FULL DISCLOSURE: My name is Jesse LaGreca and I am now a paid employee of PeanutButterPAC.
PeanutButterPAC is a new Progressive political action committee that was founded by 5 liberal bloggers (Kossacks AnotherMassachussetsLiberal, SomethingTheDogSaid, Spedwybabs, PistolSO and myself). We are talking real grassroots here, none of that Corporate astroturfed malarkey.
Our first goal is to organize a money bomb for Jennifer Brunner, a very progressive candidate in the Ohio Senate race.
I want change we can believe in, but I understand the more important quote "We are the ones we have been waiting for."
Join PeanutButterPAC and support Howard Dean's 50 State strategy.
More below the fold . . . .
Our goal is to adopt and enhance Howard Dean's 50 state strategy by supporting Progressive candidates in districts nationwide. Small dollar donations will be used to support candidates and push progressive causes, among other activities.
Over the weekend, Kos summed up best how I think PBPAC can be very influential in the primary elections that decide which Democrats run in general elections, and which do not . . .
Accountability: Progressives don't have the money to compete against moneyed corporatist interests, and that disparity will only worsen with Citizens United allowing corporations to directly engage in political campaigns with virtually no restrictions. So if we can't buy politicians like the lobbyists and Wal-Mart have, then how can we hold them accountable to the voters? By playing in primaries.
We have to put the fear of god into elected Democrats, making them think twice before straying too far from the party's core principles. Currently, there is no retribution for disloyalty. Heck, Joe Lieberman got a standing ovation and a kiss from Blanche Lincoln when he came back to Congress in 2009 -- after he spent all of 2008 campaigning with John McCain and keynoting the Republican National Convention.
Take out Lincoln, and Democrats will begin to understand that there could be hell to pay for abandoning those core principles. They'll learn that their party's establishment, so eager to protect incumbents at all costs, won't be able to prop them up. They'll learn what former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine learned -- that Obama himself can't rescue them in time of electoral distress (a lesson also learned by Creigh Deeds in Virginia). They'll learn that if they choose their corporate benefactors over their constituents, someone will fight to hold them accountable.
Incumbents value reelection above all else. Their behavior will have to change if they want to avoid primary challenges.
But primaries aren't the only game in town. PBPAC will build upon Howard Dean's 50 State strategy. It is not enough to just fight in primaries ( not as though kos is proposing that ) we also have to force the GOP to work to keep districts that they thought were wrapped up. By doing this we force them to defend many places, and that hurts there strategy for winning nationally. Sun Tzu states in "The Art Of War" that . . .
Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack
In a post Citizens United world where corporations can make unlimited donations many on the left have felt daunted, facing seemingly insurmountable odds. The only way to counter Citizens United is to organize. Organize, organize, organize. A single progressive activist who is supporting a progressive candidate in a low profile district faces a huge challenge. An army of progressive activists who are organized is a force that must be reckoned with.
PeanutButterPAC.org is an ideologically oriented political action committee favoring progressive politics, truly a people-powered public policy PAC. Think of it as a method of making a big difference for just a little money – year round, small dollar weekly donations, in sufficient numbers, can make a big difference. There are three categories of weekly donations to the PAC:
$2 Tuesdays
$3 Thursdays
$5 Fridays
PAC members are asked to make a small sacrifice in their daily lives and send the money in as a donation. Maybe you like to buy coffee on the way to work, or you’re an an office worker who buys lunch every day in the office cafeteria, or a smoker who thinks one pack less per week would be a good thing. We ask that you sacrifice one day’s worth of this money (e.g. pack a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, hence the name of the PAC) and donate it. Once you’re a member, you’ll be able to nominate progressive politicians you like into the candidate pool, write blog entries promoting them into the PAC award system, and you’ll be able to vote for other candidates as well.
Every week there will be two polls on the day for the donation category: one poll will choose an award winner for that week and the other will set the following week’s slate of candidates from the candidate pool. The software will track how much is donated to whom (and for which race) to keep the PAC within FEC guidelines, and a reporting interface will produce a file for FEC reporting. A 15% tip on all donations will cover administrative expenses: salary for the administrator, server and software infrastructure, credit card merchant account expenses, advertising expense and various office expenses. All will be tracked with Quickbooks and reported appropriately, and the books will be open to examination by any member at any time.
PeanutButterPAC.org about page
$10 donations are the MAXIMUM weekly that members can make. We will NOT accept corporate donations.
As of now there are only two paid employees of PeanutButterPAC, myself and John Tehan aka AnotherMassachusettsLiberal. John Tehan is our President and Treasurer as well as our founding member. I will be writing and conducting opposition research on PBPAC's behalf among other projects, but I consider myself something more of a community organizer (heh). Neither John or I have received any compensation for our work yet, but our compensation will be made public to any paying member of PBPAC.
Eventually I would like to hire slinkerwink, nyceve, TomP and other effective writers as well as researchers. I'd like to set up college scholarships and other programs and contribute to good charities, but in the end this is not MY PAC, this is OUR PAC, and anyone who wants their progressive, liberal and independent voice to be heard is welcome to join up.
Of course, Yelling Louder is optional.
My job, frankly, kicks ass, and I am here to help YOU with any of your questions regarding PBPAC.
This is PeanutButter jelly time, and I am the baseball bat.
The netroots has helped me before in my time of need. I will not forget that. As I become more self sufficient I will be making donations to charities supported by PeanutButterPAC ( such as NFTT and the Haiti relief effort ) in order to show my appreciation to those who supported me in my time of need, but I will not stop there. I will make it one of my goals to ensure that PeanutButterPAC works to support good charities that can make a real difference in the lives of people who need real help. Karma is a boomerang. I will never forget that.
Now I am asking YOU to organize, to get involved and to be the ones we have been waiting for. A few hundred people working together can make a HUGE difference. A few thoudand people working together can change the world.
Do it for Teddy
For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.
Join PeanutButterPAC
Follow me on Twitter @JesseLaGreca
Crossposted at ProgressiveElectorate.com