ProgressOhio

The marketplace of ideas is being strangled.

After one year of service to the progressive community of Central Ohio--with virtually no warning and despite enormous support, Monday, December 22 will be the last day of progressive broadcasts at WVKO.

Six companies own 80% of our media outlets, but the majority of people "they serve" are not buying the conservative stations' rhetoric. Latin Catholic masses and other Catholic programming will replace WVKO programming.

I can barely perceive the [not-so] subtle message.

Congressman Pat Tiberi and David Robinson square off on the BAilout and Economy

*Note: NO! photo or video is available for this story. Please see “Pat Tiberi Seeks to Silence the Free Press” for details.

On Monday, September 29 Representative Pat Tiberi and Democratic challenger David Robinson faced off in their first debate. This was following at least four previously held events where “Our Congressman” had disappointed the 12th District electorate by being unable to attend while the Democratic challenger David Robinson maintained perfect debate attendance.

The Delaware, Ohio debate was held in a local vocational school. Tiberi flew in from Washington just hours after he went “His Own Way” and said NO! to the $700 Billion bailout package.

That evening, Tiberi confidently addressed the audience of approximately 150 Delawareans saying:

“We had a vote today that I told the President, 'NO!'

"Some say I can't tell the president, 'NO!'

"But I told my party leadership, 'NO!'

“Because at the end of the day, when I look into my daughter's eyes, it's about her.

"It's about the next generation of Americans. It's not about party. It's about doing the right thing.”

Based on his opposition to the bill, The Liberty Voice posted our support on our website saying, “We salute Pat Tiberi on this choice.”

The Delaware Gazette reported, “Tiberi felt the bill didn’t adequately protect consumers and was jammed through Congress.”

According to Tiberi on Monday, his NO! vote represented the will of his constituents. He said,

“Main Street wasn't protected in that bill. That's who I got the phone calls from.

"The phone calls from Central Ohio were AGAINST it!!!

“We've got to deal with the reality of what we can do, cause at the end of the day, guess who's going to pay for it--WE ARE!”

Economic collapse brings together the strangest bedfellows: Michael Moore and RINO Pat Tiberi. 

Despite Pat Tiberi's voting record which has handed taxpayer money over to no-bid contractors and often supported corporate welfare, Pat Tiberi decided to actually "go his own way" (despite a 93% lock-step record with President Bush).

This is ironically the same choice of Michael Moore.  We salute Pat Tiberi on this choice. I guess with $830,000 already in the Tiberi's WAR chest from financial and security companies over the past eight years, Tiberi would rather finally side with his voting block (and just in time for the election!) rather than again rewarding bad behavior.  It remains to be seen however if the voters of Ohio's 12th Congressional District will have amnesia of the trillions of no-bid appropriations and corporate bailouts Tiberi has already approved.

Here is an excerpt from Michael Moore's proposal:

The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout."

Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves! Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily.

George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?

I would like to propose my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, are predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps.

Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: There... is... no... free... lunch. And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there will be no handouts from us to you.

Thelibertyvoice.com

“I, Pat Tiberi, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

 

Amendment I

“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”

 

As the publisher of The Liberty Voice, I had made preparations to record the September 29th public debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, The Delaware Gazette and the Farm Bureau. This forum for local, state and federal candidates was held in a publicly-funded local school. As I am not able to write every word live, it is necessary that I record such events so that I may accurately transcribe what is said.

This was an especially important service to perform this evening, as “our Congressman” Pat Tiberi has repeatedly refused to answer our questions concerning his voting record which illustrates his gross and repeated violations of the US Constitution.

Lately, I have recorded similar debates sponsored by two of the above-mentioned organizations without incident, so what changed?

Incumbent Pat Tiberi was there.

In the past four debates–all of which had invited “our Congressman” to come, he never bothered to make an appearance. However, it was anticipated that this would be a widely-attended debate, so there was great pressure for him to make a showing. Judging by what happened later in the evening, as a condition for Tiberi’s long-awaited participation in the debates and unbeknownst to me, Tiberi pressured the sponsoring groups to forbid the use of any recording devises–without exception granted even to the press.

As I was setting up my equipment before the debate began, I was asked to put my video recording devise away, as it was an event rule that all involved had agreed to in advance. When I challenged this, the organizers–in order to “prevent making a scene” –which most definitely did make a scene, reluctantly agreed that I could record.

Central Ohio residents were treated to yet more of the Columbus Dispatch Printing Company’s (CDPC) ‘fair and balanced’ judgment; Pat Tiberi, a republican currently holding the 12th Congressional seat at the People’s House, has gotten the local daily printing company’s endorsement for Congress.

Hopefully, CDPC readers will remember the past ‘judgment’ of the company’s endorsements–including George W. Bush for president in both 2000 and 2004, when shortly before the 2004 election, even the CDPC seemed to know better. In the midst of this latest fill-in-the-blank-shock-and-awe crisis, that presidential endorsement has shown where the loyalties of the Wolfe family media empire really LIE. Much like Washington serves its lobbyists, the CDPC likewise serves the corporations who pay for thier ads.

The fact that a local printing company’s public informational monopoly would find it within their job description to endorse a candidate before even informing the population of where all candidates stand on the issues that affect them most, is discrediting to not only to the endorsement, but raises questions as to the credibility of the CDPC itself.

The CDPC wrote, “Tiberi [is a] moderate Republican, reasonable in [his] approaches to policy issues and capable of the nitty-gritty legislative work that’s required.”

The most glaring omission in this statement is that Tiberi has never sponsored and passed even one piece of legislation in his nearly eight years of [dis]service.

By this same CDPC standard, Tiberi’s voting record indicates that he is as “moderate” as he is “capable”!

Let’s look at his “moderate” and “reasonable approach” from his congressional voting record, for as even the CDPC noted, “most candidates are fiscal conservatives during the campaign season; the proof is what happens when they get to Capitol Hill.”

Exactly.

The question is, why didn’t the CDPC look at that “proof” and relate that to their readers? The [t]reason is that Tiberi’s record is far from moderate.

...until you consider the origins of Mother's Day.

Julia Ward Howe, who penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic, also authored a mothers' Declaration calling on women to oppose war, and worked to get recognition of a Mother’s Day for Peace. Says Code Pink: "Were she alive today, Julia probably would have told her kids to dispense with the roses and chocolates, and instead join her in an anti-war rally. Yes, Julia Ward Howe was a peacenik."

[Howe] saw some of the worst effects of the [civil] war -- not only the death and disease which killed and maimed the soldiers. She worked with the widows and orphans of soldiers on both sides of the war, and realized that the effects of the war go beyond the killing of soldiers in battle. She also saw the economic devastation of the Civil War, the economic crises that followed the war, the restructuring of the economies of both North and South.

In 1870, Julia Ward Howe took on a new issue and a new cause….She called in 1870 for women to rise up and oppose war in all its forms. She wanted women to come together across national lines, to recognize what we hold in common above what divides us, and commit to finding peaceful resolutions to conflicts. She issued a Declaration, hoping to gather together women in a congress of action.

Howe failed in her attempt to get formal recognition of a Mother's Day for Peace, but her effort was carried on by Anna Jarvis, who had organized women during the Civil War to work for better sanitary conditions for both sides, and then toward reconciliation of Union and Confederate neighbors.

Jarvis’ daughter, of the same name, then took up the campaign for Mother’s Day. After the custom spread to 45 states, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first national Mother’s Day in 1914.

Julia Ward Howe's Mothers' Declaration:

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Maybe Pryce, Schmidt, Tiberi, Chabot, Boehner, Regula, LaTourette, Hobson, and Turner have a thing against moms. But YOU can make this Mother's Day a Mother's Day For Peace.

Help CodePink help Iraqi refugee moms here.

Send a MomsRising Mother's Day card and tell the presidential candidates to fight for family-friendly policies. here.

Oh and don't forget to call the Congressional Switchboard at 1-800-839-5276 to give the above members of Congress a piece of your mind about H.R. 1113.

Do you have another suggestion for honoring Julia Ward Howe's Mothers' Declaration? Are you a mom working for peace? Leave a comment below.

Progress Ohio, America Votes, and the Ohio Progressive Leadership Network are pleased to announce our 9:30 AM welcome speaker: 

First Lady of Ohio, Frances Strickland

Mrs. Strickland will speak about sustaining Ohio's progressive movement through 2008 and beyond.

First Lady Frances Strickland has shared Ted's vision for a better future for Ohio with thousands of people across the state. Often seen brandishing her guitar and leading the crowd in a sing-along, Frances brings an irreplaceable creativity and enthusiasm to her work for Ohio.

Our lunch speaker:

Robert Creamer of Progress Ohio's national partner, Americans United For Change. Creamer's recently released book is entitled Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, with a foreword by Tom Matzzie of MoveOn.

Says Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio): 

"If every activist in America read Listen to Your Mother: Stand Up Straight, we could change our country. This book will help bring on the New Progressive Era. It's that good."

Find out more about RootsCamp here. 

RootsCamp is Sunday, January 13, 9-5 at the Riffe Center, 31st Floor, corner of State & High Streets, Columbus, OH 43215

RootsCamp: Come. Talk. Learn. RootsCamp is a conference for organizers, leaders, tech, fundraisers, bloggers and anyone else who is working for change. It's an opportunity for open dialogue about leading the way in '08 and beyond.

RootsCamp is participant-driven. Want to lead a session? Write your topic on a card and tape it to the wall. Add more sessions throughout the day as ideas are generated. YOU set the agenda.

RootsCamp: Ohio jobs for Ohioans. Organizations who are hiring in '08, bring your job descriptions; job-seekers bring your résumés - we're going to have a jobs fair.

RootsCamp is FREE. Breakfast/lunch provided, and plentiful coffee.

If you haven't already, sign up for RootsCamp '08. It's a free, open conference about all aspects of progressive organizing - field, fundraising, online, etc.

Anyone can lead a session (come early to sign up for a time slot). Session topics that have already been proposed are here.

To see who else is coming and to sign up, click here.

From rootscampohio.org:

We'll share innovations, failures, old wisdom and new discoveries, with an eye toward:

• Developing our skills and networking to lead the way in 2008 and beyond
• Building organization and sustainability in Ohio's growing progressive movement

WHEN:            Sunday, January 13, 2008    9 am – 5 pm (free breakfast & lunch)

WHERE:          The Vern Riffe Center, 31st Floor.  At the corner of High St. and State St, Columbus, OH 43215.

PARKING:        Under the Statehouse - access from 3rd St. between Broad St. & State St., or in the City Center Mall parking garage - access from 3rd, Main, or Rich Sts.

This week, I’ll be participating in the Food Stamp Challenge. For seven days, I’ll be living on three dollars of food per day, the same amount an average participant in the Food Stamp Program receives. The Challenge is an exercise aimed to raise awareness of the difficulties faced by millions of Americans, who live day to day, working to put food on the table.

Last Friday, my staff and I held a meeting plotting out how I would spend my $21.00. As we looked over food prices, we were struck by how anyone could expect a person to have a balanced, healthy diet on a mere three dollars per day. On a dollar per meal, a person can’t buy fresh fruit and vegetables. A person can’t buy the milk they need. The kids across the country who go to bed hungry on nights when the budget is stretched too thin deal with the reality of poverty every day, and I want them to know they aren’t forgotten.

 There are over one million recipients of Food Stamps in Ohio, nearly 90,000 in the 17th District. I’m participating in this challenge because as Congress crafts this years Farm Bill, we’re going to have to take a hard look at the way the Food Stamp Program is administered. I hope that at the end of the week, I have a deeper understanding of the hardships of these millions of American, and a better idea of how to help them.

The NPR initiative, This I Believe, is always looking for quality submissions. I know from the posts I read by Progress Ohio members that there are some beliefs and bases for the beliefs that should be shared with that larger audience - you can do it!

Here is where to go to make a submission. If you want a sounding board, email the Oped and Letter group members or anyone you like. But don't doubt that you can do it. If you can post a comment or a blog entry, then you're already writing about what you believe.

Freelance writer and author, Catherine Orenstein, teaches seminars on how to write opeds.  Read about the classes here. Sounds familiar. Except that her seminars can cost up to $5000.

She garnered this attention from the New York Times. The basis for the seminars, something anyone who reads papers knows:

Whatever other reasons may explain the lack of women’s voices on the nation’s op-ed pages, the lack of women asking to be there is clearly part of the problem. Many opinion page editors at major newspapers across the country say that 65 or 75 percent of unsolicited manuscripts, or more, come from men.

The obvious solution, at least to Catherine Orenstein, an author, activist and occasional op-ed page contributor herself, was to get more women to submit essays. To that end Ms. Orenstein has been training women at universities, foundations and corporations to write essays and get them published.

How successful is her approach?

Over the past 18 months several hundred women and men (though in fewer numbers) have taken the seminar, which can cost a group up to $5,000, Ms. Orenstein said (although she has also donated her services). She has not kept records, but said about two dozen former students have sent her clips of their published essays to say thank you. Suzanne Grossman at Woodhull didn’t have comprehensive statistics but said that the first pilot session for a dozen women at a Woodhull retreat produced 12 op-ed articles. (Some participants wrote more than one.)

Interestingly, the article goes on to describe one session that she conducted with women from SheSource, a resource I love: it provides names of women who are experts in their fields and the aim is to get more women on the talking head shows and, of course, in the bylines and on the opinion pages.

We are going in the right direction - it's always nice to have that confirmation.

I made a bit of a mistake earlier when I made it sound like the Kilroy/Pryce match was a certain thing. There has been no official word from Kilroy yet on her intentions, but mounting evidence suggests that she is strongly considering (if not already decided) making the run again.

Anyways the point of the post is to drum up early netroots support for Mary Jo and encourage her to get in the race again. You can still help by going to Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots site and putting in her name. It literally takes 30 seconds and is well worth the effort. As we all know, early support is critical to the success of a campaign. 

Let's show Mary Jo what we can do. 

HT to Kos...I don't know how I missed this one. From ABC's Brian Ross:

he National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) won't say what it plans to do with thousands of dollars in campaign donations it received from an accused terror financier.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari gave $15,250 to the NRCC since 2002, according to FEC records published on the Web site opensecrets.org. (emphasis mine)

I always new the Republicans were willing to sell out the American people for a campaign donation. They did it with the drug companies while writing the medicare bill and with the enegery companies while writing Bush's enegry plan, but this is a little extreme even for them.

The fact that this guy gave to the NRCC means that any Republican who takes NRCC money is tainted by it. Afterall, the NRRC is the:

main political group dedicated to helping the Republican party win seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

My favorite part of the whole deal is that not only did the NRCC take alleged terrorist money, they also named the guy their "Businessperson of the Year" and a lifetime member of their "Inner Circle."

The guy is pretty dirty according to the indictment handed down by a grand jury in New York. He is accused of laundering somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 to buy night vision goggles and other equipment for terrorist training camps. You know...the same kind of equipment the Republicans never seem to be able to give the troops. The campaign commercial pretty much writes itself for this one.