With the budget news and the San Francisco redistricting hearing, I never got to the retirement of a progressive champion in Congress:

Rep. Lynn Woolsey confirmed Monday what many had suspected for some time — that she will retire from Congress when her 10th term ends in 2012.

In a press conference in the backyard of her Petaluma home amid a crowd that included family members, local officials, news reporters and political supporters, Woolsey said, “I will turn 75 years old just before the next election and after two decades of service to this wonderful district it will be time for me to move on.

“So with enormous gratitude and not one ounce of regret,” Woolsey said, ”I am announcing that I will not run for re-election in 2012. I will retire at the end of this current term.” (BayArea News Group)

If there’s one thing that you can say about Rep. Woolsey, it is that she never failed to follow her conscience.  She has pursued social justice throughout her tenure in the house, and her voice will be sorely missed.

One can only hope to find another strong progressive to fill that seat, whereever its boundaries may be.  Dick Spotswood had a good overview of the potential competitors last week.  Depending on turnout, we may just see a Dem-on-Dem general election in November.

Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey has long been rumored to be a possible retirement.  No matter how the lines are drawn, the Marin-Sonoma centered seat will be a safe Democratic seat.  She criticized the draft maps for removing Santa Rosa from the Marin-Sonoma based district that she represents.  In fact, she was really the most outspoken elected official on the maps.  The criticism rose a few eyebrows.

So, with that speculation running high, I got a little message in my inbox today:

WOOLSEY ANNOUNCEMENT

Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), joined by Rep. Barbara Lee and friends and

family, will make an announcement at her home next Monday.

TIME: Monday, June 27, 2011 3:00pm

We’ll keep you updated with more details next week.  Rep. Woolsey has always been an outstanding champion of progressive goals. If she does choose to retire, we must hope for a leader with dedication as strong as hers.

Rep. Barbara Lee [D-CA9], proved she has a backbone when in 2001 she stood up against war and became the only member of congress to vote “No” on the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF), and she was oh so right.

Now, Barbara has again taken the lead in trying to stop the insane decision to expand and escalate the war in Afghanistan. Her bill, H.R. 3699 “To prohibit any increase in the number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan,” has been referred to the House Armed Services Committee. Link: http://www.govtrack.us/congres…  

Cosponsors:

Yvette Clarke [D-NY11]  Emanuel Cleaver [D-MO5]   Steve Cohen [D-TN9]

John Conyers [D-MI14]   Donna Edwards [D-MD4]     Keith Ellison [D-MN5]

Bob Filner [D-CA51]  Alan Grayson [D-FL8]  Raul Grijalva [D-AZ7]

Maurice Hinchey [D-NY22]  Michael Honda [D-CA15]  Sheila Jackson-Lee [D-TX18] Dennis Kucinich [D-OH10]  John Lewis [D-GA5]      James McDermott [D-WA7]

James McGovern [D-MA3]    Jerrold Nadler [D-NY8]  Fortney Stark [D-CA13] Edolphus Towns [D-NY10]  Nydia Velázquez [D-NY12]Maxine Waters [D-CA35]

Diane Watson [D-CA33]    Lynn Woolsey [D-CA6]

As you can see, MOST of our 53 California representatives have NOT signed onto the bill. No Waxman. No Berman. No Sherman. No Schiff. Just those heroes in bold above are on this short list. CONTACT your representative to ask that they co-sponsor and support this important legislation to take back the war powers as in our constitution. And thank those who have signed on.

Here’s the link to the committee: http://www.govtrack.us/congres…  The Democratic Chair is Rep. Ike Skelton [D-MO4] with the ranking Republican member Rep. Howard McKeon [R-CA25] (Santa Clarita and east), Rep. Duncan Hunter [R-CA52], and the TWO DEMOCRATS from CA:

Rep. Susan Davis [D-CA53] (San Diego) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez [D-CA47] (Garden Grove-Santa Ana).

Please CONTACT these people on the committee right away and ask that this bill be brought to a vote immediately. With the impending announcement coming from Obama, there is no time to lose.////

A new initiative organized by Howie Klein, Jane Hamsher, fellow Calitician Dante Atkins and myself to verbally and financially reward Congressmembers who pledge to vote down any healthcare bill that does not include the public option is catching fire today.  The objective is to use carrots as well as sticks to achieve progressive goals.  As I said in the diary kicking off this intiative at DailyKos:

Human beings are psychologically predictable creatures, much like Pavlov’s famous canine.  We do respond well to punishment, but we respond just as well if not better to positive reinforcement.  Do nothing but beat a dog with a stick, and the dog is likelier to be aggressive than lovingly loyal.  Do nothing but scream at a child, and the child will eventually fail to respond to her abusive parent.  Senators and Representatives, no matter how elevated, are still just people: the rules of psychological conditioning still apply.  If all we can do is scream at people who don’t do what we want, eventually no one will listen to us at all.

Utilizing Jane Hamsher’s signatory list, Howie Klein set up an ActBlue page called They Took the Pledge.  Spurred on by Jane Hamsher’s post, my dkos diary, Dante’s dkos diary, and Howie Klein’s efforts at Blue America PAC, the online effort has raised over $60,000 since this morning, becoming ActBlue’s top fundraising page.  And the media has begun to take note, with stories on CBS Online, Politico, and The Plum Line.

On the list are 13 deserving CA Legislators who could use your dollars and/or words of encouragement:

Judy Chu (CA-32)

Sam Farr (CA-17)

Bob Filner (CA-51)

Mike Honda (CA-15)

Barbara Lee (CA-09)

Grace Napolitano (CA-38)

Laura Richardson (CA-37)

Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)

Linda Sanchez (CA-39)

Jackie Speier (CA-12)

Maxine Waters (CA-35)

Diane Watson (CA-33)

Lynn Woolsey (CA-06)

If you have the resources, please consider donations to our excellent California legislators.  For those who can’t chip in, DFA has a thank you action item to thank our healthcare heroes.

With an approach that uses more carrots and less sticks, hopefully we can encourage others in California and across the country to join these brave progressive leaders.

The Chronicle has a nice rundown of where Northern California House Democrats stand on today’s war funding vote.  The lines of fissure have pitted Nancy Pelosi against Lynn Woolsey, which, if it’s safe to assume that San Francisco is every bit as progressive on Iraq and Afghanistan as Marin and Sonoma Counties are, you could fairly depict as a struggle between the priorities of the majority leadership and the preferences of constituents back home in the Bay Area.  Lynn Woolsey comes out here fighting like a champ for her district, while the Speaker is representing, in effect, the Obama administration.  Which I suppose we should just start getting used to (it’s her job, after all).

One surprise here is that Sam Farr (CA-17) is now “on the fence.”  Farr used to be a ‘no’ vote.  He signed a letter in 2007 committing not to vote for funding without timelines, as well as another letter objecting to the bill in its current form with the IMF provisions included.  His even straddling the fence now is a pretty major reversal, and demonstrates how hard these members are being pushed to break with principle on this decision.

If you live in Farr’s district and believe that a war funding bill without an exit plan and with an IMF bailout is a dumb idea, his office could use a gentle push: 202-225-2861.  One question you could ask is the question Jane Hamsher put to Zoe Lofgren: How exactly does the Congressman justify supporting a bailout of European banks after his own state has been refused assistance when on the brink of bankruptcy?

The vote is today and the final outcome is being shaped this very moment, so your call would need to be placed right now.

As per The Chronicle, here’s where other Northern California Democrats come out:

Where Northern California Democrats stand

How House members polled Monday broke down on the $106 billion bill:

On the fence: Sam Farr, Monterey; Mike Thompson, Napa; Mike Honda, San Jose; Jerry McNerney, Pleasanton; Doris Matsui, Sacramento

Likely/definite yes: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco; George Miller, Martinez

Likely/definite no: Lynn Woolsey, Petaluma; Barbara Lee, Oakland; Pete Stark, Fremont; Jackie Speier, San Mateo

Not returning calls: Anna Eshoo, Palo Alto; Zoe Lofgren, San Jose

California needs more progressives in DC – contribute to the Calitics Match to make it happen!

While the traditional media is focusing on the spat between the House Republicans and Nancy Pelosi, credit also goes to progressive Democrats who refused to go along with a huge giveaway to Wall Street that lacked accountability and repayment guarantees. Some of them have given statements explaining their votes.

Hilda Solis:

Today, I voted against H.R. 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA), compromise legislation to bailout financial institutions saddled with large debts. I am very concerned about the credit crisis created by the housing market meltdown and while I appreciate efforts of the Democratic leadership to work in a bipartisan fashion to improve the Bush Administration’s proposal, this legislation lacks needed taxpayer protections and assistance for Main Street families like those in the Congressional District I represent.

“I cannot in good conscience, vote for legislation that gives $700 billion to the same firms that helped cause the current financial crisis through irresponsible lending without providing meaningful help for homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure. In the 32nd Congressional District, housing foreclosures have nearly tripled in the past few months, with over 2,300 homeowners currently going through the foreclosure process. The impact of such widespread foreclosures on our local economy and community is devastating.

“Unfortunately, this legislation will not help the families who are stretching paychecks and trying to hold onto jobs without additional steps to stabilize our housing market. It lacks needed reform of bankruptcy laws to allow consumers to renegotiate the terms of their mortgage in bankruptcy courts to help keep their homes. Homeowners on Main Streets should have the same rights to renegotiate their loans, especially those for their primary residence, as Wall Street.

Pete Stark:

President Bush tells us that we face unparalleled financial doom if this $700 billion bailout is not approved today.  He and his Treasury Secretary – a former Wall Street fat cat – tell us that we have reached the point of “crisis.” That is a familiar line from this President.  It sounds like the disastrous rush to war in Iraq and the subsequent stampede to enact the Patriot Act.   As I opposed the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, I stand in opposition to his latest rush to judgment.

“We are not in a sudden crisis.  It has been building over the past 8 years of the Bush Administration. Lax oversight of the financial industry ballooned into a house of cards….

“The bill before us today is basically the same three-page Wall Street give away first put forth by President Bush.  The fig leaf adjustments are not enough to outweigh the fact that no one knows if this bill is what’s needed.  I’m not willing to make a $700 billion gamble that President Bush is right after 8 years of seeing all that he’s done wrong.

Matt Stoller has the progressive bailout plan authored by Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey, which I blogged about a few days ago. The key points of their plan:

• A 0.25% tax on all stock trades and “exotic transactions” such as derivatives trading as a kind of “progressive PAYGO” to ensure that the taxpayers won’t be paying the costs of the bailout.
• Equity shares in any companies that benefit from the bailout
• “Major bankruptcy reform” including homeowner renegotiation of mortgages. Obama undercut progressives on this when he said bankruptcy reform didn’t need to be part of the package, perhaps a telltale sign of how unprogressive an Obama administration might be. But it’s still a necessary part of any financial solution.
• A detailed list of new regulations to protect consumers and provide more stable, responsible regulation of the financial industry to prevent a recurrence of this crisis.

If we want to ensure that we have more and better Democrats to push progressive economic policy in the Congress next year, we need to help them win this November. Join our Calitics Match and help send Charlie Brown and Debbie Cook to Congress, and Hannah Beth Jackson, Manuel Perez and Alyson Huber to Sacramento.

UPDATE by Dave: On the flip, a list of the ayes and nays among out Congressional delegation.

Democrats:

Aye

Berman, Capps, Cardoza, Costa, Davis, Eshoo, Farr, Harman, Honda, Lofgren, Matsui, McNerney, George Miller, Pelosi, Richardson, Speier, Tauscher, Waters, Waxman

No

Baca, Becerra, Filner, Lee, Napolitano, Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, Schiff, Sherman, Solis, Stark, Thompson, Watson, Woolsey

There’s almost no rhyme or reason to this.  The CW is that No was an easier vote in close races, but the only close race on the Dem side in California, Jerry McNerney, resulted in a yes vote.  You have progressives on both sides of this.  You have Bush Dogs on both sides (Costa and Baca, for example).

Republicans

Aye

Bono Mack, Calvert, Campbell, Dreier, Herger, Lewis, Lungren, McKeon, Gary Miller, Radanovich

No

Bilbray, Doolittle, Gallegly, Hunter, Issa, McCarthy, Nunes, Rohrabacher, Royce

Paging Russ Warner… this is a gift for you.  Dan Lungren and Mary Bono Mack might have some trouble, too.  At the same time, depending on the short-term economic circumstances, this could rebound back on those intransigent Republicans.  So the political fallout is completely unclear to me.

There he goes again, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, reading into the Congressional record just 35 of the reasons why this Congress should be impeaching this sitting president and his VP. With diminutive stature but steely resolve, Kucinich forcefully takes his place alongside the earlier patriots who stood up to executive abuse, the “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and spoke out for accountability.

And who was listening? Certainly not the US media, and by extension, no one else. The C-Span viewer was one of the few in the country who could witness this historic event. Or, check youtube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JLf… Gore Vidal  rightfully points out that anyone truly interested in knowing what’s going on in our country must be reading foreign coverage–all still available online–since other countries ARE interested in what happens in the U.S. http://www.truthdig.com/report…

The impeachment resolution, HR 1258, was introduced June 9th as a “privileged motion” to get around Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who personally opposes impeachment and has reportedly said she “likes” President Bush.  

Two days later, the House voted that this motion be referred to John Conyers’ Judiciary Committee. Kucinich, as well as co-sponsors, Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), voted FOR this referral. For rollcall see: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/200…  Most pundits are saying that the motion will die in Judiciary. If so, then why would these three have voted for it to go there? Is there hope that Conyers will actually step forward and support impeachment hearings as he did BEFORE he took over as chair after the 2006 election?

Yes, let’s roll back to that time when those who vote came out and said ENOUGH!!! Give control back to the Democrats so that they will stop this war and put brakes on this renegade band in the White House! Yet, immediately after this 2006 election when DEMOCRATS were handed the majority in both houses (well, sort of, if anyone really still considers Lieberman one), Nancy Pelosi, as the new Speaker, took it upon herself to dismiss the constitutional requirements to hold the executive branch in check through the mandated procedures of impeachment.

“Impeachment is off the table,” said she. And one by one, the little sheep in the Democratic flock, have gone along with her pronouncement. They seem to think that they will somehow be rewarded and handed the presidency in ’08 as a result of their cowardice. It may not be convenient that we are in a presidential election year, but should this be used as a reason to NOT INVESTIGATE these serious charges? I think not. A far greater threat is to allow them to pass onto the dung heap of dead motions and, thus, take a stand that ALLOWS the destruction of our constitution. Is that really what Democrats stand for in this presidential election year?

My own Congressman, Henry Waxman, went to great pains to explain to a group of activists from his district last year that there “wasn’t enough time.” He was not ready to support impeachment regardless of those within his district who wanted his many hearings into the corruption of the Bush administration to END with a SERIOUS RESULT — IMPEACHMENT. West Hollywood, a city within his CD, had voted to support impeachment. The Pacific Palisades Democratic Club, one of the oldest and largest in his CD, declined to endorse this incumbent’s candidacy (in spite of no one running against him). David Swanson just posted his take on Waxman’s inaction: http://afterdowningstreet.org/…  (what his constituents have said for a long while).

Are our incumbent Democrats so entrenched and bought out by corporate lobbyists that they will not respond to their electorate? And the dwindling electorate increasingly opts out and won’t vote because “it makes no difference.” And fewer and fewer people make it to the polls, especially for those so-called “little elections” where state officials are selected and gain entree onto the political runway. And incumbents with no opposition funnel their lobbyist funds to their anointed choices who win elections with a tiny fraction of those eligible to vote. And the cycle perpetuates itself.

And the democracy that we’ve been taught we had, is no more, taken over by the corporate and religious interests who dictate both domestic and foreign policy and continue to loot the treasury and spin this nation into the unending pit of trillions of dollars of debt…and the country’s mainstream media fiddles on, themselves complicit.

So, WHY ARE the members of Congress so afraid of this president and his henchmen? Have there been blackmail threats? Are there internal dossiers of their own many transgressions? Do they have sexual proclivities that will be revealed if they dare show any backbone? Have their families been threatened? And, what about Blackwater? Is it being used for private enforcement and surveillance?

I recall the days when Senator Wayne Morse stood up to oppose another war and another administration. He was a true patriot.  And earlier in this current war, when our most elder statesman, Senator Robert Byrd, stood up and tried to stop his colleagues’ “rush to war.” Thank you Dennis Kucinich, for standing up once again in the midst of your fellows who are busy doctoring and reframing the meaning of patriotism.

Democratic leadership may think this is an inconvenient time to remind them of their constitutional responsibilities. If you disagree, start calling your electeds and jam the lines. 202-224-3121 is the main number for the House. Or, better yet, go to www.house.gov, tap in your zip code, and get the direct line to your congressional representative. And, call often. Even daily. Remember, there’s a local AND a Washington DC number. Call both.

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Proud to do some work for Leno.

Big election eve for Mark Leno. Jim Dean of Democracy for America flew into town to help get out the vote (he’s phone banking right now). Also, here is video of Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and Assemblyman Jared Huffman from earlier today. All three candidates were also on Forum with Michael Krasney (mp3).

Woolsey video and pictures from both events over the flip.

Jim Dean flew across the country to volunteer and get out the vote. Leno was endorsed by Democracy for America and all three DFA chapters in the district.

Mark Leno interviewed by NBC while phone bank volunteers dial faster.