Action planning meeting Tuesday, February 1 in Wheaton

Combined MeetUp/Meeting for MCPA, DFMC, PDA, and more. Action planning meeting to achieve progress on Healthcare, the Environment, Education, Labor, Transportation, Energy and other issues. We're building up our coalition and lobby efforts on the state and national level, planning special events, forming a steering committee, and working on meetings with legislators, and other organizations.

Tuesday, February 1 · 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Saigonese Restaurant, 11232 Grandview Ave
Silver Spring (Wheaton), MD 20902

Google Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=11232+Grandview+Ave+Silver+Spring+MD+20902

Public Transportation: Short walk from Wheaton Metro (red line)

Please join the Montgomery County Progressive Alliance Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/mcprogressivealliance

1. MCPA: The Montgomery County Progressive Alliance is a result-oriented coalition working on local, state, national and international issues. MCPA includes more than 1,000 local activists, mainly in and around Montgomery County Maryland. The organization began in 2003 when Democracy for America Meetup members reached out to other Meetup groups and other groups. In 2004, 100s of Montgomery County for Kerry members and local Progressive Democrats of America members joined the MCPA. MCPA adopted a mission statement, organized special events, and has held meetings nearly each month since 2003.

2. DFA/DFMC: Democracy for America emerged from Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004, and has organized grass-roots activists to support socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates. DFMC is Democracy for Montgomery County, a local DFA-inspired organization which is not directly or legally affiliated with DFA. DFMC has organized events and meetings; and endorsed and organized volunteers for several candidates. DFMC is currently seeking additional steering committee members. Please contact me, mikehersh@mikehersh.com if you're interested. You can sign up for DFA here: http://democracyforamerica.com/session/new

3. PDA: Progressive Democrats of America began just after the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Bringing together people from the 2004 Kucinich and Dean Campaigns with other progressives, PDA adopted an "inside/outside strategy" uniting activists working inside the Democratic Party with those working in peace and justice movements. PDA's core issues include clean, accurate and transparent elections; environmental protection; single-payer healthcare; economic and social justice; and peace. See: http://www.PDAmerica.org/ You can sign up for PDA there.

Help PWG and PAM "Fund Our Communities, Bring the War Dollars Home"

The Progressive Working Group (PWG) met Sunday, December 12 at the Wheaton Regional Library. At that meeting the PWG members voted to focus on 6 issues during the 2011 General Assembly session including the "Fund our Communities: Bring the War Dollars Home" campaign. For more information on PWG, please see: http://progressiveworkinggroup.blogspot.com/

Here's how you can help, from Peace Action Montgomery (PAM):

Our new campaign, Fund Our Communities, Bring the War Dollars Home, is aimed at generating a tidal wave of support for cutting military spending to fund domestic needs. We want to make Washington understand that the people of this country have had enough.

 

One strategy is for local and state political leaders to tell our Federal representatives that their constituents demand a change in national priorities. Local and state elected leaders have clout--Congress and the political establishment listen to them.

 

We have worked with members of the Maryland General Assembly and the Montgomery County Council to develop two letters, one from each of these bodies, that will go to Maryland's two senators and eight representatives.  

 

State Senator Jamie Raskin and Delegate Sheila Hixson sent a memo on January 20 to their colleagues in the Maryland General Assembly, asking them to sign a joint letter to our Congressional delegation. The letter requests Congress to cut the Pentagon budget by at least 25% over the next five years and reallocate that money to domestic priorities, where it is needed. 
 

County Council member George Leventhal sent a memo to his colleagues on the Montgomery County Council on January 18, asking them to sign a similar joint letter from Council members.

 

Now it is up to us convince our state and county representatives to sign these letters.

 

Please click here to sign an advocacy e-appeal to your state senator and delegates and click here to send a similar advocacy e-appeal to your Montgomery County Council representatives.

 

As you know, we are faced with huge and growing domestic needs and inadequate money to address them.  Meanwhile, the Pentagon budget increases, year after year after year. It is past time to redress that imbalance. 
 

Contact your state and county representatives right now using our easy e-mail forms! It will only take a couple of minutes.
 

In solidarity,
 

Peace Action Montgomery  
 

P.S. Please forward this e-mail to Maryland friends--the more people who ask local legislators to sign the letters, the stronger our message to Washington will be. And phone calls to your legislators would be a great follow-up to your e-mail or, if your prefer calling, a great alternative.

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Links: 
Raskin/Hixson e-appeal letter and to get text of the letter: http://www.ourfunds.org/raskin-hixson-letter

County Council letter: http://peaceactionmc.peacepress.info/files/2011/01/MoCo-Council-ltr-11.pdf

County Council e-appeal: http://ourfunds.org/2011/01/22/moco-foc-letter-2011a/