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Inside/Outside Update
PDA Staff Report
November 22nd, 2005
The Inside/Outside Update is a PDA staff report to our supporters. We will send this every Tuesday. We want to make sure our grassroots supporters know what we, at the staff level, are doing each week. If you find this information useful, please consider making a small donation.
While we support the efforts of Rep. Murtha, PDA's focus and resources will be devoted to support Rep. James McGovern's (D-MA) bill calling for withdrawal now. Rep. McGovern recently wrote a letter to PDA staff in which he asked to have us share it with our grassroots base. The letter outlines the need to withdraw from Iraq. You can read the letter here: http://www.pdamerica.org/misc/McGovern-PDA-Letter.pdf
You can also read a letter that gives some background on this issue: http://www.pdamerica.org/misc/McGovern-Background.pdf.
McGovern was recently at a PDA Washington, D.C. function at which he outlined the above letter in a new bill he has put forward and described specifically how PDA can help. A short video clip of part of his interview can be seen here: Rep. McGovern Video Clips (requires free RealPlayer software): [56k Modem] [Broadband]
He has asked our staff to get out the following message to our activists: [click here]
Sign the Support Petition TODAY!
Part of the beauty of PDA is that we can turn on a dime when we hear something is happening on the Capitol Hill. On Friday, that turned out to be an issue for PDA. We got word from our friends in the Out of Iraq Caucus that there was a vote being brought to the House floor putting a withdrawal plan forward. Good sources in the House told us it was the Murtha bill. Our progressive allies on the Hill urged people to call their members of Congress and tell them to vote YES for this bill. We agreed. An email was sent out to our base within minutes to take action on this historic vote. Little did we know that even some Democratic members of Congress were given false information. The bill that was debated was a counterfeit Murtha bill. When that was discovered, we immediately sent out a notice to reverse our initial position. We and dozens of other groups were caught in the same awkward spot. Even members of Congress were surprised.
This notice went on our site moments after the final vote: [read notice]
Out of Iraq, January 7th Day of ActionPDA, After Downing Street and our coalition members are encouraging Congressmembers to hold Out of Iraq events in their districts or in nearby red states. We've selected January 7th as a national day on which to hold as many events as possible, but other days can be chosen to fit the schedules of those involved. Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) is playing a large role in organizing these events and organized three town hall meetings on Iraq with congressmembers in Massachusetts in November, including this one in Montague.
Information and Tools for Planning or Attending Out of Iraq Events:
Using the web links above, you will be able to communicate with the people who sign up for your event.
You can edit information about an event after posting it, which means that you can post an event and indicate that some details are "To Be Announced." To check on the status of your event go to the Edit Your Profile web page, request a password, login, and then click on the "Events" tab. If you're an event host, use this web page to edit your event details, see who is signed up, and send them an email.
Please email AfterDowningStreet@benslade.com with any questions about this event planning system.
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