Take Action: Join PDA's Healthcare for All Issue Organizing Team (IOT); learn more here. Published by Examiner.com Being that nationally known author and ever-present progressive David Swanson has already picked up on our Melanie-Care for All Act in his article "Single-Payer Healthcare Coming to Missouri", I've decided to include the original statement here. ~ Byron Melanie Cared For Us All "If elected, I will sponsor the "Melanie-Care for All Act", providing a simple plan to get all of our Missourian families the coverage, protection and care we deserve." ~ Byron DeLear, Mo. State Rep. Candidate 79th District (http://www.ByronDeLear.org) [more]

Published by Winograd4Congress.com Congressional Candidate Cites Opponent’s Investment in Superfund Site Polluter (Marina del Rey) Congressional Candidate Marcy Winograd (CA-36) calls on her opponent Jane Harman to divest from Dow Chemical, which has been identified as a potentially responsible party for toxic pollution at two Environmental Protection Agency Superfund chemical sites in the Harbor-Gateway area. Harman's latest (2009) House of Representatives Financial Disclosure statement reveals a substantial (minimum $50,000) investment in Dow Chemical, identified by the EPA as a responsible party for clean up at the the Del Amo and Montrose Superfund sites, both located near Torrance in the heart of the candidates’ congressional district. Says Winograd, “I ask my opponent to respect the health and well-being of our residents by divesting from a corporation which is a potential source of pollution at the district’s two Superfund sites. You can’t be a true environmentalist and invest in a company the Environmental Protection Agency suspects poisoned the ground water.” [more]

Read Dobbs' responses to the candidate questionnaire. Dec. 11--Robert Dobbs is a PDA member from Myrtle Beach, S.C., who believes in progressive values and has fought for those values all his life. We urge all South Carolinians to join with Robert in continuing that fight. Robert is dedicated to defeating Congressman Henry Brown, one of the most conservative members of Congress. Robert has clearly stated that he supports a progressive agenda that includes universal healthcare, stopping unnecessary wars, and investing in the working men and women of South Carolina and America. [more]

Published by Blue South Carolina. Robert Dobbs stated, “I guess it all begins with my roots, which are very similar to "Fighting" Robert "Bob" La Follette, Sr., also a fellow Wisconsian and Progressive. Both of us began in the Republican Party, we both come from humble beginnings, and soon realized what happened to the Progressives? Bob La Follette is best remembered as a proponent of progressivism and a vocal opponent of railroad trusts, bossism, World War I, and the League of Nations. La Follette has been called arguably the most important and recognized leader of the opposition to the growing dominance of corporations over the government. [more]

In a fiercely contested primary race for the Democratic nomination, Congressional candidate Tracy Emblem earned the endorsement of the Progressive Democrats of America San Diego Metro Chapter after a lively and somewhat fiery forum with her primary opponent on January 25. Emblem, who carried the room with over 60% of the vote is proud to have the support of the Progressive Democrats stating, "It's time to stand and deliver on the promises of moving our country forward and putting Americans first." Ms. Emblem, an appellate attorney practicing in Escondido, seeks to replace Republican Brian Bilbray in the November 2010 Congressional election. The field of primary challengers had been as large as three, but narrowed to two when Solana Beach mayor Dave Roberts withdrew his bid. Emblem's rival for the primary is Cardiff resident Francine Busby, who has contested the Bilbray-held seat twice before. [more]

Dr. Quentin Young endorses Marcy Winograd for Congress 2010 in southern California’s 36th congressional district. Young, once the personal physician to Dr. Martin Luther King, admires Winograd’s enduring commitment to establishing a single-payer health care system. “Marcy Winograd is the perfect candidate for our times,” says Dr. Young, 86, from Illinois. “Her clear-eyed support for single-payer health care and her progressive stands on a variety of issues make her the best candidate.” [more]

Lecturers and Librarians Want to Send an Education Advocate to Washington The University of California American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) has endorsed public school teacher Marcy Winograd for Congress in her challenge to Jane Harman in the 36thDistrict. The union local represents 3,000 lecturers and librarians on ten UC campuses. Local President Bob Samuels said, “California needs to send a progressive vote to Congress. Marcy Winograd is a proven supporter of higher education who will fight the current military expansion so we can fund education at the proper level.” [more]

In the aftermath of a U.S Supreme Court decision in favor of unlimited corporate campaign expenditures, Congressional Candidate Marcy Winograd (CA-36) calls on her opponent Jane Harman to agree to end the corruption now by refusing money from corporate political action committees (PACS). Specifically, Winograd challenges her opponent Jane Harman to return the $34,000 she has accepted from military contractors to fund her 2010 congressional campaign. Opensecrets.org lists the 5 top contributing political action committees to Harman’s 2009-2010 campaign as: Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Co., Boeing Co., Space X, and SAIC. “If we want to get big money out of politics, we need to start with politicians pledging not to accept money from industries which they oversee," says Winograd. “My opponent’s oversight responsibilities on the Homeland Security Committee should preclude her from taking money from companies whose profit margins rise or fall based on her support for war and occupation.” [more]

Democratic Candidate for U.S. Senate in New York, Jonathan Tasini, released the following statement: My opponent, Kirsten Gillibrand, did what New Yorkers find increasingly troubling: she claimed she stands for one thing, while her actions contradict her public relations talking points. On WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, referring to yesterday’s Supreme Court decision that allows unlimited corporate spending on elections, my opponent said, “I think it’s terrible.” I agree—the Supreme Court decision hands over to corporations control over our democracy. It reinforces the notion in the voters’ minds that our system is dysfunctional and is not helping average people. [more]

PDA-endorsed Congressional Candidate says loss of Senate seat proves Party must reverse course, with progressive congressional challengers offering the greatest promise for re-energizing the base Following Republican Scott Brown’s senate victory in Massachusetts, Democratic Party Congressional Candidate (CA-36) Marcy Winograd urges Democrats in Congress to reaffirm their commitment to the Party's core values and fight for working America, not surrender the populist mantle to far-right Republicans intent on privatizing government. Says Winograd, “Washington faces the danger of drawing the wrong conclusions from yesterday's loss of what had been America's true-blue Senate seat. This upset reflects less the zeal of a million conservative voters than the fact that two million Massachusetts Democrats stayed home, rejecting the politics of Democratic Party appeasement." [more]

Hugely Influential Coalition of Political Bloggers Chooses Life-Long California Activist to Kick-Off 2010 Efforts Blue America PAC this week endorsed Marcy Winograd for Congress as their first endorsement of the campaign season. Blue America PAC is a political action committee under the umbrella of three popular bloggers–Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny, Johan Amato of Crooks and Liars, and Digby (aka Heather Parton) of Hullabaloo. To launch the endorsement, the bloggers invited Marcy to answer questions, blog live on Crooksandliars.com, and raise money for her campaign. In making the endorsement on Saturday, January 16, blogger John Amato announced he would not run against Harman, something he had previously considered. [more]

Published by L.A. Progressive. On January 3, 2010, congressional candidate Marcy Winograd wrote an open letter to Congressman Henry Waxman regarding his endorsement of Jane Harman. Ms. Winograd is a progressive democrat running against Jane Harman for the 36th congressional seat in California. Here is what she wrote: [more]

Published by San Francisco Chronicle. A look at key House races in the 2010 midterm elections, including those in California: -- California, Third District - Dan Lungren, R-Gold River (Sacramento County): In a year that's looking good for Republicans, Lungren is one of the few who's sweating. He won in 2008 with only 49 percent of the vote in a Sacramento-area district that President Obama narrowly carried. Democrats have unified behind a well-funded challenger, physician Ami Bera. If they can beat Lungren or fellow state Republican Mary Bono Mack of Palm Springs, it would be a sign that they are not losing ground nationally. [more]

Published by BradBlog. Primary battle looms once more between eight-term House Dem and progressive challenger... A little more than seven months after launching her second attempt to unseat California's powerful eight-term Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Jane Harman, the PDA-backed Marcy Winograd recently sent out a fundraising email in which she described Harman as the Joe Lieberman of the House. In the campaign letter, Winograd notes Harman's claim in her 1998 election, as reported by the Los Angeles Times: "I was flattered to be introduced in the last election as the best Republican in the Democratic primary." [more]

Marcy Winograd, 36th congressional district candidate, questions why her opponent Blue Dog Democrat Jane Harman sided with House Republicans to defeat House Judiciary Chair John Conyers’ mortgage-relief (“cramdown”) amendment to the financial overhaul bill. “With several thousand people in our district facing foreclosure, we’re looking at neighborhoods turning from beauty to blight. It behooves everyone in Congress to demand that big banks, the overnight recipients of billion-dollar bail-outs, be required to renegotiate loans in bankruptcy court. After all, we must remember these banks, the ones we bailed out, caused the financial meltdown with predatory sub-prime lending.” Harman voted with a coalition of Republicans and corporate Blue Dog Democrats to water down the final legislation to exclude language that would have allowed homeowners, saddled with debt, to renegotiate their home loan in bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy judges are now allowed to modify loan terms on vacation or investment properties, but not on primary residences. Primary residences were eligible for loan modification in bankruptcy court prior to the passage of the 2005 bankruptcy bill, which Harman supported. [more]

Mike Capuano sent the following email to his supporters following the Massachusetts primary on December 8: Dear Friend, I would like to congratulate the next U.S. Senator of Massachusetts, Martha Coakley. She ran a good campaign. I am going to be there to help make her our next Senator, and when she gets elected, we are going to work hard to make sure she is successful. I would also like to thank all of you. Stop and think about what we built in this short amount of time. In two and a half months, we went from 0 to 100 miles per hour across this state building a strong grassroots organization. What we did is pretty darn amazing. [more]

Take Action: Get out the Vote for Mike! With one day to go before the Massachusetts special primary election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Edward Kennedy, PDA-endorsed candidate Congressman Mike Capuano sent the following message to his supporters: Over the last 84 remarkable and hectic days, we've built a statewide organization with thousands of active and engaged supporters from Boston to the Berkshires. We've held 70 "Open Mike" forums, visited more than 100 communities and been part of 260 events. I've sat down at kitchen tables and spoken to 1 person and I've spoken in front of 1200 people at rallies and my pledge to you, to the voters of Massachusetts, has never changed. [more]

TAKE ACTION: Make calls for Mike! Published by Associated Press. U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano is suggesting former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney face prosecution for allowing the waterboarding of terror suspects. Capuano (cap-yoo-AH'-noh) said Monday it appears that the orders to subject al-Qaida terror suspects to waterboarding could be traced to Cheney's office. If that's the case, Capuano said Cheney should be prosecuted. He said those carrying out the orders shouldn't be scapegoated for obeying executive instructions. Capuano made the comments during a forum among the Democratic candidates for the late Edward Kennedy's seat on WGBH's Greater Boston. [more]

Published by Firedoglake. Anna Eshoo (D-PhRMA) may be the author of the language granting drug companies endless monopolies on biologic drugs, but she couldn’t have done it without the help of her good friend Jane Harman. A new letter from the Winograd campaign says: "The latest health insurance reform bill includes an amendment, supported by Jane Harman, member of the Committee on Energy & Commerce, to extend the pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly on expensive biologic drugs to twelve years or longer, harming victims of cancer, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis and rare diseases who cannot afford to pay $50,000 to $300,000 for prescriptions or whose insurance companies place a ceiling on drug coverage. [more]

The unfortunate and untimely death of Senator Edward Kennedy created a vacant U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts. In accordance with Massachusetts’s law a special senatorial election is scheduled for early January 2010 to fill the vacant seat. Four Democratic Party candidates have announced their candidacies, with the ultimate candidate to be selected in a special Democratic Party primary to be held on December 8, 2009. In response to this unique situation, PDA MA sent out an endorsement questionnaire to all four declared Democratic Party candidates; two responded. PDA MA members reviewed the candidates’ answers and met to consider the question of endorsement. CDs 1 and 2 met on Tuesday, October 27, in Greenfield, and CD 3 met on Saturday, October 31, in Worcester; the three active chapters voted to endorse Congressman Mike Capuano based on his responses to the questionnaire and his record as a U.S. Congressman. [more]