOW.

What: Brown Bag Lunch Vigils (BBLVs) demanding elected officials support legislation to create jobs, provide healthcare for all, guarantee political rights for people--not corporations--and end the war in Afghanistan.

Where: District offices of Senators and Representative across the USA. Complete list of Vigils: http://hq-salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1987/p/salsa/event/common/public/

When: Noon-time this week during the Congressional recess.
As Congress members spend their recess at home, Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) and its partners will step up their Brown Bag Lunch Vigil (BBLV) campaign. Activists will engage elected officials in this effort--launched two years ago--to demand action on key legislation. This month, BBLVs will urge elected officials to support:

HR 780 - Rep. Barbara Lee’s bill to fund the safe and orderly withdrawal armed forces and defense contractor personnel from Afghanistan.

HR 4173 - Rep. Barbara Lee’s "Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War Through Diplomacy Act."

HR 676 - Rep. John Conyers’s bill to establish an improved and expanded Medicare for All program.

HR 1200 - Rep. Jim McDermott’s American Health Security Act of 2011 to deliver universal health care coverage by incorporating several existing healthcare programs.

HR 870 - Rep. Conyers’s “21st Century Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Training Act” which would establish the National Full Employment Trust Fund to ensure than anyone who is able and willing to work can get a job.

HR 2914 - Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s “Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act” to fund 2,242,000 positions during fiscal years 2012 and 2013.

HJ Res 88 - Rep. Jim McGovern’s constitutional amendment to overturn the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC ruling, and to make clear that corporations do not have the rights the Constitution guarantees to human beings.

Partners in this effort include: National Nurses United, Democrats.com, U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW), the New Priorities Network, Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare, and Healthcare Now.

PDA National Director Tim Carpenter said, "PDA and our partners launched the Brown Bag Lunch Vigil movement two years ago--before the tea party, and before the Occupy movement, building on our Healthcare NOT Warfare campaign. This week, our vigils will confront members of Congress, demanding prosperity through peace, and recognizing health care and a good job are human rights."

PDA Communications Coordinator Mike Hersh said, "Our vigils focus on specific legislation which--if passed--would dramatically improve the macro economy, deliver better healthcare outcomes, prevent war with Iran, and wind down the war in Afghanistan. All this and more, while lowering the deficit and debt. We believe every Senator and Congress person should support all of this legislation in the national interest.

Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to reform the Democratic Party and restore its focus on first principles including social and economic justice, environmental protection, ending corporate rule, promoting fair and transparent elections, fair--not "free"--trade, and ending wars and occupations. PDA strives to rebuild the Democratic Party from the bottom up--from every congressional district to statewide party structures to the corridors of power in Washington, where we work arm in arm with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In just seven years, PDA and its allies have shaken up the political status quo.

PDA is a federal PAC and has endorsed several candidates for Congress in the upcoming 2012 elections including: Norman Solomon, Ilya Sheyman, Wenona Benally Baldenegro, Wayne Powell, Eric Griego and Elizabeth Warren as well as PDA National Board members seeking reelection: Congress members John Conyers, Raul Grijalva, Jim McGovern, Donna Edwards and Barbara Lee. Other PDA Board members are Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, and activists Mimi Kennedy, Tom Hayden, Jim Hightower, Michael Lighty, Thom Hartmann, Andy Shallal, Lila Garrett, Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, David Swanson, Steve Cobble, and Bill Fletcher.

For more information about PDA, please see: http://www.PDAmerica.org

Contacts: PDA National Director Tim Carpenter tim@pdamerica.org 413-320-2015
     PDA Deputy Field Director Andrea Miller andrea@pdamerica.org 443-878-2071

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Progressive Democrats of America was founded in 2004 to transform the Democratic Party and our country. We seek to build a party and government controlled by citizens, not corporate elites-with policies that serve the broad public interest, not just private interests. Our inside/outside strategy is guided by the belief that a lasting majority will require a revitalized Democratic Party built on firm progressive principles.

For over two decades, the party declined as its leadership listened more to the voices of corporations than those of Americans. PDA strives to rebuild the Democratic Party from the bottom up-from every congressional district to the corridors of power in Washington, where we work arm in arm with the Congressional Progressive Caucus. In just a couple of years PDA and its allies have shaken up the political status-quo on issues from ending the Iraq war, voter rights, protecting Social Security, a full employment economy, national healthcare and economic justice.