The Alliance for Democracy
E-Newsletter, August 27, 2007
To our members and supporters,
With the November elections only seven weeks away, this newsletter highlights "Questions for Candidates."
Multinational corporations exert enormous influence
over our elections, shaping the agenda and choices the candidates present to us,
and subsequently influencing the development of policies that impact every
aspect of our lives. What's more, the corporate media is no help in
educating voters to real alternatives that meet the needs of all people and
their communities.
So, this month we asked our chapters and council
members to send in the questions they'd like their candidates to
answer. See August's "Top-Ten"
list below.
Corporations are largely non-partisan when it comes to
buying and selling influence...and, so is AfD...non-partisan...in our
resistance. We urge you to ask these questions of all candidates
running in your area, Democrat, Republican or third-party, liberal or
conservative. By asking questions, you and all of us help to set the
agenda, and by demanding answers we all assert that the options for
achieving a true peoples' democracy are much wider than what corporate America,
their candidates and the corporate media want us to believe.
Because campaigning heats up after Labor Day, we'll have a
new set of questions in the September eNews. What questions are you asking? Let
us know at afd@thealliancefordemocracy.org with
"Candidate Questions" in the subject line.
In this Issue:
Election-Season Actions:
- Questions for Candidates
- Climate Crisis Actions--Katrina Anniversary
Action at NOAA and Climate Crisis Platform for Candidates
- Voter's Pledge--Build a Base Against War
Alliance News
- State Vote on Campaign Finance Limits in Oregon
- Water Work--Defending Water for Life Campaign in New England
- AfD at the Maine Social Forum
- Ohio Update
- By-law Change Ballot
- A Note from the Office
"Ask the Candidates"--Top Ten from AfD Members
Some questions below refer to issues before
candidates for federal office only. But as Congress drops the ball on
issues like fair trade, minimum wage, climate change, health care and election
reform, we're seeing more and more state-level, and even local candidates,
stepping in with proposals for change and new solutions--a development to
encourage!
- Do you suppport the immediate withdrawal of US
troops from Iraq? If not, what kind of timeframe would you support for
withdrawal?
- In 2000 and 2004 we saw specific,
documented violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but two US
Attorneys General have taken no action to enforce the law. What would you do
to ensure that the Justice Department enforces the Voting Rights Act, now
reauthorized?
- We're simultaneously suffering from an energy
crisis and from the effects of global warming. How would you support the
development of sustainable energy sources? Would you vote for a fund to help
homeowners and businesses invest in sustainable energy generation? How would
you lessen the environmental impact of our energy use? Shouldn't the US sign
on to the Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming? As an office holder, how would you
help make the US a signatory?
- The US is becoming a nation of haves and
have-nots. How will you change this? Would you tie the minimum wage to
cost of living, with automatic increases? What about progressive income taxes,
like we had in the 1950s? What will you do to contain the wages and benefits
packages of top executives while at the same time increasing the real
earnings, wages, benefits, and pensions of workers?
- To restore Congress's role in writing fair trade
legislation that promotes labor rights, health, and the environment, will
you vote against renewal of presidential "fast track" trade promotion
authority, which comes up in Spring, 2007? How will you support fair trade
policies over the kind of "free trade" agreements that enrich multinational
corporations at the cost of local economies and local democratic
sovereignty and control?
- Big-money corporate donations have distorted
our election process. What would you do to make candidates more responsive to
the public? What about public campaign funding? Would you support ending
the "personhood" of corporations, a legal fiction that has led courts to
defend out-of-control corporate campaign contributions as a form of "free
speech"?
- What is your position on safeguarding
the accuracy of our elections, especially with the use of electronic
voting machines? Would you support mandatory printed paper audit trails for
all ballots cast on DRE touch-screen machines? Would you support broad-based,
mandatory, random election audits based on proven statistically significant
samples? What about mandatory manual recounts of any election decided by less
than 5% of the votes cast? Do you support changes in law to make electronic
voting machine computer source code public, rather than a protected "trade
secret"?
- Would you vote to end "Star Wars" missile defense
research? If so, to what purpose would you redirect those tax dollars
from military to domestic needs?
- Do you think that the United States is an
imperial power? Why or why not? If you think America is or is becoming an
empire, what would you do about it?
- If the Democrats gain control of the House, would
you support impeachment proceedings against the president and vice president?
Climate Crisis Actions--Katrina Anniversary Action at NOAA and Climate Crisis
Platform for Candidates
Scientists agree that the excessive use of fossil fuels is
changing the climate on Earth. When those changes take place faster than species
can adapt, the result is disease and extinction--and it is happening now at a
rate faster than at any other time in human history.
Don't believe the energy industry hype--more carbon in the
atmosphere won't perk up trees or make for pleasantly warmer winters. Even a
rise of 2 or 3 degrees will have dramatic effects on life as we know it. We need
to act now to avert dangerous rises in sea level, severe storms and droughts,
increased threat to human life from the spread of disease-carrying insects and
rodents, damage to fragile ecosystems, and disruption of agriculture around the
world.
If you are sick of government indifference to global warming and its effects, then we urge you to support the two actions
below. AfD is a member of this coalition, represented by Co-Chair Nancy Price:
- On August 26, gather from 12 noon to 3 p.m. in front of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) headquarters, 1305
East-West Highway at the Silver Spring Metro stop. The US Climate Emergency
Council (USCEC) is organizing this demonstration to
mark the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
A year after Katrina, hundreds of people are still
missing, and thousands have been displaced. Meanwhile, NOAA's leadership
is ignoring or distorting the growing number of studies linking major
hurricanes to global warming. This is in direct violation of their mission to
warn the nation about dangerous weather and to improve our understanding and
stewardship of the environment. Their disregard for scientific evidence places
all of us and our communities at risk.
Now is the time to get busy and organize a local
climate action network. There are 10 steps on USCEC's website at www.climateemergency.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=31.
- Support the call for 2006 congressional candidates
to support the following measures:
- Enact the McCain-Lieberman "Climate Stewardship Act"
(without a nuclear provision) as a first step to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions.
- Withdraw federal subsidies (currently estimated at
around $25 billion a year) from coal, oil, and natural gas development, as
well as from carbon-intensive agriculture--and establish equivalent
subsidies to jump-start a renewable energy economy based on wind, solar,
tidal power, biomass, small-scale hydropower, and other non-nuclear,
sustainable energy technologies.
- Promote the People's Ratification of the Kyoto
Protocol--the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty. You can sign electronically, and
also print the petition at www.kyotoandbeyond.org to gather
signatures. Let's lead the way for a post-2012 framework to transition
away from fossil fuels to clean energy technologies
worldwide.
Alliance News
State Vote on Campaign Finance Limits on Oregon
The AfD Portland chapter celebrates the successful
conclusion of the first phase for adopting limitations on campaign contributions
and expenditures in Oregon. That first phase was the gathering of signatures to
place two initiatives on the November ballot. Word came from the Oregon
Secretary of State's office August 7th that both measures would be on the
November ballot. Yes!
Oregon is one of five states with no limitations on campaign
contributions or expenditures. Therefore, special interests, primarily
corporate, rule in the state and have long threatened democratic
rule.
There are two measures because the Oregon Supreme Court in
1997 ruled that our CFR law was unconstitutional and that any limit would be an
unconstitutional infringement on free speech. This is the only court in America
to have so ruled. Therefore, the first measure changes the constitution to allow
limitations.
The second measure is a statute with the limits, including a
ban on all corporate and union contributions, limits on individual
contributions, and limits on independent expenditures. Provisions are included
requiring timely reporting of candidate contributions and expenditures and
timely disclosure of same by the Secretary of State to the public. Provisions
are included allowing the formation of small donor committees (SDC) to which
individuals could contribute up to $50 per SDC. Membership organizations (Sierra
Club, or labor unions, for instance) could contribute up to $50 per member to a
SDC. SDCs could spend their funds on candidate elections in any manner they
want.
Now the second phase begins--getting the measures passed.
Planning the campaign is underway. For details of the measures and the campaign,
visit www.afd-pdx.org, or www.fairelections.net.
Contributions are being accepted to fund the campaign
activities. To donate, visit the FairElectionsOregon website at http://www.fairelections.net/contribute.htm
--David e. Delk, AfD Vice Co-Chair and chief
petitioner on the constitutional amendment
Water Work--Defending Water for Life Campaign in New England
Kate Harris has begun working with AfD to coordinate the
Defending Water for Life campaign in Maine. The campaign was publicly launched
at the Maine Social Forum (see article below), where a track was offered on
water privatization and Ruth Caplan did a trade workshop and spoke to a plenary
session.
Screenings of "Thirst" are being scheduled where people have
expressed an interest. Please visit the campaign website at
defendingwaterinmaine.org, or contact Kate at kate@defendingwaterinmaine.org,
or 207-470-7479.
And in other news, the New England campaign will soon have
water privatization sites in New England and New York posted on a map available
on the internet. Stay tuned--we will let you know when it's up. And please
register for the "Our Communities, Our Water" conference September 22 to 24 at
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. AfD is helping to organize this
conference, which will connect global and local water protection/privatization
issues for activists and concerned citizens in New York, New England and eastern
Canada.
Keynote speaker for the event will be Francis Moore Lappe,
author of the recently-published Democracy's Edge, and the classic
Diet for a Small Planet, which has introduced millions of households to
the social forces shaping global hunger and our responsibility to use our
everyday choices to create a better world. Democracy's
Edge explores a concept Lappe calls "living democracy" and
profiles many organizations (including AfD) that are bringing it into practice.
For more info on conference, go to http://www.massglobalaction.org/home/conf-2206-3q/index.htm
--Ruth Caplan, national campaign coordinator,
"Defending Water for Life" campaign
AfD at the Maine Social Forum
The Alliance for Democracy made a fine showing at the
first-ever Maine Social Forum, held in Lewiston July 28 - 30. In addition to the
water track (see above) we offered a workshop entitled "If Corporations Are
Persons, Why Can't We Try Them for Murder?", which was well-attended and
explored ideas about educating the people of Maine about the corporate
personhood issue. We would like Maine to be the first state to pass some kind of
legislation denying personhood to corporations in the state. One person in the
group suggested making it an amendment to the state constitution.
Ruth Caplan was one of those selected to be a convocation
(plenary) speaker. She provided an excellent overview of water issues facing the
state, so those who could not attend the workshops got a good picture of what
Maine faces in terms of fighting to protect its water resources and public water
infrastructure.
AfD also had a presence in other programs. During the
"Neoliberalism and the Commons" workshop, many people expressed an interest in
the Tapestry of the Commons workshop (see http://www.thealliancefordemocracy.org/html/eng/2306-AA.shtml).
In a program on counter-recruitment the American Friends Service Committee
expressed interest in using Boston/Cambridge Alliance chapter facilitator David
Lewit's Gandhi Circles in their programs planned for September 11. This kind of
networking, which is what the social forums are really all about, occurred over
and over for the groups that attended. This is what made the weekend such a
success.
--Bonnie Preston, Downeast Maine
AfD
Ohio Update
Preparations are proceeding for "Tune In, Tune-up, and Turn
Out--A Voting Rights Revival", a conference to be held the weekend of October 13
through 15 at Columbus State Community College, Columbus, Ohio.
David Korten will be speaking and talking with the audience
about his latest book, The Great Turning, on Friday night. Ronnie
Dugger will share his latest insights and visions for the future of our
democracy. Doris "Granny D" Haddock will speak on the American town hall, and
Greg Moore, Director of the DNC Voting Rights Institute, the most important
civil rights leader in the country today, will discuss all the efforts going
made to protect civil rights in America. The conference will have the use of six
seminar rooms, and an auditorium that seats 400 people so that there will be
plenty of room for workshops and speakers, and opportunities for activists to
network among the large number of Ohio-based and national organizations that are
regularly coordinating their efforts in Ohio and national coalitions.
We have just initiated a "Save the Ballots" website (www.savetheballots.org) for the purpose
of building public support for the preservation of the voting records from the
2004 election, which without public intervention, appear likely to be destroyed
on September 3, 2006. According to Savetheballots.org, when the ballots for
suspect counties were examined this spring--for the first time--examiners found
evidence of ballot-box stuffing and official precinct results that were off by
hundreds of votes. The ballots are "the smoking gun" to explain what happened in
Ohio. And even though they weren't made public until earlier this
year, they can be legally destroyed after September 2. Go to the
website and e-mail info@savetheballots.org to
find out more about this initiative.
In the meantime, investigations by grassroots professionals
and volunteers under the auspices of the Free Press and Ohio Honest Elections
continue to gather important information in regard to how the 2004 election was
manipulated.
--Cliff Arnebeck, AfD Co-Chair
By-Law Change Ballot
Our national office recently mailed out a ballot for some
important by-law changes to our current members. Please mark and mail your
ballot so that we receive it in the office by August 31. And thanks for voting.
Please contact the office if you have any questions at afd@thealliancefordemocracy.org,
or 781-894-1179.
Membership Committee
The AfD membership committee has created a task force headed
by council members Jean Maryborn (maryborn@earthlink.net;
208-263-2658) and Rick LaMonica (ricklmafd@earthlink.net,
314-962-9843), charged with improving communication between members and both the
national council (board) and national office. We hope to organize a lapsed
member phone call renewal campaign and strengthen chapter and regional
activities to recruit new Alliance members. We also want to expand the AfD
website with frequent updates on current activities of campaigns and chapters.
Any member that wants to assist on this project should contact either Jean or
Rick.
--Rick LaMonica, St. Louis MO AfD
A Note from the Office
Our national office has extra copies of the summer issue of
YES! magazine, which explores the idea of empire through the past 5000 years of
history with articles by David Korten, John Mohawk, and Dale Wen among
others. We will be happy to mail you a copy but would appreciate a donation
to cover postage (sending 5 or 6 .39 stamps would be most
convenient!)
Read more...
TELL CONGRESS: 
