June 9th rally in front of Nancy Pelosi's office.
As Speaker Boehner whips Republican votes in the House in support of fast-track, and President Obama goes all-out to squeeze out just enough Democrats so corporate America can have their secret trade deal we are not allowed to read, one voice is missing in action: Nancy Pelosi.
On June 9, about 200 activists rallied outside Pelosi's San Francisco district office—in a large event sponsored by CREDO, MoveOn, Friends of the Earth, Daily Kos, Fight for the Future and others. "We need Leader Pelosi to take a strong and public stand against a bill that would give away Congress’s right to vet toxic trade deals," said Michelle Chan, Economic Program Director of Friends of the Earth.
Special thanks to DFA activist Tom Brown for making this video of the rally ...
Daily Kos and allies have pressured Pelosi to lead before, and our members have generated thousands of constituent calls to wavering members of Congress—urging them to say "no." But Pelosi’s lack of leadership is starting to have serious consequences—as another House Democrat came out for fast-track this week.
There is no doubt that our coalition efforts have stalled the vote for now—but with President Obama promising to protect any House Democrat who bucks the party’s base of labor unions, environmentalists and progressive groups, there is no doubt we need Nancy Pelosi right now. It is way past time for Nancy Pelosi to "protect" a president who is wrong on forging through a secret corporate trade deal. She has the power as House minority leader to prevent any more House Democrats from supporting fast-track.
In 2002, when she was House minority whip, Pelosi stood up to the leadership in her own party (Dick Gephardt) when they sought bipartisan support for the Iraq War Resolution. We need her to do this again now.
In the meantime, please keep up the pressure by calling the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and leave the following message with your member of Congress:
As a constituent, I expect you to represent me—and am counting on you to to do the right thing. Please vote “no” on fast track as it comes to the House floor. It is wrong to ram through a secret corporate trade deal that will undermine basic worker protections. I will remember how you vote when you are up for re-election.
Click here for more photos from the rally, courtesy of CREDO.