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03 Aug 09 - ClubFDR.org - SpicaBooks.Com

Club FDR

Club FDR calendar

1882 Jan 30 - the birth of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York

2005 Jan 30 - Club FDR founded

2008 Jan 26-30 - World Economic Forum - Annual Meeting 2007 - "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices" - Davos, Switzerland

2008 May 16-18 - Fortune Global Forum - China and the New Asian Century

"Swing-Voters-R-Us"

Monthly surveys for half a year before the 2004 election showed that a majority of Americans did NOT want American troops in Iraq. But you wouldn't know that by the PRO-WAR position of George W. Bush, the Republican Party candidate for President; and John Kerry, the Democratic Party candidate; and David Cobb, the Green Party Candidate.

But independent Presidential candidate, Ralph Nader, IS for pulling American troops out of Iraq immediately. Since candidates from the major parties are NOT in touch with the feelings of the American people, there is a REAL need for independent candidates.

"Progressive-Independents-R-Us"

In an effort to prevent legitimate representational government, the leadership of both the Republican Party and Democratic Party refuse to let Proportional Representation , Unicameral Legislature, or Instant Runoff Voting from become laws of the land.

We can drive home the need for these laws by running as many INDEPENDENT candidates as possible.

Why a Club FDR?

Not every progressive is in the Socialist Party.

Not every progressive is in the Green Party.

Not every progressive is in the New Party.

Not every progressive is in the Democratic Party.

Not every progressive is registered as an independent voter. Some folk eschew electoral campaigns and focus on bond issues on the ballot.

Not every progressive is even registered to vote. Some folk eschew elections and focus on civic issues.

I love the word "progressive". My favorite magazine of political commentary is called The Progressive. But Danny Hernandez, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, did a survey a few years ago and found that any candidate acknowledged by the voters as a "progressive" would lose any election. But then New Mexico is such a conservative state that Democrat dominated (53%) New Mexico voted for Shrub, Jr in 2004.

About the only thing Republicans are good at are smear campaigns. They have no problem smearing war heroes, even Republican war heroes. So, Republicans, also, have succeeded in denegrating perfectly good words as "progressive" or even "liberal".

So, let's see the Republicans attack the reputation of our only progressive Democratic President who, also, is credited with saving both America and the world - Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

(His 5th cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, is the only Republican President considered to be a progressive. Teddy started the short-lived National Progressive Party.)

Let's introduce FDR, the political giant of the 20th century, to today's youth.

Let's remind the voters that NOT every defender of America is a right-wing psuedo-Christian unilateralist corporate puppet who brags about not reading newspapers and who hides behind non-existent CIA reports as excuses to invade.

Welcome to Club FDR

Don't mourn, organize.

We will NOT be associated with any particular political party. We'll focus on issues, not candidates. (Though we may mention the names of organizations, scholars, officials, and candidates and who support our causes.)

We'll focus on specific issues to instigate electoral, legislative, and lobbying efforts for humane issues and for political reform to improve representational government.

We Advocate

NO to: the death penalty, land mines, unnecessary wars, and exporting American jobs.

YES to: publicly-funded healthcare, a higher minimum (living) wage, and preserving Social Security.

Promote: day care centers, union labor, proportional representation, instant runoff voting, unicameral legislatures, affordable housing, mass transit, the use of alternative energy sources immediately, and an alternative public works service corp as an option to military service.

* When registering to vote: those who do NOT declare to be a member of any particular political party should have the same opportunity to work and get paid as an election poll precinct worker as do those who claim a particular party membership. Currently, non-party voters are being discriminated against.

* Have a national usury law to limit the maximum interest charged on credit cards and loans. Stop the unethical practice of "universal default" rate increases. Have each prospective credit customer respond to a survey revealing the extent of the customer's understanding of details in the credit contract.

* Who someone marries is their business ONLY.

We should be listening to Prof. Juan Cole about what the U.S. should do in Iraq, not Shrub, Jr.

Assemble Club FDR political activists in your area.

* Meeting monthly on a Sunday afternoon is good, especially for parts of the country with usually lousy weather, since night driving may have slippery roads. Besides, many drivers suffer night blindness. A lot of people work on Saturday, so Sunday may get a larger attendance.

Form an email list for your club.

Send me info of your club's coordinator who will be a member of our national ad hoc organizing committee: Coordinator's name, Email address, Phone number, Mailing Address, Outreach area.

So as not to get off track, we'll consult with the folk at the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.

Book: "Franklin Delano Roosevelt" (The American Presidents)

Book: "John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economics" by Prof Richard Parker

Book: "Correspondence Between Stalin, Roosevelt, Truman, Churchill and Attlee During World War II"

Book: "Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship

Book: "Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk" by Maureen Dowd

Book: "Why Americans Hate Politics" by E. J. Dionne, Jr.

Book: "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide" by Samantha Power

Media that doesn't get it "right"

Common Dreams

Link TV

Democracy Now

The Al Franken Show

Center for American Progress

Molly Ivins

Arianna Huffington

Maureen Dowd

Jim Hightower

Project Vote Smart

George Soros

Committee for a Unified Independent Party (38% of all Voters are Independents)

Air America

Latter Day FDRs

Al Sharpton - Democratic Party - Christian reverend - Presidential candidate in 2004 primary.

Dennis Kucinich - Democratic Party - U.S. Representative from Columbus, Ohio - Presidential candidate in 2004 primary.

Eugene McCarthy - Democratic Party - U.S. Senator from Wisconsin - Presidential candidate in 1968 primary.

Howard Dean - Democratic Party - Vermont governor - Presidential candidate in 2004 primary - founder of CivicSpace Labs - as new chairman of the Democratic Party, promises to bring that party back to its roots (Does that mean FDR roots?).

Jesse Jackson - Democratic Party - Christian reverend - founder of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

John Anderson - Independent - U.S. Senator from Minnesota - founder of The Center for Voting and Democracy - independent Presidential candidate in 1972.

Pete McCloskey - Republican Party - former U.S. Representative from San Mateo, northern California - Presidential candidate in 1972 primary.

George Miller - Democratic Party - U.S. Representative from Richmond, northern California.

Ralph Nader - Green Party - lawyer - consumer advocate - founder of Public Citizen - founder of the National Association for Public Interest Law - Presidential candidate: Green in 2000 & independent in 2004.

Ted Kennedy - Democratic Party - U.S. Senator from Massachusetts for over 40 years.