Misplaced Pages

#990009

46-495: On February 4, 2011 Bowers announced that Open Left would cease publishing new content, although previously published content would remain available. He explained, "As the people who founded the site, myself included, moved on to other projects, we have gradually run out of money to maintain operations." Stoller endorsed and helped create the document A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq ,

92-467: A "virtual town hall" meeting to discuss the situation in Iraq. The town hall meeting was streamed live online and included testimonials from Ambassador Joe Wilson and retired Major General Paul Eaton , former Security Transition Commanding General in Iraq, and the participation of Jon Soltz , chairman of VoteVets.org , and retired Navy Captain Larry Seaquist , among others. In a statement following

138-527: A permanent nation-building capability in the Department of State , a large infusion of foreign aid into Iraq, a transfer of responsibility to the international community through dialogue, addressing refugee issues, creation of an independent war crimes commission, and funding of education to improve the status of women. With respect to American domestic politics, the proposals were to ban Presidential signing statements , require treatment in accordance with

184-510: A policy plan designed for progressive/liberal Democratic congressional challengers (or incumbents) to endorse and point to as their "plan" for the Iraq War . The plan had several high-profile military endorsers, including retired General Paul Eaton . In July 2007, Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) visited OpenLeft to seek input into drafting broadband legislation in the Senate. The effort garnered notice for

230-439: A series of posts demonstrating that reconciliation was a viable means by which to pass a public option. Upon proving 51 Senators existed for such a goal, OpenLeft, in partnership with CREDO Action , bought ad space in traditional media sources such as The Washington Post, Slate, Roll Call and The Hill, funded by its readers. The ads were aimed at Majority Leader Reid and President Obama with the message of “no excuses”, pointing to

276-621: A series of posts from the road on what the mood is out in the states among progressive activists. OpenLeft.com was known for being one of the few blogs on the internet to have built its own infrastructure, including its own email list, fundraising apparatus, and legislative contact tools for e-action. It is part of a left-leaning coalition of websites that pool their web space together to sell to advertisers. OpenLeft has used these resources to create several partnerships to interest progressive media and build broad action campaigns. Such partnerships include working with CREDO to create action campaigns on

322-590: A wide range of issues – from favoring marriage equality, women's rights, food safety and increased prosecution of fraud and crimes on Wall Street, to opposing corporate money in politics, especially in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court 's decision in Citizens United v. FEC . In 2012, the company launched the "CREDO SuperPAC ", not to support candidates but to oppose them. Becky Bond, CREDO Mobile's Vice President and Political Director, served as President of

368-525: Is still called the Working Assets Credit Card. In keeping with its commitment to protect the environment, the company offers free phone recycling, prints its bills on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and offsets its electricity and shipping costs through Carbonfund.org 's "carbon-free" program. CREDO plants 100 trees for every ton of paper it uses (enough to generate another ton) and it has donated more than $ 15 million to environmental groups in

414-576: The Afghanistan War of 2001 and the Iraq War that began in 2003 , and it mobilized against the invasions and later to push for withdrawal of US troops from both countries. This partly led in 2009 to Fast Company magazine including CREDO in its top five "brave brands". Among its environmental activism, the company has focused on moving away from fossil fuels and toward supporting renewable sources. As such, it has campaigned relentlessly against coal power, natural gas fracking, and more recently, against

460-614: The Geneva Conventions and habeas corpus rights for all prisoners, allow potential surveillance targets to sue the government pre-emptively for injunctive relief , prohibit rendition , increase benefits for veterans, reduce defense contracting , and address energy issues. On March 20, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq leading a multinational coalition that included British troops as well as smaller contingents from Australia , Denmark , Poland , and other nations. Since

506-458: The Bishop's involvement; the emerging role of new media infrastructure in supporting the campaign; and pushing back on opposition efforts. He also filmed and produced a thank-you video from the campaign to the netroots and organized several online blogosphere fundraisers. Adam also co-produced the 3-2-1 Countdown for Equality designed to help online activists understand the who, what, and where needed for

SECTION 10

#1732851813991

552-632: The CREDO SuperPAC planned to use the same grassroots, volunteer-driven activism to help candidates of the US Democratic Party in five Senate elections. By aiming to flip Republican -held seats in Georgia and Kentucky , while maintaining Democratic-held seats in Michigan , Colorado and North Carolina , CREDO hoped to "save the Senate" from a Republican takeover. Another company, Patriot Mobile ,

598-649: The CREDO SuperPAC. Unlike other corporate superPACs , CREDO SuperPAC focused more on grassroots, volunteer-driven activism than on buying television advertisements. Its stated aim was to defeat candidates affiliated with the Tea Party movement , running for re-election to the US House of Representatives . Its campaign, dubbed "Take Down the Tea Party Ten", helped to defeat 5 of the candidates: Allen West , Frank Guinta , Joe Walsh , Chip Cravaack and Dan Lungren . In 2014,

644-1098: The House or Senate during the 110th Congress that addressed the various objectives of the plan. By February 2009, most of them had been referred to subcommittees, only three had been voted on in the House, and none had yet been enacted into law. New Diplomatic Offensive for Iraq Act Responsibility to Iraqi Refugees Act of 2007 Iraqi Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement, and Security Act of 2007 Presidential Signing Statements Act of 2007 Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2007 Foreign Surveillance Expedited Review Act Stop Outsourcing Security Act War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007 Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act MEJA Expansion and Enforcement Act of 2007 Montgomery GI Bill for Life Act of 2007 Veterans' Health Care Improvement Act of 2007 Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007 Media Ownership Act of 2007 New Apollo Energy Act of 2007 The plan received national press and attention following its unveiling. Ilan Goldenberg, Policy Director at

690-638: The Iraqi government that the United States could carry out its plans, including planned redeployments, even if Iraq does not implement its planned changes. America’s other security needs and the future of our military cannot be made hostage to the actions or inactions of the Iraqi government. RECOMMENDATION 42: We should seek to complete the training and equipping mission by the first quarter of 2008, as stated by General George Casey on October 24, 2006. The plan categorized fifteen bills that had been introduced in both

736-481: The Iraqi government were to request a temporary base or bases, then the U.S. government could consider that request as it would in the case of any other government. RECOMMENDATION 23: The President should restate that the United States does not seek to control Iraq's oil. RECOMMENDATION 40: The United States should not make an open-ended commitment to keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq. RECOMMENDATION 41: The United States must make it clear to

782-659: The National Security Network, writing in The New Republic , called it "thoughtful", "a good first step" and "welcome progress". Arianna Huffington at Huffington Post referred to it as "A Contract to Restore America". The plan was also mentioned on ABC 's This Week with George Stephanopoulos . Katrina vanden Heuvel , publisher of The Nation magazine, called the plan "responsible", saying "there are no military solutions". However, Political commentator Cokie Roberts stated that withdrawal from Iraq, one of

828-540: The Take Back America conference in Washington, D.C. , Darcy Burner ( WA-08 ) was joined by five other congressional candidates Donna Edwards ( MD-04 ), Chellie Pingree ( ME-01 ), Tom Perriello ( VA-05 ), Sam Bennett ( PA-15 ) and Jared Polis ( CO-02 ) for the unveiling of A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq , a 36-page document that was the culmination of the six-month effort. In addition to

874-602: The US and abroad. In 2009, CREDO Mobile was recognized by the nonprofit Planning and Conservation League as the Environmental Business of the Year. CREDO Mobile's mission of social change takes the form of two primary activities: its donations to progressive nonprofits, and its CREDO Action activist arm. Donations from its credit card, long-distance and mobile customers cumulatively total more than $ 80 million since 1985. In 2015,

920-562: The War in Iraq is a 36-page plan that was created by a group of United States Democratic congressional candidates, retired military officers and national security professionals that outlined policy measures (consisting of bills that were before the United States Congress at the time of its writing) that the candidates pledged to support in the 2008 elections . The plan's stated proposals with respect to Iraq were: drawing down U.S. military involvement in Iraq, development of

966-596: The back cover of its first six books. Credo Mobile also has created an online network of more than 3 million activists who take actions both online and offline. On its website, the company states: Many companies, especially large ones, hire lobbyists to mold government policies and legislation to serve their financial interests. CREDO blazes a different path. We fight for progressive social change with 3 million of our activist friends at CREDO Action. No lobbyists, no back-door meetings, no candidate contributions. Just ordinary Americans, galvanized to speak truth to power. During

SECTION 20

#1732851813991

1012-459: The beginning of the war there had been great debate about how it should end. The plan cited a number of facts and events as the foundation for its existence, including the following: On August 27, 2007, President Bush made a fundraising visit to Bellevue, Washington in support of Washington's 8th congressional district Republican Representative Dave Reichert . In response, Reichert's main opponent, Democratic candidate Darcy Burner , organized

1058-529: The build-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq , the company opposed it and worked with MoveOn.org and True Majority to take out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times against the US-led invasion. In 2004, it launched an "election protection" program and donated more than $ 1 million to groups working to register voters and increase turnout on Election Day. Credo Mobile has been a vocal opponent of both

1104-493: The candidate, those articles would be the first to come up. This effort helped voters become more familiar with McCain's negative history on issues such as Social Security, health care for children, and the Iraq war. In 2009, Adam Bink wrote heavily on the "No On 1" campaign to protect Maine's marriage equality law, discussing the importance of a win for the LGBT and broader progressive movement, and encouraging readers to contribute. Over

1150-470: The company asks its customers ("members" in the company's parlance) to vote on how to distribute the money it raises among the groups. One criticism of CREDO Mobile is that the organization only donates about 1% of each customer's bill. In 2018, CREDO Mobile donated $ 4000 to the initial Strong Arm Press crowdfunding drive. This press, a small imprint started in 2018 by The Intercept editor Ryan Grim and HuffPost editor Alex Lawson, placed CREDO's logo on

1196-587: The company said that "CREDO and its members have raised over $ 3 million for Planned Parenthood, making us Planned Parenthood's largest corporate donor." Other major recipients of donations include the ACLU , Doctors Without Borders , Rainforest Action Network , 350.org , and Amnesty International . Each year, the company selects dozens of nonprofit groups in five broad issue areas: civil rights, economic and social justice, environment, peace and international freedom, and voting rights and civic participation. And each year,

1242-437: The coordination between senior lawmakers and bloggers. Throughout the health care debate in 2009 and 2010, Chris Bowers worked with readers at OpenLeft to maintain a public whip count on the supporters of a health care public option. His whip count was an attempt to demonstrate that there were in fact 51 Senators who would support a health care reform bill through reconciliation that included a public option. Chris also engaged in

1288-447: The course of the election, his efforts helped raise nearly $ 1.4 million on ActBlue, included over $ 8,000 via OpenLeft's "Better Democrats" page on ActBlue. In October, Adam Bink raised money from OpenLeft readers to travel to Maine and report from on the ground. While in Maine, he engaged on a number of issues to elevate attention to the election, including rank-and-file Catholics' response to

1334-586: The customers' monthly bills, urging them to make free calls to elected officials. And it let customers pay for "CitizenLetters" to be sent in their name to the officials. By 1993, these actions included calling for a single-payer healthcare system and for allowing gays in the military. The company started its mobile phone service as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) using the Sprint Nextel network in 2000. It also launched an activist website called Act for Change (now CREDO Action) in that same year. In 2016,

1380-475: The event, Darcy Burner wrote: On Monday morning before the town hall, I asked retired Major General Paul Eaton, who was in charge of rebuilding the Iraqi Army and security forces in Iraq from 2003-2004, if he would chair a group to create a responsible exit plan for Iraq, and he agreed. Let me repeat: we will be creating a plan to end the war and bring our troops home. It's long past time. On March 17, 2008 at

1426-520: The final report of the Iraq Study Group. RECOMMENDATION 1: The United States, working with the Iraqi government, should launch the comprehensive New Diplomatic Offensive to deal with the problems of Iraq and of the region. RECOMMENDATION 2: The goals of the diplomatic offensive as it relates to regional players should be to: RECOMMENDATION 22: The President should state that the United States does not seek permanent military bases in Iraq. If

OpenLeft - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-482: The goals of the plan, would be "an irresponsible thing to do", claiming "Americans would prefer to win". There were also indications that, within the Democratic Party, the plan had some influence in the debate, with the plan cited on the House floor in 2008. and "helped focus" actions in the House according to Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking about the plan and Burner's efforts in a June 2008 interview. While

1518-400: The history of conflicts between progressives and conservatives, disputes long-time conservative myths about progressive leaders and accomplishments, and details why the time is ripe for another “Big Change Moment.” The book was published by Wiley & Sons . After its release, Lux went on a 60-event, 29-city book tour to discuss the book and the future of the progressive movement. He also wrote

1564-518: The initial unveiling, Rand Beers , a counterterrorism expert who served on the National Security Council under Presidents Ronald Reagan , George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton added his endorsement. Within one week, the plan had received the endorsement of an additional 24 Democratic challengers, and as of July 2008 it had 58 House and Senate candidate endorsements, and over 50,000 individual endorsers. The two main strategic questions

1610-543: The mobile phone service became a MVNO using the Verizon Wireless network, switching from the Sprint Nextel network. In November 2007, Working Assets Wireless announced that it was changing its name to CREDO Mobile to better reflect the company's values: A belief that people, through donations to nonprofits and political activism, can effect progressive change. The names of its phone services were changed to CREDO mobile and CREDO Long Distance. However, its credit card

1656-518: The plan received support from the liberal blogosphere and grassroots organizations, such as OpenLeft and Daily Kos , it was panned and received criticism from Republicans in Congress and other conservative commentators. Dave Reichert , Congressman for Washington's 8th district said, through his spokesman, that he believed "military leaders on the ground – not candidates for political office – should make decisions about when and how to end

1702-438: The plan sought to answer were: The plan attempted to present a combined military, diplomatic , and economic strategy to end the war in Iraq. It cited various ISG recommendations and listed a number of existing, but stalled bills in Congress that addressed multiple areas of focus. The plan broke down the areas of focus into several categories: In support of the stated objectives, the plan referenced seven recommendations from

1748-656: The proposed Keystone XL pipeline. To increase voter turnout in the United States presidential election of 2008 , CREDO Action started an initiative called Pollworkers for Democracy, which paid individuals to staff polling places and ensure fair voting practices. For their Text Out the Vote campaign, CREDO invited users to enter friends' phone numbers to text them each a reminder to vote on election day. Several U.S. states approved CREDO's online voter-registration tool. At CREDO's GoVote.org website, voters could look up their nearest polling place . CREDO's political activism includes

1794-563: The public option, including buying ad space and creating petitions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Service Employees International Union ( SEIU ) on building a coalition for health care action, and with Friends of the Earth to provide on-the-ground coverage in December 2009 of the climate change conference in Copenhagen. A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq A Responsible Plan to End

1840-554: The site voicing his support of the issue. Former OpenLeft writer Matt Stoller played an instrumental role in gaining a commitment from every Democratic Senatorial candidate in 2008 in favor of net neutrality. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Chris Bowers launched an initiative to influence search engine results for John McCain , and asked readers to do so as well. Readers raised the Google pageranking of links to certain articles on McCain's record so when voters searched for information on

1886-732: The six candidates at the March 2008 unveiling and Eaton, the plan was also initially endorsed by candidates Eric Massa ( NY-29 ), George Fearing ( WA-04 ), Larry Byrnes ( FL-14 ), and Steve Harrison ( NY-13 ), as well as Dr. Lawrence Korb , former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan Administration , Capt. Larry Seaquist, former commander of the USS ; Iowa and former Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning, and Brigadier General John Johns, specialist in counterinsurgency and nation-building. Two days after

OpenLeft - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-571: The three LGBT-related elections in November 2009 (Washington State, Maine, and Kalamazoo, MI). When it was “swarmed” by nearly 50 other prominent blogs, it became the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars in free media in the final days of the election. In January 2009, OpenLeft co-founder Mike Lux released a book titled The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came to Be . In it, he discusses

1978-470: The war". Reichert's spokesman also suggested that "it would be irresponsible to withdraw troops and then send U.S. money 'into a black hole.'" CREDO (company)#CREDO Action CREDO Mobile (formerly Working Assets Wireless ) is an American mobile virtual network operator headquartered in San Francisco, California . CREDO Mobile's mobile network operator is Verizon Wireless . Working Assets

2024-400: The whip count, and asking Reid to put a public option in the merged Senate bill, which he later did. Since its inception, OpenLeft has done significant work and reporting on the issue of net neutrality. OpenLeft's writers worked with Congressional and Senatorial candidates to encourage their campaigns to support net neutrality. Congressman and 2010 Senate candidate Joe Sestak wrote a piece on

2070-458: Was a credit card that generated donations to progressive nonprofit groups every time the card was used. Soon, the company introduced a ballot process for its customers to vote on how to distribute the money raised among nonprofit groups. The ballot is still used today. In 1991, the company launched long-distance phone service, promoting the fact that it would donate 1% of its customer charges to nonprofit groups. It also featured political actions in

2116-549: Was founded by Peter Barnes , Michael Kieschnick and Laura Scher in 1985 in San Francisco, as a business that would use its revenues to fund progressive social change work. Each time their customers use its services—mobile, long distance or credit card—WA would automatically send a donation to progressive nonprofit groups. To date it has raised more than $ 87 million for groups like Planned Parenthood , Rainforest Action Network and Oxfam America . Working Assets's initial product

#990009