Democracy for Montgomery County to Endorse Candidates

Democracy for America emerged from Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004, and has organized grass-roots activists to support socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates nationwide. DFMC is Democracy for Montgomery County, a local DFA-inspired organization which is not directly or legally affiliated with DFA. DFMC has organized events and meetings; and endorsed and organized volunteers for several candidates. We've been meeting nearly every month since late 2003. We're holding events across Montgomery County and we're planning to endorse candidates this election year, if you--our membership--supports this idea.  DFMC is currently seeking steering committee members. Contact me, democracy4montgomery@gmail.com for more information.

Please contribute $25 to keep Democracy for Montgomery County going and growing. 

You can use PayPal online: http://tinyurl.com/Democracy4Montgomery or bring a check or cash to our next meeting.

Our next meeting will be 7:30 PM Tuesday, July 6th: Meeting With State Senator Mike Lenett.
Combined MeetUp/Meeting for MCPA, DFMC, PDA, and more. Progressive Coalition Meeting to plan future events and actions.

Saigonese Restaurant, 11232 Grandview Ave Silver Spring (Wheaton), MD 20902
Public Transportation: 2-3 block walk from Wheaton Metro (red line)
Google Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=11232+Grandview+Ave+Silver+Spring+MD+20902

If you haven't already, you can sign up for DFA here: http://democracyforamerica.com/session/new

See our blog: http://d4mc.blogspot.com/ to stay up-to-date with our actions and events.

Please contribute $25 to keep Democracy for Montgomery County going and growing.

You can use PayPal online: http://tinyurl.com/Democracy4Montgomery or bring a check or cash to our next meeting.

Four Meetup groups--Progressive Victory in 2010, Democratic Party / MCPA, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance and Democratic Party / DFA / DFMC--get together with like-minded activists working for progress. We support and help plan the actions of these other organizations:

1. MCPA: The Montgomery County Progressive Alliance is a result-oriented coalition working on local, state, national and international issues. MCPA includes more than 1,000 local activists, mainly in and around Montgomery County Maryland. The organization began in 2003 when Democracy for America Meetup members reached out to other Meetup groups and other groups. In 2004, 100s of Montgomery County for Kerry members and local Progressive Democrats of America members joined the MCPA. MCPA adopted a mission statement, organized special events, and has held meetings nearly each month since 2003.

2. PDA: Progressive Democrats of America began just after the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Bringing together people from the 2004 Kucinich and Dean Campaigns with other progressives, PDA adopted an "inside/outside strategy" uniting activists working inside the Democratic Party with those working in peace and justice movements. PDA's core issues include clean, accurate and transparent elections; environmental protection; single-payer healthcare; economic and social justice; and peace. Contact me for more information. See: http://www.PDAmerica.org You can sign up for PDA here: https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personal2.asp?formid=joinusshort&c=5052037

3. PWG: The Progressive Working Group is a coalition promoting progress and reform, economic fairness and equality, protecting the environment, and more. PWG is not part of the MCPA, but the MCPA is part of the PWG which currently includes: Audubon Naturalist Society, CASA of Maryland, Democracy for Montgomery County, Equality Maryland, Health Care Now, Montgomery County Progressive Alliance, Montgomery Health Care Action, PeaceAction Montgomery, Peace and Justice of Prince George's County, Progressive Cheverly, Progressive Democrats of America (Maryland), Progressive Neighbors, Save Our Votes, and Upcounty Action. PWG will focus on 2 or 3 issues during the 2010 session. Progressive organizations are welcome to join PWG. This past year, several organizations in Howard County, Baltimore County and Baltimore City launched a sister chapter of the PWG. See: http://progressiveworkinggroup.blogspot.com/ Contact Wally Malakoff malakoff@starpower.net

We cooperate with and support other organizations working in our area including (but not limited to):

Common Cause Maryland is the state's leading good government and democracy reform group aiming to: Strengthen public participation and public faith in our institutions of government; Ensure that government and the political process serve the public interest, rather than special interests; Curb the excessive influence of money on government decisions and elections; Promote fair and honest elections and high ethical standards for elected officials; and Protect the civil rights and civil liberties of all Marylanders. See:http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=4847585

The Greater Silver Spring Democratic Club sponsors important discussions, forums and other events including the spectacular annual Summer cookout. Contact Mark Woodard: markdwoodard@comcast.net

HealthCareMaryland.org is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization engaged in research, public education, and advocacy to guarantee universal high-quality health care for all Maryland residents. See: http://www.healthcaremaryland.org/

MoveOn is a national political action organization and has a local council in Silver Spring and elsewhere around Maryland. Local MoveOn members have cooperated with MCPA on town halls, vigils, phone banking, and other actions. See http://www.moveon.org to join your local council.

NOW: The National Organization for Women has been advancing womens' issues including general progressive causes for decades. See: http://www.now.org/ for more information. Contact Montgomery County NOW membership chairperson Jeannette Feldner lj.feldner@verizon.net to join. Men as well as women are welcome to join NOW.

OfA: Organizing for America emerged from President Obama's campaign in 2008, and is organizing grass-roots activists to support the Democratic National Committee/Obama agenda. OfA is sponsoring local efforts in each congressional district which are not directly or legally affiliated with the DNC. OfA is currently sponsoring phone banks, organizing meetings, and building a "rapid response" media effort. Please contact Jon Randall jrandall39@comcast.net for more information. See http://www.barackobama.com/learn/about_ofa.php

PeaceAction Montgomery are highly motivated individuals, affiliated with the national organization, Peace Action. Anyone can join Peace Action Montgomery. Currently, there are over 2,600 dues-paying members in Montgomery County. Activities depend on the dedication and hard work of the membership. For more information see: http://www.peaceactionmc.org/

Progressive Cheverly is based in Cheverly, Maryland. Their mission is to promote economic fairness, social justice, basic human rights, a sustainable environment, a tolerant society and world peace through a more informed political dialogue and active participation in civil society and the democratic political process. For more information see: http://progchev.edterry.com/

Progressive Maryland is a grassroots, nonprofit organization of more than 15,000 members and supporters as well as 40 affiliated religious, community, and labor organizations. Through research, public education, and direct political action we strive to improve the lives of working families in our state. See: http://www.progressivemaryland.org/

Progressive Neighbors is working for: Schools that give all students an opportunity to reach their full potential, Universal health care, affordable housing, and an adequate living wage, Public transportation systems that combine convenience and environmental protections, Land use policies that are sustainable, serve residents, and don't overburden our infrastructure, Effective protection against crime stressing prevention, community involvement and fairness, Measures that assure a greater voice for all, such as campaign finance and voting reforms, Fairness and equality for all regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, income, or sexual orientation. More information: http://www.progressiveneighborsmd.org/

SAVEourVotes is a statewide nonpartisan grassroots nonprofit organization working for Secure, Accessible, Verifiable Elections in Maryland. More information: http://saveourvotes.org/

Transparency and Equal Access in Government is working to open operations of state government, and to guarantee members of the public have the same access as lobbyists and other insiders. Contact Luis Zapata for more information: 4zapata@gmail.com

Upcounty Action engages in advocacy for people, places, programs and preservation in upper Montgomery County areas. For more information see: http://www.upcountyaction.org/

WPFW-FM Pacifica provides outlets for the creative skills and energies of the community, to contribute to a lasting understanding between individuals of all nations, races, creeds and colors, and to promote the full distribution of public information. Programming on WPFW will principally be a mix of jazz, Third World music, news and public affairs. The airwaves at 89.3 will be an accessible media outlet for Blacks, Hispanics, cultural groups, women, seniors, youth and other ethnic and non-traditional groups. See: http://www.wpfw.org/

Thanks for reading this far, hope to see you soon!

Mike Hersh
Chairperson, Democracy for Montgomery County

Meeting With State Senator Mike Lenett 7:30 PM July 6th in Wheaton

7:30 PM Tuesday, July 6th Meeting With State Senator Mike Lenett 7:30 PM
July 6th in Wheaton

Combined MeetUp/Meeting for MCPA, DFMC, PDA, and more. Progressive
Coalition Meeting to plan future events and actions.

Saigonese Restaurant, 11232 Grandview Ave Silver Spring (Wheaton), MD 20902
Public Transportation: 2-3 block walk from Wheaton Metro (red line)
Google Map:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=11232+Grandview+Ave+Silver+Spring+MD+20902

If you haven't already: Please contribute $15 for 2010 to keep this
meetup going. Pay online: http://www.meetup.com/democracy4moco/dues/ or
bring to a meeting.

Report on progress in our county and state on Healthcare, the
Environment, Education, Labor, Transportation, Energy and other issues.
We're building up our coalition and lobby efforts on the state and
national level, planning special events, forming a steering committee,
and working on meetings with legislators, and other organizations.

Please join the Montgomery County Progressive Alliance Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/mcprogressivealliance

If you're on Facebook, please join the MCPA group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=3401340272&ref=ts

Four Meetup groups--Progressive Victory in 2010, Democratic Party/MCPA,
Montgomery County Progressive Alliance and Democratic
Party/DFA/DFMC--get together with like-minded activists working for
progress. Of these meetup groups, Progressive Victory has the most
members, and we hope you will join that Meetup to save time, money, and
effort. We'll convert the other Meetup groups to other topics within the
next few months. See: http://www.meetup.com/progressive-victory/

We support and help plan the actions of these other organizations:

1. MCPA: The Montgomery County Progressive Alliance is a result-oriented
coalition working on local, state, national and international issues.
MCPA includes more than 1,000 local activists, mainly in and around
Montgomery County Maryland. The organization began in 2003 when
Democracy for America Meetup members reached out to other Meetup groups
and other groups. In 2004, 100s of Montgomery County for Kerry members
and local Progressive Democrats of America members joined the MCPA. MCPA
adopted a mission statement, organized special events, and has held
meetings nearly each month since 2003.

2. DFA/DFMC: Democracy for America emerged from Gov. Howard Dean's
presidential campaign in 2004, and has organized grass-roots activists
to support socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates. DFMC
is Democracy for Montgomery County, a local DFA-inspired organization
which is not directly or legally affiliated with DFA. DFMC has organized
events and meetings; and endorsed and organized volunteers for several
candidates. DFMC is currently seeking additional steering committee
members. Contact me, mikehersh@mikehersh.com for more information. You
can sign up for DFA here: http://democracyforamerica.com/session/new

3. PDA: Progressive Democrats of America began just after the 2004
Democratic National Convention in Boston. Bringing together people from
the 2004 Kucinich and Dean Campaigns with other progressives, PDA
adopted an "inside/outside strategy" uniting activists working inside
the Democratic Party with those working in peace and justice movements.
PDA's core issues include clean, accurate and transparent elections;
environmental protection; single-payer healthcare; economic and social
justice; and peace. Contact me for more information. See:
http://www.PDAmerica.org/ You can sign up for PDA here:
https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personal2.asp?formid=joinusshort&c=5052037

We cooperate with and support other progressive organizations working in
our area.

Thanks for reading down this far, and hope to see you at the meeting and
future events,

Mike Hersh

TOMORROW! Tuesday Morning in DC: SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE, END WAR

TOMORROW! Tuesday Morning in DC: SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE, END WAR

TELL US YOU'RE COMING ON FACEBOOK http://tinyurl.com/29a6dmm

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - 8:30 am Gather at statue of Columbus in front
of Union Station Washington, D.C.
Demonstrate at House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's Speech on the Fiscal
Crisis http://www.thirdway.org/events/26
9:00 a.m. The Columbus Room
http://www.unionstationevents.com/sites/colmbshl.html

Rep. Hoyer has opposed spending money except on wars and the military
and who supports dumping another $33 billion into escalating
Afghanistan. Reportedly he will support cuts to the military (or what he
calls "defense") but how much and what about the wars?

Bring posters! Bring the message: JOBS NOT WARS!

-----

FROM HUFF POST: EXCLUSIVE: HOYER TO CALL FOR DEFENSE SPENDING CUTS AS
PART OF DEFICIT REDUCTION - Steny Hoyer gives an address at the Columbus
Room at Union Station tomorrow morning at 9 am. A main focus of the
speech will be on the need to make defense spending a major part of any
discussion about deficit reduction. "Any conversation about the deficit
that leaves out defense spending is seriously flawed before it begins,"
he'll say, according to an excerpt provided to HuffPost Hill. "Our
defense leaders, including Secretary Gates, have repeatedly pointed out
that paying for programs we don't need only makes our country weaker in
the long run. Our defense spending cannot be above careful scrutiny and
analysis of alternatives. In an important speech last month, Secretary
Gates drew from the legacy of President Eisenhower, who held that "the
United States...could only be as militarily strong as it was
economically dynamic and fiscally sound." He added: "the proverbial wall
has been brought to our back"; as a result, all the parts of our defense
establishment must "take a hard, unsparing look at how they operate."

LAST-MINUTE Demonstration in Annapolis Friday morning!

From Jessica Sharp:

The National Speakers Conference, put on for Speakers of the House and
funded by a half-million dollars of corporate money, will be held at the
Annapolis Westin this week, including a Friday session called "Election
2010 and the Angry Voters: Who is Going to Pay?"

We plan on showing up on their doorstep to spread the message that no
legislator needs to spend time and millions of corporate dollars hiring
consultants to tell them why voters are angry when they could just walk
outside and ask us themselves! We want to be represented by legislators
who are concerned about us, not corporate shills who act like lapdogs to
their Wall Street puppet masters! Voters aren't petri dishes that need
to be studied, we're just PEOPLE who need to be listened to!

We plan on meeting outside the main entrance of the hotel at 10 AM.
There is parking in the underground hotel lot. Please bring posters,
etc! The more signage, the better. If the Westin staff forces us to
leave, we will re-locate to the grass inside Westgate Circle. Map:
http://tinyurl.com/2btqk4o

Moms -- this will be baby- and toddler-friendly. A lot of strollers
will make a statement! In fact, we (my other friends bringing strollers
and I) will probably turn it into a mass playdate following the
demonstration. Protest, then ice cream and looking at boats, oh yeah! :)

Please invite any media contacts you may have!

For more info, please visit http://www.fairandcleanmd.org

Hope you can make it!

Corporations funding $500,000 tab for National Speakers Conference in Maryland

Corporations funding $500,000 tab for National Speakers Conference in
Maryland
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061505399_pf.html

By John Wagner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 16, 2010; B01

More than 30 House speakers from across the country will be treated over
the next four days to some of the best of what Maryland has to offer: a
stay in one of Annapolis's swankiest hotels, a reception at the
governor's mansion with a preeminent historian, a cruise on the
Chesapeake Bay to an 185-year-old lighthouse, and a crab feast,
historical re-enactment and fireworks display at Baltimore's Fort McHenry.

The tab for the 2010 National Speakers Conference -- hosted this year by
Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) -- is expected
to top $500,000, organizers say. And the bills for it will be paid by a
few dozen local and national corporations, almost all of which have
business before legislatures in Maryland and other states. Those helping
underwrite this year's program, for instance, include at least four
companies with a large stake in the success of Maryland's fledgling
slot-machine gambling program.

The annual conference brings together a small club of state House
leaders and top aides, and is cast as an opportunity to swap tips about
presiding over their chambers and to hear from experts about important
issues of the day. Panelists this year will address topics including the
national economy, higher education and why voters appear angry.

In exchange for their donations of up to $25,000, representatives of
national and regional health-care, insurance and energy companies --
among other "corporate participants" -- will also get to attend many of
the sessions and mingle with powerful lawmakers in more relaxed settings.

Busch said that for him, the conference provides a chance to network
with fellow speakers and "a great opportunity to showcase Maryland."

But critics say the gathering is just one of a growing number of ways
that moneyed interests are seeking to gain access and influence with
policymakers, much like they do at national political party conventions
every four years.

"For special interests, this is actually a bigger bang for their buck,
because it's far more intimate," said Mary Boyle, a national spokeswoman
for Common Cause, a public advocacy group. "They'll be spending four
days with a very powerful group of people with a lot of reach across the
country."
68 corporations

A list released last week by the State Legislative Leaders Foundation, a
nonpartisan, nonprofit group coordinating the conference, included 68
"corporate participants" but did not identify the amount of their
donations. Most of the corporations have a lobbying presence in multiple
states. About two-thirds retain registered lobbyists in Annapolis.

Stephen Lakis, the foundation's leader, said most corporations gave no
more than $10,000 and said the group's practices are similar to those of
national associations of governors and mayors.

The gathering -- whose guest speakers include author and historian David
McCullough and former Baltimore Orioles iron man Cal Ripken Jr. -- is
shaping up to be one of the best-attended in the two decades that the
organization has pulled them together, Busch said.

Promotional materials for the conference do not exactly hide its
less-taxing events.

"While the educational components of the annual meeting are of utmost
importance, we can't forget the fun stuff," reads a blurb in the most
recent "Speaker to Speaker" newsletter, which also promotes
opportunities for golf and tours of Maryland's "historic gems."

In his capacity as host, Busch said, he sent solicitations to several
dozen corporations that helped sponsor past conferences, as well as to
some Maryland companies that had not donated before. He said he also
made some phone calls.

"I didn't press anybody on what they should contribute," Busch said,
adding that he had cleared his activities with the legislature's ethics
adviser.
Maryland-based donors

Busch identified two Maryland-based donors that gave $25,000:
Constellation Energy and the law firm of Peter Angelos, the owner of the
Orioles.

That's several times what either could give Busch to support his
re-election. Under Maryland law, corporations may give no more than
$4,000 directly to a candidate once every four years. There are no
limits, however, on how much lawmakers may solicit from a corporation
for the benefit of nonprofit groups, including the State Legislative
Leaders Foundation, to which checks were written.

Other donors to the 2010 conference include two companies whose
subsidiaries have been awarded licenses to operate slots venues in
Maryland: Penn National Gaming, which is building a facility in Cecil
County expected to open this fall; and the Cordish Cos., which is trying
to build the state's largest casino at Arundel Mills mall in Hanover.

Also contributing is a construction company owned by William Rickman
Jr., who holds a license to operate slots at Ocean Downs racetrack on
Maryland's Eastern Shore; and GTECH, a major gaming technology company
that in January won a $40 million contract to operate a central computer
system that will track slot machines at Maryland sites.

Robert Vincent, a spokesman for Rhode Island-based GTECH, said the
company has a long-standing relationship with the foundation that
organizes the conferences. This year, GTECH has donated $7,500 and will
be sending a vice president for government relations.

"We find these meetings informative," Vincent said. "We get to see where
public policy is going and how it will impact our business."

Marceline White, executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights
Coalition, said it is unfortunate that nonprofit groups such as hers do
not have the same opportunity.

"At best, it seems like there's a perception problem," said White, whose
organization has been working recently on initiatives to prevent home
foreclosures.

"There's a real need to hear what's happening on the ground, from
poverty advocates and consumer advocates," she said. "Those are
important voices for speakers to hear. It seems like a real missed
opportunity."

Busch played down such concerns. "I don't think these conferences have
changed the outcome of any legislation or limited the ability of other
groups to have their voices heard," he said. "I don't know that anyone
determines any legislative initiatives at this event."