This month, the Roosevelt Institute delivered a round-up of the good, the bad, and the ugly in the financial reform bill. It also welcomed Eli Pariser and Richard Kirsch to its roster of Senior Fellows and sent student Academy Fellow Aaron Goldstein to deliver a Millennial's views before the Deficit Commission. In addition to opening ticket sales for its annual FDR Distinguished Public Service Award gala in Washington, DC, Roosevelt Institute (in collaboration with the Guild Hall) will be gathering thought leaders in the arts, the economy, and the media in East Hampton for a can't-miss symposium July 16-18. Speakers will include George Soros, Chair of Soros Fund Management & Founder of the Open Society Institute, New Deal 2.0 contributor and Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel Elizabeth Warren, Center for American Progress Senior Fellow and Director of the Green Opportunity Initiative Van Jones, New Deal 2.0 contributors Rob Johnson, Jeff Madrick, Editor Lynn Parramore, and more. Panels will cover topics such as: "Restoring the Integrity of the U.S. Financial Markets," "Building the Infrastructure for a New Economy," "Investing in Arts and Culture," and "The Future of News and Media." Tickets are only $20 for general admission! RSVP today -- seats are limited!
In June, VoteVets.org Action Fund partnered with the League of Conservation Voters, SEIU and Sierra Club to launch an $11 million campaign to push for comprehensive energy and climate legislation in the U.S. Senate this summer. The effort, which features TV ads in key states, both calls out those senators who stand with Big Oil and other corporate polluters and praises those senators who support the legislation. The campaigns early ads can be seen at www.VoteVets.org.
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The American Independent News Network (AINN) is proud to announce the launch of its eighth news site, The American Independent, which is available at americanindependent.com.
The American Independent aggregates the best political coverage from AINN's seven other standalone news sites, based in six states and Washington, D.C., and offers original reporting and analysis to contextualize emerging national themes that are shaping American politics, running up to the 2010 mid-term elections and beyond. Additionally, The American Independent will begin housing smaller versions of its standalone site for states, beginning with Texas and North Carolina in late July, allowing for a continued diversification of national localized coverage. These new mini-sites will feature two reporters on the ground in each state, and will appear exclusively on The American Independent. AINN is currently in the process of building its reporting staffs in Texas and North Carolina.We look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.
The Brennan Center for Justice filed suit -- on behalf of the NAACP and others -- against the New York State Board of Elections in connection with New York State's newly purchased voting machines. The machines are configured in a way that is likely to result in the loss of tens of thousands of votes this fall. At issue is the way the machines handle "overvotes," i.e. a voter's inadvertent selection of too many candidates for a particular race. Because of the way New York's system is set-up, many voters do not know that they have over-voted, and, that their votes will not be counted. Nor are they given clear instructions on how to remedy the problem. The system is likely to disproportionately impact communities of color, the poor and the elderly. In a world of complicated questions, this one is straightforward: if the state's voting machines result in lost votes, the Board of Elections ought to fix the problem before the election. The Brennan Center has asked the Board of Election for a simple, immediate fix: reset the machines so that they automatically return overvoted ballots.
This month, Brave New Foundation's Cuéntame, a Latino social networking activism page, continues to grow and has recently featured an exclusive music video of Tom Morello and Outernational's Deportees. The video responds to the continuing issues of immigration law and reform across the nation. Martin Sheen also joined Cuéntame's "Do I Look Illegal?" campaign, speaking out against Arizona's SB 1070.
Meanwhile, the war in Afghanistan has become the longest war in U.S. history, and Rethink Afghanistan joined TrueMajority/USAction in financing an ad in Politico demanding their adherence to Obama's 2011 withdrawal from Afghanistan. In light of McChrystal's comments in the now infamous Rolling Stone article, Rethink Afghanistan brings to light the real story in the piece: General McChrystal's inner circle knew that the truth about the Afghanistan War would kill remaining public support for the war.
In stunning news for the Institute's Investigative Fund, US attorneys announced the indictments of five current and former New Orleans police officers for the death of an African-American man in the days after Hurricane Katrina. That suspicious death had gone unprosecuted - and uninvestigated - until the Investigative Fund sent reporter, A.C. Thompson to New Orleans again and again over 18 months to uncover one of the disaster's best kept secrets: in certain neighborhoods, white police officers and ad hoc militias attacked unarmed African Americans with impunity. That reporting resulted in a cover package in The Nation, "Katrina's Hidden Race War" and "Body of Evidence," which not only sparked an FBI inquiry and a federal grand jury, leading to the recent indictments, but also won some of journalism's most prestigious prizes. In other news, last week a Congressional subcommittee issued a major investigative report sparked by another Investigative Fund project, this one by Aram Roston. Roston went to Afghanistan to look into Department of Defense logistics contracts, and found that millions of dollars were being siphoned off to Taliban insurgents as protection money. The National Security and Foreign Affairs issued a scathing report confirming Aram's findings. A criminal inquiry by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command is now underway. The Investigative Fund is in the middle of a summer fundraising campaign. To donate online, please click here.
In response to growing anti-immigrant sentiments, Democracia Ahora (c4) is engaged in a grassroots social media campaign called "Ask Me 4 My Papers," coupled with on the ground community organizing in partnership with local immigrant organizations. "Ask Me 4 My Papers" seeks to bring attention to the many ways in which Latinos contribute to the prosperity of America, whether that be through entrepreneurship, the arts, the armed forces, law, business, or other such contributions. In a few short weeks, Democracia has distributed thousands of wristbands to local communities, national leaders, and well-known celebrities. We have also launched a series of PSAs featuring leading Hispanic figure, Emilio Estefan.
Another pressing issue for our communities this year was the US Census decennial survey. Democracia USA (our C3 organization) conducted an integrated messaging outreach within hard-to-count Hispanic communities in Florida and Nevada - educating more than 4,000 Latinos on the importance of being counted. Each of our operations also participated in the US Census outreach at various levels, working closely with local groups and regional US Census representatives.
Democracia USA is off to an impressive start to its voter registration drives this year. Our goals for 2010 are the most ambitious to date, and we have already collectively registered more than 40,000 eligible Hispanics from our 11 operations nationwide. We have also trained hundreds of canvassers and volunteers to educate our communities about the importance of voting in the mid-term elections. Earlier this year, several of these local activists also participated in our first ever Advanced Leadership Academy, including 13 Democracia staff and 19 graduates from our first level of leadership development trainings.
A new interactive calculator from the Center for Economic and Policy Research illustrates the effects of several different policy options on the debt burden that the United States will face in 2020. The calculator shows that even in the baseline case (President Obama's proposed budget), the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio in 2020 will be less than the current debt-to-GDP ratio for many countries. The CEPR Deficit Calculator provides users with an easy way to see the effects of various policies on the future U.S. debt burden. The 29 policy options available on the calculator do not represent all possible options but are among the policies that would have the greatest and most meaningful effect on the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2020. Budget options in the calculator include ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, adopting a carbon tax, reduction in the size of the health care subsidies created by the health care reform bill, progressive price indexing of Social Security, adopting a financial speculation tax and others. By choosing different options or combinations of options, a user can raise or lower the projected debt-to-GDP ratio to gain a better understanding of the effects of these policies and to see how the U.S. deficit will compare to that of other nations.
As of June 28, 32,584 Americans signed NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation's letter calling on SuperPages.com and YellowPages.com to stop allowing anti-choice "crisis pregnancy centers" (CPCs) to run false online advertisements. The two sites allow CPCs to advertise as abortion providers, even though they don't provide this medical care. NARAL and its state affiliates have published investigative reports documenting how CPCs use deceptive advertising to mislead and manipulate women. In addition, NARAL Pro-Choice America worked with allies on a key Senate committee to repeal a ban on military women's ability to use their own money to access abortion care at military hospitals. The organization is mobilizing its activists to fight anti-choice senators' attempts to use an amendment strategy to remove this repeal from the defense authorization bill during debate on the Senate floor.
As part of a broad effort to build support for health reform, CBPP has issued eight installments in a special series of reports - "Moving Forward with Health Reform" - intended to help people understand how the new health reform law will work and to rebut anti-reform claims. These concise reports seek to explain, among other things, how health reform reduces the deficit, why the individual mandate is necessary to achieve key private insurance reforms, and why the Medicaid expansion is a good deal for states. The series is available on the CBPP: click here.
When Grammy award winning a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock, decided to record a song about Arizona's racial profiling law (Arizona immigration law SB1070) and partner with an organization, they reached out to the Center for Community Change. In addition, they offered to contribute 20 percent of the proceeds on the sale of the song "Are We A Nation?" to the Center. "Are We A Nation?" is available for download on all major online music sites. The Center also continues to bring the voices of the jobless to Capitol Hill. Center for Community Change recently partnered with the Ms. Foundation for Women on a congressional briefing about the recession's impact on women. At the briefing, which drew more than 100 attendees, the findings of a new national poll was released by both organizations.
With the political season heating up, Truman Fellows across America are fighting back against right wing bad practices. When Barbara Boxer's opponent for CA Senate claimed that climate change was just worrying about the weather, Truman's San Francisco team led a press conference to reiterate why the military views climate change as a major security threat. When CO Rep. Senate candidate Jane Norton inappropriately wrapped her entire website in distasteful war images, Truman Fellow Jonny Karpuk published his op-ed.
In June, Truman Fellows past and present gathered in Washington, DC, for the 2010 National Conference, where we welcomed 60 new Fellows to the program. General Jim Jones, National Security Advisor to President Obama, kicked things off with a discussion of the 2010 National Security Strategy, followed by an interactive tour of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Fellows had the distinct honor of hearing Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, speak about DHS and her recent trip to the Gulf Coast. Truman is also pleased to announce that two of our Truman Fellows, Harley Feldbaum and Erica Jeffries, have just been awarded prestigious White House Fellowships. Congratulations to both Harley and Erica!
In June, the National Congress of Black Women participated in a French documentary about NCBW programs that offer young people attractive alternatives to developing destructive gangsta rap or gangsta behavior. The young people in College for Kids and Young Ambassadors are working to educate themselves and to become productive members of society. One NCBW student is currently on his way to Oxford to study for the summer. NCBW is sponsoring his trip and raising funds to assist him. A younger NCBW student served as a French translator during the creation of the documentary.
NCBW will be hosting its Awards Luncheon on September 19 in Washington, DC as well as its Scholarship Golf Tournament on October 15. For more information, see our website.
The Century Foundation released it's newest education report, "Rewarding Strivers: Helping Low-Income Students Succeed in College," edited by TCF senior fellow Richard D. Kahlenberg. In this highly anticipated volume, Edward B.Fiske, Anthony P. Carnevale and Jeff Strohl outline two strategies that colleges and universities can follow in making the American Dream a realistic one for all students. The report has been widely covered in the media - including USA Today, the Washington Post and the Chronicle of Higher Education - and requested by The U.S. Department of Education, Congressional staff, and university administrators, among others. As part of its Project on Afghanistan in Its Regional Dimensions, TCF released "Negotiating with the Taliban: Issues and Prospects," a report by Antonio Giustozzi that Reuter's called a "must-read."
In June, NSN's Heather Hurlburt was among the members of the Sustainable Defense Task Force, created by Representatives Barney Frank, Ron Paul and Walter Jones, to promote a responsible re-think of Pentagon spending. The group presented a menu of options for budget cuts with hopes that it would be supported by the President's Deficit Reduction Commission. To date the report has been downloaded more than 70,000 times, and praised and referenced by members of Congress and analysts from the left, right and center. NSN's Paul Eaton partnered with VoteVets in a speaking tour across New Mexico on climate change and national security. In addition, NSN co-sponsored, with New America, a critical consideration of the Administration's National Security Strategy, looking at long-range effects and possibilities for profound national security reform.
In June, Sojourners convened top national faith leaders in a candid phone call with Sen. John Kerry to discuss his proposal for energy and climate legislation. Faith leaders shared their concerns about the proposal and called for increasing funding to help the most vulnerable communities affected by climate change. Sojourners is hosting a blog series, "Voices From the Gulf," written by people experiencing first-hand the devastating effects of the worst oil spill in American history. Sojourners' CEO Jim Wallis is leading a delegation of faith leaders who are traveling to the Gulf for a listening tour with our partners at the Sierra Club. Sojourners has also invited their 215,000 constituents to make a "Pledge to the Next Generation," taking responsibility for our nation's oil addiction and seeking to change personal behaviors and energy policy. Thousands have pledged and shared their personal commitments on Sojourners magazine's Facebook page.
Sojourners is one of the leading faith groups in support of comprehensive immigration work through their Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform campaign. As a June 2010 Brookings Institute panel on "Religious Activism and the Debate over Immigration Reform" affirmed, "largely because of the activism of these religious groups, immigration has remained on a legislative agenda crowded with other pressing domestic concerns." Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, gave opening remarks at the Brookings Institute panel. In addition, Sojourners hosted a national conference call with a panel of leading pastors and advocates who addressed the fundamental issues surrounding immigration reform and ways that church leaders can respond. Speakers included Jim Wallis, Angela Kelley of the Center for American Progress, Rev. Gabriel Salguero of the Latino Leadership Circle, and Rev. Rich Nathan of Vineyard Church of Columbus. Audio of the call is available at http://faithandimmigration.org/clergy. Sojourners is tracking anti-immigrant legislation in nearly 25 states. Check out Sojourners' Faith and Immigration blog www.faithandimmigration.org each Wednesday for the latest. Sojourners has also created a Christians for Comprehensive Immigration Reform factsheet (available on the website). In addition to theological and policy principles, factsheet includes up-to-date information about the economic benefits of comprehensive immigration reform and recent polling information.
To celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20, Human Rights First joined with its allies to rally Congressional support for the passage of the Refugee Protection Act of 2010. This legislation would repair many of the most severe problems in the U.S. asylum and refugee resettlement systems. Every year Human Rights First matches over 100 asylum seekers with volunteer lawyers. Our pro bono program has helped thousands of asylees from over 80 countries--people who have fled from political, religious, ethnic, and gender-based persecution in countries plagued by human rights violations. They cannot afford counsel and desperately need representation. We know from their cases that policy reform is long overdue. Watch the Human Rights First video to see how the original Refugee Act of 1980 impacted the lives of refugees.
In June, Demos worked to ensure that states offer voter registration opportunities to low-income citizens through the National Voter Registration Act. The Department of Justice, which has the responsibility of enforcing NVRA, issued landmark guidance that sends a strong signal to states on the importance of providing voter registration at public agencies as required by federal law. Demos also saw tremendous increases in voter registration in two states where Demos, with its partner organizations, recently won NVRA legal victories. New data showed that in Ohio, in just the first five months of 2010, over 84,000 low-income persons submitted voter registration applications at state public assistance offices. In Missouri, registration applications reached almost 208,000 in the past 18 months, compared to 15,500 during the entire previous two years.
Just before the July 4th holiday, Demos also released a new report that proposes providing voter registration services for immigrants at naturalization ceremonies. "A Citizen from Day One" seeks to promote the idea that new citizens should be encouraged to participate in all parts of our nation's social and political life -- starting with voting, the most fundamental form of participation.
These developments were a great way to continue the energy Demos saw at its recent 10th Anniversary Gala, where we honored Elizabeth Warren, Tavis Smiley, Elizabeth Shuler, and Stephen Heintz, and celebrated with 600 of our friends and colleagues.
The American Constitution Society
The theme of the 2010 ACS National Convention, "The Congress, the Courts, and the Constitution" was compellingly captured by featured speakers, panelists, and a record number of attendees at the annual gathering. Senator Al Franken opened the event with a stirring speech about why our federal courts and judges are so vital to protecting the rights of individual Americans. He criticized Republican efforts to obstruct President Obama's nominations to the courts, as well as the work of conservative activists and judges to reshape our legal system to protect and promote "the interests of the powerful over those of individual Americans." Newark Mayor Cory Booker closed the gathering with a passionate, personal call for all Americans "to do something" to advance equality, strengthen communities, and improve the lives of others. Video of these speeches and all of the convention sessions are available at http://www.acslaw.org.
The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy (DMI) advanced its progressive agenda through articles in The Nation, The Hill, Next American City, and The Huffington Post in June. DMI's Amy Traub wrote a cover piece for The Nation urging progressives to fight the conservative crusade against public workers. The piece was covered by Politico, republished by NPR, and cited in Progress Illinois and other blogs. DMI's Harry Moroz wrote an op-ed for The Hill arguing that The White House must advocate on Capitol Hill for smart, viable ideas from mayors and urbanize federal policy. He also wrote a column for Next American City showing how Los Angeles' transit plan can be a model for urban policy innovation with commitment and flexibility from Washington. Crain's New York Business quoted a Huffington Post piece by DMI's John Petro, who asked whether New York City's new Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, with close ties to Wall Street, can move the city away from its reliance on the financial sector. Also in Huffington Post, DMI's Afton Branche called on the NYPD commissioner to come out against Arizona's widely criticized SB 1070 immigration law and hailed a new coalition of business leaders and mayors that is now urging federal immigration reform.
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Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
In response to the disastrous Gulf Coast oil well leak, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in collaboration with numerous environmental justice advocates, will soon release its report, "Now is the Time: Environmental Injustice in the U.S. and Recommendations for Eliminating Disparities." The purpose of the report, presented to the Obama Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice, outlines recommendations on how the Administration can effectively utilize existing law to eliminate disparities in environmental protection. The agencies can fulfill their responsibilities under Executive Order 12898, "Federal Actions To Address Environmental Justice In Minority Populations And Low-Income Populations." The report is far-reaching and incorporates the work of the environmental justice community over the past 10 years. The Lawyers' Committee and the environmental justice community view the report as an important step in an ongoing dialogue with the Administration, federal agencies and members of Congress. It is hoped to effect necessary environmental policy changes, especially in communities of color and low-income and indigenous communities that are disproportionately burdened by environmental hazards nationwide. The full report can be viewed by clicking here.
The Campaign for America's Future
The Campaign for America's Future won a significant victory over the bank lobby this month in pressuring Congress to televise the House-Senate conference committee, thus insuring that Wall Street couldn't completely rewrite the financial reform bill in the back rooms. The Campaign for America's Future also joined forces with CREDO in an unsuccessful effort to stop auto dealers seeking to exempt themselves from the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CAF worked with National People's Action and SEIU to highlight the influence of the bank lobby and money on the process. Kevin Connor detailed the revolving door of lobbyists and legislative aides in "Big Bank Takeover: How Too-Big-To-Fail's Army of Lobbyists Has Captured Washington." This became a handbook for demonstrations led by NPA and SEIU drawing attention to the K Street lobbyists. Our goal was to help make the bank lobby's money toxic and limit its effectiveness.
Over the past several months, the Campaign for America's Future has played a major role in monitoring the banks and the financial reform process, urging lawmakers to put Main Street before Wall Street. CAF championed the audit the Fed provision. We live blogged sessions of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. CAF bloggers Richard Eskow and Zach Carter tracked the congressional debate over financial reform, helping to build pressure for greater reform. Check out their work here...
Although Renee Lee and Edda Lopez live on opposite sides of the country, they have something in common--they're both being foreclosed on by Bank of America after living in their homes for decades. Yesterday, dozens of clergy and community members joined Renee and Edda outside the Bank of America Tower in New York to demand the bank help save their homes and solve America's foreclosure crisis. Lee, a single mother and a member of SEIU Local 1000 in Sacramento, fell behind on her mortgage last year after public employees were forced to take furlough days to help solve the state's budget crisis. Lopez is set to lose her home in the Bronx after the illness and death of her husband made it impossible to afford her mortgage. Read more and watch our video at www.seiu.org.
Third Way hosted a major fiscal policy forum featuring an address by House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer to an influential audience of policy experts, senior Members of Congress and staff, national political press and industry. The Majority Leader outlined a blueprint for bipartisan deficit reduction, with a next day Washington Post editorial noting his "wisdom...and courage," and praising him for "touching several third rails of the left and right." The speech was followed by a Third Way moderated panel of experts - including Bob Greenstein and David Walker (the former head of the GAO) - who agreed that everything must be on the table, including significant entitlement reform, spending cuts and tax increases. The event was televised live on C-SPAN and featured in The Wall Street Journal, Politico, Roll Call, The Hill and CBS News.
FairVote supervised voter education and outreach for cumulative voting elections in Port Chester (NY), drawing major coverage in the New York Times and Associated Press -- and contributing to a turnout boost of 25% and first-ever wins for African American and Latino candidates. We also made great progress in explaining instant runoff voting as the best means to uphold majority rule and accommodate voter choice in a single trip to the polls: a charter commission in Portland (ME) voted 10-2 to put IRV on the November ballot for mayoral races, leading North Carolina newspapers advocated IRV after another expensive runoff, and Oakland and Memphis are among cities gearing up for first IRV elections. FairVote also celebrated key state wins for its policy proposals, including Delaware's state legislature passing voter pre-registration for 16-year-olds and New York's state senate passing the National Popular Vote plan by 52-7. The National Popular Vote plan was backed in a New York Times editorial and by the League of Women Voters at its binannual national convention, where FairVote's Rob Richie led a workshop. New FairVote's wiritings included Richie's Washington Post oped on electing U.S. Senate vacancies and new EndGerrymandering.com blogs by Patrick Withers on redistricting reform around the country and why winner-take-all forces some districts to "look funny". Much more on the FairVote twitter.
Faith in Public Life continues to equip people of faith with the strategic tools to stand up for their values and reframe the media narrative on the intersection of faith and politics. Faithful America, FPL's online arm, launched a summer campaign- Driven By Faith, Not Fear - to empower thousands of people of faith to reclaim political debates from the hateful rhetoric of Tea Party activists. FPL drafted a backgrounder memo on Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, a GOP witness at the Supreme Court nomination hearings, helping inform press covering the hearing about his history of extreme positions. In addition, FPL helped reporters and allies understand the latest polling numbers on immigration. FPL provided strategic media support for the work of diverse congregations and organizational allies taking part in the Isaiah 58 Summer, a "rolling vigil" (moving from region to region throughout the summer) to stand with the people of Arizona as they face draconian anti-immigrant legislation, earning coverage in New Jersey, Kansas, California and Pennsylvania. FPL also coordinated a press conference in front of the White House after the President's speech on immigration, unveiling Justice July, a coordinated month of action from the faith community, and supported a new coalition of African American and Hispanic pastors standing together to debunk claims of racial division on the issue, earning coverage in religious press and Spanish-language.
During the 2010 U.S. Social Forum, held in Detroit, MI, June 22-26, members of the Advancement Project team collaborated with coalition partners to organize several workshops. Advancement Project and partners at Padres & Jovenes Unidos (Denver, CO) and the Labor/Community Strategy Center (Los Angeles, CA) conducted a workshop on how to dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline. We worked with five grassroots partners from around the country to convene a People's Movement Assembly around the School-to-Prison Pipeline, bringing together advocates from more than 15 states to discuss potential collective action in the months and years ahead. Advancement Project also teamed up with Youth Rights Media (New Haven, CT) to convene a workshop that presented "Pushed," YRM's documentary from the past year that focused on students' being pushed out of schools and funneled into alternative schools and discussed the pushout crisis and strategies to overturn it more generally. In partnership with the Right to the City Alliance, Urban Justice Center, and National People's Action, Advancement Project also participated in a workshop presenting the findings of the recently-released public housing report, "We Call These Projects Homes," and engaged the audience around the problematic provisions of the federal housing agency's proposed law on public housing. Lastly, Advancement Project hosted a workshop called "Movement Lawyers," where about 50 participants, ranging from law students and legal workers to veterans in legal advocacy, shared their vision for how lawyers can support progressive social movements.