On July 16 and 17, Penn ACTION and other US Action affiliates, MoveOn and other national organizations are sponsoring a series of American Dream house meetings. The main goal of these house meetings is to focus on the long term progressive agenda. We’ll share stories our personal and political difficulties and their interconnection; talk about where we are as a country; and develop offer ideas to move us in the right direction.
I’d like to invite you, as a Penn ACTION activists, to host one of those meetings. You can do it in you home, at a your church, at a local coffee shop or even a bar. We and MoveOn will invite local activists to join you at your meeting. And we will provide some help to you in planning and carrying out the meeting and in doing follow up after it is over.
To sign up to host an event please go to http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/create.html?action_id=245 by tomorrow, Friday, at 3:00 pm. Also please tell our Penn ACTION program director, Robin Stelly that you singed up at rstelly@pennaction.org. If you have questions about the events, contact Robin or me.
I want to take a moment and explain why we are doing these events and how they fit with the rest of Penn ACTION’s summer program.
The double challenge for progressives
This is a tough time for America. Our country is being assaulted by a new kind of barbarism-right wingers in the grip of an anti-statist ideology that has no purchase on reality. These barbarians are supported by the resources of extremely wealthy individuals and major corporations who are only too willing to exploit this ideology to serve their selfish interests.
Meanwhile, from the President on down, the Democrats who are supposed to stand for working people and the middle class have lost their way. They keep trying to appeal to independents by pursuing a centrist consensus that no longer exists. The more they move to the right, the more extreme the right becomes.
What are we to do?
We have looked back at our history and have noted that at every time of major advance, it has not been the leaders but the grass roots that has led the way. Franklin Roosevelt was a great president. But the push for Social Security and the great expansion of public works projects came from below.
At this time as well, we believe the grassroots will have to show our leaders the way to go. So, in connection with our partners, we are launching two connected campaigns this month under the general heading: Keep America’s Promise.
The first campaign is focused on the short term and the next election. We are going to remind ourselves and our political leaders-Republican and Democrat alike-that America has promised our seniors that they will have the health care provided by Medicare; the long term care provided by Medicaid; and the decent retirement benefits provided by Social Security. We will stand up and say that America must keep that promise. And we will make sure voters know in 2012 who has violated that promise.
The goal of the first campaign is primarily defensive and election oriented. We want to block massive reductions to these vital programs-reductions that could come as soon as this month if President Obama cuts another terrible deal with the Republicans. And, we want those who support these reductions to pay a severe price in November 2012.
We will soon be launching a Keep the Promise statewide petition campaign and telling you about a series of events that focus on this short term agenda.
As disappointing as he has been, it is important to reelect President Obama and to recapture the House for the Democrats. But accomplishing that task is not enough. We have to make sure that, come January 2013, the newly reelected President and Congress have a progressive agenda ahead of them and movement to enact that agenda behind them. Just as the Health Care For America Now campaign created the platform and pressure that led to the Affordable Care Act, we need to create a movement for the next step in progressive reform.
We all know what that agenda looks in general: we need to create good jobs at good wages for all Americans. We need to expand and improve the Affordable Care Act while finding ways to hold the growth of health care costs down. We need fair taxes that make the very rich and global corporations pay their fair share. We need to protect our environment from new threats like drilling in the Marcellus Shale.
But the details of that agenda are yet to be decided. That’s why we are inviting you to these American Dream meetings. We want your ideas about this agenda and about how we can build a movement to enact it.
So please volunteer to host one of the American http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/create.html?action_id=245 by tomorrow, Friday, at 3:00 pm. If you can’t host one on July 16 or 17, we’ll let you know where the one nearest to you is. And, keep in mind, this is not a one-time event. We are determined to keep both tracks going this summer and beyond. We’ll have many activities this summer that aim to push back against cuts in the social safety net. And will have further opportunities to define the next progressive agenda, our American Dream.
It’s time to harness the frustrations and passion we all feel about where our country is and turn to good use both in fighting back in the short term and building for the long term. The two tasks are different. But they are inseparable. We can’t win in 2012 unless we make clear to the American people what they will lose if the barbarians take power. But we won’t deserve to win and won’t make anything of our victory unless we can start telling the American people what we all will gain by moving our country forward in a progressive direction.
Thanks and keep up the fight.