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OPP calls for end to TPP negotiations, No Fast Track Authority for President

Submitted by DavidDelk on Wed, 01/07/2015 - 00:16

OPP calls for end to negotiations of more NAFTA-style trade agreements and no Fast Track Authority for the President

 President Obama has asked for Fast Track Authority to ram more NAFTA-style corporate trade deals through Congress in 2015.  Fast Track Authority and these agreements (WTO, NAFTA, CAFTA, US-So Korea, US-Columbia, US-Israel, etc.) are further manifestation of the continuing corporate assualt on democracy, the People and the environment. These agreements have historically lead to increased trade deficits, job loss, attacks on the environment, declining public health, increasing income and wealth inequalities, and suits by foreign corporations against national governments to negate beneficial changes in public policy, regulations and laws. 

 While these agreements have resulted in job and environmental losses, Americans have received a flow of cheaply made goods manufactured aboard with little concern for the labor or environmental consequences.  Those goods, formerly manufactured in the US, represent low-paid labor input and an ever increasing carbon footprint caused by the long shipping distances.  The United States is increasingly becoming the natural resources source for manufacturing in off-shore plants, so the shipping has to go both ways. 

So, when the President and his largely Republican and corporate-friendly Democratic party allies in Congress now talk about making passage of Fast Track Authority and the Trans Pacific Partnership the number one area of cooperation in the new Congress, we must demand that the President stop negotiating these new agreements and that Congress not grant him Fast Track Authority.

All I want for New Years is a

Submitted by DavidDelk on Mon, 12/29/2014 - 23:17

All I Want for New Years!

Support a 28th constitutional amendment by printing this as a post card and then mail a copy to each of your US Senators and Representatives. Complete instructions and addresses are available on the Alliance for Democracy website here.

Rally: No Corporate Trade Agreements, No Fast Track Authority!

Submitted by DavidDelk on Sun, 12/28/2014 - 18:19

Rally before Sen Wyden's Portland Town Hall Meeting

Saturday, January 3, 2:00 PM, (Town Hall meeting starts at 2:30 PM)
Portland Community College, SE Campus
SE 82nd and Division

Sen Wyden is having a series of town hall meetings and, at this one in Portland, we will rally to let Sen Wyden know that we do not support the same old Fast Track Authority (FTA) which he has opposed in the past. FTA has been used in the past to speed corporate trade agreements (like NAFTA, CAFTA and the most recent US So Korea Agreement) through Congress without the usual democratic process - FTA allows limited debate and no amendments. More information on other town halls meeting is available on the Economic Justice Action Group of 1st Unitarian Church website at http://www.ejag.org/events.html

Sen. Wyden has indicated that he is working with Republican Senator Hatch, new chair of the Senate Finance Committee, to present a modified Fast Track Authority bill for approval as one of the most pressing pieces of business for the new session of Congress. But if that modified FTA does not allow Congress to fully debate the agreements presented and allow amendments to the agreements to be presented, debated and voted on, then it will still be the same old Fast Track Authority.

We need to tell the Senator that we don't want to speed job destroying environmentally harmful,corporate trade agreement which attack the soverienity of the nations through Congress. We expect, we demand full debates and then rejection of such agreements.

If you can't be at the rally, then please email and call his office with the messge that you are paying attention and that you expect him to represent you, not the corporate interests which drive the writing of agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership, the Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreements and the Trade in Services Agreement.

Rally: No Fast Track Authority, No NAFTA style trade agreements

Submitted by DavidDelk on Sun, 12/28/2014 - 18:08

Rally before Sen Wyden's Portland Town Hall Meeting

Saturday, January 3, 2:00 PM, (Town Hall meeting starts at 2:30 PM)
Portland Community College, SE Campus
SE 82nd and Division

Sen Wyden is having a series of town hall meetings and, at this one in Portland, we will rally to let Sen Wyden know that we do not support the same old Fast Track Authority (FTA) which he has opposed in the past. FTA has been used in the past to speed corporate trade agreements (like NAFTA, CAFTA and the most recent US So Korea Agreement) through Congress without the usual democratic process - FTA allows limited debate and no amendments. More information on other town halls meeting is available on the Economic Justice Action Group of 1st Unitarian Church website at http://www.ejag.org/events.html

Sen. Wyden has indicated that he is working with Republican Senator Hatch, new chair of the Senate Finance Committee, to present a modified Fast Track Authority bill for approval as one of the most pressing pieces of business for the new session of Congress.  But if that modified FTA does not allow Congress to fully debate the agreements presented and allow amendments to the agreements to be presented, debated and voted on, then it will still be the same old Fast Track Authority.

We need to tell the Senator that we don't want to speed job destroying environmentally harmful,corporate trade agreement which attack the soverienity of the nations through Congress.  We expect, we demand full debates and then rejection of such agreements.

If you can't be at the rally, then please email and call his office with the messge that you are paying attention and that you expect him to represent you, not the corporate interests which drive the writing of agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership, the Trans Atlantic Free Trade Agreements and the Trade in Services Agreement.

Progressive Party Leaders Oppose Portland Involvement with JTTF

Submitted by info on Thu, 12/04/2014 - 03:36

Portland City Council to consider withdrawing from FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force

Alaina Melville at City HallBrad Schmidt
Oregonian
December 2, 2014

The Portland City Council, led by Mayor Charlie Hales, is considering withdrawing city police officers from the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Hales on Monday scheduled a Dec. 18 meeting where the City Council will consider "withdrawal from JTTF involvement." The 2 p.m. meeting is scheduled to run 90 minutes.

The move from Hales, a long-time skeptic of task force involvement, may have the political support in City Hall to dissolve the Police Bureau's hazy relationship with the group. Commissioners Amanda Fritz and Steve Novick have questioned involvement and have criticized the city's skimpy annual reports about the partnership.   Read Article at Oregonian.

Shadows of Liberty

Submitted by DavidDelk on Wed, 12/03/2014 - 00:00

Portland Premier of Internationally Acclaimed Film
"Shadows of Liberty"
 Friday, December 12 at 7:00 PM, The Oregon Labor Center,  3645 SE 32nd Ave
Cost:  Free, with donations appreciated.

Sponsored by Alliance for Democracy, Move to AmendPDX, Economic Justice Action Group of First Unitarian Church, KBOO, OR AFL-CIO

ABOUT SHADOWS OF LIBERTY: Shadows of Liberty reveals the extraordinary truth behind the news media: censorship, cover?ups and corporate control. Filmmaker Jean-Philippe Tremblay takes an intrepid journey through the darker corridors of the American media landscape, where global conglomerates call the shots. For decades, their overwhelming influence has distorted news journalism and compromised its values.  In highly revealing stories, renowned journalists, activists and academics give insider accounts of a broken media system. Controversial news reports are suppressed, people are censored for speaking out, and lives are shattered as the arena for public expression is turned into a private profit zone.  Tracing the story of media manipulation through the years, Shadows of Liberty poses a crucial question: why have we let a handful of powerful corporations write the news?

FEATURING: Danny Glover, Julian Assange, Dan Rather, Amy Goodman, David Simon, Daniel Ellsberg, Norman Solomon, Janine Jackson, Dick Gregory, Roberta Baskin, Robert McChesney, John Nichols, Kristina Borjesson, Chris Hedges, and many more.

Shadows of Liberty

Submitted by DavidDelk on Tue, 12/02/2014 - 23:56

Portland Premier of Internationally Acclaimed Film
"Shadows of Liberty"
 Friday, December 12 at 7:00 PM, The Oregon Labor Center,  3645 SE 32nd Ave
Cost:  Free, with donations appreciated.

Sponsored by Alliance for Democracy, Move to AmendPDX, Economic Justice Action Group of First Unitarian Church, KBOO, OR AFL-CIO

ABOUT SHADOWS OF LIBERTY: Shadows of Liberty reveals the extraordinary truth behind the news media: censorship, cover?ups and corporate control. Filmmaker Jean-Philippe Tremblay takes an intrepid journey through the darker corridors of the American media landscape, where global conglomerates call the shots. For decades, their overwhelming influence has distorted news journalism and compromised its values.  In highly revealing stories, renowned journalists, activists and academics give insider accounts of a broken media system. Controversial news reports are suppressed, people are censored for speaking out, and lives are shattered as the arena for public expression is turned into a private profit zone.  Tracing the story of media manipulation through the years, Shadows of Liberty poses a crucial question: why have we let a handful of powerful corporations write the news?

FEATURING: Danny Glover, Julian Assange, Dan Rather, Amy Goodman, David Simon, Daniel Ellsberg, Norman Solomon, Janine Jackson, Dick Gregory, Roberta Baskin, Robert McChesney, John Nichols, Kristina Borjesson, Chris Hedges, and many more.

OPP support statement regarding Ferguson protests and ending unequal treatment of people of color

Submitted by DavidDelk on Sat, 11/29/2014 - 22:28

The Oregon Progressive Party (OPP) stands in solidarity with the people of Ferguson MO in their struggles for justice in a system based on injustice, especially for those whose skins are black or brown. The immediate issue is the killing by a white police officer, Darren Wilson, of a young black man, Michael Brown, compounded by the refusal by the local grand jury to indict that officer on any charge. While the grand jury's refusal to indict was expected, still the people of Ferguson are outraged. And the people of all America are outraged not only by this white on black killing but also because of the system of injustice represented by this process is only a symptom of the institutional racism and classism present in America today.

Health Care for All Rally/Lobby Day

Submitted by DavidDelk on Sun, 11/16/2014 - 00:20

HEALTH CARE FOR ALL OREGON 2015 RALLY AND LOBBY DAY

Join the Oregon Progressive Party and 
Health Care for All Oregon
on the steps of the Oregon capital in Salem on

February 11, 2015
11 AM - 1 PM

The 2015 legislative session will have started earlier in the week and we gather to tell our state representatives and senators that we need a health care financing system in Oregon which is
Affordable
Universal
and results in better health care outcomes
for all Oregonians.

We need a Single Payer Healthcare system to replace the private for-profit insurance system we have now.

Register today to go and rally and then to lobby our elected officials. Register here.

Everybody In, Nobody Out!
Because health care is a human right!

Measure 90 (Top Two Primary) Goes Down in Flames

Submitted by info on Tue, 11/04/2014 - 23:30

The Oregon Progressive Party congratulates the voters of Oregon for their overwhelming rejection of Measure 90, the "top-two primary."

With two-thirds of all votes counted, Measure 90 is losing by a vote of 67% NO to 33% YES.

"The out-of-state billionaires spent $4.7 million in order to control Oregon's future elections, but they failed," said Dan Meek (a Portland attorney active in opposing Measure 90).

The "yes" side has reported spending nearly $6 million, while the "no" side spent $1.3 million.  But the "no" side also had many dedicated volunteers who spread the word that Measure 90 would destroy democracy in Oregon.

Former top-level Enron energy trader John Arnold contributed $2.75 million to support Measure 90, and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg added $1.93 million.  So over 80% of all the funds for Measure 90 came from billionaires who neither live nor work in Oregon.

John Arnold made his mark on society as one of the top managers of the Enron energy trading operation.  That was the bunch who caused the phony "West Coast Energy Crisis" of 2000-2002 with their fraudulent trades, which resulted in rolling blackouts and huge rate increases.   Later studies have shown that it cost the California economy alone over $42 billion.

"Burn, baby, burn.  That's a beautiful thing."  That is what Enron traders were recorded as saying as a fire approached a major transmission line, because it caused the line to be "derated" or shut off, thus drastically increasing electricity prices.

For information about Measure 90's money and how it would have destroyed Oregon's democracy, see http://saveoregonsdemocracy.org.