|
 |
Democratic Federalism This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it. ~ Abraham Lincoln
Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. ~ U.S. Declaration of Independence Americans have woken to a new political reality, a realignment in the U.S. such that today, federal power is championed by oligarchs, and local power by democrats. This realignment represents a return to pre-Cold War political realities, in which capital owned federal power, and the labor-farm coalition championed the 10th Amendment, municipal home rule, the cooperative commonwealth, and local democracy.
Organizing ResourcesPROGRESSIVE STATES NETWORK: Trade and the StatesThis July, 2009 report by the Progressive States Network highlights many of the rising concerns by state leaders over recent federal trade deals, how states have been taking action to increase their roles in the trade negotiation process, and recent mobilization by those state leaders working with federal allies to institutionalize the role of states in the trade negotiation and implementation process. Monitor Provisional & Absentee Ballot ProcessingProvisional ballots are not counted on election night, but must first go through a qualification process to determine whether or not the voter was eligible 1) to vote at all, and 2) to vote in all races on the ballot that was cast. . . . Observing this process can increase the chances that it is conducted fairly, in part by providing a deterrent to biased decision-making. NewsBURGHARDT: Obama Calls for State-Federal Military "partnership"Date: January 17, 2010MAIL TRIBUNE: Bill would give Oregon more say in Guard deploymentsDate: May 13, 2009OREGON PUBLIC RADIO: Guard Bill Gaining MomentumDate: May 11, 2009Take ActionResolution Calls for Executive Branch Accountability to Reverse Illegal Actions and Prevent Further Abusessource: AfterDowningStreet.orgNationwide Impeachment Protests April 28th!source: Impeach '07Impeachmentsource: Center for Constitutional RightsEventsLocal Democracy Convention: The Community Power Road to DemocracyThe Local Democracy Convention will feature some of the most cutting-edge local democracy organizing going on in the US and around the world. Convention participants will have opportunity to attend plenaries, panels, skills-building workshops, strategy sessions, and a party or two. Whether you have been doing local democracy work for years, or are just discovering that your concerns are directly related to local power and democracy, join us this fall for what is sure to be a defining moment in the development of a new democracy movement in the United States! WHO DECIDES ABOUT WAR? National Conference on War Powers, Law, and Democracy(October 2, 2009 - October 3, 2009)"Who Decides About War" will be a national conference confronting essential questions raised by the U.S. invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. These questions are timely, as the political process that brought the United States into those wars is widely recognized today as having been flawed at best, dishonest at worst. Extending Democracy w/The Progressive, Manski, Farsetta, Gray, Wellstone(May 1, 2009 - May 2, 2009)Major speakers include Robert Redford, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Barbara Ehrenreich, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and the editorial staff of the Progressive Magazine. Liberty Tree's Ben Manski, together with various members of Liberty Tree's Board of Directors and Board of Advisors -- John Nichols and Robert McChesney, among them -- will also be speaking at this exciting event. Publications & TalksSCOTCH & BLACK: Restoring the Rule of Law Where it Matters Most(April 2, 2009)Benson Scotch appeared at the University of Wisconsin Law School on April 2, 2009, together with special guest State Representative Spencer Black, lead sponsor of WI National Guard federalization review legislation. VIDEO: National Launch of Guard Home! campaign(January 21, 2009)Short video of the national launch of the campaign to "Bring the Guard Home! It's the Law." Featured presenters included Rep. Mike Fisher (VT), Rep. David Segal (RI), Jean Athey (Peace Action), Leah Bolger (Vets for Peace), Karen Dolan (IPS), Elaine Brower (Militiary Families Speak Out), Ben Manski (Liberty Tree), Benson Scotch (Of Counsel). FIRST VIDEO: Who Decides About War?(October 2, 2009 - October 3, 2009)You don't have to wait any longer: The initial video is in from Who Decides About War?, the National Conference on War Powers, Law, and Democracy. This exciting conference took place on October 2nd and 3rd at the Georgetown School of Law, and featured over one hundred participants from 18 states Participants included veterans, military family members, journalists, lawyers, law students, professors, and other advocates of a more democratic, peaceful system of national defense. |
 |
Creative Copyright 2005
~ Langston Hughes