President Obama heeded the call of members of Congress who were demanding a vote on military action on Syria, but Congress will not rush back to Washington to take that vote.

Obama and congressional leaders may well need the time to make the case to Congress to get enough members to support military action in Syria. Members of both parties have expressed skepticism about whether it’s justified.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a liberal activist group, praised the president for seeking congressional approval. “After years of societal and international norms being thrown out the door — and things like torture, violations of civil liberties and war becoming normalized — today’s announcement is an important down payment on proper norms and regular order being restored,” said PCCC spokesman Adam Green.

Liberals who are often critical of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy are hailing his decision to seek authorization from Congress to strike Syria, even as many continue to oppose the military action itself.

“It’s great news that President Obama is seeking congressional approval for military action, an important precedent for all future presidents,” said Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, generally a critic of the president. “After years of societal and international norms being thrown out the door — and things like torture, violations of civil liberties, and war becoming normalized — today’s announcement is an important down payment on proper norms and regular order being restored.”

The incumbent Democrat has 49 percent support to 15 percent for opponent Ro Khanna, PPP says.

Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) holds a wide lead over his primary opponent, Ro Khanna, in a new Democratic poll of the competitive California race.

According to the survey, conducted by Democratic firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) for Democracy for America (DFA) and the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Honda takes 49 percent support among Democratic primary voters and Khanna takes 15 percent support.

Thirty-six percent of voters in California’s 17th district, which includes San Jose and Silicon Valley, are still undecided.

California Rep. Mike Honda has a commanding lead over high-profile Democratic primary opponent Ro Khanna, according to a new poll provided to POLITICO.

According to the survey, conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling, Honda has a 49 percent to 15 percent lead over Khanna. Thirty-six percent said they were undecided. The poll was commissioned by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, a Washington-based liberal group that has been supportive of Honda. Democracy for America also paid for the poll.

I do! Which is why earlier this year, I applied to be a member of the PCCC’s inaugural P100 class. I was lucky enough to be accepted and my progressive finance training began.

My name is Lacey Connelly and I’m a new fellow here at the PCCC. We’re working to train 100s of up-and-coming activists to work on progressive campaigns this cycle and I couldn’t be more happy to pay my experience forward!

I attended the first P100 training in Chevy Chase, MD back in March. I learned so much about prepping and staffing call time, planning fundraising events, and putting together a fundraising media plan that I was confident enough to go to Kentucky and kick-start a fundraising operation for a new candidate for Congress. Now I’m working for the PCCC to recruit the next class of progressive campaign workers!

Our next training will be in Madison, WI on September 28th-29th and will focus on developing finance staff to work on competitive races in 2014.

You really should click here and apply!

We’ll review all applications and the most qualified applicants will be contacted for a follow up interview. The 25 finalists will be notified three weeks prior to the training. Apply as soon as possible — the final deadline is September 2nd. After the training, the PCCC will work to place you on a progressive campaign so you can put your skills to use getting good peopleAi?? elected!

If you can’t make the training in WI but want to hear more about future trainings, go ahead and apply; just click “Interested in Future Trainings.”

Yesterday, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) – a national campaign committee fighting for progressive change – convened a discussion between professors, policy leaders and students to discuss Pay It Forward and ways to turn university classrooms into hubs of civic action.

PCCC has done incredible work to introduce professors and their classrooms to public policy work. This summer, for example, they organized more than 1,000 professors in support of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s student loan reform bill.

Now, they’ve created a case study out of Pay It Forward to demonstrate how professors can develop classes that empower students to tackle real world problems. After all, it was Professor Barbara Dudley’s determined Portland State University class that put Pay It Forward on the national stage and successfully passed Oregon’s pilot program legislation, with the help of the Oregon Working Families party.

There’s been a lot of coverage about what members are hearing from their constituents about immigration during this recess, and rightly so. But there’s another huge decision Congress must make this fall: funding the government and avoiding the debt ceiling. These negotiations have always produced talk, from both Democrats and Republicans, about cutting safety net—and members of Congress are hearing from their constituents on that, too.

Meanwhile, a coalition of progressive groups—including the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy for America, Credo Action, MoveOn.org, Progressives United and Social Security Works—have mobilized to back a plan from Senators Harkin and Mark Begich to actually boost Social Security benefits.

This campaign reared its head in Kentucky this week, where the PCCC released an ad calling on Mitch McConnell to support an expansion of benefits.

Polls say Americans are concerned about National Security Agency surveillance. According to a progressive group’s survey, many want to see a top intelligence official punished for giving Congress inaccurate answers about the NSA’s efforts.

An internal NSA audit, released Thursday by The Washington Post, found that the agency has violated privacy rules thousands of times every year since 2008. But even before those revelations, a majority of voters in five state-level polls said that James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, should be prosecuted for giving Congress a “clearly erroneous” answer about NSA surveillance.

The five polls were conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which has raised money for NSA leaker Edward Snowden’s defense fund.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) is the latest to pile on Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is facing a contentious re-election, with a new ad launching Thursday hitting the Kentucky Republican over Social Security benefits.

In the ad, auto worker Kirk Gillenwaters talks about the financial challenges he’s faced, and why he’s relying on the entitlement program as part of his retirement planning.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is launching a new television ad pushing embattled Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to oppose cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits.

The ad features Kirk Gillenwaters, a Louisville, Ky., worker who has been employed at a Ford plant for decades.

“We work hard for these companies and we’re promised a secure retirement in return,” Gillenwaters says. “But our pensions are being cut and we need Social Security.”

“When Sen. Mitch McConnell supports cutting Social Security, he’s breaking a promise – and he’s hurting our families,” he continues.

A progressive group targeting Mitch McConnell of Kentucky released a television ad Thursday, calling on the Senate minority leader to expand Social Security as the powerful Republican fights to hold on to his seat next year.

The 30-second spot features Kirk Gillenwaters, who says he started working at the Ford plant in Louisville when he was 18.

The ad from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee will run into next week on Louisville broadcast. The group says it spent $21,000 on the initial buy, adding to the $100,000 it has already spent against McConnell in Kentucky.

There is no longer any doubt that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress. Likewise, there is no doubt that his lie runs afoul of federal law. And, of course, there is no doubt that in terms of its implications for oversight, constitutional precepts and privacy for millions of Americans, his lies were far more serious than those that have gotten other people prosecuted for perjury. The question now is whether his brazen dishonesty will become a political issue — or whether it will simply disappear into the ether.

As evidenced by President Obama this week attempting to promote Clapper to head an “independent” NSA reform panel, the White House clearly believes it will be the latter. But a set of new polls out today suggests such a calculation may be wrong.

Commissioned by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Credo and conducted by Public Policy Polling in five ideologically diverse states, the surveys find that huge majorities want Clapper prosecuted.

Retired Kentuckian autoworker Kirk Gillenwaters of Louisville is counting on Social Security being there for him when he retires. He’s been working since age eighteen and will soon need the benefits he’s earned.

Kirk’s senator, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (who calls himself the “proud guardian of gridlock”) wants to cut Social Security.

We’ve teamed up with Kirk to make a hard-hitting TV ad that shames McConnell for hurting the families he’s supposed to represent. Take 30 seconds to watch the add — and donate $3 to air it on Kentucky TV.

read more…

Today, Social Security celebrates its seventy-eighth birthday, having come into being with the signing of the Social Security Act by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on August 14th, 1935.

Originally conceived as a public service that would allow elderly Americans to retire with dignity, Social Security has been expanded over the years to also cover people with disabilities, children who have lost parents, and surviving spouses.

For nearly eight decades, Social Security has paid out benefits to tens of millions of Americans. In 2008, the year that the house of cards built by Wall Street banks came tumbling down, Social Security paid $615 million in benefits to over fifty million Americans. Even in times of economic hardship, Americans have always been able to depend on Social Security.

Thatai??i??s why itai??i??s crucial that we give Social Security a raise.

Senators Tom Harkin, Mark Begich, Brian Schatz believe that Congress should expand, not cut, Social Security. Theyai??i??re introducing legislation to expand benefits and scrap the cap to ensure that wealthy families pay the same rates as the rest of us.

Over 400,000 people have signed on in support of their plan. Have you? Click here to sign the petition and add your voice to the hundreds of thousands calling on Congress to expand Social Security.

Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) punched out an email blast to Democratic Primary voters in New Jersey asking them to vote for U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12).

“On the merits, Rush Holt deserves to be a U.S. Senator,” said Green, a Central Jersey native. “But today’s Senate race won’t be decided on the merits. It will be decided by who has the highest name recognition on a sleepy summer Election Day. We all know who that is, and that’s why the PCCC did not get actively involved in this election.”

The five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District special election will participate in an online debate Saturday, Aug. 10, sponsored by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The debate starts at 11 a.m. and can be seen on www.opendebatequestions.com. The five candidates are state Sens. William Brownsberger, D-Belmont, Katherine Clark, D-Melrose, and Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, state Rep. Carl Sciortino, D-Medford, and Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian. They are looking to fill the seat Edward Markey vacated after he was elected to the U.S. Senate in June.

Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, said in a statement to Civil Beat, “Every week, we hear about corporations that cut the pensions they promised to workers. As a result, Social Security has never been more important. Senator Harkin’s bill, which Senator Brian Schatz was among the first to support, will expand Social Security benefits for our grandparents and veterans. And by requiring the wealthy to pay the same rate into Social Security as the rest of us, Harkin and Schatz would pay for the benefit increase and have trillions left over to keep Social Security strong for decades.ai??? Last week, the group pushed the idea at rallies in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Texas.

It was Democrat versus Democrat at times during Iowa Senator Tom Harkinai??i??s event in a Des Moines retirement center Tuesday. But a womanai??i??s emotional plea for help is what captured the attention of room full of dozens of retirees.

Harkin hosted the event with a number of Democratic-friendly groups, including the Iowa Alliance for Retired Americans, Progress Iowa, The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Democracy For America, MoveOn.org, Social Security Works, and Credo Action.

Harkin, as well as some speakers expressed frustration with President Barack Obamaai??i??s previous push to change the way the government determines the yearly increases in social security benefits.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee will be running a unique online debate on Saturday featuring all five Democratic candidates in the 5th Congressional District.

The debate, which will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10, will be run through the website OpenDebateQuestions.com, which the PCCC is debuting for this event. The public will submit questions and then vote on which questions they like. Massachusetts voters will pick the top 50 questions, and moderators will choose from those questions to ask the candidates. The candidates will participate via video from remote locations. So far, people have submitted more than 300 questions.

A progressive group announced Tuesday morning theyai??i??ll be hosting a ai???first of itai??i??s kindai??? debate in Massachusettsai??i?? 5th congressional district, where five Democrats are vying to replace the seat now vacated by Sen. Ed Markey.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee says their ai???Open Debate,ai??? where all questions will be submitted and chosen by the public, could serve as a model in future races and someday (they hope) presidential races.

ai???Open Debates, where the public submits and votes on the questions, will hopefully be a game changer in our political process. What starts here in Massachusetts will hopefully become the norm for local, state, congressional, and even presidential debates in the future,ai??? said PCCC spokesman Matt Wall.

Five Democrats who are running to fill an open seat in the Fifth District of Massachusetts will participate in a novel interactive online debate format this Saturday, thanks to the efforts of a progressive group that’s been pushing to change the passive broadcast format of televised political debates for the past six years.

The five Democrats are running to fill Democratic Senator Ed Markey’s old seat in Massachusetts, an area that encompasses the suburbs to the north and west of Boston. They’ll be participating in a debate format that will include live questions from Massachusetts residents whose questions had been submitted online and voted up Reddit-style. Adam Green and Stephanie Taylor, co-founders of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and the organizers of the event, will moderate, and they’ll invite those whose questions received the most votes to participate.

Today, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is proud to announce that we will host a first-of-its-kind Open Debate in the special election for Congress in Massachusetts.

All 5 Democrats running in the primary to replace now-Senator Ed Markey in the House of Representatives have agreed to participate in our Open Debate, where the public submits and votes on the questions. This is also Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s home congressional district.

Open Debates will be a game changer in our political process — ensuring that questions get asked that the public actually cares about. What starts in Massachusetts will hopefully become the norm for local, state, congressional, and even presidential debates in the future.

The debate will be held Saturday, August 10, at 11am Eastern and will be broadcast live online at OpenDebateQuestions.com. At this site, the public can submit questions, vote, learn about the candidates, and sign up for a reminder to watch the debate.

While this debate is a first, the idea of Open Debates is not new. During the 2008 presidential campaign, I was happy to work with Internet guru (now Harvard Professor) Lawrence Lessig to lead an amazing alliance of progressives, conservatives, and techies who came together around the Open Debate Coalition. This coalition includedAi??MoveOn, DailyKos, Arianna Huffington, Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich’s American Solutions, RedState, Craig from Craiglist, Jimmy Wales from Wikipedia, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Personal Democracy Forum, Aaron Swartz, and many others.

Our coalition had two core Open Debate principles:

1.Ai??Debates are for the benefit of the public. Therefore, the right to speak about the debates ought to be ai???ownedai??? by the public, not controlled by the media. [M]edia companies [should] release rights to presidential debate video to ensure that …

This past week, following the July 23rd national launch of our campaign to expand Social Security with Senators Tom Harkin and Mark Begich, we held four successful events – in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Texas – to talk about the senators’ plan to expand Social Security, and discuss new polling that shows voters overwhelmingly support expanding Social Security, not cutting it.

In Texas, Dr. Andrew Achenbaum of the University of Houston succinctly described Social Security as “the basic compact we all share against risks” and encouraged Texas Senator John Cornyn to consider supporting the Harkin/Begich plan.

In New Jersey, PCCC co-founder Adam Green challenged the frontrunner for Frank Lautenberg’s Senate seat, Cory Booker, to take a stand for Social Security outside of the statehouse in Trenton. (Booker responded later that day on Twitter, saying he opposes cutting Social Security and considers raising the retirement age to be a cut).

In Massachusetts, progressive elected leaders from the City of Cambridge and the Massachusetts General Assembly joined with activists to recognize that millions of Americans depend on Social Security today and millions more are expecting to be able to receive the benefits they’ve earned in the years to come.

And in Kentucky, PCCC’s Karissa Gerhke discussed new polling that shows voters in the Bluegrass State want Social Security protected and strengthened, not weakened.

Together with Democracy for America, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee asked five hundred and eighty five voters in Kentucky for their reaction to the Harkin/Begich plan. 51% of respondents said they supported increasing Social Security benefits, while only 24% were opposed.

Question: A proposal in Congress …

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, widely considered to be the frontrunner in the race to fill Frank Lautenberg’s Senate seat in New Jersey, said today that he is opposed to cutting Social Security benefits, including raising the retirement age.

At a midday Expand Social Security press conference conference in Trenton, at the New Jersey statehouse, PCCC co-founder Adam Green called on Booker to declare his support for expanding Social Security. PolitickerNJ reports:

ai???Social Security is more important than ever,ai??? said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.

ai???Even in the red state of Kentucky, voters support the expansion of Social Security,ai??? he said. ai???There is no excuse for Democrats right here in the blue state of New Jersey not to.ai???

Green called out Newark Mayor Cory Booker by name, arguing itai??i??s especially important for the raceai??i??s frontrunner to ai???declare his supportai??? on the issue given Bookerai??i??s ties to Wall Street.

Following the press conference, Booker responded to a tweet from Jason Comstock, who asked, “Do you support cuts or other changes to Social Security or Medicare?” Booker replied, “No. None & if anything expand Social Security.”

read more…

Democratic New Jersey U.S. Senate candidate Cory Booker said he supports expanding Social Security and Medicare hours following a press conference Thursday where his opponents challenged the popular Newark mayor on the issue.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee held a morning rally in Trenton with Booker’s opponents, Rep. Frank Pallone, Rep. Rush Holt and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver pressing Booker on the Social Security issue. Later Booker took to Twitter to say that he wants to expand, not cut Social Security and Medicare, and that he opposes raising the retirement age. A week ago Booker told NorthJersey.com that he would consider voting to raise the retirement age for those in their 20s or younger.