Press Coverage

Around 25 liberal figures – including officials with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn and Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO – said in their Wednesday letter that Social Security benefits could be expanded if wealthier workers pay more into the system.

“In upcoming budget negotiations, a Grand Bargain that cuts Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits must be off the table,” the liberal officials wrote.

Instead, they said that “Congress should focus on important priorities such as jobs and investment in our nation’s infrastructure.”

Frustration over the government shutdown is becoming more visible in Lexington as groups mobilize to protest the lack of progress in Washington.

Monday, Karissa Gerhke with the Progressive Change Campaign Committee led about 50 protesters who gathered in front of U.S. Representative Andy Barr’s office to demand action.

“We’ve been working with our partners to do these all across the country in Republican House districts like Andy Barr’s where they are not listening to their constituents and instead they’re just playing politics in D.C.,” Gerhke says.

A group of protesters including PCCC members huddled in the pouring rain outside U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan’s office in Springfield, Delaware County, office Friday and urged him to help end the government shutdown.

Their message to the Delaware County Republican: You’re vulnerable, and don’t forget it.

“If Rep. Meehan decides to follow party ideology instead of standing with his constituents on this critical issue, Rep. Meehan can be sure constituents like me will not forget this moment once Election Day rolls around in 2014,” Innes Forbes, 62, of Ridley Park, said to the group of about 20 people.

About 50 furloughed federal workers chanted and held signs Wednesday outside the Wanamaker Building, which houses several government offices.

Government workers and union members rallied Friday outside U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office to call for an end to the 11-day-old government shutdown that has idled hundreds of thousands of government workers across the nation.

About 50 people attended the rally that was organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has been critical of McConnell.

Karissa Gerhke, director of member engagement for the PCCC, laid the blame directly at the feet of McConnell, the minority leader in the Senate.

“We are all here today to call on Rep. Lee Terry to vote to end the government shutdown with a clean bill to fund our government,” said Jensen, vice president of the National Education Association Retired.

“Americans nationwide are feeling the effects of the shutdown and are outraged by Congress’ inability to do something that is as fundamental as continuing to fund our government.”

The rally was organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and other groups.

A protest occurred today in Louisville outside Republican Senator Mitch McConnell’s office.

Local members of the Progressive change committee, the AFL-CIO, the Kentucky Jobs with Justice and several other groups gathered to call out McConnell and send him the message to “earn his paycheck and put our people back to work.”

Protesters said they wanted him to help re-open the government and give furloughed citizens the opportunity to continue to work. Furloughed workers also spoke at the event.

Protesters were outside the Winter Garden office of local congressman Daniel Webster calling for Webster to vote for an end to the government shutdown.

A group of 30 protesters gathered representing various groups including Organize Now, Organize for America and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

At noon, about 20 people gathered on the Second Street sidewalk in front of Tulgren Square, the building in which Rep. Sean Duffy’s regional office is located. They chanted and carried signs calling on the Republican congressman to vote to end the federal government shutdown.

“We want Sean Duffy to vote to end the government shutdown, and we will not tolerate a bad deal that cuts Social Security benefits or is otherwise unfair to everyday families,” said Westlund. “If Sean Duffy decides to follow party ideology instead of standing with his constituents on this crucial issue, he can be sure constituents like me will not forget this moment when election day rolls around in 2014.”

The demonstration was organized by the liberal groups Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy For America, Center for Community Change, MoveOn.org, CREDO and Progressives United.

A progressive group is hitting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) with online ads focused on the probable government shutdown.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee ads, which will run in Kentucky, Ohio and Washington, D.C., feature the lawmakers’ faces and charge “Shutdown: McConnell Gets Paid. Military families go hungry.”

PCCC has already targeted McConnell, who is up for reelection in 2014, with Ai??television ads hitting him for his support for a proposal to reform the way social security benefits are calculated and would ultimately reduce benefit payments.

The new web ads come as the Senate voted down a House-passed government funding measure, inching the government closer to a shutdown, which will occur when the current government funding measure runs out on Monday, if the two chambers can’t agree on a fix.

Everyone is gushing over that clever campaign ad by Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino, who’s running in a crowded primary for now Senator Ed Markey’s vacant house seat.

Sciortino, who is openly gay, tells voters about coming out to his conservative tea party father…as a Massachusetts liberal.

Since the ad aired on Boston area cable, it has received national attention and over 200,000 hits on YouTube.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee quickly endorsed Sciortino, carrying with them resources in terms of ground troops and financial support up to the Massachusetts’ 5th in advance of the Oct. 15 special election.

“Democrats in general are thinking beyond Obama and are willing to stand up to him if he’s not representing the will of the people,” said Adam Green, who heads the activist group Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

Obama still enjoys strong support among Democrats. But Green said progressives will be watching closely how the president handles the budget battle in the coming weeks.

“During 2012, there was some hesitance to criticize a president up for re-election,” Green said. “But right now the general attitude is: We want to go on offense, not play defense. And if the president is willing to go there, great — we’ll do things during his presidency. But if he’s not willing to go there, we’re going to be working with people like [Massachusetts Sen.] Elizabeth Warren to lay the foundation for big progressive change in the future.”

Today, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee endorsed Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino for Congress in the race to fill Ed Markey’s former House seat in the state’s 5th Congressional district. According to a press release, “This is the PCCC’s first endorsement of the 2014 cycle. Carl has already been endorsed by leading House progressives including, Reps. Raul Grijalva, Keith Ellison, Alan Grayson, and Mark Takano. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has over 5,000 members in MA-5, more than 33,000 members in Massachusetts, and nearly 1 million members across the country.” In an e-mail message going out to supporters today, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee’s Matt Wall writes, “Carl Sciortino showed bold leadership in the PCCC’s first-ever Open Debate by supporting prosecuting Wall Street bankers, Elizabeth Warren’s Glass-Steagall bill, increasing Social Security benefits, Medicare-For-All, and reversing Citizens United. Carl was a leader on Syria by being the first to announce he opposed bombing Syria and successfully getting his opponents to follow his lead a week later.”

A national liberal group will begin fundraising for Democratic congressional candidate Carl Sciortino.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committeeon Tuesday plans to endorse Sciortino, a state representative running for the 5th District congressional seat, and send out a fundraising email to its supporters on his behalf. It will also send staff to Massachusetts and recruit volunteers from among its members to support his campaign, said PCCC spokesman Matt Wall.

“Among several good candidates, Carl proved these past two weeks that he is the type of bold leader we can count on,” the PCCC writes in a fundraising email that will be sent to the group’s national supporters. In particular, the organization points to Sciortino’s early opposition to the use of U.S. military force in Syria.

The PCCC has proven to be a powerful force in past Massachusetts elections. The group raised more than $1 million from its members for Democrat Elizabeth Warren’s successful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign. It was less involved in Democrat Edward Markey’s 2013 U.S. Senate campaign but still raised $35,000 for him. The group, which says it has 33,000 Massachusetts members, held an online debate with five of the 5th District Democratic candidates last month.

The liberal group Progressive Change Campaign Committee said Wednesday that it is endorsing Democrat Carl Sciortino in the special election primary in Massachusetts’s 5th District.

Sciortino is one of seven Democrats vying for the nomination to succeed now-Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the solidly blue district.

The organization hailed Sciortino’s opposition to military intervention in Syria as well as his positions on issues like financial reform, campaign finance and Social Security.

“Among several good candidates, Carl proved these past two weeks that he is the type of bold leader we can count on,” PCCC co-founder Stephanie Taylor said in a fundraising email that the group planned to send to its members.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee has endorsed state Rep. Carl Sciortino (D) in the special election to fill Sen. Edward Markey’s (D-Mass.) House seat.

It’s the progressive group’s first endorsement of the cycle, and comes with fundraising support and access to the PCCC’s thousands-strong member base.

Sciortino has been running as the progressive in the race against five other staunch Democrats in Massachusetts’ heavily Democratic fifth district.

Lawrence H. Summers’ decision to bow out of contention for the Federal Reserve chairmanship represented a triumph for progressive Democrats, putting on powerful display their ability to pressure the White House in a way that could spell further complications for President Obama.

“A lot of progressives are thinking beyond Obama,” said Adam Green, cofounder of Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal advocacy group active in Warren’s campaign. “If we can do it during his presidency, great. If he’s intent on just playing defense, we’ll lay the groundwork and pass big change in a couple of years.”

Rebel Democrats on Monday threw their weight behind a growing campaign for Janet Yellen to take over the US Federal Reserve, as their successful revolt against White House pick Larry Summers emboldened those calling for tougher policy toward Wall Street.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of four banking committee members who helped force Summers, a former Citigroup adviser, to withdraw from the race on Sunday, said the development should give President Barack Obama a chance to rethink his strategy, which has been criticised for being too accommodating toward banking interests.

“Larry Summers’ past decisions to deregulate Wall Street and do the bidding of corporate America have made the lives of millions of Americans more acrimonious. He would have been an awful Fed chair,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “President Obama should appoint someone to lead the Fed who has not accepted millions in payments from Wall Street, and who will prioritize an economy that works for the little guy above further enrichment for the big guy.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a left-leaning advocacy group that has been opposed to military action in Syria, responded to the address saying “public pressure worked.”

“The American people knew that diplomacy was a credible and strategic option, and this great news from President Obama will be better for America and his presidency than dropping bombs on Syria,” the group said in a statement.

A cadre of progressive organizations are urging those opposed to U.S. involvement in the Syria crisis to join their candlelight vigil Monday night just steps from the Capitol.

The demonstration, coordinated by MoveOn.org, CREDO Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Win Without War, is expected to take place beginning at 7 p.m. opposite the Cannon House Office Building.

On the eve of President Obama using a nationwide TV address Tuesday to explain why the U.S. should bomb Syria, there will be several peace vigils across the Bay Area Monday night — beginning with one in front of one of the biggest hawks on Syria, Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

Sponsored by a coalition of liberal activist groups — including MoveOn, CREDO, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and the Win Without War Coalition — the major action will start Monday at 6 p.m. in front of Pelosi’s office at the Federal Building.

There’s a candlelight vigil scheduled Monday night at The Torch of Friendship to urge South Florida Representatives to vote against bombing Syria.

The event in Miami is part of a national day of action being organized by the progressive organizations MoveOn.org Civic Action, CREDO Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC), and Win Without War.

Similar vigils are scheduled to take place in nearly one hundred cities across the country on Monday.

The Obama Administration is continuing its lobbying blitz for military intervention in Syria, garnering support from Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, alongside key Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

But fighting against those clamoring for military strikes following Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons against his own people is a loud chorus of progressives vehemently opposed to raining down U.S. missiles on Syria.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is coming out against Obama’s desire to strike. The major political action committee sent a letter to Senate and House Dems to vote against any resolution involving U.S. intervention.

“You now face a decision that involves life and death,” the memo reads. “This decision also involves billions of dollars. And it will send a signal to your constituents and the world about our nation’s morals and our ability to make strategic, goal-oriented decisions. This historic moment must transcend political party.” Included are results of a survey from 57,000 progressives, the majority saying they oppose military action in Syria.

As the struggle to secure House votes for or against authorization for military strikes in Syria accelerates, the progressive wing of the Democratic Party has started making plans to team up with isolationist conservatives to stop the resolution, TPM has learned.

While the White House makes it case, members are also receiving persistent pressure from progressive grassroots organizations to vote against a Syria resolution. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee circulated a memo Wednesday urging Congress to reject Obama’s proposal, citing a member survey.

A bloc of several dozen liberals who are among President Barack Obama’s closest allies in Congress is now becoming an obstacle to congressional approval of his plan for airstrikes in Syria.

Mr. Obama’s quest to press ahead with an attack on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has stirred strong pushback among some Republicans. But dovish Democrats appear equally uneasy, and their numbers threaten to deal Mr. Obama his most embarrassing foreign-policy setback.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal political-action committee, said Wednesday that a survey of about 55,000 of its almost one million members found 73% oppose action in Syria. It sent a memo to all Democrats in Congress under the heading “Your base opposes military action in Syria” and launched a phone campaign to pressure lawmakers to vote “no.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is coming out against military action in Syria, and it plans to pressure on-the-fence Democrats in Congress to oppose it, as well.

The PCCC, which has a membership of nearly 1 million people, is sending a memo to Democratic representatives and senators with the results of a survey that shows its members overwhelmingly oppose intervening in Syria.