Dear Practical Progress Readers,
I am excited to announce that beginning August 1st, I have dedicated myself full time to the Agenda Project and am in the process of expanding the organization substantially! In addition to the Breakfast Series and Practical Progress, we will be creating new platforms for individuals interested in the policy debate to get involved. For more information, please visit our website! Below are some highlights of our work:
--With November around the corner, we launched a comprehensive website to answer all your Midterm Elections questions and help you make informed decisions
--In response to Glenn Beck and the Tea Party's planned march on Washington on the anniversary of MLK's "I have a dream" speech, we just launched the F.*.c.k. Tea project, a three step campaign to dismiss the Tea Party and promote the progressive cause. Watch our hilarious VIDEO here!
--We launched a documentary film series with notable co-hosts, including Oscar winning filmmakers and producers
--We showed our support for the Park 51 Islamic Center and our staff was featured in the news!
--We are planning a trip to Haiti in November- if you are interested please email us!
--We recently hired FIVE new excellent staff members
--We are now looking for creative, enthusiastic interns to join our team, so please spread the word!
Profiles of staffers:
--Lisa Gilinsky: Senior Vice President, Strategy and Communications-- Lisa worked in Washington for the Clinton/Gore Presidential Reelection Campaign and then with two different non-profit organizations focusing on international development. After earning her law degree and working as an associate at Winston & Strawn in New York, Lisa served as New York Deputy Finance Director for the John Kerry for President Campaign where she ran the Lawyers Committee and was the New York Jewish Outreach Coordinator
--Joyce Pisarello: Senior Associate, Policy and Research-- Joyce received a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University. From 2004 - 2006 she served as a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Kyrgyzstan, an experience that shaped her views on development, democratization, and U.S. foreign policy. Her most recent travels took her to Iran, an experience described in an essay published by the Christian Science Monitor.
--Danielle Mazzeo: Senior Associate, Strategy-- Danielle has been with the Agenda Project for just over a year as Senior Associate. Her professional experience includes working with the Public Affairs department at the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and the Lateral Learning department at Women's World Banking, a global network of 40 microfinance providers and banks. She graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 2008.
--Muzna Ansari: Junior Associate, Assistant to the President-- Muzna recently graduated from Barnard College, Columbia University with a major in Economics and Human Rights. She completed an honors senior thesis on the American welfare system and provided policy recommendations for enhancing the provision of cash assistance. Muzna has worked with various organizations including the Center for Progressive Leadership and the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy.
--Jesse Beck, Junior Associate, Media and Strategy-- Jesse graduated from New York University with a Double Major in Politics and Dance. After completing his last season of dance, he began working in finance for Senator Gillibrand. Jesse has a strong interest in constitutional law and has extensive experience in fund raising.
--Dorothea (Dee) Brayne, Director of Operation and Finance-- Dee has recently joined us and is serving as Office Administrator and Financial Manager. Dee has over thirty years of experience in the business administration and accounting fields. She has served in the positions of Accounting Manager for New Concepts Management, a fast-food franchisee, Financial Manager for Seastreak America, a commuter ferry service, and Controller for Collectors Alliance, a collectibles catalog retailer.
Catalist is preparing to launch their early vote data program for the upcoming November elections. The program, which was created and utilized widely in the last presidential election, will significantly save campaigns valuable resources by making sure they don't spend money to contact voters who have already cast early vote ballots. The fast moving program gets vote data as often it is provided by early vote states (some states update the information nightly, others on a less regular basis). Catalist matches that information to their massive database of over 265 million persons (more than 180 million registered voters and 85 million unregistered adults) and then makes that updated data available to its customers. Not only does this Catalist program save money for those organizations involved in persuading and contacting voters, but it can really affect entire GOTV programs. By learning who votes early, models can be created helping campaigns learn who to reach out to with an early persuasion message. In the next several days, Catalist will be rolling out a new model on propensity-to-vote-by-mail that will help its customers do exactly that.
On July 29th, Democracia's President, Jorge Mursuli, was arrested in Phoenix for peaceful civil disobedience, as he stood in protest against Arizona SB1070 alongside hundreds of local activists. Among them were more than 25 Democracia staff and volunteers rallying against the new legislation. The Judge's ruling just one day earlier was a great leap in the right direction, but this temporary injunction is not enough. Democracia's Ask Me 4 My Papers campaign demands that federal courts rule against all of the provisions outlined in the recently enacted law. Support for the campaign has come from not only concerned residents of Arizona, but from all of over the country. To date, we have distributed more than 20,000 wristbands to local activists, celebrities, and national leaders, all of whom have expressed a solid commitment to our campaign's goal. Democracia is proud of its leader for demonstrating unwavering support for all immigrants alike, and the organization will continue to push for social justice so long as other states are considering similar legislation.
In addition to our mobilizing work, Democracia USA is also actively registering eligible Latinos to vote and is committed to turning them out at the polls. The 2010 mid-term elections are more important now than ever before, with the growing strength of the Hispanic electorate being put to the test. This year, Democracia USA is on track to reach its most ambitious voter registration goals to date, having already registered more than 70,000 eligible Latinos. Democracia USA has also educated thousands more on the impact of just one vote. We have hundreds of our trained canvassers and volunteers that are going into the field and return more motivated than the day before. They know it is our responsibility as a community to ensure that progressive values are reflected in this year's voter turnout.
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Debate has begun in earnest on whether to allow the Bush-era tax cuts on the wealthy to expire, and CBPP is at the hub of efforts to ensure that they do. Policymakers, media figures, and advocates are using CBPP analyses, talking points, and graphics to expose those who rant about fiscal responsibility one day and call for budget-busting tax cuts the next. Several CBPP charts are circulating widely, including one - which vividly shows the large role Bush's tax cuts play in today's high deficits - that is now viral. After the Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, and Daily Kos used the chart repeatedly in featured stories, it was displayed on the Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Ed Schultz shows on MSNBC, reposted on numerous policy blogs, and used in floor speeches by Senator Al Franken and others.
The America Votes network has efficiently expanded to five additional states. The new affiliate state program will provide AV's strategic planning, data and targeting services to progressive coalitions in Idaho, Maine, Montana, Oregon, Washington. The AV network now extends to 15 states with over 300 state and national partner organizations and affiliates.
America Votes also recently established a Redistricting Control Project. Voters in 35 states will determine control of congressional redistricting - and possibly control of the U.S. House through 2022 - this year. Given these high-stakes for our agenda, the project is directing AV's in-state infrastructure, coordination and targeting expertise toward top priorities for redistricting, providing progressives' a critical tool that did not exist 10 years ago.
ProgressNow Colorado played a key role in the recent explosive disclosure of widespread plagiarism by front-runner Gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis. This scandal has now left McInnis virtually unelectable and led to a complete breakdown of discipline among Colorado Republicans. From the initial documents that proved McInnis' academic fraud, to ensuring the story was disseminated nationwide in new media, ProgressNow helped this story achieve maximum impact and dramatically alter the electoral landscape in this state.
The first, "The Adult Recession: Age-Adjusted Unemployment at Post-War Highs" by CEPR Economist David Rosnick, adjusts the current unemployment rate to account for demographic differences between now and the early 1980s and finds that, on this adjusted basis, the unemployment rate has not fallen below 10.8 percent in the last 12 months. During the worst episode of the recession of the 1980s -- the second half of 1982 and the first half of 1983 -- unemployment passed 10 percent for 7 months.
CEPR also released "The Urgent Need for Job Creation," written by CEPR Senior Economist John Schmitt and CEPR Research Intern Tessa Conroy. The paper shows that if job creation in the current recovery matches rates in the 2000s expansion, the economy will not return to pre-recession unemployment rates for more than a decade. "The economy desperately needs action on job creation," says Schmitt. "At current and projected job creation rates, we will still be suffering from the effects of the downturn well into the next presidential term." On July 20th, Senator Al Franken, Representative Keith Ellison and Alan Charney of Jobs for America Now joined John Schmitt for a press conference to discuss the findings. John also did radio interviews the next day for WTOP and KPFK.
FairVote policy proposals for instant runoff voting (IRV) and the National Popular Vote plan (NPV) had a particularly big July. Massachusetts became the sixth state to enact NPV - see Rob Richie's commentary for YES magazine and Jules Leconte's review of the win and widepsread media coverage, including an oped from Michael Dukakis. Charter comissions in Maine's biggest city (Portland) and Tennessee's biggest county (Shelby) voted overwhelmingly to place IRV on the november ballot, while the preliminary report of New York City's charter commission recommended IRV for mayor, as backed by Rob Richie in the New York Times.
An oped by FairVote's Alec Slatky calling for IRV in Alabama primaries drew interest from political leaders, while Politico also ran a Slatky-Richie oped on IRV. Port Chester (NY) released the FairVote-sponsored exit poll survey on how cumulative voting contributed to high turnout and fair representation -- as many as 80% of voters gave more than one vote to a candidate. FairVote issued a detailed analysis of the best way to make "open primaries" (as in the "top two" proposal adopted in California this year) work. Chair Krist Novoselic addresed the Global Forum on Democacy, was featured in the online Wall Street Journal and co-authored a Milwaukee oped on ending gerrymandering with Rob Richie. Track the latest updates at www.twitter.com/fairvote. P.S.: Happy Birthday, Voting Rights Act! It turned 45 on August 6th.
As part of its Driven by Faith, Not Fear campaign, Faith in Public Life is challenging Glenn Beck's distortion of social justice by empowering people of faith who disagree with his divisive rhetoric. Faithful America, FPL's 100,000-member online community, has sponsored ads on Christian radio in cities where Beck appears as part of his national summer tour. The ads challenge Beck's warped view that Christians should leave their churches if pastors talk about social justice. The ads have generated significant media buzz, including references in Time, the Atlantic and the Orlando Sentinel. FPL continues to provide strategic media support to faith-based groups and pastors calling for comprehensive immigration reform. On the same day a federal judge overturned elements of the punitive Arizona law, FPL organized a press conference featuring faith leaders and immigration reform advocates from Interfaith Worker Justice, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. FPL also demonstrated its rapid response capabilities by debunking false claims from the National Right to Life Committee that the Obama administration has allocated federal funds to cover elective abortions. National Public Radio cited an FPL blog post pushing back on this misinformation, and FPL continues to fact-check politically motivated attacks from partisan anti-abortion groups who oppose health care reform.
Alliance for Justice was in Las Vegas last week for the fifth annual Netroots Nation conference hosting two panel discussions. The first, Liberal Perspectives on the Kagan Supreme Court Nomination focused on the changing debate about judges in this country and featured Senator Cardin, and the second, Fighting Back: Responding to Attacks on Community Organizers and Progressive Groups discussed how the progressive community can and should respond to attacks on allies, and the role of the right-wing media in generating and perpetuation attacks on progressive causes and people. To see the panel discussion with Senator Cardin, visit our Justice Watch blog.
Just in time for the elections, Alliance for Justice is releasing the second edition of The Rules of The Game: A Guide to Election Related Activities for 501 (c)(3) Organizations. This user-friendly guide will be distributed to nonprofit groups and is available on our website www.afj.org or upon request.
The Center for Progressive Leadership is currently running in-depth training programs for over 300 up-and-coming progressive leaders, including our 9-month-long Political Leaders Fellowships in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania, our summer long New Leaders Internship in DC, and our New Leaders Programs in Ohio and Pennsylvania. We're also currently recruiting for our new Executive Fellowship program in Washington, D.C.
CPL is also organizing over 30 progressive groups to compete in Pepsi's Refresh Everything grant program. In August, we'll be competing for over $750k and in September, going for over $1 million.
More than 38,800 NARAL Pro-Choice America activists called on the Obama administration to remove the abortion-coverage ban from the temporary high-risk pools formed under health reform. The organization also organized 255 house parties in 41 states for August 2 premiere of HBO's "12th and Delaware," a documentary from the Oscar-nominated filmmakers of "Jesus Camp," that looks at a Florida town where an abortion provider is across the street from an anti-choice "crisis pregnancy center."
"Our Principles in Action" -- This month, the Brennan Center hosted its annual Community Oriented Defender (COD) Network conference. Dan Olmos -- senior counsel in Laurence Tribe's Access to Justice Initiative at the DOJ -- lead a spirited, inspired conversation about the urgent need for indigent defense reform. Guided, in part by the Brennan Center's new report, Community Oriented Defense: Stronger Public Defenders, attendees focused on ways to secure better public policies for communities. Founded by the Brennan Center, the COD network brings together leading defenders committed to a unified, holistic approach to various problems facing indigent Americans, who too often cycle through the justice system. Click here to learn more about the COD Network and the Brennan Center conference.
Advancement Project is proud to announce that on July 13, 2010, after more than three years of struggle, the County Council of Prince George's County passed CB-35-2010 providing a much needed overhaul of the county's taxicab industry. The law, which will have its greatest impact on the livelihood of drivers, who are predominantly immigrants from Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean, is a joint victory for the Prince George's County Taxi Workers Alliance. We celebrated a similar victory in Alexandria, VA in 2005 with the Alexandria United Taxi-drivers Organization (AUTO); and Advancement Project is extremely pleased to have continued this movement with Prince George's County drivers. This reformation of the taxicab industry promotes an end to unfair worker conditions and strengthens a movement toward a new phase of economic prosperity and stability within a sustainable and well-rounded industry. Prior to the new legislation the Prince George's County taxicab industry was ruled by a handful of companies who owned and controlled not only the majority of the taxicab companies, but also the county's dispatch services. This is a major victory and an important step forward.
EMILY's List is thrilled that Terri Sewell, a distinguished attorney and community leader in Selma (her hometown) and Birmingham prevailed in her Democratic primary run-off for Alabama's seventh congressional district on July 13th. The independent expenditure arm of EMILY's List, WOMEN VOTE! came out with a strong and targeted voter outreach program in the final weeks of the four way primary and in the runoff, which helped Terri defeat her opponents and win the Democratic nomination. With her victory, Terri is poised to become the first African American woman elected to Congress from Alabama.
With the American economy poised between recovery and recession, the economic debate is more important than ever. Third Way released a new poll on the economy that provides critical insights on the contours of that debate and shows a clear path forward to a winning argument. The poll finds conclusively that George Bush still matters - the public's view of economic policies is enormously impacted by whether or not they are associated with the Bush legacy. But so far, congressional Republicans have shed the Bush legacy, as only 25% believe that a Republican Congress will promote Bush economic ideas. The survey also reveals that Americans have become hypersensitive to deficit spending, and concern over the budget trumps a variety of other concerns. Finally, it finds that the while times are still very tough, the middle class continues to believe that America's future will be bright and their own fortunes will improve. 66% said they'll be better off in five years, and 58% feel America will bounce back from the recession. The poll and Third Way's recommendations have been featured extensively in the media, including David Broder's Sunday column in The Washington Post and The Cook Report for National Journal.
Progressive Majority's top priority in July was preparing candidates for their upcoming August primaries, which will be held throughout the month in Michigan, Minnesota, Colorado, and Washington. Candidates facing tough primary races include: Nick Harper, who is challenging a sitting Democratic state senator in Washington with a string of bad votes on progressive issues; Rena Moran, who will be the only woman of color in the Minnesota House of Representatives if elected; and Crisanta Duran, a 30-year-old attorney and community activist whose election is critical to ensuring that people of color continue to be represented in the Colorado General Assembly. Learn more about these candidates and others by going to www.progressivemajority.org.
In July, VoteVets.org Action Fund launched a ad featuring Brigadier Gen. Steven Anderson (Ret.), Chief of Logistic under Gen. Petraeus, calling on the Senate to pass a strong clean energy bill. In the ad, Gen. Anderson says, "Our troops are getting killing moving fuel we wouldn't need if our military was more efficient-and our enemies know we're hooked on their oil... That's while breaking our addiction must not only be a military priority, but American's mission, and why the Senate needs to pass a clean energy climate plan." The spot was a more than half million dollar buy on national cable, with targeted versions running in North Dakota, Arkansas, Virginia, and West Virginia. The ad, and more information, can be found at www.votevets.org.
In July, CTJ director Bob McIntyre testified before the President's fiscal Commission to explain why progressive revenue measures must be a part of any attempt to balance the federal budget. Meanwhile, CTJ issued two reports responding to former CBO director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who argued before the Senate Finance Committee that raising taxes on rich people will somehow grind business investment to a halt and, outrageously, reduce the incomes of middle-class seniors.
CTJ also issued two reports related to the oil industry. The first described the various tax loopholes that oil and gas companies enjoy and explained why these should be repealed by Congress. The second described how Transocean, owner of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil rig, abuses all sorts of loopholes in the tax code. Finally, CTJ fended off an attack by Andrew Breitbart's blog Big Government, the same right-wing blog that fabricated a scandal about USDA official Shirley Sherrod's comments about rate.