Has there ever been a time like this in recent memory when even our political leaders don’t know what the hell is going on or what to do next?

Bush warned us early last week that if we didn’t pass the emergency $700 billion bailout, that the sky would fall. Well the sky hasn’t fell (yet), but Wall Street just collapsed by 700 points in a matter of minutes, Washington Mutual - one of the largest banks in the country - failed last week, followed by Wachovia this week. The media is portraying it as a sale, but when the feds come in, take over your operations and force you to sell, that’s close enough to a banking failure enough for me.

Alan Charney, program director at USAction mused on the goings on of the DC political establishment over the weekend:

This is a fascinating moment in history.  Many right-wingers are against a bailout because they are fundamentally against strong government intervention in the economy.  Many other right wingers  are for the bailout because they profoundly worried about the future of the financial system.  Many left-wingers are against the bailout because they do not want Main Street to pay for the fundamental mistakes of Wall Street.    Many other left-wingers are for the bailout as long as it really means strong government intervention in the economy, with ownership of financial institutions and genuine protections for those hardest hit by the financial crisis.

Where things are now, we probably won’t get enough of a people’s bailout that puts Main Street first (ownership and accountability plus protections for those hardest hit).  This is primarily because many of the House Republicans are now united around an alternative that actually calls for less government intervention in the economy than we have now.  Since the President and Congressional leadership are committed to a bipartisan bill, the new Agreement on Principles will probably be weaker than the first Agreement on Principles.

Some people argue that putting up to $700 billion into a bailout, even a people’s bailout, would  make it much more difficult to move a next New Deal agenda (health care for all, clean energy, expanded educational opportunities, infrastructure) because of the fiscal squeeze that would follow. Other people argue that having huge equity positions in major financial institutions and strong regulation of them, along with economic recovery measures, could revive the financial system and even generate profits for the American people that could be used as an investment trust fund for the next New Deal agenda.

Every crisis is also filled with opportunity. The challenge is this: how do we best position ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities.  From my perspective, the key step in positioning ourselves is gaining more public control over the economy.

So what do you think should be our ultimate goal?

• Should it be ownership and control of our financial futures?
• Should it be “I’ll give you what you want (bailout) if you give me what I want (help for regular people)?”
• Or is your position just let the bast@rds hang, economy be damned?

For over a year now, we have begged, pleaded and cajoled our political leaders to do something about the rapidly growing mortgage crisis. The conservative response has been the same as always: Sit on their hands and do nothing while the “private market corrects itself”.

After sitting by idly watching millions of Americans lose their homes, now Bush wants American taxpayers to bail out the same huge mortgage banks that caused this mess in the first place. He wants the American people to pay twice.

For years, Republicans have painted Democrats as the party of “tax and spend liberals”. Now, George Bush and his republican posse are planning “The Granddaddy of all tax increases.” They want to finance the biggest corporate bailout in American history on the backs of working and middle class people already struggling to keep up with skyrocketing costs.

We oppose the $700 billion bailout because it forces working Americans to reward corporate America for bad decisions. It rewards a bankrupt, so-called “conservative” ideology that views government regulation as evil when recent events demonstrate regulation is, in fact, absolutely necessary.

Senator McCain’s response is to fire the SEC Chairman. Make him the scapegoat while CEO’s reap multi-million dollar golden parachutes and taxpayers foot the bill.

We have a better idea. We need to fire them all. Fire Bush and his cronies for falling asleep at the switch. Fire McCain who has agreed with Bush 90% of the time. Fire the congressional members who have given Bush/Cheney a blank check to run rough-shod over our economy.

The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the bailout proposal on Tuesday while the House Financial Services Committee will do the same on Wednesday. Paulson and Bernanke are scheduled to testify at both hearings. The proposals being debated are the centerpiece of what would be the most sweeping economic intervention by the government since the Great Depression.

We want to send an unmistakably clear message:

* No, to the biggest tax increase in American history!

* No, blank checks!

Progressive groups across the country are planning massive days of action this week across the country. We are urging everyone to call their congress members and tell them: “Read my lips: No Corporate Bailout!”

Iraq veteran Michael McPhearson shares his views on how the Iraq war has impacted him and why he supports Million Doors for Peace.

Only 8 days away from the Million Doors for Peace day of action and the buzz keeps building. Earlier this morning, anti-Iraq war champion Ned Lamont posted about the campaign over at DailyKos.

It’s been a while since the Mission Accomplished banner was unfurled. Now, one trillion dollars and tens of thousands of dead and wounded later, the price of oil has tripled and our economy has been run into the ditch. And if the surge is “working,” it has worked particularly well for Iran’s Ahmadinejad, who recently enjoyed a comfortable night’s sleep in one of Saddam Huseein’s palaces in downtown Baghdad.

Next weekend, with the same type of grassroots effort we used to fire up the debate two years ago, we can help turn the focus away from lipstick - and back to Iraq.

Ned Lamont, Tom Hayden, the list of supporters keeps growing. Keep checking back here for updates as we get closer to the Million Doors for Peace day of action.

This article appeared in The Nation today:

At this moment, when the mainstream media has largely abandoned coverage of the Iraq War and the majority anti-war opinion, the presidential campaign is underwhelming in offering any vision of peace, and the anti-war movement clearly needs to redouble its efforts, an exciting mobilization is reenergizing the peace movement–the Million Doors for Peace campaign.

On Saturday, September 20, 25,000 volunteers across the country will contact one million people in their neighborhoods and ask them to sign a petition urging the next Congress to bring US troops home from Iraq within one year. (The timetable is based on a new report from the Center of American Progress–coauthored by Dr. Lawrence Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration – that suggests “an orderly and safe withdrawal is best achieved over an 8 to 10 month period.”) This campaign is different from previous anti-war efforts because volunteers will be talking to their own communities instead of gathering in one place–such as the National Mall–for a traditional protest.

Spearheaded by USAction and TrueMajority, the Million Doors campaign has evolved into the broadest anti-war coalition to date. Karen Dolan, Director of Cities for Peace–one of the original cosponsoring organizations–said, “I’ve been at the center of the new peace movement since 2002 and I haven’t seen anything like this before. Its exciting to me [because] Cities for Peace is involved with so many of these groups and I have often witnessed something like the divide between the more radical activists and more centrist groups - and I mean the terms ‘radical’ and ‘centrist’ in the most affectionate way, as two strategic sides of the same progressive coin! The unification of all of us bodes well for new energy and more creative, and hopefully effective, anti-war work nationally.”

– more –

Last night, the right wing sank to a new low. Governor Sarah Palin didn’t just talk about issues and disagreements over policy; she launched a series of attacks aimed directly at you and me.  Here’s what Gov. Palin had to say about community organizers:

“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities.”

Gov. Palin was trying to insult Sen. Barack Obama’s work history, but she also slurred tens of thousands of Americans dedicated to making their communities better.

This is personal for the TrueMajority/USAction family. Just consider community organizer Chrystal Hutchison from our Florida affiliate. Chrystal grew up as the middle child of two blue-collar parents; her older brother is a Marine and her younger brother is a firefighter. After living in Florida her whole life, she now organizes communities for the Florida Consumer Action Network just a few towns away from where she grew up.

Last fall, Chrystal was working with community members to protect health care for children when she met a little girl named Bethany Wilkerson, whose life had been saved by heart surgery paid for with the government program George Bush wanted to cut. She took Bethany’s story to the press, introduced her to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and although she’s only 26, Chrystal was a key leader in the successful fight to save the kids’ health care program.

Governor Palin just doesn’t get that community organizers like Chrystal have led the fight and taken responsibility for fixing the upside-down priorities of right wing dominance in Washington for the last eight years.

Thanks to Bill Scher from Campaign for America’s Future for this interview with USAction President William McNary about the Next New Deal. Listen to William talk about the importance of achieving real change in 2009 and the support across the country for real reform.

Watch this video of William.

-Ilya

It’s September! The USAction/TrueMajority crew is back from Denver and ready to roll! It was incredible to spend the week with progressive activists from across the country and its clear that everyone is fired up for the next 60 days and the year ahead.

Over the course of those days, we hosted a forum on the Next New Deal with Rep. Ellison (MN), Anna Greenberg (GQR Polling), and William McNary and Alan Charney from USAction. We attended an SEIU/Families USA Health Care for America NOW! rally with special guests Death Cab for Cutie and Chuck D, and shared ideas and strategegized with dozens of other progressive groups from across the country. Not to mention meeting USAction and TrueMajority members all over the place who were volunteering or attending the convention themselves.

So, what’s next? I’m back at our home office in Burlington, VT getting ready to roll out our next big effort. We’ve bringing together a coalition of progressives from across the country for a one day action on September 20th to make sure the war is the defining issue as we head into November. Here’s a sneak peak at Million Doors for Peace. We’ve got a lot to do in the coming days, I’ll keep you posted. For now, here are some parting shots from the USAction/TrueMajority crew at the convention.

(Left to Right: Mike, myself, and Andy) (Alan Charney - USAction Program Director)

Let’s get to work!