Mn-prog-events Mailing List: Progressive Calendar 04.30.06

[David Shove (shove001]

             P R O G R E S S I V E   C A L E N D A R     04.30.06

1. Wind power          4.30 1pm
2. Workers MayDay      4.30 2pm
3. Stop genocide/rally 4.30 2pm
4. Farm boys/glbt      4.30 2pm
5. Indian Uprising     4.30 4pm
6. Greens on CTV       4.30 6pm

7. Indian walk/feast   5.01 9am
8. Immigrants          5.01 11am/3pm/4:30pm
9. Minnesota SOAWatch  5.01 6pm
10. Daily Planet       5.01 6pm
11. Law Day forum      5.01 7pm
12. mn911 meeting      5.01 7pm

13. Holly Sklar  - Tax cuts for rich harm nation's health
14. Timothy Karr - Internet freedom

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From: Margaret Levin <margaret.levin [at] sierraclub.org>
Subject: Wind power 4.30 1pm

Shoreview Wind Power Challenge Kick-Off
Sunday, April 30, 1-4pm
Shoreview Community Center Pavilion, 4580 Victoria St. N. (off of Hwy. 96)

Join us to kick off the Shoreview Wind Power Challenge, a campaign to sign
up residents for the local wind power program, in which consumers pay a
few dollars more each month to add new wind turbines to the power grid.
After an issue briefing and outreach training, we'll head out to sign up
local residents, then wrap up at the end of the day with a free picnic and
barbecue.

The Wind Power Challenge is an effort of the Shoreview Green Community
Campaign, a project lead by Sierra Club members to make Shoreview a model
community for its environmental practices.

For more info/RSVP: Contact <mailto:margaret.levin [at] sierraclub.org>
margaret.levin [at] sierraclub.org at 612-659-9124.


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From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Workers MayDay 4.30 2pm

Sun April 30: International Workers May Day, Minneapolis
Speakers,food, music. Childcare available. . FREE
Sun. April 30, 2pm, Powderhorn Park Community Ctr. 4300-15th Ave.
South,(near Bloomington Ave/East 34th St.) Minneapolis (612)823-2841

Around the world, workers parade in solidarity for a better life, but,
most Americans don't know this holiday began here, by workers struggling
for the 8-hour day in Chicago in 1886. Catch the spirit of the Immigrant
Rights' Rallies and Anti-War movements to makae the connections between
diverse communties to change national and local priorities from war to
workers, from Corporations to all the rest of us.


--------3 of 14--------

From: humanrts [at] umn.edu
Subject: Stop genocide/rally 4.30 2pm

April 30 - Rally to Stop Genocide.  2-3:30pm.

The Save Darfur Initiative is organizing a rally on the steps of the MN
State Capitol in St. Paul Buses from Mpls & the western suburbs may be
available (more info TBA).

The Rally to Stop Genocide will feature leading voices in the effort to
stop the genocide in Darfur, including a broad spectrum of prominent faith
leaders, political figures, and human rights activists.

Our Minnesota rally will coincide with the national rally in DC. The Rally
to Stop Genocide is part of the Million Voices for Darfur campaign to
generate one million postcards for delivery to President Bush, who
recently pledged to push for additional UN and NATO help to protect the
people of Darfur. We applaud the President s leadership, but the work is
far from done. We are urging President Bush and Congress to take steps
necessary to end the genocide and build a lasting peace for the people of
Darfur.

More Info: Million Voices: www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org Save Darfur:
www.savedarfur.org American Jewish World Service: www.ajws.org Human
Rights Watch: www.hrw.org

FFI: Julie Swiler,,Director of Public Affairs for JCRC.  Phone:
612-338-7816.  Email: julie [at] MinnDakJCRC.org

More Info: Million Voices: www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org
Save Darfur: www.savedarfur.org
American Jewish World Service: www.ajws.org
Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org
Location: State Capital Steps, St. Paul, MN


--------4 of 14--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Farm boys/glbt 4.30 2pm

Great American History Theatre will host a town meeting "Can We Live
Together: A Civil Response to Farm Boys." This event, Sunday, April 30
immediately following the 2pm matinee of "Farm Boys" is free and public is
welcome to attend.

A panel discussion will feature:
- Rev. Rebecca Voekel, Executive Officer, Institute for Welcoming Resources
(MODERATOR)
- Deborah Davis, Gender Resource Center
Richard LaFortune, Native American GLBT activist
- Lorrie Janatopulous, Director of Planning, Arrowhead Economic Opportunity
Agency
- Joe Shulka, Gay Homicide Research Project
- Brian McNeil, Dignity Twin Cities
- Dennis Sanders, President, MN Log Cabin Republicans.

History Theatre upcoming production "Farm Boys," isbased on the book Farm
Boys: Lives of Gay Men in the Rural Midwest by Will Fellows. The play
opens April 29-May 28.

It's a play about more than the gay experience on the farm, but rather a
touching, funny and moving play about families, marriage and life in rural
America. Please consider this play for a feature or story: This play is
not political but rather a depiction of life and reactions of Midwestern
farm folks to the gay lifestyle. The play reminds us of our need for
compassion, understanding and tolerance.

Best, In-Fin Tuan History Theatre 651-602-9711 direct
ituan [at] historytheatre.com email


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From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org>
Subject: Indian Uprising 4.30 4pm

KFAI's Indian Uprising for April 30, 2006

NATIVE DOCTORS.  Program guests: Dr. Patrick Rock (Leech Lake Ojibwe).  In
addition to his active practice as family physician, he serves as the
Medical Director, for the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis (IHB).  Also
attending are Dr. Tiffany Beckman (Leech Lake Ojibwe) and Dr. Daniell Doro
(White Earth Ojibwe), both internal medicine physicians at IHB of
Minneapolis.

"The reliance on discretionary spending for American Indian/ Alaska Native
health care has produced a system that is insufficient and unreliable and
is associated with ongoing health disparities. Moreover, the gap between
mandatory spending on a Medicare beneficiary and discretionary spending on
an American Indian/Alaska Native beneficiary has grown dramatically, thus
compounding the problem.  The budget classification for American
Indian/Alaska Native health services should be changed, and health care
delivery to this population should be designated as mandatory spending. If
a correct structure is in place, mandatory spending is more likely to
provide adequate funding that keeps pace with changes in costs and need"
-- American Journal of American Health article, Redeeming Hollow Promises:
The Case for Mandatory Spending on Health Care for American Indians and
Alaska Natives by Timothy M. Westmoreland, JD and Kathryn R. Watson, JD,
MPH. http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/96/4/600.  See attached pdf.

President Bush has proposed the elimination of the Urban Indian Health
Program [$33 million] within the Indian Health Service.  Urban Indian
health programs report that such a cut would result in bankruptcies, lease
defaults, elimination of services to tens of thousands of Indians who may
not seek care elsewhere, an increase in the health care disparity for
American Indians and Alaska Natives and the near annihilation of a body of
medical and cultural knowledge addressing the unique cultural and medical
needs of the urban Indian population held almost exclusively by these
programs.  According to the 2000 Census, nearly 70% of Americans
identifying themselves as of American Indian or Alaska Native heritage
live in urban areas.  Notably, the Urban Indian Health Program receives
only 1% of IHS funding, stretching those dollars to achieve extraordinary
results.

Oppose the President's FY 2007 Budget Request to eliminate the Urban
Indian Health Program. Contact the National Council of Urban Indian Health
(NCUIH) attorney, Greg A. Smith, The Smith Law Firm, 2099 Pennsylvania
Avenue, NW, Suite 850, Washington, DC 20006, Fax: 202-265-4901,
gsmith [at] johnstondc.com. And be sure to contact your representatives for the
state http://www.leg.state.mn.us/ and federal
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/, to complain.

* * * *
Indian Uprising is a one-half hour Public & Cultural Affairs radio program
for, by, and about Indigenous people & all their relations, broadcast each
Sunday at 4:00 p.m. over KFAI 90.3 FM Minneapolis and 106.7 FM St. Paul.
Current programs are archived online after broadcast at www.kfai.org, for
two weeks.  Click Program Archives and scroll to Indian Uprising.


--------6 of 14--------

From: Julie Risser <julie.risser [at] visi.com>
Subject: Greens on CTV 4.30 6pm

See Green Party Candidates on Channels 16 & 17
An hour-long "Green Candidates" show is scheduled for broadcast at the
following times:

Sunday, April 30 6pm, Channel 17
Sunday, May 5th  11 pm, Channel 16
Saturday, May 13th,  6 pm, Channel 17

The show includes seven candidates seeking Green Party endorsement Mike
Cavlan, Jesse Mortenson (endorsed), Farheen Hakeem, Julie Risser
(endorsed), Doug Mann, Dave Berger, and Jay Pond.


--------7 of 14--------

From: Chris Spotted Eagle <chris [at] spottedeagle.org>
Subject: Indian walk/feast 5.01 9am

Minnesotašs American Indian Month

Monday, May 1 9am-1pm.  American Indian Month Celebration Walk and Feast
in celebration of May - MNšs American Indian Month, Start: East Lake
Street and Bloomington Avenue, Continue: North on Bloomington Avenue to
Franklin Avenue, End: Indian Center, Eagle staffs, flags and banners
welcome, Parking available at starting point and Indian Center,
Transportation for elders provided (from the Indian Center to starting
point), Proclamations and delicious feast to follow (11-1PM), FMI contact:
Bill Carter at (612) 673-3028 or bill.carter [at] ci.minneapolis.mn.us .


--------8 of 14--------

From: wamm <wamm [at] mtn.org>
Subject: Immigrants 5.01 11am/3pm/4:30pm

A Day Without Immigrants: An Act of Conscience for the Dignity of
Immigrant Workers

Monday, May 1

11am Downtown Minneapolis YWCA, 1130 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis. Rice
Park, Market Street between 4th and 5th Streets, St. Paul. Distribute
flyers to lunchtime crowds, explaining the need for Comprehensive
Immigration Reform (federal) and Minnesota DREAM Act.

3pm. Powderhorn Park, 15th Avenue and 35th Street, Minneapolis. Join
others in a public gathering with cultural events. Support just treatment
of immigrants, including dignity and human rights; support comprehensive
immigration reform, including a path to legal residence for undocumented
immigrants; reject criminalization of immigrants and of those who befriend
or give support to them.

4:30-6pm. ISAIAH (with Hispanic Ministry) Stations of the Cross, starting
at the Basilica of St. Mary, Hennepin Avenue between 16th and 17th
Streets, Minneapolis and ending at Government Plaza.

Throughout the day, in addition to the events listed above, educational
events will be taking place at the College of St. Catherine, the
University of St. Thomas, Macalester College, and the University of
Minnesota for students participating in solidarity. FFI: Call
612-721-1681.


--------9 of 14--------

From: mnsoaw [at] circlevision.org
Subject: Minnesota SOAWatch 5.01 6pm

Just a reminder- our monthly MnSOAWatch meeting will be on the first
MONDAYS now, starting this coming Monday April 3 at 6 pm, same place, Holy
Trinity Lutheran Church, 2730 E 31st St Minneapolis. Enter the east doors,
we are upstairs.


--------10 of 14--------

From: Lydia Howell <lhowell [at] visi.com>
Subject: Daily Planet 5.01 6pm

Press Event and Launch Celebration May 1 for Twin Cities Daily Planet

Join the Twin Cities Media Alliance as it celebrates the launch of its
experiment in participatory journalism:

Twin Cities Daily Planet - www.tcdailyplanet.net
<http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/>

A new online community newswire offering the best of local neighborhood
and community journalism, original articles and commentary, and stories
from citizen journalists (press release below)

Eat, drink and learn more about the Planet

Board members of the Twin Cities Media Alliance, nonprofit publisher of
the TC Daily Planet and representatives from the publication's thirty-odd
Media Partners will be on hand to tell the story of the Planet and answer
questions

Monday, May 1 from 6:00 - 7:30PM (press conference at 6:15)

2600 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis
(Suite 1 of the Wells Fargo Bank Building - entrance on Franklin
directly west of the bank entrance - parking in back)

MORE INFO
Online News Source Will Bring Community Voices to Twin Cities Audience

The Twin Cities Daily Planet (www.tcdailyplanet.net
<http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/>), an online news source featuring the best
of the community press plus the work of citizen-reporters and independent
journalists, will launch May 1 with a full complement of local news,
features, columns, and interactive community forums.

"Collectively, the citizens of the Twin Cities have far more expertise and
insight than can be found in any one newsroom," said Daily Planet managing
editor Craig Cox formerly the executive editor of Utne magazine. "The
premise of the TC Daily Planet is that new technologies are making it
possible for these citizens to become more active and powerful
participants in the news production process."

The Daily Planet will offer a convenient portal to more than 30 community
newspapers and online publications in an effort to connect readers
throughout the Twin Cities with an eclectic and diverse collection of
voices rarely heard in the major media.

Local publications whose work is featured on the Daily Planet site range
from neighborhood newspapers (Camden Neighborhood News, Northeaster,
Whittier Globe, St. Anthony Park Bugle) and metro-wide publications
(Pulse, Minnesota Women's Press, Workday Minnesota) to the local ethnic
press (Asian Pages, Hmong Today, Lazos Hispanos, Minnesota
Spokesman-Recorder) and the newer immigrant press (Hiiraan Online, Mshale,
African News Journal). Also among the participants are The Minnesota
Daily, The Minneapolis Observer, as well as KFAI radio, and popular local
Web sites mnspeak.com <http://mnspeak.com/>, mnartists.org
<http://mnartists.org/>, and mnstories.com <http://mnstories.com/>.

In addition to daily coverage of local news in Minneapolis and St. Paul,
the Daily Planet will feature a variety of columnists, including former
Star Tribune columnist Jim Klobuchar, former Utne magazine editor Jay
Walljasper, as well as popular community-based writers like Shannon Gibney
and Dwight Hobbes.

The Daily Planet will also provide regular national and international
headlines from the BBC, The New York Times, the Guardian, and Reuters, as
well as audio and video broadcasts from local, national, and international
reporters. The site will also host lively community forums where readers
can discuss the issues that affect them in their day-to-day lives.

In addition to these professional contributors, the Daily Planet will also
publish stories from citizen-reporters interested in telling the stories
of their communities. These reporters will be offered opportunities to
learn basic journalistic skills with the help of former New York Times
reporter Doug McGill, who is teaching a series of workshops for aspiring
reporters

"I believe the Daily Planet will become the news source of choice for a
wide range of Twin Cities readers looking for a fresh perspective on
community life," said Gretchen Nicholls, executive director of the Center
for Neighbors and a citizen-editor of the Daily Planet's Neighborhoods
section. "And with its focus on citizen engagement, I hope it will create
a new sense of media ownership in a metropolitan area dominated by too few
voices."

The Daily Planet is published by the nonprofit Twin Cities Media Alliance
(TCMA), which brings together media professionals and engaged citizens to
improve the quality, accountability and diversity of the local media. TCMA
envisions a participatory democracy in which citizens from all segments of
society - and especially those whohave been traditionally denied access -
are able to use the media as a tool to share information, hold the
powerful accountable, build community, and work together for the common
good.

[What? No Clark Kent or Lois Lane? Problems with the half-life of krypton?
Arch villains scheming to bring down the whole metropolitan area, only
excluding Fridley, their cleverly disguised alien base? O please say
they will be there. We could use a man who could leap tall buildings
at a single bound (because two bounds doesn't work very well). -ed]


--------11 of 14--------

From: Juanita Peterson <jkpete [at] comcast.net>
Subject: Law Day forum 5.01 7pm

Three Branches, One Vote:  Separate Branches, Balanced Powers

Monday, May 1st, National Law Day
William Mitchell Auditorium, 7-8:30pm, Reception to follow

Co-sponsored by League of Women Voters St. Paul, League of Women Voters
Minnesota, and William Mitchell College of Law.

Recognizing Law Day 2006, "Three Branches, One Vote" brings citizens
together to discuss how the judicial, legislative and executive branches
of government work together for the common good. Panelists representing
each branch will discuss the relationship between their branch and a
citizen's vote.

This event is free to the public and made possible by a grant from the
League of Women Voters Education Fund and the Program on Constitutional
and Legal Policy of the Open Society Institute.

Speakers:

Kris Eiden (executive branch) Minnesota Deputy Attorney General In 1999,
Kris Eiden was appointed Deputy Attorney General and she became Chief
Deputy Attorney General in 2002.

Esther Tomljanovich, '55 (judicial branch) Minnesota Supreme Court (ret.)
Esther Tomljanovich served as a Minnesota Supreme Court Justice between
1990 and 1998. Prior to that, she was a district court judge in the 10th
Judicial District for 13 years.

Chris Georgacas (legislative branch) President, Goff & Howard Public
Relations/Public Affairs Before joining Goff & Howard, Georgacas served as
a political party chair, a senior legislative aide, a think tank analyst,
and an executive-branch administrator.  In 2002, Georgacas was Governor
Pawlenty's campaign chairman.

Moderator: Helen Palmer President, League of Women Voters Minnesota

For more information, contact: Wm Mitchell School of Law Alumni Office:
(651) 290-6370 alumni [at] wmitchell.edu

League of Women Voters St. Paul:  (651) 789-0118 mail [at] lwvsp.org


--------12 of 14--------

From: alteravista [at] earthlink.net
Subject: mn911 meeting 5.01 7pm

Mon 5/1, 7 pm:  Meeting of MN 911 group;

Lori's CoffeeHouse. Cleveland at Buford. 4 blocks S of Larpenteur.
1 block west of the Farm Campus Student Union.

Directions: Hwy 94, N on 280 to Larpenteur, E 1 mile to Cleveland, S 4
blocks to Buford (stoplight).


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Warning: Tax Cuts For Rich Harm Nation's Health
By Holly Sklar
April 28, 2006
ZNet Commentary
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2006-04/25sklar.cfm

Did you get a $1 million dollar cut in your taxes?

Taxpayers with incomes above $10 million saved $1 million on average on
their 2003 taxes, according to the latest available IRS data, thanks to
tax changes under President Bush. Tax breaks will be bigger this year.

It would take about 29 years for a full-time worker to make a million
bucks at today's average hourly wage, which is falling behind inflation.

Taxpayers with incomes above $10 million "paid about the same share of
their income in income taxes as those making $200,000 to $500,000 because
of the lowered rates on investment income," reports tax expert David Cay
Johnston. At the state and local level, low-income taxpayers pay a greater
share of their income in taxes than wealthy taxpayers.

Taxpayers with incomes less than $50,000 -- the great majority of
taxpayers -- saved an average $435 in 2003. It would take 2,300 years to
match a million-dollar tax cut.

And taxpayers lost much more than $435 to deepening budget cuts and rising
fees for services taxes once funded.

Why are millionaires getting big tax breaks while Congress cuts tuition
aid for kids whose families can't afford to pay for college?

Why are millionaires getting tax breaks while soldiers are killed and
maimed in Iraq for lack of adequate armor?

Why are millionaires getting tax breaks while vital levees are
shortchanged from New Orleans to California?

Why are millionaires getting tax breaks while 46 million Americans have no
health insurance and, as the Institute of Medicine documents, lack of
health insurance causes thousands of needless deaths a year?

Taxpayers with incomes above $1 million will see their after-tax income
grow by about 6 percent in 2006 because of tax cuts the nation can't
afford.

The worst is yet to come. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
reports, current and proposed tax cuts for households with incomes above
$1 million would cost more than the combined cuts planned over the next
five years for education, veterans health benefits, medical research,
environmental protection and programs such as housing, energy, child care
and nutrition assistance for families living in poverty.

President Bush has given so much revenue away in tax breaks, he's already
racked up more new debt than all the presidents combined accumulated
before 1990. We are in record-breaking debt to foreign countries. And
without a change in course, Bush will nearly double the national debt
during his presidency.

Borrowing money from economic competitors to pay for tax breaks for
millionaires and billionaires is more stupid than borrowing money from
Tony Soprano to gamble.

Tax expert Robert McIntyre says, in the last fiscal year, "one out of
every four dollars in federal spending outside of Social Security was paid
for with borrowed money. That $501 billion shortfall occurred mostly
because personal income tax revenues as a share of the economy were 29
percent lower than they were in fiscal 2000. the year before Bush took
office."

"Extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts would add $3.3 trillion (including
interest) to deficits over the next decade," reports the Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities. "Each year the tax cuts would cost as much as the
annual budgets of all these federal departments combined: Education,
Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Energy, State, Housing and Urban
Development and the Environmental Protection Agency."

It's madness.

Tax cuts are boosting the superrich and sales of "giga-yachts" longer than
football fields, but they aren't boosting the economy. The current
economic recovery has had weaker growth in employment, wage and salary,
gross domestic product, consumption and investment than the typical
post-World War II recovery.

Taxes are our dues for democracy. Taxes are how we pool our money for
public health and safety, infrastructure, research and services -- from
the development of vaccines and the Internet to public schools and
universities, transportation, courts, police, parks and safe drinking
water.

Without fair and adequate taxes, we cannot repair the public
infrastructure inherited from past generations or meet the challenge of
global warming. We cannot invest in the research and education vital for
future progress.

Tax forms should come with a warning: Tax cuts for the rich are hazardous
to the nation's health, economy and security.

It's time to change course.

Holly Sklar is co-author of "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers,
Business and Our Future" (www.letjusticeroll.org) and "Raise the Floor:
Wages and Policies That Work for All Of Us" (www.raisethefloor.org). She
can be reached at hsklar [at] aol.com.


--------14 of 14--------

From: TomPaine.com, Apr. 28, 2006
DEMOCRACY 2.0
By Timothy Karr

[Timothy Karr is campaign director for Free Press, which is coordinating
the SavetheInternet.com coalition.]

As of this morning, more than 1,500 blogs have taken up a new cause,
posting links to SavetheInternet.com and urging their readers to call on
members of Congress to stand firm in defense of Internet freedom.

And, for the first time in blogger history, the Hill is hearing it.

The cyberstorm is over "Net Neutrality," the principle that prevents large
telephone and cable companies from controlling what we do, where we go and
what we watch online. As part of a vote on new telecommunications
legislation on Wednesday, House Energy and Commerce Committee members
defeated an amendment by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that would have
protected net neutrality by a count of 34-22.

What's remarkable about this result is the shift that occurred on Capitol
Hill in the week prior to the vote. An unlikely coalition of political
activists from the right and left, consumer groups, bloggers and Internet
gurus banded together at SavetheInternet.com and sent more than 250,000
letters to Congress. This sparked an Internet revolt among bloggers who
heaped scorn upon any member of the House who dared side with companies
like AT&T and Verizon, which are spending millions of dollars in
Washington to dismantle the rules that would stop their plans to control
Internet content.

When it came time to vote on Markey's amendment, two Democrats on the
committee switched their previous votes to favor net neutrality and
several others, who had been undecided, also voted for the amendment,
citing the explosion of public interest in the issue.

More elected officials on both sides of the aisle, in both the House and
the Senate are now monitoring the pulse of the blogosphere as this issue
spreads offline.

"We would not have turned the corner in this fight without your blogs,
your voices," Congressman Markey said yesterday during a teleconference
with bloggers. "We need to put every member of Congress on record on where
they stand on the future of the Internet," Markey said. That momentum has
shifted in Congress, he continued, "is a reflection of the rumbling in
cyberspace about what's going on with this bill."

Bloggers from left, right and center, including DailyKos, BuzzMachine,
Atrios, Instapundit and even actress Alyssa Milano, called on their
readers to pay very close attention to this issue. They've urged everybody
to go after any elected representative who ignores the public interest in
favor of the well-heeled telephone and cable lobbyists that have swarmed
Capitol Hill as representatives attempt to rewrite telecommunications law.

Undaunted by the committee defeat, Markey is now rallying colleagues on
the left and the right to support the introduction of his Network
Neutrality Amendment onto the full floor of the House next week.

But it's an uphill battle. For the amendment to be voted upon by all
members, it has to first get past the House's gatekeepers on the Rules
Committee, which Rolling Stone 's Matt Taibbi calls , "the free world's
outstanding bureaucratic abomination -- a tiny, airless closet deep in the
labyrinth of the Capitol where some of the very meanest people on earth
spend their days cleaning democracy like a fish."

This 13-member committee (nine Republicans and four Democrats) holds the
congressional agenda in its grip. If Rules votes down your amendment, your
amendment is DOA. Bloggers are banding together to ensure that no member
of Congress gets off the hook that easily.

"There's a white hot firestorm on the issue on Capitol Hill," Matt Stoller
said in a post at MyDD. "No one wants to see the telcos make a radical
change to the Internet and screw this medium up, except, well, the
telcos."

Politicians get scared when they realize the public is paying attention.
As the blogosphere catches fire, momentum is shifting in Washington.
Whereas before the big telephone companies and their coin- operated
lobbyists were confident that Congress would simply roll over and do their
bidding, today no member of Congress can vote with the telecom cartel
without expecting repercussions.

The public is now watching and, with increasing frequency and volume, the
message is getting through to Congress: we will not stand for any law that
threatens Internet freedom.

We can all take action now to save the internet.
Copyright 2006 TomPaine.com


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

   - David Shove             shove001 [at] tc.umn.edu
   rhymes with clove         Progressive Calendar
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