A Personal Note from Gov. Tim Kaine

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Sep 24, 2009 9:37 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

Dear Friends,
 
I wrote you a few weeks ago to discuss the stakes facing Virginians this November. My letter concerned a political blueprint authored by the Republican candidate for Governor containing extremely objectionable references to working women, single mothers, gays and lesbians, and many others. That blueprint, which has been generally followed by the candidate in his elected career, advocated policies that would take Virginia backward-opposition to day care services and pay equity for women, objection to contraception, criminalization of women's reproductive choices, and promotion of the idea that people need to be "punished" due to their sexual orientation. That philosophy contrasts sharply with the record and character of the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Senator Creigh Deeds, who is a centrist legislator who believes our state government should focus on economic and educational opportunity.

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How was Moran's town hall?

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Aug 26, 2009 12:01 PM EDT

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

(photo by Kristal Wortham)

I don't think I ever met so many supporters of real health care reform with a public option as I did last night, when more than 100 DFA members joined a boisterous crowd of 2,500 people at Jim Moran's town hall at South Lakes High School in Reston.  DC for Democracy and DFA staff in VT worked hard to help make this event a success for reform supporters, as the Washington Post reported today.

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Name that bag!

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Jul 31, 2009 10:59 AM EDT

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

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Too High a Price for Voting Rights

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Mar 4, 2009 9:28 AM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

Given the uncertainty surrounding the DC House Voting Rights Act (see today's Washington Post article), it is important that grassroots groups like ours take a clear stance.

DC for Democracy members have expressed a commitment to full citizenship rights for the District of Columbia, as opposed to "full congressional representation."  This broader mandate includes the right to spend our local tax dollars as we choose, and the right to make the local laws under which we live (subject to federal law, of course).

As you may have heard, the NRA is trying to pollute the DC Voting Rights Act with language that would gut our local gun safety laws.  The Senate has already caved and passed language that would gut all registration requirements, allow interstate trafficking of guns, and legalize military-style assault weapons.   It would turn DC into an NRA paradise and a nightmare for those of us who live here. 

We have confidence that Congresswoman Norton is doing her best to make sure that the Voting Rights bill is clean of language that meaningfully alters our local gun safety laws.  If, however, despite her best efforts, Congress persists in attaching such language, DC4D's Steering Committee has decided that we must reject the Voting Rights bill.  We will not accept a false choice between congressional representation and local autonomy.

We will not take public action as an organization until our next monthly meeting on Wednesday, March 11 7PM.  At the meeting, we will invite our members to support or challenge our decision.  If a simple majority of our members disagree with our decision, we will rescind it.

In the meantime, let us know what you think!

Thank you, DFA, from the District of Columbia!

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Feb 26, 2009 9:01 AM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

Thanks to the many DFA members, from Jim Dean and DFA staff to regular DFA members across the country, the almost 600,000 people living in the District of Columbia are one step closer to equality in the House of Representatives.

Because of your phone calls, emails, and activism, we cleared a critical procedural hurdle in the US Senate on Tuesday, and prevented the Republicans from filibustering the DC House Voting Rights Act.  We hope to see the bill pass both houses of Congress very soon!  This bill will permanently expand the House of Representatives to 437, give one of the new seats permanently to DC (reliably Democratic) and the other temporarily to Utah.  At the next reapportionment of the House seats, Utah's seat would go back in the pot to be assigned based on population.  Yes, we do need to occasionally mix politics and principle, but at least the politics here is just a temporary sacrifice!

A special thanks to DFA members Robbie Akhene, Charles Gardner, and Lucia Messina of North Carolina, who called Senator Kay Hagan on our behalf.  Senator Hagan is still on the fence, so if you're a North Carolinian, please urge her to support basic democratic rights for the people of DC (call 202-224-6342).

A very special thanks to DFA members Linda Brooks of Virginia and Larry Drake of NH, who have long been loyal friends to us.

A very, very special thanks to all the DFA folks in Burlington -- Jim, Charles, Michael -- who have consistently championed our cause.  Boy, do we owe you guys!  We'll repay our debt to you by doing our best to be outstanding members of DFA!!

Streetcars and Less Gun Violence

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Feb 25, 2009 1:08 PM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

This Saturday, February 28th, 1 - 3PM at the Cleveland Park Library (ground floor meeting room), we will hold two formal endorsement votes:

Joining the Coalition for Gun Violence (CSGV), a leading national coalition that works to reduce gun violence in the US and abroad, and

Joining the Streetcar Alliance, a local partnership of the DC Sierra Club and neighborhood organizations to promote a new option for mass transit in the city.

We talked about these issues at our last meetup, and we have prepared fact sheets on CSGV and the Streetcar Alliance for your review.

This is an important opportunity for DC4D to expand our activism and get involved with new issues.  So please share your feedback before the meeting!

Support Democracy in the District of Columbia,

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Feb 23, 2009 8:26 AM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

Tomorrow (Tuesday), the Senate will debate and hold a procedural vote (cloture) for the DC House Voting Rights Act (S.160), which will give the District of Columbia's Congresswoman in the House full voting rights equal to every other US Representative.  This procedural vote will determine whether the bill will pass or fail.  It was at this step of the process back in 2007 that the measure failed by just 3 votes in the Senate. 

We need you, DFA members, to do your part TODAY to make sure this bill gets through.

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What Did You Do on Inauguration Day?

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Jan 21, 2009 2:21 PM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

DC4D members walked down Connecticut Avenue, starting at 6:30AM on Tuesday, picking up people along the way.  At Dupont Circle, we were diverted to 19th St (18th St being closed) and made our way down to the Mall & the Washington Monument.  We found a great spot to the north of the monument at the jumbotron near 15th Street.  There, we chatted, sang, and joked for three hours, as we froze our toes & fingers.  Whenever Bush appeared on the screen, we sang "na na na na, na na na na..."

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Inauguration Day logistics

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Jan 15, 2009 11:44 AM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

So what should DC4D do on Inauguration Day?   Our mission is to maximize the chance of getting media attention for DC's lack of political equality.  We have a number of questions to answer:

Where do we gather?

Keith has a quote from Gary Imhoff in themail: "Mayor Fenty announced that for the first time in history people will have to choose between going to the swearing-in ceremony and going to the parade because, even though there will be an hour or two between the two events, the checkpoints through which people will be allowed into the parade route will be closed off before attendees at the swearing-in ceremony will have time to get to them."  So do we go to the Mall and gather near a Jumbotron and miss being near the Wilson building when the parade passes by, or do we go to the Wilson building, where we'll miss the swearing-in and miss the parade?

How to we get there?

We've got many members in upper NW along Conn Ave, as well as Capitol Hill.  How about two major contingents, one down Conn Ave and another along Penn Ave in SE?  We'll have to draw up a route in Googlemaps and publish on our website.  Folks will have to meet us along these streets.   The two groups will have to hook up at the chosen gathering place.

What to bring?

Given the ambiguous and conflicting security guidelines, we'll just sport the "taxation without representation" stickers on our caps & hats.  No signs or banners.

So what do you all think?

Inauguration Visibility Action

Written by: Keshini Ladduwahetty on Dec 31, 2008 12:05 PM EST

Linked to groups: DC for Democracy

Thanks to Jocelyn Nieva, we started discussing how to take advantage of the Inauguration to publicize DC's lack of full citizenship rights.  A few of us met last night to discuss Jocelyn's proposal and arrived at the following decisions:

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