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Crossposting from the Dem thread: I genuinely have no idea how useful this Northern VA session with Congressman Beyer will be, but I figure it's a starting point, so I'll be there. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-road-ahead-tickets-30466452981 Grey Fox has issued a correction as of 03:42 on Dec 21, 2016 |
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Dec 21, 2016 02:49
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Pollyanna posted:Not much there about economic justice and wealth inequality. I'd grill 'em on that, ask what they'll do to help people economically and figure out if they're neoliberal scum or what.
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Dec 21, 2016 02:57
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HorseRenoir posted:(btw, the link in your post is broken for me) https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-road-ahead-tickets-30466452981 If that doesn't work, you can access it from Beyer's page: http://beyer.house.gov/ and the text in case everything is just hosed: quote:Many of you have been in touch with my office recently, calling with anxiety over next steps for our nation and how we will work to bridge the great divisions that exist in our rich and complex country. Grey Fox has issued a correction as of 03:46 on Dec 21, 2016 |
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Dec 21, 2016 03:44
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GlyphGryph posted:Use it as an opportunity to hook up with other people with similar concerns. Take note of who asks good questions, and approach them afterwards and talk about how something must be done, especially if Beyer turns out to be neoliberal scum. Because then you need to start getting involved in primarying the guy ASAP.
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Dec 21, 2016 03:59
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Virginia goons, one of my local journalist friends, Danica Roem, decided to say "gently caress it" and jumped into the fray for a seat in the VA House to knock out old man Bob Marshall: http://www.fauquier.com/prince_will...5b8a197d31.html quote:On transportation: Improving Va. 28, which Roem calls “one of the biggest failures we have had in transportation in my entire life,” will be a focus of her campaign. She’s opposed to the Bi-County Parkway but supports the idea of extending Godwin Drive to bypass Va. 28 through Manassas if area wetlands can be traversed in an environmentally responsible way. Roem supports removing traffic lights and building overpasses “where it makes sense” along the roadway. She also supports raising the gas tax “a penny or two” to sustain public transportation funding and avoid more privately tolled roads, a form of “double taxation,” she said she fervently opposes. edit: I'm sure it's a total coincidence, but today old man Bob said he wants to bring transgender bathroom bans to VA and legally define what a "man" and "woman" is in VA Grey Fox has issued a correction as of 03:39 on Jan 5, 2017 |
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Jan 4, 2017 17:42
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Grey Fox posted:Crossposting from the Dem thread: Participants Congressman Don Beyer, VA District 8 Background: Owns car dealerships in the area, employing about 300 people. Served two terms as Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, and served as President Obama’s Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein from 2009 to 2013. He serves on the Joint Economic Committee, the House Committee on Natural Resources and is Ranking Member on the Oversight Subcommittee to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Claire Guthrie Gastańaga VA ACLU Head (ExecDir?) Background: Before lobbying, Gastańaga, a principal of cg2 consulting, served as chief of staff and special counsel to the speaker of the House and was the first woman to be chief deputy attorney general of Virginia. She graduated in 1974 from the University of Virginia Law School and has argued cases in the United States Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Virginia, according to the ACLU. Planned Parenthood Person I'm sorry I was in the back at first and her nametag had a lot of glare on it. Closed Captioning looked like it was being done via some original Mac speech-to-text, so I'm looking forward to Pezydent Trumph's inogurashun. Environmental Lawyer Guy He was there and occasionally spoke like an experienced lawyer that is probably tons of fun at parties, I swear. Attempted Short and Sweet Well-organized, well-promoted event. Saw ads weeks in advance online and received professional-looking mailer. He and the panelists introduced themselves and covered their big issues, which took about 40 minutes, I think? Then it was straight Q&A mode for the rest. Event was supposed to be 1.5 hours but ended up being about 2. He told everyone who still had questions (like 15 people) to stay behind and he'd answer. I had to leave when it was over. Aides had zero problem with access to Beyer and were directing traffic directly in front of him ("hang a left when you reach the Congressman") while helping people get seats upstairs. Event was very heavy on ACLU stuff, as Beyer and CGG have previously worked together. He was on the same page with everything she had to say, and she had a LOT to say across a range of issues bigger than even I had in mind, which I was glad to see. She did fantastic and was a straight shooter the entire time. My next step is following up with them, and there were reps from a lot of orgs, including multiple NAACP chapters, Planned Parenthood, immigrants' rights groups, and a couple others. Bummed to not see an actual ACLU table, though. Audience was a good age mix, but seemed like everyone was a part of a financially comfortable family, one way or another. Standing room only, maybe 400 people in the room? Lots of people in this well-off suburb are feeling lost about the future and their own well-being if Trump nukes the ACA and starts eliminating federal jobs. A lot of folks seemed confused about how much the Congressman himself could actually do, and he clarified exactly who had responsibility. Crowd was friendly, with your typical couple of windbags when QA time began. A Very Angry Lady dropped a BLACK LIVES loving MATTER into the middle of a completely different question, an aide politely asked her not to swear, and that was the end of that drama. I don't think the crowd offered much of a response, either. I voted Bernie in the primary and Hillary in the general, and I'd say I was on board with about 90 percent of what Beyer was saying. Beyer refused to endorse Ellison for DNC (see previous Obama admin employment) and I cringed when part of his mostly-good answer to my question (more later) was "I'm a car dealer, I make deals. Trump doesn't make deals." He also, at multiple times, said "I don't want to be partisan, but," so there's the three neoliberal red flags y'all should keep an eye on. Memorable Issue Statements (will add more as they come to me) Firm no vote on illegal Israeli settlements, yes to two-state solution, not a good idea to use nepotism to solve the crisis. Took the audience member's point about the Jewish lead US negotiator being a Bad Look, but didn't expand (obviously). Paid decent lip service to Russia issues but basically said he was the wrong VA guy in Congress to talk about it, deferring to Mark Warner who "can't tell me what he knows, but he doesn't look happy." Kinda-sorta called out specific Dem senators, including Mark Warner, about voting against making prescription drugs more affordable. Brought it up without real prompting, but moved past it fast. As said before, ACLU had way too many things for me to try and cover here. Civil rights, voting rights, mass surveillance, access to health care, criminal justice reform, civil asset forfeiture, etc. Spent time focusing on VA-specific bills in the state house right now, including bathroom bills and gender-defining bills. She seems like the kind of leader you want in a spot like her's. ACLU said it supports BlackLM and feels there are plenty of Blue Lives Matter laws on the books; she feels "Blue Lives" are something the community takes very seriously and hopes will extend the same compassion to BlackLM. Planned Parenthood emphasized its preventative health care services and reminded the crowd that federal dollars legally can't pay for abortions. Made it very, very clear about Medicaid's role in reimbursing patients. Beyer flat-out refused to endorse Keith Ellison for DNC when pressed by audience member, then went on to talk up his good friend Tom Perez. Had some legit nice things to say about Ellison and then threw in some Howard Dean lip-service as a total afterthought. I can see him abstaining from any formal statement but endorsing Perez if his back is against the wall for some reason. Told people in solid-blue counties to GTFO and get involved in other districts that are "less than an hour away" where 100 house seats are up for grabs this year. He said something like a dozen of those seats were in places under R control but voted for Hillary. DISTRICT 13 NEEDS YOUR HELP Said the next DNC leader needs to understand that policies that benefited people in well-off, solid-blue areas like NoVA didn't do enough to help people in poor, rural areas. (part of answer to my question about the advice he'd offer to the new DNC leader given the sorry state of the party at the state and local levels nation-wide) Talked about Millennials like they were like any other voting bloc; seemed to understand the bigger picture and wasn't dividing up generational issues. Accepted Very Angry Lady's invitation to the Women's march on Saturday. Not attending inauguration, citing something along the lines of Trump is a huge douche (said more diplomatically). Said people still need to fight the ACA repeal at every turn, and resigned that their primary option if the GOP succeeds is to vote out anti-health care candidates. Would not comment on the alt-right opening an office in his district, punted to ACLU who said they have just as much right to be there as you have the right to protest on the public sidewalk out front. And finally, and very importantly, he said that while he is totally fine with people calling his office and voicing your concerns, only about 1 in 10 people manage to get though to a live staffer. He said the absolutely best way to get the attention of your congressman is to look him/her straight in the eye at one of these events. In my opinion, if that congressman doesn't allow that to happen, then he/she doesn't deserve the job. I know I didn't cover everything because I have the attention span of a gnat and gazed into the abyss during a few of the questions/statements. If I didn't include something, it's because I didn't remember enough details for it to matter. And since nothing matters, Grey Fox has issued a correction as of 05:25 on Jan 17, 2017 |
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Jan 17, 2017 04:15
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Got a good group of people (about 10) knocking on doors in Virginia (District 13) yesterday for the State House Delegate race. The notary that was handling the signatures said it's the first time he's seen people beyond the candidate and the candidate's spouse being involved this early on. Hopefully the enthusiasm sticks. Age group of volunteers ranged from 16 to about 35.
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Feb 19, 2017 16:31
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