Tag: Congressional Progressive Caucus

Congressional Progressive Caucus Increases Plurality in Next Congress

As David Swanson noted on Wednesday:

You may have heard that our center-right nation got enthusiastic, formed a grassroots movement called a tea party, and overwhelmingly voted in a more rightwing party, sending hordes of nasty socialists packing as a result of their overly progressive performance, meaning gridlock between the righteous Congress and the infidel president for the next two years. There are some problems with this story, beginning with the fact that it’s completely false.

[snip]

As Karen Dolan blogged about immediately after Tuesday’s elections, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus — over 80 members — lost only 3 seats. The Cut-Spending-Except-For-Killing Blue Dogs had 54 members and lost 26 of them, and those 26 were their true believers. Congress members, including one or two real progressives, didn’t lose by being progressive but by being Democrats. Alan Grayson was defeated by the largest investment of corporate money in any House race, but the obedient corporatist Democrat in the next district over lost too. And this was despite the Democratic Party funding and supporting the Blue Dogs, leaving the progressives to raise their own money.

Tea Party candidates, in contrast to progressives, did not have a successful day on Tuesday. Their nominees’ craziness cost the Republican Party control of the Senate. Yet the whole corporate-funded smoke-and-mirrors “movement” of the Tea Party pushed the Republican Party as a whole to the right, in a way that no well-funded institution has pushed the Democrats to the left or even tried to. And this is the key lesson: pushing the Democrats to the left would save them from themselves.

On Thursday Amy Goodman at Democracy Now spoke with CPC Co-Chair Raul Grijalva about the CPC not only holding it’s own with a loss of only 4 seats in the mid terms, but coming out of the elections holding the relative largest plurality of all groups in Congress.

The Democrats lost the majority in the US House of Representatives in Tuesday’s midterm elections, but what is the makeup of the new Democratic House caucus? The conservative Blue Dogs lost half their members, while the Progressive Caucus remains near eighty. We speak to its co-chair, Rep. Raúl Grijalva, who appears to have retained his seat in a close election in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District. Over the past year, Grijalva has received numerous threats, including having a suspicious package covered in swastikas sent to his office and having a bullet shot through his district office in Yuma, Arizona.



Democracy Now – November 04, 2010

about 10 minutes

..transcript follows..

Bernie Sanders, Member of the Progressive Caucus, Cuts to Chase with Maher



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

Progressive Democrats Take A Stand On Health Care

An amendment introduced by representative Anthony Weiner, which would have created national single payer, has been traded in for a vote on the House floor in September, as a part of the deal between liberal and conservative members of the Democratic Party. The case – in support of single payer – made by some Democrats during the mark-up echoed the speeches given at a rally, which took place in the Upper Senate Park on Thursday, July 30th. That same day a number of members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus held a press conference on the Capitol Hill where they announced their intent to fight for a robust public option. The Real News spoke to David Swanson from Democrats.com who attended both the rally and the press conference.

Real News Network – August 3, 2009 – 9 minutes

Some members of Congress are going to fight for a robust public option and a single-payer amendment

David Swanson is the creator of ImpeachCheney.org, co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org and Washington Director of Democrats.com A writer and organizer, Swanson has worked for ACORN, the International Labor Communications Association, Dennis Kucinich’s 2004 presidential campaign and many others.

Promote Dialogue on Healthcare Reform, Now

based on a diary at ProgressiveBlue.com

DonkeyKickingI have to admit to being more than a little disconnected since January; life, a new and hectic job, and so many people putting words and expectations into and onto the new Administration without looking at what was actually said or not during the campaign.  The life and job are all good; for an old political dog like myself, the politics have been a little too deja vu.  After 4 months of increased disinterest, I’m starting to think maybe it’s time to come out of this funk.

So, when Darcy Burner took the Executive Director position at the newly renamed ProgressiveCongress.org, I thought “it’s only a matter of time before she starts connecting people to the folks on the Hill.”  And sure enough, that’s exactly what she has planned.  Follow me below to find out how and when, and why I think this could be the start of something really good.

NO LIES RADIO will broadcast LIVE the Winter Soldier hearing on Capitol Hill

Thursday May 15th at 6am Pacific – 9am Eastern – 01:00 GMT Repeated this Saturday May 17th at 9am Pacific – 12 Noon Eastern – 16:00 GMT Click Here to Listen and or save for thursdays hearings, also on graphic below.