Tricounty DFA Weekend Update
Hello Everyone;

In this update:

1. Vigil Reminder
2. Rockhill Filmfest Friday
3. House Party For Gillibrand April 9
4. Meetup Follow Up: Training Day
6. DNC National Canvass Day-- register by the 11th to get kit
7. Lobbying Day In Albany
8. C-Span Link
9. Wall Street Dems Attack Grassroots, Unions

1. Vigil Reminder

There will be another vigil for peace and to bring our troops home this Saturday at the Five Corners in downtown Glens Falls from 11am-Noon. Come and bring a sign and a friend!

2. Rockhill Filmfest Friday
At 7pm Friday the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls we will be showing Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (www.zeitgeistvideo.com) Funny, provocative and surprisingly accessible, Manufacturing Consent explores the political life and ideas of world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist, Noam Chomsky. Admission is free.

3. House Party For Gillibrand April 9

Meet Kirsten Gillibrand!

Linda and Joe Seeman Cordially invite you to a reception for Kirsten Gillibrand, Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives 20th District, at our home in Ballston Spa, NY (Town of Milton) on Sunday, April 9, 2006 3pm until 5pm.

Please R.S.V.P. by Wed. April 5th to the phone or email address below.
Call for directions and details at 518-583-4326 or joe.seeman@yahoo.com

Note: Contributions are not expected but will be accepted.

4. Meetup Follow Up: Training Day

At last night's meeting we were discussing a series of things: first, DFA is having a national call in training next Tuesday night as part of the DFA Academy. Everyone who went to the Training Day at the Plumber's Hall knows how good these are. It will start at 8:30 and last an hour. For info go to: http://www.dfalink.com/nightschool

6. DNC National Canvass Day-- register by the 11th to get kit

Trudy also called our attention to the DNC's national neighbor-neighbor canvas day on April 29. They are asking us to go door to door on the streets where we live and talk to our neighbors. If you go online by the 11th and register, the DNC will send you a free kit of door hangers and info. This sounds terrific and there is no reason you can't canvass for other candidates as well at the same time. For more info go to: http://www.dnc.org/a/2006/03/fifty_state_can.php

7. Lobbying Day In Albany

Lisa sends this to follow up on last night's discussion about voting machines:

On Tuesday, April 11, 2006, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. 2006 Clean Money, Clean Elections Lobby Day, Legislative Office Building, Albany, Room 104A

Citizen Action of New York will be co-sponsoring Lobby Day with Democracy Matters, the college student organization that works to educate students and the community on money in politics issues with a focus on Clean Money, Clean Elections. There are seven Democracy Matters chapters in New York State that will join us for Lobby Day. The morning will include Lobbying Training, Guest Speakers and Lunch. The afternoon will be filled with legislative lobby visits with State Senators and Representatives. We need as many folks as possible to join us on Tuesday the 11th. Our lobbying effort will continue with local lobby visits in all regions acros! s New York after April 11th.For more information and RSVP Jessica Wisneski, Clean Money, Clean ElectionsCoordinator of Citizen Action of New York via e-mail: jwisneski@citizenactionny.org or by calling: 518-465-4600 x109

8. C-Span Link

Nora reported on a remarkable C-Span program with retired Army Col. Karen Kwiatkowski. She was in the White House during the run up to the war and has retired in disgust at what Bush and the neocons were doing. Here is a link to info and another to live video.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/3/16550/61573


9. Wall Street Dems Attack Grassroots, Unions

Drew Monthie sent this David Sirota piece below; it's a troubling eye-opener. I'll have a more detailed report on our busy meeting over the weekend!

Thanks,

Larry

****


Wall Street Dems Unveil Plan to Undermine Progressives




Here's a big shocker - the Wall Street wing of the Democratic Party today announced it would be beginning its new war in earnest on the grassroots elements of the party that are demanding serious public policy changes. As the Financial Times reports, Citigroup Chairman Bob Rubin held a press conference at the Brookings Institution to announce the formation of the so-called "Hamilton Project." After paying lip service to various economic problems afflicting the country, Rubin and his former Treasury colleague Roger Altman quickly let it be known exactly what they are up to.

Here's the key excerpt:

"At a time when Democrats have become more aggressive in voicing concerns about the foreign ownership of US assets, Roger Altman, former deputy Treasury secretary under Mr Clinton, added that more inclusive economic growth could also 'blunt the political demands for protectionism'...[The group] said it was willing to take on entrenched Democratic interests, such as teaching unions. Policy papers unveiled on Wednesday proposed vouchers for summer schools..."

There it all is. First there's the dishonest name-calling aimed at those courageous Democrats who are challenging the free trade orthodoxy that is destroying the lives of millions of American and foreign workers. Then there is the promise of an ensuing attack on the labor movement - a reflexive move, of course, for a bunch of corporate executives. And finally, the nod to efforts to defund public education through "vouchers."

None of this is surprising, of course. As head of Citigroup, Rubin has a financial interest in the agenda he's pushing. And he's made no apologies for the brazenness with which he pushes his corporatism. Remember, it was Rubin during the debate over the Central American Free Trade Agreement who demanded that congressional Democrats back off their efforts to include labor, human rights and environmental protections in the pact. He and his pals are the same people who rammed trade deals like NAFTA, WTO and China PNTR down the throats of Americans, and then left government service for the high life of the corporate boardroom. There, they reaped the rich financial rewards of the very sell-out policies they used public office to push, while millions of Americans saw their jobs outsourced, their wages frozen and their benefits slashed.

Oh sure, the group claims it is going to look at critical issues like income inequality - but you can be sure they will look at that issue without looking at issues like "free" trade that are fueling that inequality. Because make no mistake about it - this move today is nothing more than the beginning of a frontal attack by Corporate America on the progressive movement, using the Democratic Party as an all-too-transparent cloak of legitimacy.



posted by David Sirota @ 5:02 PM
- posted by Larry Dudley @ 12:35 AM