DFL Progressive Caucus

Movie Night Out - Sicko

2007-05-23T19:18:00.000-07:00

Movie Night Out - Sicko (Theater TBA)
Jun 29, 2007, 7:00 PM
http://www.socializr.com/event/799918379

Spinning Hillary Centrist

2007-05-11T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Nation Magazine:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070521/berman

"How can front-runner Hillary Clinton maintain her populist credentials when Mark Penn, her pollster and chief strategist, also represents the interests of some of America's largest and most anti-union corporations? Ari Berman explores the inherent contradictions in a special advance web excerpt of a longer article about Hillary Clinton's circle of advisers, which will appear in May 16 edition of The Nation."

Reactions?

Is the health care system working for Minnesotans?

2007-03-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Leave a Message Project (LAMP)
651-251-6381

The Leave a Message Project (LAMP) is an ongoing Progressive Caucus initiative that captures your ideas from around the state. The message you leave may be incorporated into our issues programming and directly used in multimedia presentations developed by the caucus.

Currently, we are asking about your opinion about our health care system:

1. Is the health care system working for Minnesotans?
2. If not, what’s the problem with it?
3. Do you have any personal experience that leads you to these conclusions?
4. What solutions would you suggest, or what do you believe are the main features of a health care system that works?

To tell us what you think (in 2 minutes or less), call 651-251-6381. Your post here is welcome as well.

Thank you for your willingness to share your ideas. For more information about LAMP, see www.progressivecaucus.net.

Peace in '08 - Campaign Finance

2006-11-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

I heard people talking about wanting to support candidates who do not take PAC money. Since some candidates are catching on to the idea that people are turned off by certain types of political contributions, they are making pledges to refuse money from certain contributors. This opens up the possibility to widen the net. If a candidate is going to seize the high moral ground by refusing money from big oil, pharmaceutical companies and HMOs, why accept money from military contractors, pesticide companies, and any company that doesn’t pay a living wage to all of its employees?

We also heard people talk about running television ad-free campaigns. I think Rep. Ellison was right when he cautioned against the idea of a rigid ad-free standard in a statewide race. I would suggest that limited positive issue-based ads would be the standard, not an absolute ban.

In any case, as we ask “peace candidates” to run a different kind of campaign, we must offer a viable alternative to big money and big media politics. So, let’s have some ideas!

1. What alternative revenue sources could we offer a peace candidate?
2. If a peace candidate is to use few to no television commercials, what are some alternative methods of communication that be used to reach enough voters to win a statewide election?
3. Is it reasonable to put higher standards on candidates than what the law requires? What legislation needs to be passed to put all candidates on a somewhat level playing field?

Rebekah Smith

Peace in '08 - Follow up to TC Meeting

2006-11-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for coming to this meeting. I thought it was a good start to an important discussion about the kinds of candidates that we'd like to see in '08. There are many threads of discussion that deserve more consideration. As John suggested, it's one thing to say that we want to run a peace candidate. It's quite another thing to define what that is. The monthly "kitchen table discussions" that Amy mentioned should be a good avenue for a more detailed discussions. We want to start having these discussions around the state starting early next year. Please consider being a discussion host. We’ll provide the materials, suggested formats, agendas etc. It’ll be fun. To learn more, leave a message with your contact information at 651-251-6381 or email messenger@progressivecaucus.net.

In addition to the kitchen table discussions, we can get a discussion going right away right here online. Let’s experiment with using this blog to kick around some ideas. To get things started, I’ll share a few thoughts in a separate post.

Rebekah Smith

Peace in '08 - What is a "Peace Candidate"?

2006-11-23T10:51:00.000-08:00

What is a "Peace Candidate"? Are we really looking for a peace candidate? Or are we looking for someone with a broad view of things and for whom peace is simply the guiding principle? Is there an umbrella ("big button"), under which a peace candidate falls?

Rebekah Smith