New PDA Chapter in N.E. Illinois
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Background: On July 28th, 15 people from North East Illinois met in a Round Lake, IL home to establish a new PDA Chapter. The area has recently been redistricted into Illinois' 10th Congressional district. Jeanne Maria Dauray, chapter chair, explains the motivation behind the group.
"Some of us were so progressive that the term “Democrat” no longer applied. Some of us had considered ourselves Democrats all along, but realized much greater action needed to be taken as we watched in horror
horror what was happening to our neighbors just over the border in Wisconsin. And others of us had considered ourselves independent voters, but realized we were merely feeding the political beast."
"So, when I saw PDA come up in a Facebook newsfeed, I quickly joined the effort, realizing it was going to take a special kind of Democrat to make this country move forward again.
" A few weeks later, I received an email from PDA asking if someone would like to host a coffee for a progressive Democrat, Ilya Sheyman, running for US Congress in my district. I immediately answered the call, and realized this would be a great opportunity to find other progressive Democrats in my community. It was then that I began emailing, calling, and messaging everyone I knew that might be interested, while PDA also put out the call. Within a few short weeks we had a gathering of well over 20 people at my home meeting Ilya and talking about taking real action.
Now, a month later, we have created a local chapter and attended Town Hall meetings where we confront our current Congressman, Joe Walsh. Other members have helped out at the Democrats’ booth at the Lake County Fair, many helped organized a protest that made its way onto the Chicago nightly news, and we continue to attract members both in elected office and who are running for office.
We have planned actions to help with canvassing and phone banks in Wisconsin this August, as well as to do canvassing locally for Ilya Sheyman. We’re off to an exciting start, and it really was as easy as calling up all the people we knew and getting them excited about making a difference.
States - Illinois
Illinois Articles
Cheering Record Coal Exports, Illinois Gov. Quinn Joins Climate Deniers and Big Coal Mayhe…
Within hours of renowned climate scientists announcing a staggering milestone in carbon dioxide emissions, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn rolled out the booster wagons for Big Coal and celebrated his state's five-fold increase in record coal exports. Gov. Quinn, once hailed by the Sierra Club as "the clear choice for Illinois voters who want to move to a clean energy economy and protect our drinking water and wild places," despite the fact that he had received huge contributions from the coal industry, declared: "Illinois coal is in high demand overseas and we...
Jeff Biggers | Huffington Post 02 May 2013 Hits:174 Illinois
Read moreIllinois Ranks As Worst Rogue Coal State: Strip Mine Permit To Serial Violator Stuns Resid…
Whether she runs for governor or not, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan would need nine lives to bring the state's notoriously broken regulatory system into compliance with the nation's most reckless coal industry. With state coal production soaring against national trends, Illinois cemented its reputation as the worst rogue state for coal operations last Friday, when the rubber-stamping operations of the state's EPA issued a pollutant discharge permit to a company already cited by the state for over 600 toxic discharge violations at its central Illinois non-union strip mine. Translation: Imagine the...
Jeff Biggers | AlterNet 02 May 2013 Hits:255 Illinois
Read moreHundreds of Chicago Students Walk Out of Standardized Test
"We are over-tested, under-resourced and fed up!" Hundreds of Chicago students are taking up the mantle in the fight against the role of standardized tests in public school closures as they walked out of a state exam Wednesday. Their message: "We are over-tested, under-resourced and fed up!" Over 300 students from over 25 different Chicago public schools boycotted the second day of a state-wide standardized test. Ahead of a school board meeting, at which the demonstrators were banned from speaking, the students rallied outside the district headquarters carrying placards and forming a human...
Lauren McCauley | Common Dreams 27 Apr 2013 Hits:445 Illinois
Read moreUrgent Call To Action: Illinois To Vote On Equal Rights Amendment
“Every Constitution written since the end of World War II includes a provision that men and women are citizens of equal stature. Ours does not.“ Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg The Equal Rights Amendment is up for a vote in Illinois on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. What’s fantastic is that there are now ten Democratic members and only six Republicans on the Judiciary Committee that will be voting on the issue. I am listing their contact information below. Your help is needed TODAY. It is important, even if you don’t live in...
Kimberley A. Johnson | Liberals Unite 14 Apr 2013 Hits:480 Illinois
Read moreRobin Kelly wins Illinois special election
Former state representative Robin Kelly (D) easily won a special election in Illinois’ 2nd congressional district Tuesday, capturing the seat once held by embattled Democrat Jesse Jackson Jr. With 20 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press called the race for Kelly, who led Republican nominee Paul McKinley 89 percent to 7 percent. Kelly’s fate was essentially sealed when she won the February 26 Democratic primary. With a boost from gun control advocates, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), Kelly cruised to victory in a crowded Democratic race, all but ensuring a trip to Congress. The overwhelmingly Democratic district includes Chicago’s...
Sean Sullivan | The Washington Post 11 Apr 2013 Hits:206 Illinois
Read moreArrests at Chicago Schools Protest
More than 100 people arrested while taking part in mass civil disobedience against Rahm Emmanuel's cuts and closures More than 100 demonstrators taking part in mass civil disobedience were arrested in Chicago on Wednesday as several thousand people marched against the largest proposed round of school closings in recent memory. Many carried placards proclaiming "Strong Schools, Strong Neighbourhoods" and "Protect Our Children" while chanting "Whose Schools, Our Schools" and calling for mayor Rahm Emmanuel's resignation. "We're signalling that there is going to be a large and determined movement that will use the tactics of civil disobedience...
Gary Younge | The Guardian UK 28 Mar 2013 Hits:197 Illinois
Read moreStudent Guestworkers Demand Dignity for all Workers at McDonald’s CEO’s Front Door
March 26 - At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 26, J-1 student guestworkers who exposed severe exploitation and retaliation at McDonald’s restaurants will march on the home of CEO Don Thompson to personally deliver more than 100,000 petition signatures and demand an end to labor abuse. The students delivered the petitions and demanded a high-level meeting at McDonald's corporate headquarters yesterday, but Don Thompson refused to appear. At 5:30 p.m. they'll bring their demands and petitions right to CEO Don Thompson's home. Along with the petitions students will bring food from each...
26 Mar 2013 Hits:226 Illinois
Read moreUNO charter schools to allow teachers to join a union
One of the largest charter school operators in Chicago, the politically influential United Neighborhood Organization, has agreed to allow teachers at its schools to join a union, labor leaders said Friday morning. The move represents a sharp change in stance for UNO CEO Juan Rangel, a co-chairman of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2011 campaign who strongly criticized the Chicago Teachers Union for going on strike last year. Rangel’s newly forged deal with the Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, known as ACTS Chicago, comes barely a month after the Chicago Sun-Times revealed how...
DAN MIHAPOULOS | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 10 Mar 2013 Hits:389 Illinois
Read moreWhy Isn't Closing 129 Chicago Public Schools National News?
It's an obvious question, with an easy answer. Our nation's bipartisan political elite have decided to privatize public education. They know the only way they can execute this deeply unpopular policy is to do it on the down-low, with a minimum of coverage, and no mention of the p-word, especially of growing civic resistance to it. If you don't live in Chicago you might not know that the CEO and the dozens of other six figure a year mayoral cronies who run the Chicago Public...
Bruce Dixon | Black Agenda Report 28 Feb 2013 Hits:674 Illinois
Read moreGet Corporations Out of Education: An Open Letter to Arne Duncan
(Note from the Answer Sheet's Valerie Strauss: A coalition of teachers from public and private schools — including the school that Education Secretary Arne Duncan attended as a child and where President Obama’s daughters were enrolled before they moved to Washington — are releasing an open letter to Duncan expressing concerns about department policies that they say promote the overuse of standardized tests. Among the signees are teachers from the Ariel Community Academy, a public school that was founded by a team of people that included Duncan.) Dear Mr. Duncan, As primary,...
Chicago Teachers | Common Dreams 16 Feb 2013 Hits:513 Illinois
Read moreProgressive Central Report
Bill Bianchi, co-coordinator, PDA-IL reports: PDA's third Progressive Central, co-sponsored by the Nation on Saturday January 19th, brought together the heart of America's progressive leadership. The Progressive Central idea is simple. While the national political parties and elected leaders are holding their conventions and inaugural, PDA piggy-backs on their events to gain a national spotlight for our progressive agenda and strategy and to give our progressive champions a chance to shine. Guerrilla publicity. I'll be the first to admit that the progressive community in this country remains weak and for the most...
PDA Illinois Leadership 30 Jan 2013 Hits:333 Illinois
Read moreNew PDA Chapter Formed in Illinois' Red 16th Congressional District
Tuesday, 12/4. Wanda Rohl’s surprisingly strong showing in the recent congressional race for Illinois’ 16th district spurred progressives from the DeKalb-Rockford area to form a new PDA chapter. Eight PDA supporters in Illinois’ 16th congressional district set chapter goals to: expand the progressive base, advance PDA’s progressive agenda and recruit and elect progressive candidates in a district that is designed to be Republican. In 2010, the Illinois Democratic Party redistricted the state’s legislative districts, leaving the 16th a solid Republican strip running from the Wisconsin border 150 miles down the center of...
Illinoisnoki1 | PDA IL 10 Dec 2012 Hits:543 Illinois
Read moreMore mob ties to contractor in O’Hare cleaning deal
A high-ranking employee of the contractor who recently won a $99.4 million janitorial contract with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration once served a prison sentence after he was charged in the same corruption case as late Chicago mob boss Anthony “Big Tuna” Accardo. Paul A. Fosco was convicted on racketeering charges in 1987, sentenced to a 10-year prison term and left federal prison in 1993, public records show. He now is an executive vice president of United Service Companies, according to his profile posted...
Dan Mihalopoulos | The Sun Times 09 Dec 2012 Hits:486 Illinois
Read moreSpecial election set for Jesse Jackson Jr.'s seat in U.S. House
CHICAGO — Gov. Pat Quinn tentatively set the special election to replace U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. for March 19, saying he would seek approval to move it to coincide with municipal elections on April 9. Jackson resigned from Congress last week, citing his health and acknowledging that he's under federal investigation, reportedly for misuse of campaign funds. The move creates an unusual opening in the Chicago area territory that Jackson has held since 1995, and several candidates have already come forward. The law gives the...
Sophia Tareen | Associated Press 27 Nov 2012 Hits:556 Illinois
Read moreIllinois Workers Fight Back Against Bain Capital Outsourcing Their Jobs to China
BuzzFlash at Truthout talked today to Tom Gaulrapp who is losing his job after 33 years because Mitt Romney's Bain Capital is sending the Sensata plant where he works to China. Not only will Gaulrapp and about 170 US workers lose their jobs to low paid workers overseas, many of them – such as Gaulrapp – will have lost considerable severance payments due to Bain's acquisition of the plant from Honeywell in late 2010. Bain Capital owns the majority shares in Sensata since 2006. According to Gaulrapp, when Sensata...
Mark Karlin, Editor of BuzzFlash 26 Sep 2012 Hits:1055 Illinois
Read moreLabor Fight Poses Ri…
Democrats left their convention in Charlotte, N.C., with an unusual amount of unity and enthusiasm, but the three-day-old strike by 26,000 teachers in Chicago has quickly deflated some…
Push to Add Charter …
Of the issues that remain to be settled in the contract dispute here between the teachers’ union and the city, expanding charter schools is not officially on the table. But the…
Chicago Teachers Tak…
For the first time in a quarter century, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU)—which represents educators, school clinicians, and support staff in the nation's third-largest school district—is on strike…
School Year Just Beg…
With the possibility looming for a strike beginning on Monday across Chicago’s public schools, contract talks for city teachers were expected to stretch into the weekend, as hundreds…
Illinois Gov. Propos…
Pat Quinn: "We should show the nation that when something really bad happens ... that we don't stand idly by, we take action." In the wake of the mass shooting in…
PDA plays well in Pe…
On a warm summer afternoon, outside of Peoria, over 60 people including union members, Peoria County Democrats and PDA supporters enjoyed an old fashioned candidate picnic outside Peoria, Illinois, July…
Dangerous Radicals T…
Barrington, Illinois July 28, 2012. Today in Barrington a rag-tag crew of progressives from as far away as Round Lake to the north, Chicago to the east, and…
Workers vs. Investor…
A workers' cooperative in the Goose Island area of Chicago is desperately trying to stop the liquidation of a windows and doors factory the sale of which will…
Freeport IL, Jobs To…
Send to friend By Ashlee Rezin Friday June 29th, 2012, Progress Illinois Romney's Bain Capital to move 170 Jobs to China In response to more than 170 impending layoffs at…
Direct from PDA Illinois
Toni Preckwinkle rips Emanuel, says CPS closure plan ‘weakens our public schools’
BY DAN MIHALOPOULOS Staff Reporter dmihalopoulos@suntimes.com May 16, 2013 9:51PMBookmark/Search this post with:
Chained CPI? "No Thanks", A Retiree Sounds Off
By Guy Miller"We've had this date from the beginning," Stanley tells Blanche before he brutally rapes her in scene ten of Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire. On April 10, when President Barack Obama released his 2014 budget proposal...
Parents and Community Members Protest the Illinois State Charter School Commission
Protest New Illinois Governmental Body that Can Force Charters on Your CommunityBy Northern Illinois Jobs for JusticeLink to meeting schedule at Charter Commission Offices, 160 N. LaSalle http://www.isbe.state.il.us/SCSC/meetings/meetings.htmMembers...
Obama, defying political base, declares National Charter Schools Week
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 7, 2013 President Obama has proclaimed this as “National Charter Schools Week” in the United States, warmly embracing a cause that is anathema to teachers unions as it is in much of the president’s liberal...
P-DOGS the newest PDA-Illinois chapter sets up in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD--Saturday, April 27: A dozen Springfield area activists gathered at the Lincoln Library Public Library, 326 S. 7th St., to form Progressive Democrats of Greater Springfield, here after known as the P-DOGS.Bookmark/Search this post...
Study: School reform in 3 major cities brings few benefits, some harm
The Washington Post, Posted by Valerie Strauss on April 13, 2013Bookmark/Search this post with:
PDA In Your State
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Illinois Leadership
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Want to bring progressive change to Illinois? Start a PDA chapter; send us an email and we'll get you started.
Take Action
Issue Team Calls
| Tue May 21, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Healthcare for All Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 733525# |
| Wed May 22, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM End Corporate Rule IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 754227# |
| Mon May 27, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM PDA ERA 3 State Strategy Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 787085# |
| Tue May 28, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 314363# |
| Wed Jun 05, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Economic and Social Justice Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 781761# |
| Mon Jun 10, 2013 @ 8:30PM - 09:30PM End Mass Criminalizations IOT Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 331473# |
| Tue Jun 11, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM End Wars and Occupations Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 952870# |
| Tue Jun 18, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Healthcare for All Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 733525# |
| Wed Jun 19, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM Stop Global Warming Issue Team Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 661274# |
| Mon Jun 24, 2013 @ 9:00PM - 10:00PM PDA ERA 3 State Strategy Call (559) 726-1300; Access Code: 787085# |
PDA Issues
PDA is organized around several core issues. These issues include:
- End Corporate Rule
- Healthcare for All/Single Payer
- ERA 3 State Strategy
- Economic and Social Justice
- End Wars and Occupations
- Stop Global Warming
- End Mass Criminalization
- Clean, Fair, Transparent Elections
- Stop Voter Suppression
Each team hosts a monthly conference call. Calls feature legislators, staffers and other policy experts. On these calls we determine PDA legislation to support as well as actions and future events.
Illinois Events
| No events |
IL Legislators with ALEC Ties
House of Representatives
- Rep. Patricia Bellock (R-47), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Rep. Franco Coladipetrio (R-45), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
- Rep. Sandy Cole (R-62), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
- Rep. Tom Cross (R-84), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
- Rep. Roger L. Eddy (R-109), ALEC Education Task Force Member
- Rep. Mary Flowers (D-31), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member - Rep. Flowers' staffer reported in May 2012 that Flowers is no longer a member of ALEC.[65] See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
- Rep. Mike Fortner (R-95), ALEC Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
- Rep. Renee Kosel (R-81), ALEC State Chairman[23] and International Relations Task Force Member
- Rep. Jerry Lee Mitchell (R-90), ALEC Education Task Force Member
- Rep. JoAnn Osmond (R-61), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-118), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member - Rep. Phelps announced in May 2012 that he is no longer a member of ALEC.[66] See Legislators Who Have Cut Ties to ALEC for more.
- Rep. Sandra M. Pihos (R-42), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
- Rep. Dennis M. Reboletti (R-46), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
- Rep. David B. Reis (R-108), ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force Member
- Rep. Chapin Rose (R-110), ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Member
- Rep. Darlene J. Senger (R-96), ALEC International Relations Task Force Member
- Rep. Jil W. Tracy (R-93), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Alternate
- Rep. David Forrest Winters (R-68), ALEC Energy, Environment and Agriculture Task Force Member and Telecommunications and Information Technology Task Force Member
Senate
- Sen. Pamela J. Althoff (R-32), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
- Sen. William E. Brady, Jr. (R-44), ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Alternate
- Sen. Kirk W. Dillard (R-24), ALEC State Chairman[23] and Civil Justice Task Force Member
- Sen. Thomas L. Johnson (R-48) [21]
- Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-25), ALEC Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force Member
- Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-58), ALEC Education Task Force Member
- Sen. Matt Murphy (R-27), ALEC International Relations Task Force Member
- Sen. Christine Radogno (R-41), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Sen. David Syverson (R-34), ALEC Health and Human Services Task Force Member
- Former Sen. Arthur J. Wilhelmi (D-43, resigned February 2012[67]), former ALEC Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force Member
- Sen. Dale Risinger (R-37)[20]
- Sen. Kathleen Wojcik (R-28) [21]
Former Legislators
- Rep. James H Meyer [21]
- Rep. Ed Petka [21]
- Sen. Dave Barkhausen [21]
- Sen. Karen Hasara [21]
- Rep. Steven J. Rauschenberger [21]
Legislators Who Have Cut Ties To ALEC
- Rep. Mary E. Flowers (D-31) - Flowers' staffer reported in May 2012 that Flowers is no longer a member of ALEC.[2]
- Rep. Brandon Phelps (D-118) - Phelps announced in May 2012 that he is no longer a member of ALEC.[3]
Information from Sourcewatch: