alan grayson

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is at Netroots Nation, and our co-founder Adam Green is on a panel titled “Weak Democrats Vs. Strong Progressives: Lessons From The Social Security Fight” alongside Ai??Reps. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Mark Takano (D-CA) and Credo Mobile’s Becky Bond talking about how progressives build political power. Blogger Heather “Digby” Parton will be hosting, and we will use the panel to discuss how progressives have been fighting President Obama’s proposed cuts to Social Security benefits and how progressives are fighting back and even proposing to expand these benefits instead. Hear behind-the-scenes stories on power, progressive organizing, and the Democratic Party.

Below you can watch a livestream of the panel, Ai??which will begin at 7:30 PM EST today, with a pre-game conversation starting at 7:15 PM EST.

Click here to share this live stream on Facebook.

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Are you a Daily Kos member? Click here to rec a diary about this event.

Click here to chip in a few dollars to progressive heroes who’ve signed the Grayson-Takano letter promising to vote against any cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits.

PCCC fellow Andrew Villeneuve will also be live blogging the panel as it happens.

Panel Liveblog

Hey everyone, it’s Andrew. Welcome to our live coverage of Weak Democrats vs. Strong Progressives: Lessons from the Social Security Fight. If you’re able to tune in to our livestream above, you’re welcome to follow along from home in addition to reading live updates here in this post. We’ll be getting started in just a few minutes!

4:30 PM: Here we go! Again, we are livestreaming this panel above. Feel free to tune in and watch from home. Heather Parton, who blogs as Digby, will moderate our discussion for the next hour and fifteen minutes.

4:43 PM: …

House Republicans are pushing a bill this week dubiously titled the “Working Families Flexibility Act.” The bill, if enacted, would allow employers to deny employeesAi??overtime pay and instead replace it with paid time off that would be given at the employer’s choosing. In the words of Rep. George Miller (D-CA), this would mean “unused time would be paid back at the end of the year, amounting to a no-interest loan to employers from workers.”

While House Republicans are working towards their long-term goal of killing overtime pay, progressive Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has other plans. He has offered an amendment to the Republican legislation mandating a week’s paid vacation to any employee at a company with 100 or more employees:

The GOP has a bill on overtime. I offered an amendment that guarantees one week of paid vacation to American workers. rules.house.gov/amendments/GRAai??i??

ai??i?? Rep. Alan Grayson (@AlanGrayson) May 7, 2013

The bill is expected to be voted on this week, it remains to be seen whether the House Republicans will allow a vote on Grayson’s amendment.

You should follow BoldProgressives on Twitter here.

Five Social Security recipients from Pasadena and surrounding communities brought a letter bearing 1,029 signatures to Chu’s office and asked her to add her own… The letter — known as the Grayson-Takano letter for its authors, Reps. Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.) — is addressed to President Obama and vows that its signees will not vote for any cuts to the programs, including raising the retirement age or reducing the amount of disbursements.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) on a conference call Wednesday, reiterated his strong opposition to any proposed cuts in benefits to Social Security, Medicare and Medicare, saying he is happy to let President Obama know that he “won’t use his vote to hurt the needy.”

Grayson, who was joined by Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA), along with nearly 1,000 media and activists from across the country, has garnered the signatures of 27 members of Congress on a “No Cuts” letter that rejects any cuts in benefits to the social safety nets…

Today’s conference call was organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and chaired by its co-founder Adam Green who said that, over 200,000 supporters had already signed the “No Cuts” letter, “a true testament to grass-roots energy around this issue.”

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has teamed up with Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) to ask their congressional colleagues to sign a letter pledging to vote against any cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits.

Grayson appeared on Take Action News and talked about the letter with host David Shuster and producer Daniel Marans. Marans asked Grayson about the reactions of Americans if benefits were cut, and Grayson replied that Americans would be marching in the streets of Washington, D.C. and state capitols:

MARANS: I think we need to take this eventually to acts of civil disobedience, and getting arrested at the capitol and White House, doing things to stop this at all cost. If it came to that would you support that?

GRAYSON: Listen it will come to that if they actually go through with cuts. If they go through with cuts, you’ll see people pouring into the streets. Pouring into the streets of Washington, D.C. and every other capital, state capital, and major city in the country. This is going to be intolerable for people, this is in fact a matter of life and death in their own lives. And what’s the point? The Social Security Administration has almost $2 trillion in the bank. $2 trillion. That’s a program that’s operated at profit virtually every single year since it started 80 years ago. And under the current law, under current assumptions, under current projections, that’s a system that can pay out every single benefit required under current law for the next 25 years, and minor tweaks would make that forever.

Listen to it:

Click here to sign on as a citizen sponsor of the Grayson-Takano letter against Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefit cuts.

Listen to our national conference call with Alan Grayson …

Everything from public education to child care subsidies and aviation safety could be on the chopping block. But a group of more than 20 Democrats are petitioning Obama in the hopes of ensuring the nation’s most critical social-safety-net programs will not be subject to budget cuts.

“Democrats have built the most popular government programs in American history — including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — by working with Republicans whenever possible and by defeating Republican opposition whenever necessary. The torch has been passed to today’s elected officials, and we must carry it forward boldly,” states the letter, authored by Reps. Alan Grayson (Fla.) and Mark Takano (Calif.).

In advance of any upcoming budget deal, progressive groups have begun pushing House Democrats to sign a letter to President Obama indicating that they will not back anything that cuts entitlement benefits. As of Wednesday, the letter, originally written by progressive Reps. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Mark Takano (D-CA), had 10 additional signers.

The coalition pushing the letter, including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn.org and Credo Action, announced it also added two unions, the National Nurses Union and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, to the list.

The groups said 110,000 supporters had also signed the letter within 24 hours of it being put online and supporters have placed more than 4,000 calls to members of Congress.

Some Members of Congress want to cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security benefits. President Obama has indicated he is still open to cutting Social Security benefits with a so-called “Chained CPI.”

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is organizing to stop these benefit cuts. He’s circulating a letter among his colleagues that states the following:

We will vote against any and every cut to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security benefits — including raising the retirement age or cutting the cost of living adjustments that our constituents earned and need.

But he needs your help for the letter to gain momentum. With our friends at Democracy for America, CREDO Action, Ai??Social Security Works, Working Families Party, Move On, and Rebuild The Dream, we’re working on getting citizen co-sponsors of Grayson’s letter. Click here to sign on.

As Congress continues to debate a possible replacement to the $1.2 trillion in sequestration-related cuts set to kick in on March 1, a coalition of progressive organizations on Wednesday launched an effort urging Democratic lawmakers to reject to any deal that entails cuts to benefits from popular entitlement programs.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy For America, MoveOn, CREDO Action, Rebuild The Dream, the New York-based Working Families Party and Social Security Work are endorsing a letter to President Barack Obama, signed by Reps. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), warning against cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits.

Adam Green talked about the work of his Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and the organization’s agenda for the 113th Congress.*He also outlined what progressives would like to see from President Obama in his second term.

Congressman-elect Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Bold progressive Congressman-elect Alan Grayson (D-FL) just publishedAi??a long Facebook note protesting Obama’s endorsement of the chained CPI to cut Social Security and veterans benefits. He labels the proposal as “undeserved, unwise, unfair.” Read the full note:

Let me get right to the point. I’m against the proposed “chained CPI” cut in Social Security because it substantially undermines the protection against inflation that Social Security recipients enjoy under current law. The existing cost of living adjustment (“COLA”) already understates actual increases in the “cost of living”; the chained CPI would exacerbate the problem.

I understand that the vast majority of Americans — including, quite possibly, most people reading this – have no burning desire to learn anything about the chained CPI. It has, however, become a major part of the “fiscal cliff” negotiations, and so it has become one of those things that people have to learn about, for their own protection.

Where we are now in the fiscal cliff negotiations is that Speaker Boehner is talking about reducing the federal deficit in the exact same way that Governor Romney did – Boehner says that he wants to, but he won’t tell us how. President Obama, boxed in by the poll-driven sense that he must-must-must propose something “balanced,” is “balancing” the reduction of tax breaks for the rich against the reduction of the protection that seniors have against inflation. On the merits, however, reducing that protection is undeserved, unwise and unfair.

Social Security benefits are automatically adjusted each year to reflect increases in the cost of living, as determined by the consumer price index (CPI). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the CPI each month.

Here is how the “chained CPI” would change things: Let’s say that the cost of gasoline tripled, from …

This past week, hundreds of Wal-Mart employees and thousands of their supporters took part in historic walk-outs and demonstrations to protest the chain’s low wages and intimidation of its workers. As we told you earlier, congressman-elect Alan Grayson joined a striking employee at a Florida Wal-Mart.

Over at Democratic Underground, Grayson has written about his experience at the Florida Wal-Mart. “WalMart accounts for more than ten percent of all of the retail sales in the United States. It is the largest private employer in the world, with more than two million employees. And even though those employees comprise barely ten percent of its cost of doing business, WalMart exploits them mercilessly,” writes Grayson. “Now WalMart employees are starting to organize, starting to fight back.”

We appreciate Grayson’s support and encourage other Members of Congress to continue to speak out against Wal-Mart’s practices.

We’ve posted Grayson’s letter in its entirety below:

My Thanksgiving ai??i?? A Turkey Sandwich at WalMart

I did not spend Thanksgiving evening with my wife and my five children. I spent it, instead, handing out turkey sandwiches to workers in WalMart. And showing my support for one brave soul who walked off the job in protest against exploitation.WalMart ai???associatesai??? make an average of just more than $10 an hour. That means that if they manage to get a full 40 hours a week ai??i?? and many donai??i??t ai??i?? they get paid $1,700 a month, before taxes. Somehow, that is supposed to pay for their food, shelter, clothing and medical care, and that of their children. Quite a trick.

In state after state, the largest group of Medicaid recipients is WalMart employees. Iai??i??m sure that the same thing is true of food stamp recipients. Each WalMart ai???associateai??? costs the taxpayers an average of more than $1,000 in …

The great Wal-Mart strikes of Black Friday 2012 have begun. Workers across the nation are walking out, and thousands of Americans are expected in demonstrate in solidarity today and tomorrow.

In Orlando, Congressman-elect Alan Grayson joined the strikers. Here’s a photo of him walking Lisa Lopez off the job tonight (thanks to United for Respect at Walmart for the photo):

The bulk of walk-outs and demonstrations are expected to occur tomorrow. Click here to find one near you.

Bold progressive Alan Grayson will be returning to Congress in January.

Last night, Grayson appeared on The Young Turks and pushed back on demands from corporate-backed groups like the Campaign To Fix The Debt that Congress cut Social Security or Medicare benefits as part of a “Grand Bargain.”

ai???The Democratic Party should be united,ai??? said Grayson. ai???We are the party that created Social Security. We are the party that created Medicare. We should stand behind it, and we should protect it. Itai??i??s amazingly popular among the voters. Why should we shoot ourselves in the head by saying weai??i??re going to end these programs, or even cut back these programs, when we created them, and the voters love them?ai???

Watch it:

Remember that it was thanks to the efforts of Progressive Change Campaign Committee members — we made 216,577 calls for him and raised $56,684 from 5,429 donations — that Grayson will be returning to Congress.

Alan Grayson must defeat one far-right radio host before he returns to Congress.

Bold progressive Alan Grayson’s on the verge of returning to Congress. The only thing that stands between him and the House of Representatives is Todd Long, the far-right radio host who is the Republican nominee opposing Grayson.

We here at the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) checked out Long’s 2010 book, The Conservative Comeback: How To Win The Battle For The Soul Of America. The book serves as a peek into the mind of Long, and it reveals that his ideology is even more extreme than that of a typical House Republican. Here’s some highlights from the book based on Long’s thoughts on various subjects:

He’s avowedly anti-science: Long calls evolution a “false, misleading teaching” and relates an anecdote about a “wise friend” telling him, “If you teach kids they come from monkeys, do not be surprised if they act
like monkeys.ai??? [pages 88-89]
He degrades Social Security as a “Ponzi Scheme”: “It is ironic, to the point of being amusing, that the many Americans who are shaking their heads
today about how so many of their fellow citizens could be so gullible as to be taken in by Madoff are themselves participants in the worldai??i??s largest and longest-running Ponzi schemeai??i??welcome to the US Social Security program.” [pages 134-135]
He wants the federal government to end its involvement in Medicare: “I believe all health care programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, should be funded by each state with local control and oversight.” [page 141]

And as we reminded you last month, Long said that he thinks House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is far too progressive. He instead proposed that Republicans make Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) House Speaker.

Now’s your chance to stop Long from …

PCCC plans to make hundreds of thousands of calls for Elizabeth Warren’s Massachusetts Senate race. Another top priority is Alan Grayson’s House race in Florida. Call Out The Vote will also help Sen. Sherrod Brown’s re-election effort in Ohio and Tammy Baldwin’s Senate campaign in Wisconsin. On the House side, calls will go out for Rob Zerban, who is trying unseat Paul Ryan, Annie Kuster’s campaign in New Hampshire, and several other progressive candidates.

One of the most prominent progressive groups in the country is launching a major voter outreach effort on behalf of 20 congressional campaigns, calling it the “crown jewel” of its election functions. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee hopes to place one million phone calls to targeted voters through the effort, named “Call Out The Vote.”

Alan Grayson must defeat one far-right radio host before he returns to Congress.

Bold progressive Alan Grayson is currently campaigning to return to the House of Representatives. His opponent in the race is right-wing radio host Todd Long. Last year, Long appeared at a rally for the so-called “Fair Tax,” which would enact a 23 percent sales tax on all goods sold. Long said this tax would treat everybody “the same”:

LONG: Does anybody here think we should all be taxed the same? That we should all be treated the same under the tax code? We are all created equally by God we should have the same rights and benefits and privileges? […] The Fair Tax is brilliant!

Watch it (the relevant remarks are at 03:00):

Something Long didn’t tell the audience about what the “Fair Tax” would do is that it would dramatically increase the tax liability for the middle class while reducing it for the most wealthy Americans. Former Bush economist Bruce Bartlett ran the numbers, and I compiled them into a chart for ThinkProgress last year. Here’s how the Fair Tax would change the tax responsibility distribution in the United States:

As you can see, the highest quintile of earners — those who earn more than $200,000 every year — are the big winners under the so-called “Fair Tax.”

Alan Grayson must defeat one far-right radio host before he returns to Congress

Bold progressive Alan Grayson is currently campaigning to return to Congress as a member of the House of Representatives. His opponent in the race is right-wing radio host Todd Long.

At a debate with his Republican primary opponents this past summer, Long revealed just how extreme he is. He told the audience that he would work to replace Speaker of the House John Boehner Ai??with either Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) or fellow right-wing extremist Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN):

LONG:Ai??I’ll fight passionately for a Paul Ryan, a thoughtful conservative, Michelle Bachmann or someone that has ideas and solutions based on the founders principles [to be Speaker of the House.]

Watch his remarks at around 03:42 in the following YouTube video:

This makes the choice between Long and Grayson clear. Long wants either an Ayn Rand acolyteAi??in Paul Ryan or fellow right-wing extremist in Bachmann to replace his party’s leader.

To refresh your memory, Bachmann has demanded a McCarythist witch hunt of Muslims in the federal government, has said stopping gay marriage is the biggest issue over the next thirty years, said that global warming is a “hoax” and based on “voodoo,” and has accused Obama of holding “anti-American views.”

So the good voters of Florida should know that a vote for Long is a vote for Ryan and Bachmann by proxy.

Pitch in a few dollars to help Grayson defeat Long.