Steve Harrison Showed Up In Manhattan Last Night

At a smoky (for at least a few minutes, quick someone call 311!) bar on Franklin Street last night, DfNYC, Stonewall Democrats, Three Parks Democratic Club and Village Reform Democrats came together to hear from the challengers to incumbent Vito Fossella (R - Staten Island). One candidate by the name of Steve Harrison showed up to talk about his passion to represent Staten Island as a liberal and he took question from the audience even if he disagreed with the locals (such as on congestion pricing). He also talked about ending the war and that much of the Responsible Plan being floated around in 2008 was very similar to what he was saying two years ago.

The other man in the race the seemingly reclusive Councilman Dominic Recchia didn't bother to show up despite having the event rescheduled for him to make it easier. Oh and by the way, the place is about a ten minute walk from City Hall, so it isn't like Recchia couldn't have come over for an hour to talk about issues that concern not only Staten Island, but New York City and the nation as a whole.

It was a shame that Recchia wouldn't even bother to make an appearance, but it is starting to show through that there is only one candidate in this race willing to make an effort to talk to voters and people all over the city in order to make Staten Island and that slice of Brooklyn that is the 13th Congressional District of New York blue again. Steve Harrison proved last time around in 2006 that he had the guts and determination to do whatever it took to reach out to the voters in what was thought to be the last Republican stronghold in New York City. Despite being outspent nearly 10 to 1 by Vito Fossella, he still got 43.2% of the vote. With the help of activists that came out to see the candidates last night, this time we can cross that fifty percent threshold and send Vito packing.

Come Help Make NYC's Congressional Caucus Completely Blue

Did you know that in the heavily Democratic metropolis that is New York City there is still one Republican in Congress from the five boroughs. If you know anything about NYC, the first guess on where that red district is on Staten Island (and a little slice of Brooklyn too). Well Vito Fossella has been going to Washington for his own interests and those that fed his campaign coffers for too long. Now we have a serious shot at getting him out and putting a true progressive in the 13th district of New York. And tonight, you can meet that man thanks to Democracy for New York City.

From DfNYC:

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 6:30pm
Lafayette Grill and Bar
54 Franklin Street
(N,R,Q,6, C and A trains to Canal Street; 1 train to Franklin Street)

Because of the interest in the progressive community Democracy For New York City has organized a forum to discuss issues of importance to the people of the 13th CD as well as the rest of the city. This forum is at the beginning of a campaign that can likely unseat the last remaining Republican in the NY City Congressional Delegation.

Vito Fosella has been a backer of the Bush-Cheney policy. We can defeat him!!

Steven Harrison and Domenic Recchia have both filed to run for this congressional seat. Both have been invited to attend. Steven Harrison has confirmed his appearance.

Hosted by Three Parks Democratic Club, Stonewall Democratic Club, Village Reform Democrats and Democracy for NYC

Staten Island can do better and with everyone's help, defeat Vito Fossella and elect a Democrat this fall. Come out tonight and ask Steve Harrison (and possibly Dominic Recchia) questions to see which one you want to win the primary and face Vito in November.

Meet And Greet Two Amazing NY City Council Candidates

Are you in New York City or nearby? Do you have plans tomorrow night? Well if you don't and care about your community and are starting to wonder who will be running in the city elections next year I have just the place for you. Democracy for New York City has put together a "Meet and Greet" for two homegrown candidates, Josh Skaller and Steve Behar.

From Democracy for NYC:

Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 7-9:30pm
Butterfield 8, 5 East 38th Street
(between Fifth & Madison Avenues)
www.Butterfield8NYC.com

To RSVP, click HERE...

Democracy for NYC started back in the spring of 2004, after Governor Howard Dean discontinued his presidential campaign and retooled his national grassroots support into Democracy for America, a progressive grassroots organization with coalition groups across the country. Governor Dean encouraged people to stay involved in politics at all levels of government, make our voices heard on the issues that matter, help elect good candidates, and eventually run for office.

Two of our DFNYC Linkup hosts, Steven Behar of Bayside, Queens and Josh Skaller of Park Slope, Brooklyn, are doing just that. Their respective city council districts will be open seats in the 2009 elections in New York City.

There is nothing more inspirational in politics than people who are passionate about their community and as average citizens, decide to become candidates for local office. It goes on all the time, though the stories usually don't make it to the national press. However, as New Yorkers we have the chance to go around the press and form community groups that help strengthen the area in which we live.

Plenty of local stories in the media talk about corruption in politics and unfortunately makes people cynical about the system. Whenever I hear that cynicism I respond with optimism, and tell those disaffecteds that if they don't like the system they've got, then go out and change, even if it means that the person in particular should run for office. While most react with some level of bashfulness, there are those few that actually get up and take action. Two of those people are Josh Skaller and Steve Behar, so if you want to see what it takes, come out tomorrow night and meet them for yourself.

H.R. 455: Supporting The Troops

The most important thing in Congress right now is to find a solution to the mess in Iraq. Some want to pull out immediately with no ifs, ands or buts. Others on the right want to stay there indefinitely until we win the war on terror, whatever that means. What needs to be done is to get a binding resolution that will get a large majority of Congress to pass legislation that solves the problem and hopefully has the muster to survive a likely veto from the President. H.R. 455 just might be that bill we are looking for.

From PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN at DailyKos:

Although the bill is not currently the most well-known of the numerous congressional war proposals, H.R. 455 has a number of attributes that make it a distinctive and politically viable option for bringing the Iraq conflict to a reasonable conclusion...

• H.R. 455 is tied to war funding. It would be attached to the appropriations bill so, if it is not removed in conference, the Senate would have to pass it and the President would have to sign it in order to continue funding for the war. Funding is "the only real way to force a change of direction in Iraq."
• Because it maintains funding for the troops (albeit for their removal) it cannot be tarred with the Republican talking point that it "cuts off funding for the troops."
• Because it maintains funding for Iraqi reconstruction, it avoids the argument that we are abandoning the Iraqi people in the same way Congress supposedly "abandoned" the people of South Vietnam.
• The bill establishes a firm and reasonable deadline for troop withdrawal (12/31/07) that will provide an incentive for the Iraqi government to take control of their own political and military destiny. The deadline is well after the "Friedman Unit" that General Petreaus has specified as critical for establishing security.

Unfortunately, at this time the House leadership is not lining up behind H.R. 455 or any of the 13 or so other House proposals for ending the Iraq war or curtailing the current escalation. The compromise currently being floated "requires" withdrawal if the Iraqi government misses ambiguous benchmarks for reducing violence within a "Friedman Unit". Elements from Jack Murtha's plan conditioning troop deployment on adequate preparation and equipping can be quietly circumvented with a Friday afternoon Presidential waiver. Given this administration's apparent interest in maintaining an Iraq presence regardless of the cost and demonstrated ability to circumvent the will of Congress, this plan can be interpreted as little more than a symbolic action. While the composition of this Congress makes compromise essential, compromise that accomplishes nothing is deceptive and useless.

Therefore, DFNYC (the local coalition group of DFA) is soliciting the help of individuals and groups around the country to put grassroots pressure on their congressional representatives to support and cosponsor H.R. 455. Even if H.R. 455 is not their preferred bill, they may be more likely to respond to a focused request rather than the amorphous anti-war sentiments that have resulted in nothing more than nonbinding resolutions. And even if this effort is unsuccessful in getting H.R. 455 passed, it helps build "momentum" that will encourage support of other legislation that will directly keep the President from sending more brave soldiers to die in an unnecessary conflict that will be even harder for his successor to end.

Please contact your congressperson by phone or e-mail and urge them to cosponsor H.R. 455. You can get contact info for your congressperson (and/or find out who he/she is) at http://www.house.gov/...

For those of you that are in NYC I strongly urge you to attend one of the DFNYC meetups tonight at 7pm (03/07/07) and participate in the discussion. I'll be at the one in the East Village, but there are plenty of other sites around the five burroughs.

Here are the locations:

Upper West Side, Cosi (downstairs) 2160 Broadway @76th Street, with hosts Merle McEldowney & Tracey Denton

West Village, Kettle of Fish, 59 Christopher St. (near 7th Ave.), with host Dana Northcraft

East Village, Rififi/Cinema Classics, 332 E 11th St (between 1st and 2nd Ave), with host Abhishek Mistry (Please email Abhishek if you plan to attend - research@dfnyc.org)

Park Slope/Brooklyn, Ozzie's, 249 5th Ave, with host Josh Skaller

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Wycoff-Bennette Homestead, 1669 East 22nd. St. (between Quentin & Kings Highway), with hosts Annette Mont & Estelle Glasser

Sunnyside, Queens, The Grind, 39-24 Queens Blvd., with host Dan Jacoby

Bayside, Queens, The First Edition, 41-08 Bell Blvd, right near the LIRR stop, with hosts Steve Behar and Costa of Democrats for New Politics

If you care about a concrete solution to end the war and you have some free time tomorrow night, be sure to stop by one of these spots to find out more on how to get involved.