IMPORTANT UPDATES: PDA New Jersey “Newletter” November 14, 2009
Joanne O'Neill
[Please forward widely and sorry for any duplicates]
If you have trouble reading this go to : http://groups.google.com/group/pda-nj/web/pda-new-jersey-newsletter--nov-14-2009
PDA New Jersey “Newletter” November 14, 2009
I do need your help and input on numerous items....
I. IMPORTANT ! Change of Date for Statewide Conference and Holiday Gathering
a) I am sorry to inform you that we will be re-scheduling the event to January 30,2010.
I know many of you were looking forward to this event, especially now when our spirits are at an all time low in NJ, to help energize us into next year, unfortunately Tim Carpenter, who has been waging a battle for over a year now, has to start 6 weeks of treatment, rendering him unable to make the date of December 5th.
As much as we are disappointed, we wish Tim a speedy recovery and look forward to him being in NJ on January 30, 2010
b) I have confirmed with the hotel, we will be able to follow the previous agenda with the exact same costs and events for the day, so the only difference would be the date of Saturday, January 30th. If you have any questions concerning what our conference agenda was, click here :
http://groups.google.com/group/pda-nj/web/pda-nj-dec5
· You can also make reservations and payments for which events you would like to attend with individual Pay Pal buttons.
c) **Hotel Accommodations** – I know a number of you have made room reservations, please call and change your reservation ...now !
· and the cost per night will remain at $65.00 + tax per night,
· but you have to call and tell them to change your reservation to Friday, January 29,2010 or Saturday, January 30.
· Call 732-828-6900 and say you want to change your room reservation from the “Progressive Democrats of America” Block of rooms to January 29 or 30th (or if you plan on staying both nights).
· PLEASE DO THIS ASAP!
d) If you know of any organization who would like to table at our conference, we are offering 6 ft. table space at $30 each.
· For Further Details, click here. vendor_letter.pdf
· For Application to do Tabling, click here. vendor_applicaton.pdf
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II. PDA New Jersey Membership State Wide Conference Call
Monday – November 16 – 9:00 PM
Conference Dial-in Number: (605) 475-4875
Participant Access Code: 668422#
Call is open to all members of PDA in New Jersey .
Rules for call:
· Upon entering the call, please state your name and county .
· When not speaking please press *6 to mute your phone.
· After I read each item or give brief description of the agenda, I will call upon people by county to give their thoughts/suggestions, etc.
· Please do not speak out of turn, show respect for all that are on the call.
· If there is something you would like for me to add to the agenda, please email a brief summary to me at ProgressiveDem...@gmail.com
Agenda:
1. Preparing for Statewide Conference
I am looking for volunteers to help out with numerous tasks to be performed that day in order for it to run smoothly and be a smashing success.
a) People who would be willing to transport speakers to and from the airport ?
b) People to help with registration at the 3 different events and collect money if not pre-registered*:
· Registration starts at 9am for the 10 am to 1:30 pm PDA conference – cost of $12.00 at the door ?
· Registration starts at 2pm for the 3pm-5pm Healthcare Forum – cost of $5.00 at the door ?
· Registration starts at 6 pm for the 7 pm-10 pm Dinner –*Exception: Reservations must be made in advance?
1. Someone to handle sitting arrangements for dinner and place cards?
c) People to man the display table for PDA-NJ
d) Someone to handle the sale of authors books who will be speaking that day (sign in table of forum speakers)
e) the Chinese Auction
· gathering items for Auction
· A person to handle the sale of tickets for the auction – have people write name and phone number on back of tickets.
· When should we draw winners??? at end of Forum? or during Dinner?
f) a person to manage vendors and directing them where to set up and arranging any special needs they may have? maybe combine this duty with the person handling authors table?
g) Other ideas of way we can raise funds to pay for the traveling expenses of PDA National members and other speakers for the day ? (Remember besides covering the costs of venue we do need to pay for traveling and accommodations. This amount could range up to about $2500.00)
h) we are in need of a power point presentation projector...does anyone have one or do we need to rent one?
i) do you know of any entertainment that might be willing to donate their talents to the day or
evening events ?
2. Update on Mobilization for Healthcare in NJ – looking for someone to act
as moderator for this part ....Carol... Manijeh....Mary Ellen ????
a) What actions should we take ?
· sit ins at insurance companies ?
· sit ins at Senators offices?
b) Getting in touch with more religious groups/churches ?
· having showings of Money Driven Medicine at the churches or
· sponsor the screening and invite the churches/groups to attend/co-sponsor ?
3. Planning for up coming Congressional races in 2010 –
a) Who are we looking to replace (R & D’s) - what districts?
b) Who do we have to run as potential candidates?
c) What can we do to raise funds for these candidates?
d) Most important how many are willing to contribute their time to help elect these candidates?
(If you want change in DC, we are the only ones who can make that change but it is going to take
everyone to pull together to make it happen)
e) We need to start setting up organizing meetings for these campaigns
4. Update on Marriage Equality Vote
I am hoping to have someone on the call to give us an update to where this stands. If/when they
may be bringing it to a vote?
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III. Other Up Dates About PDA
1. Join Us on November's Conference Call with Andy Worthington
We are delighted to announce that Andy Worthington will be PDA's Accountability & Justice
Team's Guest Speaker on this month's conference call.
· Please note the call will be on Wednesday ,November 18th,* at the usual time
· 9:00 PM EDT, 8:00 PM CDT, 7:00 PM MDT, 6:00 PM PDT
· To register for the call, go to https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/personalopt1.asp?formid=meet&c=1252642
*Note: Normally our monthly calls are held on the the 2nd Wednesday of the month
Andy wrote "The
Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America’s Illegal
Prison"
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/the-guantanamo-files/
and writes a blog at http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/
· You can see his new film, Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo, at the following
times and places: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/outside-the-law-stories-from-guantanamo/
· To hear a recent interview with him, go to: http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/10/28/the-guantanamo-files-andy-worthingtons-radio-interview-with-france-kassing/
Please join him — Live — on November 18!
2. Other Up Coming Conference Calls
Tuesday 17th: Healthcare for All / Single Payer Call
Wednesday 18th: Stop Global Warming/Environmental Issues Call
Thursday 19th: Southern and Eastern Regional Call < NJ State Leadership
Tuesday 24th: Clean, Fair, Transparent, & Accurate Elections Call
Please RSVP for any of these calls here. https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/mtglist.asp?formid=meet&mtgview=L
3. PLEASE HELP PDA TO CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR PROGRESSIVES
a) Together with our allies, PDA kept single-payer healthcare alive much longer than anyone thought possible, which demonstrates its majority support. PDA never wavered, they never strayed from our goal, together we made tangible progress--please help us carry on. https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/309/mtglist.asp?formid=meet&mtgview=L
b) Being a grassroots organization, PDA counts on the membership for their funds. No doubt the down turn in the economy has had a draining effect on the budget, making it difficult at times to meet just the standard obligations of paying for the database, let alone trying to meet payroll for the few paid staff members. Currently there are only 7......yeah you heard me right.....ONLY SEVEN !!!! sustainers in New Jersey....to me that is shameful !!!!! So other than my hubby and I giving monthly, there are only 6 others in NJ.
· If you want PDA to continue the fight for Progressives, I suggest you think about contributing !!!!
· Donations can be made on a one time basis,
· or you can choose to become a ¢hange Makes Change sustainer and have an amount charged to your credit card or checking account automatically every week, month, or quarter (three months).
· Even the smallest monthly contribution of $5.00 from each member would mean allot. How do you think Obama managed to raise so much for his campaign? At least with PDA you know we are fighting for the you....and a progressive agenda.....and not for some snake oil salesman. [ If only half of the 200,000 members gave $5 per month that would be $500,000 or $6 million per year. We could really give Progressives a voice with that amount. Just think what we could do if more than half of 100,000 gave more than $5.00....WOW ..... members of Congress would know we are a force to be reckoned with]
c) Instead of donating to the DCCC - DSCC – DNC send your money to where we are working to elect Progressive candidates like Marcy Winograd: http://www.winograd4congress.com/
· MoveOn’s most recent mailing will raise hundreds of thousands of dollars to support incumbents who voted for the bad healthcare bill.
· PDA hope to raise tens of thousands of dollars to back only candidates who support Medicare for All and women’s reproductive rights. http://pdamerica.org/articles/misc/2008-01-24-01-07-46-misc.php
That’s all for now but keep pushing Lautenberg and Menendez to support Bernie Sanders in his single-payer fight in the Senate. http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=14212486
In Peace & Solidarity
Joanne O’Neill
PDA – NJ State Coordinator
Please sign up at our other sites to keep up to date on what is happening in New Jersey
State: http://groups.google.com/group/pda-nj/ & http://www.pdnj.org/
National: http://www.pdamerica.org/
Accountability & Justice - http://groups.google.com/group/NJAJ
