Tuesday, January 29, 2019

See you Saturday! Progresstival 2019

You're invited!

 

Plan to attend, get informed, get motivated, and fill your calendar with ways to get active!

This year's schedule:
1:00 pm   Activist Fair
3:30         Speakers
4:00         Break out groups - discussion/planning
5:30         Clean up
6:00         End

Our home grown speakers will include Dr. Mark Neumann, MD, a pediatician at Gundersen Health  System who heads the Medicare for All WI 3rd CD initiatve and Kathy Allen, a Natural Resources specialist and vice chair of the Coulee Region Sierra Club leading the local Ready for 100 initiative.

As usual, we'll have potluck snacks, tea and coffee, cold drinks available for purchase at the bar, and music.

Your donation at the door ($0-$10) will help us pay for the event.

Visit the event page for a list of all the great organizations who will be there to let you know how you can work toward this year's Progresstival theme: HEALTHY PEOPLE, HEALTHY PLANET!

Saturday, January 26, 2019

The house is on fire

[Cross posted from Coulee Region Sierra Club]



"Adults keep saying, 'We owe it to the young people to give them hope.' But I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house was on fire. Because it is."

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Tonight CALL IN for Dem Party listening session

The DPW listening session in Eau Claire is still on for tonight and there is a conference call option. At 7:30 pm, call 605-472-5523. When prompted, enter the access code 705197.

Thursday Transit Advocates Open House

[Cross posted from La Crosse Area Transit Advocates]

Hope you can make it! We'll also have info about how to officially join LATA at this event (and door prizes).


Note: Because of remodeling at the co-op, grab and go items won't be available. But Deli counter and meat department are open with soups and sandwiches and the weekly hot special available as usual, along with the pastries and salads.

Monday, January 21, 2019

Tuesday listening session cancelled

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is postponing the listening session that was scheduled for Tuesday, January 22 because a major snowstorm is predicted on Tuesday. They will reschedule.

Thursday, January 17, 2019

USPS service to target election mailings

Guy pointed to a great article on Overcome the GOP, a Wisconsin blog. The poster discusses how the grassroots can use a direct marketing tool developed by the US Postal Service to do cost effective mailings to educate and activate voters. Read all about it at Target ALL the neighbors of a WI Assembly Rep you want unelected.

-- snip --

One tool which is available to you is the U.S. Postal Service “Every-Door Direct Mail” system. This is the system that brings you, via postal workers, coupons for this, that and the other thing, without even having your name and full address on the postcard. 


-- snip --

 

Monday, January 14, 2019

Sen. Ron Johnson Tele Town Hall Wednesday

Kathy sent info about a "tele-town hall" with Sen. Ron Johnson on Wednesday, January 16 at 2 p.m.

Sign up here:
https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/telephone-town-hall-signup

The way these have worked in the past is that you sign up and then *they* call *you* at about 2 pm. You MUST answer the robo call or you will not get in. So, if the pasta is boiling over, if the cat has knocked over a gallon of water onto your freshly refinished hardwood floor, if the baby has fallen out of her crib, answer the phone FIRST or you will not get in.

If you do not answer the robo call, you are OUT. There is no call in number if you miss the call. Game Over.

But if you DO answer, your participation is not assured because if some robo glitch occurs up front that knocks you off the call -- beep-beep-beep-beep -- then you are now OUT. Game Over.

But if no robo glitch occurs up front, and I can only describe the one time I've made it this far in the game, then you will hear Sen Ron Johnson giving his interpretation of events. If you can stomach that, you might be on your way to tele-town hall victory. But ... if it's making you ill, don't worry.  You may experience what I did. After about two minutes of alternate facts, a glitch knocked me out. Game Over.

I believe there may be opportunites for people who don't get knocked out of the game to ask questions but given the set up, I can imagine that pre-arranged approved questioners are allowed in and real constituents are not. But that's just a guess as I've never made it that far.

You could also try calling his offices daily to ask why if a foreign power knocks out the Fish and Wildlife Service, IRS, food safety, TSA, and countless other vital services, it's an aggressive act, but if Republicans do it by failing to pass funding bills, it's not. But, even then, it's probable you'll get only an answering machine. Game Over.

DC office: 202 224-5323
Oshkosh:  920 230-7250
Madison: 608 240-9626






Friday, January 11, 2019

Waking Up White collaborative

Please consider supporting and participating in this new collaborative headed by Thomas Harris. 

The idea of the collaborative is to open a community dialogue broadening our understanding of history and how white culture has affected our country through systemic racism and people's personal, often unconscious, racist attitudes and actions.

You can one of the organizational meetings to learn more about a community collaborative.

These initial meetings are to develop partnerships to coordinate a learning initiative which will help coordinate group reads and discussions of the book Waking Up White by Debby Irving and will culminate in hosting a regional one and a half day White Privilege Symposium in 2020 featuring Debby as one of the keynote speakers.

We welcome everyone to join us. Spread the word to others who would be passionate about participating!

Please plan to ATTEND ONE of three organizational meetings held at the La Crosse Public Library Auditorium at 800 Main Street in La Crosse:
  • Thursday, Jan. 31 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm 
  • Tuesday, Feb. 5 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm 
  • Thursday, Feb. 7 from 9:00 to 10:30 am
For more information, please contact LaXWakingUpWhite@gmail.com or call 608 780-7153. Post and share this flyer:

Monday, January 07, 2019

Call now - no more biz til shutdown ends


Call now. No more biz til the shutdown ends.

From Ezra Levin:

Here's how to help pressure McConnell to end the shutdown:

1) Call the Senate switchboard: 202 224-2131 and ask for one of your senators
2) Tell the staffer you want your senator to vote AGAINST the motion to proceed on S. 1 and everything else until McConnell agrees to a budget vote.
3) Repeat with your other senator.

Thursday, January 03, 2019

DPW Listening Session in La Crosse

THIS SESSION HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO PREDICTED SNOWSTORM. It may be rescheduled at a later date.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will hold a number of listening sessions over the coming weeks to get feedback on what worked and what didn’t this election cycle. If you had any interaction with the Party or coordinated campaign this cycle, please plan to attend and have your thoughts heard! The DPW wants to put the strongest operation in place for 2020.

Tuesday, January 22 in La Crosse
4:00 - 5:30 pm at Ho-Chunk Three Rivers House, 8th & Main, La Crosse

Wednesday, January 02, 2019

Should the city dictate who may and may not live together

Should the government dictates who may and may not live in a house? Is it really a property value thing? What if you can't afford to buy a $100,000+ house? Will certain neighborhoods be off limits?  Public input session coming up about a proposed pilot program in Grandview Emerson and Weigent Hogan neighborhoods.

Special January Joint Meeting with Weigent Hogan 
The City Wants Our Input!
The conversion of owner occupied, single family homes to rental properties in the WHNA and GENA neighborhoods has increased significantly in the last few years. Between 2013 and 2016, 12.5% of the owner-occupied homes were converted to rentals. The city is concerned about this trend as rental properties often lose value over time, the value of adjacent homes can be negatively impacted and neighborhood parking issues often arise. 
Join us January 14th at 6:30 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall at 401 West Ave for our continuing discussion with City Planner Jason Gilman regarding a pilot the city is proposing in the WHNA and GENA neighborhoods. These 2 neighborhoods were chosen because of the high number of recent single-family home conversions.  The pilot would reduce the “unrelated rule” in the city’s ordinance from allowing 3 unrelated persons to live in a home to allowing 2 unrelated persons to live in the home.
The City wants our input!  The city’s goal here is to encourage single family home ownership and stabilize neighborhoods. The ordinance change would be paired with Community Development low-interest, partially forgivable loans for rehabbing rentals back to owner-occupied homes and targeted planning for multifamily housing.
A list of points to consider about the proposed change to the unrelated rule can be located here.

Call NOW

This is one reason we need a new Dem party and here's another about The Perils of Pay Go (from Climate Hawks Vote).

Tomorrow, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on its Rules package for the 116th Congress. Currently, a misguided pay-as-you-go (or pay-go) provision is included in the package, which would limit progressives’ ability to tackle climate justice and pass a Green New Deal.


Pay-go was hatched up by conservatives to tie the government’s hands and limit the ability to pass smart investments that will make Americans’ lives better. Republicans demand that Democrats’ proposals conform to pay-go -- but ignore their rules when it benefits big corporations (remember the tax scam bill that blew a hole in the deficit?) Pay-go could kill a Green New Deal package before it even gets a shot.

These times call for bold action and flexibility to do what’s necessary -- not kowtowing to corporate special interests and Republican talking points. The House can write and pass deficit-neutral measures -- but the pay-go rule means that Democrats are disarming before beginning to fight.

Progressives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ro Khanna have already signaled that they will vote NO on Pay-Go. With the new Congress getting sworn in tomorrow, Democrats have an opportunity to fight for the progressive agenda on which they campaigned. We must demand that they follow through on those campaign promises.


Voter Suppression Film Thursday


CAPTURING THE FLAG
FILM AND COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
CO-HOSTS: BLUE JEAN NATION 
and DEMOCRACY REFORM RANKING PROJECT

Thursday, January 3rdat 7 -9 pm
The Rivoli Theatre and Pizzeria
117 N. 4thSt., La Crosse, WI


RSVP HERE. (Suggested Donation $10 at door)
The film, Capturing the Flag, reveals how a team of voter protection volunteers uncovered striking evidence of voter suppression in North Carolina during the 2016 election - post-partial repeal of the Voting Rights Act.
The short film (1-hour 16-min.) will be followed by a discussion about the film and how to forge strategically forward toward changing the systemic shortcomings of democracy, followed by community announcements from people attending.

About the hosts:


The Democracy Reform Ranking Project is a live event tour coupled with a democracy survey to engage people about reforms they believe would most improve our democracy. It is a campaign designed to offer an ongoing opportunity for engagement to citizens who are concerned about the direction and effectiveness of representative government. The goal is to empower participants to work with each other to launch initiatives in their own home communities and grow the DRRP network in order to fuel a powerful democracy movement.

Blue Jean Nation aims to change how we talk with each other so we can overcome growing divisions on the highly polarized political landscape and hash out our differences. We also want to equip citizens to be involved in a people-powered democracy so that the direction of our country is decided by the many, not the money. In doing so, we hope to challenge the political establishment to change its ways with the goal of transforming political systems.

Donations will go towards the cost of the film, venue, and the Democracy Reform Ranking Project’s pilot expenses.
Contact: Jennifer Karius at 607-269-5104 or democracyreformrankingproject@gmail.com or Beth Hartung at beth@bluejeannation.com for more information and for tabling at the event.