Progressive Democrat Newsletter Issue 250

Last week in my Texas Focus I concentrated on some absolutely critical School Board races. I got a comment that I was burying the lead in my story. What I failed to emphasize, though I mentioned, was that the Texas School Board DOMINATES the school textbook market. They are the ones who keep almost getting creationism in our science books, downplaying of slavery in our history textbooks, and Christianization of our education. What happens on the Texas School Board affects ALL OF OUR KIDS. So, even though most of you have never heard of them, two of the most important candidates of this year are Dr. Rebecca Bell-Metereau and Dr. Judy Jennings for Texas Board of Education.

PLEASE DONATE TO Rebecca Bell-Metereau for Texas State Board of Education

PLEASE DONATE TO Judy Jennings for Texas State Board of Education

The future quality of textbooks across the country depend on these two races.

Now on to healthcare. I am not in favor of "sending a message" just for the sake of sending a message. Too often it is either merely a waste of time or outright counterproductive. But sometimes, and I think now is one of those times, a carefully chosen message can make a huge difference.

With regards to healthcare reform there are some dedicated champions in Congress (all Democrats) and some who have been as obstructionist as can be (from both parties). In some cases support for a champion (particularly if they are being targeted by the Republicans), support for an excellent candidate trying to flip a House or Senate seat from the Republicans, and a primary challenge to carefully selected obstructionist DINOs (a term I try not to use too often) can send a clear message that support of healthcare reform is a WINNING POSITION. And that is the key message we have to send: people who support healthcare reform need to be supported and those who oppose it need to be challenged.

I have put together a carefully selected Act Blue List of key races where this message can, in my opinion, be best sent. I include people like Alan Grayson and Jared Polis, who are among the champions of the public option and who are excellent Congressional Reps to begin with. I include people like Lois Herr, Jennifer Brunner and Kendrick Meek who are trying to flip seats from the obstructionist Republicans and who are good candidates to begin with. And I include a handful of selected primary challengers (like Regina Thomas, Bill Halter and Connie Saltonstall) designed both to try and defeat key DINOs and/or to help Nancy Pelosi put pressure on those DINOs to stand by healthcare reform. Some of my choices are races that need our help anyway and we have a shot at winning (Jennifer Brunner, Alan Grayson, Bill Halter, etc.) Others may be long shots, but still worth focusing on for the pressure it puts on obstructionists.

Now is the time to donate because now is the time when healthcare is at the forefront of Obama's agenda. Please pick one or two of the candidates I highlight on my Healthcare4America Act Blue Page and send a message that might actually make a real difference.

President Obama has given the money from his Nobel Peace Prize to charity. The list of charities that have received money are:

$250,000 -- went to Fisher House, which provides housing for families of patients being cared for at major military and VA medical centers.

The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, which raises money for long-term relief efforts in Haiti following that country's devastating earthquake, received $200,000.

$125,000 went to six different charities:

-- College Summit, which partners with schools with the goal of increasing college enrollment;

-- The Posse Foundation, which awards scholarships to "public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes";

-- The United Negro College Fund, which offers scholarship and internship programs for more than 60,000 students per year;

-- The Hispanic Scholarship Fund, which awards scholarships and offers outreach support to the Hispanic community;

-- The Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, which offers scholarships and leadership curriculum to young people from Appalachia;

-- And the American Indian College Fund, which distributes scholarships to American Indian students and provides support for tribal college needs.

Two charities were awarded $100,000 each. One is AfriCare, which offers programs in Africa addressing health and HIV/AIDS, food security and agriculture, and water resource development. The other is the Central Asia Institute, which promotes education and literacy in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan with a focus on education girls.

A wonderful list of charities helping people all over the world.

Over at Daily Kos someone made and posted a video that helps explain how relatively small amounts of carbon dioxide can have such profound effects on our climate:



Maybe his demonstration will help explain what is going on to more people. The videos I highlight below in this week's newsletter are excellent, but sometimes it takes a simple, clear demonstration like the one above to explain complex problems.

I'll leave you with Obama's weekly address:



Here is this week's newsletter:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Excellent Videos Discussing Global Warming

Obama and the Stimulus have helped our Economy

Brooklyn, NY Focus

Manhattan, NY Focus

Queens, NY Focus

Bronx, NY Focus

Suffolk County, NY Focus

Rochester, NY Focus

New York 19th District Focus: Putnam, Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, and Westchester Counties

NEW YORK FOCUS

Texas Focus: (CRITICAL!!!) Texas Board of Education

Austin/Travis County, TX Focus

Dallas County, TX Focus

Houston/Harris County, TX Focus

Texas 10th District Focus: Turn TX-10 Blue

Texas 21st District Focus: Turn TX-21 Blue

TEXAS FOCUS

Silicon Valley Area, CA Focus

San Diego, CA Focus

Orange County, CA Focus

California 11th District Focus: San Joaquin, Alameda and Santa Clara Counties

CALIFORNIA FOCUS

Sussex County, NJ Focus

Passaic County, NJ Focus

Warren County, NJ Focus

NEW JERSEY FOCUS

FLORIDA FOCUS

Charlottesville/Albemarle County, VA Foucus

Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania County, VA Focus

Hanover County, VA Focus

VIRGINIA FOCUS

ILLINOIS FOCUS

Atlanta, GA Focus

Fayette County, GA Focus

Coweta County, GA Focus

GEORGIA FOCUS

Lancaster Co. PA Focus

PENNSYLVANIA FOCUS

COLORADO FOCUS

ARIZONA FOCUS

WASHINGTON STATE FOCUS

WISCONSIN FOCUS

IOWA FOCUS

Nevada Focus: Does Mining Pay Its Fair Share?

NEVADA FOCUS

Michigan Focus: More on the Real Bart Stupak...and Connie Saltonstall challenges Stupak

MICHIGAN FOCUS

NORTH CAROLINA FOCUS

MINNESOTA FOCUS