News came yesterday of a major new initial from DFA National based on demands from members and local groups and a shift in position by DFA founder Gov. Dean. Dean is now calling for a phased withdrawal. Dean made an extensive case in an interview with the Daily Beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-04-18/howard-dean-to-president-obama-get-our-troops-out-of-afghanistan/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC1#

More info on Dean and DFA National at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/09/howard-dean-democracy-america-afghanistan-withdrawal_n_859320.html

DFA National is asking everyone to join as a citizen co-sponsor of a withdrawal bill authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer and co-sponsored by Sen. Gillibrand, Sen. Sherrod Brown and Sen. Durbin. Read the bill and sign on at: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/activities/512?akid=753.214578.tGpxpV&rd=1&t=1

Kirsten also sent an excellent message out on this via DFA earlier in the day.

At the recent Democratic Rural Conference there was a lot of talk about the special election to Congress on May 24th in the 26th Congressional District in Western NY. Democrat Kathy Hochul now has a slight lead in one of the most rock-ribbed Republican districts in the country. If this seat flips Democratic, it will set off national shockwaves and help roll back the tea party surge.

They are looking for people to phone bank from home. If you have some spare time, contact Blake@KathyHochul.com, or if you can go west to volunteer contact Jesse@KathyHochul.com or Kyle@KathyHochul.com

In the meantime Rep. Chris Gibson has been a busy fellow. He voted:

*To repeal mandatory funding to set up health insurance exchanges under healthcare reform. The grants are part of the 2010 health care bill which requires each state to establish an exchange by 2014.

*To repeal a section in the 2010 health care bill providing funding for the construction of school-based health centers.

*He voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act - which would prohibit federal funds from being used for abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest or danger to the woman's life, and to bar most abortion expense deductions and tax credits for healthcare policies that cover abortions.


*He also voted to defeat a Democratic sponsored measure to bar the IRS from accessing medical records to establish whether rape or incest occurred, in connection with a provision in HR3 making abortion costs not tax deductible except in cases of rape or incest

*And to require the Interior Department to sell oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Virginia.

*Gibson also voted against a Democratic sponsored measure for a direct vote to end $30 billion in subsidies and tax breaks for the oil industry and use the money for tax breaks to industries to create jobs.

This all speaks for itself. As I noted before, we need volunteers to help put information on www.chrisgibsonwatch.com

And don't forget the Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon:

You are invited to the Washington County Democratic Women's Luncheon on Friday, May 20th from Noon-2pm at the Cambridge Hotel in Cambridge, NY. Tracey Brooks, President of Family Planning Advocates of New York will be the featured speaker. Brooks was former regional director for Sen. Clinton. $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Men are of course, welcome!

For information call Barbra Kinglsey at 518-677-5921 or Ellen Faber at 518-677-8345., Mail checks made out to WCDC to Ellen Faber, 100 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY 12816

Thanks, everyone! Remember, we still need volunteers for www.chrisgibsonwatch.com

Larry

Bin Laden's death is a moment for celebration, but also a moment to remember all those who have died or suffered over the last decade.

Hopefully, Bin Laden's death, along with the still burgeoning Arab Spring, will mark the beginning of a new cycle of events. The Dean campaign and DFA may never have come into being had 9/11 not happened, and had George Bush had not been able to exploit it politically. We now must work to restore balance in our foreign commitments, repair our battered civil liberties, curtail the national security state, and a create sane and moral approach to rebuilding our nation's economy.

And I hope it is not politically crass to point out that this success makes Barack Obama the un-Jimmy Carter. The failure to rescue the hostages in Terhan doomed Carter's reelection chances. The jubilant crowds outside the White House and in Times Square last night, a sight not seen since V-J Day in 1945, surely immensely bolsters Obama's. Watch for Republican challengers to start dropping out.

We will be holding our regular monthly meeting of Democracy For The Greater Glens Falls Area this Wednesday, May, 4th at 7pm at the Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe in downtown Glens Falls.

On the agenda is a discussion of local events, and a report on the Democratic Rural Conference, which I was at last weekend. The Cafe is on the corner of Elm and Exchange Streets and Hudson Avenue, one block west of the roundabout in downtown Glens Falls

If we get time, we will also have a showing of the Academy Award nominated video documentary Gasland, which is about the horrible, environmentally destructive practice of hydrofracking, which is becoming an enormous issue here in New York State.

DFA National has been making a big push on this, and you should add your name to their petition: http://stopfrackingnow.com/fp

Republican Rep.Chris Gibson held a town hall in Malta last Tuesday. A lengthy succession of questioners hammered Gibson on a range of issue from Medicare to America's growing inequality. I got some video and will be putting clips up online. The first is already up at http://www.chrisgibsonwatch.com

They are worth watching because a demonstration outside completely blew off coverage of the tough questions being asked inside, so everyone who was not there missed Gibson's squirming and ducking. The worst thing we could do to Gibson is to let people see what he is actually saying.

The first question at Gibson's town hall meeting was about inequality. Here is something on this from the Huffington Post: