Friday, July 27, 2007
Edwards: They will never silence me. Never.
Cross posted at Edwards in 08 (Northern California for Edwards) and Northern California for Edwards Myspace.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Small Change for Big Change
John is going to be in San Francisco next Wednesday afternoon to meet with local supporters, and he asked that I invite you to join him. Space is limited, so I hope you sign up to reserve your spot right away!
Here are the details:
What: "Small Change for Big Change" grassroots fundraiser with John Edwards and you
Where: Temple Nightclub - Prana Room, 540 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
When: Wednesday, August 1 at 12:15 PM.
RSVP online to reserve your spot at:
http://johnedwards.com/r/24119/876307/
This is an important event, because it's part of our "Small Change for Big Change" grassroots fundraiser series.
It's very expensive to reach out to voters in early primary states and across the nation. But the trouble with the usual fundraisers is that they are only open to those ready to write huge checks - and this campaign is built on reaching out to everyone.
So John asked his campaign to organize this series of grassroots fundraisers for supporters who share our passion but may only be able to spare $25 or $50 dollars. In fact, for next Wednesday's event, tickets are just $15 each.
This campaign is about working together to achieve truly transformational change for our country and our world. We're about creating a world where every man, woman and child in America has the quality affordable health care they need, where no child here (or anywhere) has to go to bed hungry, where the planet and its people do not have to face the ravages of global warming, and where our men and women in Iraq are swiftly brought home to a hero's welcome.
Is this all possible? Can we create that world? Yes. But not without you.
If you'd like to join us in this great effort, John would like to meet you next Wednesday afternoon and talk to you about what's next. We really hope you'll be able to make it.
Here's the link again to RSVP and reserve your spot:
http://johnedwards.com/r/24121/876307/
Thank you,
--David Bonior
Campaign Manager
John Edwards for President
Here are the details:
What: "Small Change for Big Change" grassroots fundraiser with John Edwards and you
Where: Temple Nightclub - Prana Room, 540 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
When: Wednesday, August 1 at 12:15 PM.
RSVP online to reserve your spot at:
http://johnedwards.com/r/24119/876307/
This is an important event, because it's part of our "Small Change for Big Change" grassroots fundraiser series.
It's very expensive to reach out to voters in early primary states and across the nation. But the trouble with the usual fundraisers is that they are only open to those ready to write huge checks - and this campaign is built on reaching out to everyone.
So John asked his campaign to organize this series of grassroots fundraisers for supporters who share our passion but may only be able to spare $25 or $50 dollars. In fact, for next Wednesday's event, tickets are just $15 each.
This campaign is about working together to achieve truly transformational change for our country and our world. We're about creating a world where every man, woman and child in America has the quality affordable health care they need, where no child here (or anywhere) has to go to bed hungry, where the planet and its people do not have to face the ravages of global warming, and where our men and women in Iraq are swiftly brought home to a hero's welcome.
Is this all possible? Can we create that world? Yes. But not without you.
If you'd like to join us in this great effort, John would like to meet you next Wednesday afternoon and talk to you about what's next. We really hope you'll be able to make it.
Here's the link again to RSVP and reserve your spot:
http://johnedwards.com/r/24121/876307/
Thank you,
--David Bonior
Campaign Manager
John Edwards for President
Monday, July 23, 2007
British magazine likes Edwards
The Economist.com has a great article about John Edwards. Read it here.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Why Progressives Should Support John Edwards for President
posted on PDAmerica.org
July 12, 2007, Sacramento, CA
July 12, 2007, Sacramento, CA
This is the third in an ongoing series of articles on the Edwards and Kucinich campaigns
“It’s time for Americans to be patriotic about something other than war.” - John Edwards, Riverside Church, NY, January 14, 2007
After honoring our country’s revolutionary spirit with family, friends and fireworks at our Independence Day celebrations, perhaps we should also take a moment to reflect on the meaning of genuine patriotism. Following this 4th of July holiday, Americans are feeling betrayed by an administration which led us into an illegal, immoral, and unwinnable war in Iraq; pessimistic about an economy that increasingly benefits wealthy elites while the middle class shrinks and millions of working families are thrown into poverty each year; concerned about the erosion of our basic civil rights and civil liberties; and outraged by a “sicko” health care system that lines the pockets of health insurance executives while leaving a third of our fellow citizens either un-insured or under-insured.
In this context, real patriots must go beyond superficial declarations about how much we love our country. We must demonstrate our patriotism by honestly acknowledging the challenges that we face as Americans and by developing effective solutions. During this summer of our legitimate discontent, we are fortunate that Senator John Edwards has given us something more than just the most clever slogan of the campaign season. With his populist campaign for the White House, Edwards has indeed given progressives something other than war to be patriotic about.
The central themes of the Edwards campaign represent a set of core values around which progressives of many stripes can unite:
Ending the War in Iraq and Closing Guantanamo
Like far too many of his colleagues in Congress, Sen. Edwards made a tragic mistake in voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002. To his credit, however, Edwards publicly admitted his mistake two years ago and has since emerged as one of the most passionate and eloquent anti-war voices in the country. Speaking at a Martin Luther King Holiday event at New York’s Riverside Church this past January, Edwards called for an end to the carnage in Iraq from the same pulpit from which Dr. King had denounced the Vietnam War forty years earlier. Repeating Dr. King’s message that “a time comes when silence is betrayal,” Sen. Edwards challenged his more cautious Democratic competitors to speak out more forcefully against the war. In doing so, Edwards helped change the terms of the national debate on Iraq and succeeded in pulling Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama to the left on this issue. At a grassroots campaign event last month in San Jose, Edwards also pledged to close Guanamo on his first day in office, to end US. involvement with torture, and to spend his first few months in office traveling the globe and meeting with international leaders in an effort to begin restoring our nation’s moral credibility in the world.
Universal Health Care
Sen. Edwards is the only major Presidential candidate to present a detailed, comprehensive plan to bring America into the civilized world by guaranteeing quality, affordable health care to all of our citizens. Edwards’ plan covers every American, eliminates the insidious practice of denying insurance to patients with pre-existing conditions, and pays for the increased coverage by rolling back Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans. Although the Edwards plan is not exactly a single-payer plan–which most of us support in theory, but which we lack the political clout to pass through Congress in the foreseeable future – it does include the potential to evolve into a single-payer, public insurance plan if that’s what the American people choose down the road. The Edwards health care plan is revolutionary in that it provides coverage to every American, but it is sufficiently pragmatic that Congress might actually pass it.
Empowering Working Families and the Labor Movement
On a live national conference call in March, Sen. Edwards emphatically declared his solidarity with the labor movement. “The movement of organized labor is my movement. I’m proud to be a part of it.” Along with organized labor and other progressive groups, Edwards spearheaded the successful campaign to raise the minimum wage in six states last November. Edwards supports the Employee Free Choice Act and other progressive reforms to strengthen unions. Without a doubt, this son of a North Carolina mill worker is the labor candidate in 2008.
Ending Poverty in Our Lifetime
Over the last few years John and Elizabeth Edwards have repeatedly declared that “ending poverty in America has become the cause of our lives.” In more than twenty years as a progressive political activist I’ve never heard an American political leader make such a pledge. Even better, Sen. Edwards has actually developed a plan to do it, which he outlines in his excellent new book, Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream. Despite being the richest country in human history, the U.S. currently suffers from the highest poverty rate in the industrial world. Edwards’ remarkable commitment to end poverty in our lifetime is, in and of itself, sufficient reason for progressives to enthusiastically support this populist campaign.
More than anything else, to be a progressive activist means to embrace the “preferential option for the poor,” to struggle in principled solidarity with the disrespected, the dispossessed, and the disenfranchised. It means this, or it means nothing at all. At this crucial moment in history, there is no better way for progressives to move our agenda forward than to support John and Elizabeth Edwards in their populist, grassroots campaign for the White House. After all, isn’t it about time to be patriotic about something other than war?
Prof. Paul Burke is a veteran political activist and a Co-Chair of the Sacramento Progressive Alliance. He teaches sociology at California State University, Sacramento.
“It’s time for Americans to be patriotic about something other than war.” - John Edwards, Riverside Church, NY, January 14, 2007
After honoring our country’s revolutionary spirit with family, friends and fireworks at our Independence Day celebrations, perhaps we should also take a moment to reflect on the meaning of genuine patriotism. Following this 4th of July holiday, Americans are feeling betrayed by an administration which led us into an illegal, immoral, and unwinnable war in Iraq; pessimistic about an economy that increasingly benefits wealthy elites while the middle class shrinks and millions of working families are thrown into poverty each year; concerned about the erosion of our basic civil rights and civil liberties; and outraged by a “sicko” health care system that lines the pockets of health insurance executives while leaving a third of our fellow citizens either un-insured or under-insured.
In this context, real patriots must go beyond superficial declarations about how much we love our country. We must demonstrate our patriotism by honestly acknowledging the challenges that we face as Americans and by developing effective solutions. During this summer of our legitimate discontent, we are fortunate that Senator John Edwards has given us something more than just the most clever slogan of the campaign season. With his populist campaign for the White House, Edwards has indeed given progressives something other than war to be patriotic about.
The central themes of the Edwards campaign represent a set of core values around which progressives of many stripes can unite:
Ending the War in Iraq and Closing Guantanamo
Like far too many of his colleagues in Congress, Sen. Edwards made a tragic mistake in voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002. To his credit, however, Edwards publicly admitted his mistake two years ago and has since emerged as one of the most passionate and eloquent anti-war voices in the country. Speaking at a Martin Luther King Holiday event at New York’s Riverside Church this past January, Edwards called for an end to the carnage in Iraq from the same pulpit from which Dr. King had denounced the Vietnam War forty years earlier. Repeating Dr. King’s message that “a time comes when silence is betrayal,” Sen. Edwards challenged his more cautious Democratic competitors to speak out more forcefully against the war. In doing so, Edwards helped change the terms of the national debate on Iraq and succeeded in pulling Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama to the left on this issue. At a grassroots campaign event last month in San Jose, Edwards also pledged to close Guanamo on his first day in office, to end US. involvement with torture, and to spend his first few months in office traveling the globe and meeting with international leaders in an effort to begin restoring our nation’s moral credibility in the world.
Universal Health Care
Sen. Edwards is the only major Presidential candidate to present a detailed, comprehensive plan to bring America into the civilized world by guaranteeing quality, affordable health care to all of our citizens. Edwards’ plan covers every American, eliminates the insidious practice of denying insurance to patients with pre-existing conditions, and pays for the increased coverage by rolling back Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans. Although the Edwards plan is not exactly a single-payer plan–which most of us support in theory, but which we lack the political clout to pass through Congress in the foreseeable future – it does include the potential to evolve into a single-payer, public insurance plan if that’s what the American people choose down the road. The Edwards health care plan is revolutionary in that it provides coverage to every American, but it is sufficiently pragmatic that Congress might actually pass it.
Empowering Working Families and the Labor Movement
On a live national conference call in March, Sen. Edwards emphatically declared his solidarity with the labor movement. “The movement of organized labor is my movement. I’m proud to be a part of it.” Along with organized labor and other progressive groups, Edwards spearheaded the successful campaign to raise the minimum wage in six states last November. Edwards supports the Employee Free Choice Act and other progressive reforms to strengthen unions. Without a doubt, this son of a North Carolina mill worker is the labor candidate in 2008.
Ending Poverty in Our Lifetime
Over the last few years John and Elizabeth Edwards have repeatedly declared that “ending poverty in America has become the cause of our lives.” In more than twenty years as a progressive political activist I’ve never heard an American political leader make such a pledge. Even better, Sen. Edwards has actually developed a plan to do it, which he outlines in his excellent new book, Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream. Despite being the richest country in human history, the U.S. currently suffers from the highest poverty rate in the industrial world. Edwards’ remarkable commitment to end poverty in our lifetime is, in and of itself, sufficient reason for progressives to enthusiastically support this populist campaign.
More than anything else, to be a progressive activist means to embrace the “preferential option for the poor,” to struggle in principled solidarity with the disrespected, the dispossessed, and the disenfranchised. It means this, or it means nothing at all. At this crucial moment in history, there is no better way for progressives to move our agenda forward than to support John and Elizabeth Edwards in their populist, grassroots campaign for the White House. After all, isn’t it about time to be patriotic about something other than war?
Prof. Paul Burke is a veteran political activist and a Co-Chair of the Sacramento Progressive Alliance. He teaches sociology at California State University, Sacramento.
Donate to John Edwards for President
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Edwards tours Cleveland on poverty tour
Here's a great article on John Edward's day in Cleveland, OH. He is on an eight state swing to highlight poverty issues.
As one could predict, his moneyed detractors can't understand how someone with means can sympathize with the poor.
If I were poor I would rather have someone who has the means to do something trying to help me out, than continue to suffer among other poor people who haven't the means to do anything. That's the problem with Republicans. They want those who haven't got boot straps to pull themselves up by them. They should instead be doing what Edwards is doing — offering to help them get find bootstraps.
Edwards took on predatory lenders during his Cleveland stop calling for national regulations.
Read the rest and see some great pictures at the Sacramento Bee.
As one could predict, his moneyed detractors can't understand how someone with means can sympathize with the poor.
"It's difficult to relate to the homeless when you reside in a 28,000-square-foot mansion," [Chris] Taylor [regional press secretary for the Republican National Committee] said. "This is a guy who has taken fees for speaking about the poor in the past."So what?
If I were poor I would rather have someone who has the means to do something trying to help me out, than continue to suffer among other poor people who haven't the means to do anything. That's the problem with Republicans. They want those who haven't got boot straps to pull themselves up by them. They should instead be doing what Edwards is doing — offering to help them get find bootstraps.
Edwards took on predatory lenders during his Cleveland stop calling for national regulations.
Edwards said that without national regulations predatory lenders who offer higher-priced loans to people with tarnished credit or low incomes "just move to another place where they are not regulated."He called for a national assistance fund to provide help to working people at risk of losing their homes.
"It's not a Cleveland problem or a New Orleans problem, it's an American problem," Edwards said.
Read the rest and see some great pictures at the Sacramento Bee.
Elizabeth Edwards graces Sacramento
by Randy Bayne
The Bayne of Blog
One of the highlights of the weekend meeting of the State Democratic Party leadership was the visit by Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Presidential candidate John Edwards.
After spending time greeting people as she arrived at the Radisson Hotel, Edwards spoke to the gathered Democrats about her husband's campaign and its themes of health care for all, ending poverty and bringing the occupation of Iraq to an end.
She talked about John Edwards being the first candidate to come out with a "truly universal health care plan." And then the applause meter pegged when she said, "it is not enough to just talk about universal health care if at the end of the day everyone is not covered."
On education, Edwards said No Child Left Behind is "an excuse to move to vouchers," and explains why it is not remedial, but punitive, and explains why it is not funded. "We need to reward our teacher," said Edwards.
Addressing poverty, Edwards said we need somebody who actually cares about poverty and lifting people up.
Using the analogy of a ladder, she spoke about the generation of her 25 year old daughter — the generation of my son — who do not believe they will do as well s their parents. She said that there used to be a ladder for people to climb, but that the Bush administration has broken the rungs out of the ladder and it is up to us, Democrats, to replace those rungs.
"We need to be patriotic about something other than war," she repeated her husband's oft used words. "And, what we need to patriotic about," she said, "is our commitment to saving this planet."
"John has called on congress to stand firm" and refuse to continue funding the war.
As she was leaving the hall, Edwards took time to greet a few more people. She then stopped by a board set up the the Veterans Caucus. It was filled with pictures and information about young men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq. She seemed truly touched, lingering for several minutes and finding names on the board.
After leaving Sacramento, Edwards attended another event in San Francisco, and on Sunday spoke at the opening of the Nevada for Edwards office in Reno.
More pictures are available here.
The Bayne of Blog
One of the highlights of the weekend meeting of the State Democratic Party leadership was the visit by Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Presidential candidate John Edwards.
She talked about John Edwards being the first candidate to come out with a "truly universal health care plan." And then the applause meter pegged when she said, "it is not enough to just talk about universal health care if at the end of the day everyone is not covered."
On education, Edwards said No Child Left Behind is "an excuse to move to vouchers," and explains why it is not remedial, but punitive, and explains why it is not funded. "We need to reward our teacher," said Edwards.
Using the analogy of a ladder, she spoke about the generation of her 25 year old daughter — the generation of my son — who do not believe they will do as well s their parents. She said that there used to be a ladder for people to climb, but that the Bush administration has broken the rungs out of the ladder and it is up to us, Democrats, to replace those rungs.
"We need to be patriotic about something other than war," she repeated her husband's oft used words. "And, what we need to patriotic about," she said, "is our commitment to saving this planet."
"John has called on congress to stand firm" and refuse to continue funding the war.
After leaving Sacramento, Edwards attended another event in San Francisco, and on Sunday spoke at the opening of the Nevada for Edwards office in Reno.
More pictures are available here.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Welcome
Welcome to the new blog, Sacramento for Edwards.
Sacramento for Edwards is a coalition of two organizations: Sacramento Progressive Alliance and Capitol Area Progressives (CAP). We also are a One Corps chapter.
As we get things underway, there will be more content here and opportunities to post comments to the items posted by the authors. Currently, there are only two authors, Randy Bayne who also publishes California Notes, and Cathlyn Daly, President of Capitol Area Progressives (CAP).
In the coming days we hope to add new authors, including Cali Dem (screen name) of Edwards in '08.
Sacramento for Edwards is a coalition of two organizations: Sacramento Progressive Alliance and Capitol Area Progressives (CAP). We also are a One Corps chapter.
As we get things underway, there will be more content here and opportunities to post comments to the items posted by the authors. Currently, there are only two authors, Randy Bayne who also publishes California Notes, and Cathlyn Daly, President of Capitol Area Progressives (CAP).
In the coming days we hope to add new authors, including Cali Dem (screen name) of Edwards in '08.
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