Abolition of the Electoral College and its replacement with a majority rule election. The President should be elected by direct, popular vote and must receive a majority of the votes to take office. If no candidate receives 50% plus one of the votes cast, a runoff must be held. A system called Instant Runoff Voting, in which voters rank candidates in order of preference, will allow this to happen without the need of a second election and eliminate the "spoiler" factor.

Clean Money Elections. A ban on "soft-money" contributions is needed immediately. We also need to establish full public financing of public campaigns and public information services for voters. Broadcasters must carry debates and provide free time for all candidates and parties as a license requirement to use our public airwaves. Candidates must be given the choice of running campaigns with public funds instead of accepting special interest campaign contributions, legalized bribery. Clean election laws like those in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts and Arizona should be expanded to other states and taken to the federal level.

Instant Runoff Voting. To encourage more participation in the electoral process, voters must know that their vote can really count. By allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference (first, second, third choice, etc.), if no candidate gets a majority of first choices, a runoff count can be conducted without the need for a second election. The same as in a traditional second-election runoff, the majority choice can be determined, while also allowing voters the opportunity to vote for those candidates they like the most without worrying that in doing so their vote will help candidates they like least. Instant runoff voting also promotes positive campaigning and coalitions, since winners may need the second choices from opponents' supporters.

Proportional Representation. "Winner-take-all" is a very undemocratic way to choose representatives to government. Why should 49% of voters in a legislative district get 0% representation? If one quarter of the voters support a particular party, they should be able to elect roughly a quarter of the seats in a city council or legislature. The majority of voters will elect the majority of seats but minorities will get their fair share of representation. This applies to cultural and racial minorities as well as to political parties. Most democracies in the world use some form of proportional representation to choose legislatures, and they have better representation of women and higher voter turnout than we do. It's common sense!

Voting Rights for Former Prisoners. Why should ex-felons not be able to vote? They've "paid their debt to society." There are over four million American citizens in this category, particularly African Americans who are incarcerated at a disproportionately high rate. These lifetime voting prohibition laws violate citizens' constitutional voting rights and must be repealed.

Make Voting Easier and More Reliable. Many citizens are discouraged from voting by unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles and restrictions. Although most people don't get excited by politics until a few weeks before an election, in 44 states it is already too late to register to vote by then. Citizens should be able to register to vote up to and on voting day itself, with appropriate protections against voter fraud. Students should be able to register and vote in the locality where they are going to school. To maximize voter participation, voting could be conducted by mail, or voting day could be a national holiday, or on the weekend. Voting precincts should be adequately staffed with sufficiently trained personnel and professional supervision. Old and unreliable voting machines, found disproportionately in communities of color, should be replaced, funded by the federal government, with reliable means of voting and vote-counting, including provision for the use of instant runoff and proportional representation voting.

Easier Access to the Ballot, the Media and Debates for Candidates. In our two-party system, third or fourth parties face a host of institutional barriers, from getting on the ballot to being included in debates to broadcasting their views. This discourages people from voting because alternative voices help enliven the political debate that is at the heart of any healthy democracy. Prohibitive ballot access requirements should be altered, debates should be open to all ballot-qualified candidates, and all such candidates should receive free air time.

Create Independent and Non-Partisan Election Administration Bodies. As the controversy in Florida has proved, the partisan or bi-partisan control of electoral institutions can cast a cloud of illegitimacy across what should be the simple act of vote counting. Electoral commissions at all levels of government should be free of control by any political party. Many countries, including neighboring Canada and Mexico, already have such bodies. We need to move to emulate those kinds of truly impartial systems.

Statehood for the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia has more citizens than several other states yet it has no voting representation in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. This is manifestly undemocratic. There is no good reason why all of our citizens should not have the opportunity to choose voting representatives to Congress.

For more information contact the Pro-Democracy Campaign, c/o IPPN, P.O. Box 1041, Bloomfield, N.J. 07003, 973-338-5398 (t), 338-2210 (fax), , .

================================================

Jan. 20 Demonstration Endorsers and Resources

1.Groups Endorsing and/or Organizing Around the Pro-Democracy Week, Jan. 
15-20, 2001

2.LIST OF JANUARY 20 ENDORSERS as of 12/27/00 - for the January 20 Stop the 
Death
Machine Counter Inaugural protest

3. CALL TO: Protest the Inauguration of the Next President SATURDAY, JANUARY 
20, 2001,
WASHINGTON, D.C.

4. The Progressive Challenge: An Action Agenda on Electoral Reform January 
19, 2001
in Washington, D.C. on the day before all the Bush inauguration protests.

5. The Nation Counter-Inaugural Calender

===================================

Groups Endorsing and/or Organizing Around the Pro-Democracy Week, Jan. 15-20, 
2001

If you represent an organization, please email d-week@leftlink.org
To endorse. Please indicate 1) What kind of activities your group is 
planning, either
for January 20, the 5 days preceding, or in coming months, 2) your contact 
person and a
phone number, 3) your web site if you have one, and 4) a description of your 
group
including whether you are local or national, and your mailing address if you 
do not have
a web site. Thank You!! We sign up all endorsers for the d-week announcement 
email list.
You may also contact us by telephone at 973-338-5398 (ask for Lauren).

National and Multi-State Groups:

1.1World Communication (www.1worldcommunication.org)
2.Alliance for Democracy (www.thealliancefordemocracy.org.)
3.Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association 
(www.coax.net/people/lwf/bfaa.htm)
4.Campaign to End the Death Penalty (www.nodeathpenalty.org.)
5.Center for Constitutional Rights (ccr@igc.apc.org.)
6.Center for Voting and Democracy (www.fairvote.org)
7.Coalition to Save the Urban Forest (www.urbanforestsave.50megs.com.)
8.Committees of Correspondence (www.cofc.org.)
9.Global Exchange (www.globalexchange.org)
10.Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space 
(www.space4peace.org.)
11.The Greens/GPUSA (www.greenparty.org)
12.Independent Progressive Politics Network (www.ippn.org)
13.International Socialist Organization (www.internationalsocialist.org.)
14.Institute for Southern Studies (www.southernstudies.org.)
15.National Lawyers Guild (www.nlg.org.)
16.North American Farm Alliance
17.Organizers' Collaborative (www.organizenow.net)
18.Progressive Challenge (Institute for Policy Studies) (www.netprogress.org)
19.Project South (www.projectsouth.org)
20.Quantum Leap 2000 (www.QuantumLeap2000.org)
21.Rainforest Action Network (www.ran.org)
22.Reform America (www.reformamericainc.org.)
23.Ruckus Society (www.ruckus.org)
24.Save the Redwoods/Boycott the GAP (www.gapsucks.org.)
25.The Shalom Center (www.shalomctr.org)
26.TIKKUN Magazine (www.tikkun.org)
27.Unity and Diversity World Council
28.We the People
29.Z Magazine (www.zmag.org.)
30. ZNET (www.zmag.org)

State and Local Groups (alphabetically by state abbreviation):

1.AZ - Arizona State U. Campus Greens
2.AZ - Green Party of Pima County
3.CA - Campaign for Municipal Democracy, Los Angeles
4.CA - Peace and Freedom Party, LA County (www.peaceandfreedom.org.)
5.CA - Conference of Social Justice Communicators of Southern California
6.DC - Alliance for Democracy
7.DC - Statehood Green Party (www.freespeech.org/dcstatehood/)
8.HI - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Coalition
9.IL - War Zone Education Foundation (Decatur)
10.IN - Community, Faith and Labor Coalition (Indianapolis)
11.IN - Our Party (Indianapolis)
12.IN - St. Joe Valley Greens (South Bend) (www.sjvgreens.org)
13.IL - Edgewater-Uptown Greens of Chicago (www.edgeupgreens.org.)
14.MA - Rainbow Coalition Party
15.MA - Massachusetts Bay South Alliance for Democracy
16.MD - Coalition Against Global Exploitation, Baltimore (cage@mobtown.org.)
17.MO - Green Party of St. Louis
18.MO - Mid-Missouri Peaceworks (http://peaceworks.missouri.org. -- 
peaceworks@coin.org.
19.NJ - Green Party of New Jersey (www.gpnj.org.)
20.NY - New York City Greens
21.NY - Westside Local Green Party
22.OH - Alternative Communications (Celina)
23.OR - Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment (Portland) 
(www.asje.org.)
24.PA - Pennsylvania Consumer Action Network (www.pcan.org)
25.PA - The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Germantown Monthly 
Meeting
(Friends) (http://www.pym.org/philadelphia-qm/germantown.htm.)
26.WI - Progressive Dane (Madison)
27.WI - Wisconsin Green Party (www.excel.net/~pdrewry/wigreen.htm)

The Independent Progressive Politics Network has decided to call for and help 
organize a
"Pro-Democracy Week" January 15-20, 2001. We are calling for local actions 
around the
country during this time which put forward alternative approaches to address 
the huge
democracy gap in this country exposed so glaringly by the recent elections.

January 15th is Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, and there will be actions 
happening
around the country to commemorate this special occasion. What better time to 
initiate a
pro-democracy week! Dr. King's life was devoted to the struggle for 
democracy, justice
and human rights.

This is especially true since this election exposed a number of 
irregularities that
question basic enforcement of the Voting Rights Act for communities of color 
in Florida
and other locations around the country. These serious violations of voting 
rights have
been documented by the NAACP, which is going ahead with cases and 
investigations. It is
essential that all citizens join together with citizens of color to insist 
that
democracy and civic participation is preserved and enhanced for all at the 
voting booth
and beyond.

One form of action we would encourage during this week would be teach-ins on 
college
campuses, in communities, union halls, churches and wherever else people can 
be gathered
together. The IPPN can help provide speakers who have expertise in the area of
alternative, much more democratic electoral systems. It also has experienced 
speakers
from civil rights movements and social justice campaigns who continue to be 
at the
forefront of the efforts to expand democracy in this country.Other forms of 
action could
include local vigils, demonstrations, rallies, banner hangings, street 
theater, pickets,
press conferences, whatever local people want to do and can do.

"Pro-Democracy Week" is not the property of the IPPN. It is an idea whose 
time has come!
We look forward to working with IPPN's member organizations and other 
organizations
around the country who want to work with us. As always, we hope for broad 
coalitions of
people from a diversity of communities to make our voices heard together in a 
shared
struggle.


==================

LIST OF JANUARY 20 ENDORSERS as of 12/27/00

TO ENDORSE THE CALL for the January 20 Stop the Death Machine Counter 
Inaugural protest,
click on this link: http://home.earthlink.net/~npcboston/jan20end.htm

*for identification purposes only

A Job is a Right Campaign
Abayomi Azikiwe, Pan-African News Wire
Activist Student Union of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
African American Holiday Assoc.(AAHA)
African Liberation Month Coalition
African Liberation Support Campaign, UK
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Alice E. Kelsey, Sisters for Christian Community*
All Peoples Congress, Baltimore, Md.
All-African Peoples Revolutionary Party
Alliance for Global Justice
Alternative Press Center
American Women's Work
Americans for Social Justice
Amnesty International of NC State
Anarchist Action of Rochester
Andres Martinez, teacher, Thornton High School; co-sponsor, Students for 
Justice
Andrew Kay Liberman, Committee to Restore City Life/UrbanForest/CarShareLA*
Angela Jackson, student, Webster University, St. Louis, MO, O17 Coalition*
Angelfire
Angels Without Wings
Anthony Freddie, Chair, Gary Graham/ Shaka Sankofa Coalition for Justice
Anti-impérialist Front (France)
Anti-imperialist League, Belgium
Anti-War Committee, Minnesota
ArtAction
Asatar Bair, University of Massachusetts
Atlanta Millions for Mumia
Australian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Australians Against Execution
Bay Area Information Network for Africa (BAINA)
Bill Casey, Associate professor Keiai University, Japan
Fred Jakobcic, AFSCME, Utility Food Service Worker, Marquette, MI
Black Awareness Alliance, Gavilan College, Gilroy, CA
Boston-Cambridge Greens
Brandywine Peace Community
Brent Buell, writer, New York, NY
Brian Lutenegger, student, University of Wisconsin-Madison Student
Buffalo Activist Network
Burt Blackburne, Communications Electrical &Plumbing Union*, Australia
BushOnCrack
California Prison Focus
Campaign Against Wrongful Convictions
Campaign for Labor Rights
Campaign to End the Death Penalty
Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Caribbean and Latin America Support Project
CAW 2213, North Vancouver, BC
Center for Critical Consciousness
Central Coast Peace and Environmental Council
Cheryl Lee, Mankato, MN, Dist.24 Mankato Area Green Party
Children's Prison Arts Project, Houston, Texas
Christopher Judge, Sahaja Yoga*
Cindy Holscher, Sales Management, Olathe, KS
Circle Greens-- University of Illinois at Chicago
Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Clarity Press, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Coalition Against Global Exploitation, Baltimore, MD
Coalition for Social Justice
Coalition for Social Justice
College Feminists, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
College Voice, College of Staten Island
Colombia Action Network
Colombia Solidarity Committe in Chicago
Columbia Student Solidarity Network
COMCONSULT, Switzerland
Comité Pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques
Committee for Peace and Human Rights, Boston, MA
Committee for the Liberation of Mumia Abu-Jamal of Florence, Italy
Committee of 500 Years, Cleveland, OH
Community Organizing Center
Compasssionn Over Killing
Conflict Transformation Program, Harrisonburg, VA
Connecticut Green Party
Convoglio di Solidarietà Internazionalista Giorgiana Masi
Corvallis Action on Globalization
Counterbalance
Critical Resistance
Daniel Biss
DC Coalition to Stop the U.S. War on Iraq
Detroit Coalition to Stop the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Diane deVeaux, PSC CUNY*
Disabled But Able For Mumia And The DPOCS
Dominican Workers Party-PTD
Don DeBar, Ossining (NY) Progressive Alliance
Donna R. Nassor, Attorney at Law, Selinsgrove, PA
Dr Norman A Handy Sr, City Councilman, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Bob Allen and family
Dr. Glen T. Martin, President, International Philosophers for Peace (IPPNO)
Dr. John Gilbert, U Foreign Language Instructors, SNUR-CGIL Trade Union 
(Rome, Italy)
Dr. Thomas E. Fitch, College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota
Ecological Villagers Alliance, Oakland, CA
Ed Tant, Athens Human Rights Festival Committee* (Georgia)
Editions Démocrite (France)
Faith S. Holsaert, writer and teacher, Tahoma Park, MD
Fathers for Justice
Food Not Bombs - New Brunswick, NJ
Food Not Bombs, Richmond, VA
Food Not Bombs--Olympia
Freedom Archives
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Fuerza de la Revolucion
GABRIELA Network
George Goloff, Shop Steward, Mailhandlers Local 300*
George Lyne, East Coast Coordinator, WE THE PEOPLE....
George Washington University Action Coalition
German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Global Pastry Uprising-Rainbow Affinity Group
Global Women's Strike
Gregory Lewis, concerned citizen/angry voter
Grinnell Coalition In Defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Groove Embassy Records
Grt. Pt. Jefferson Outreach Center
Haiti Support Network
Hammerhard MediaWorks
Heather Starssberger
Heidi Plowe, Amnesty International*, Active Students for a Healthy 
Environment*
Holistic Health Practitioner, Atlanta, GA
Homeless Action for Necessary Development
Human Deeds for Human Rights
IHRAAM, Canada
INCITE: Women of Color Against Violence
Instant Antiwar Action Group, Vermont
Instant Antiwar Action Group, Vermont
International Action Center
International Action Center- San Diego
International Black Women for Wages for Housework
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
International Executive Committee of the Freedom Socialist Party
International Prostitutes Collective
International Socialist Organization
International Wages for Housework Campaign
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
Ismael Guadalupe
Italian Chapter of the Jericho Movement
Italian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
It's About Time Committee
Jahahara AlKebulan-Ma'at National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in 
America
Jean Basinger, peace activist, United Methodist Church, Des Moines, Iowa
Jean Rabenold, Pres, Unitarian Universalists for Alternatives to the Death 
Penalty
Jessica Zakrzewski, student, Univeristy of Minnesota
Jim Yarker, student and union member
Jo McIntire, Florida Peace and Justice*
Joel Kovel, Green Party*
Joey First, A.G.C. Collective*
John Makohen, Utica College of Syracuse University, tattooist/body piercer
John Small, Nagasaki College of Foreign Languages, Japan
John Zeh, journalist, Cincinnati, OH
Johnson State College Activist Coalition
Jonathan Biss
Joseph Catron, Blue Ridge Earth First!*
Justice Action Movement
Karataboxom (youth group)
Kate Mendenhall, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
Kent Student Anti-Racist Action
Labor Art & Mural Project
Leslie Feinberg, a founder of Rainbow Flags for Mumia, NWU/UAW Local 1981
Linda A. Griesi
LISN - League of Indigenous Sovereign Nations
Louis Posner, Esq., Chairman, Voter March
Mad Anarchist Bakers League, Ohio
Maine Campfire Collective
Maine College Students for Mumia
Malcolm X Association, Italy
Maria Simmons, student, Albany, NY
Mark Burwinkel, disabled activist, Cincinnatti, OH
Mark Taylor, Academics for Mumia Abu-Jamal
Martha Grevatt, auto worker, National Secretary, Pride At Work -- AFL-CIO
Mary Mann, Student, University of Central Florida
Mary Sean Hodges OP, Peace & Justice Promoter, Mission San Jose Dominicans
Mary Zoeter, Action for Animals Network*
Mass Earth First!
MassAction
Matthew Glesmann, Colorado State U, Green Party*, Amnesty International*
Matthew Shneider, attorney
Melanie L Stibick, graduate student at University of Wisconsin-Madison
Melody Blass, student, Editor-in-Chief, Weathervane Magazine
Merrill Cole, Ph.D., Acting Instructor of English, University of Washington
Metro D.C. Committee of Correspondence
Michael Collins, Founding Member, Edward Wright Justice Coalition*
Michael Morrissey, Lecturer in English, Univ. of Kassel, Germany
Michael Parenti, author of "To Kill a Nation"
Michael Ratner, vice-president, Center for Constitutional Rights*
Michelle Kimball, International Peace Project/FOR*
Michelle VanNatta, College Instructor, Northwestern University
Mid-Hudson National Peoples Campaign
Mihajlo Balic, student, Denton, TX
Millions for Mumia
Minnie Bruce Pratt, author and anti-racist activist
Moms for Justice
Monica Moorehead and Gloria La Riva, presidential candidates, WWP
Movimiento Independencia Unidad y Cambio-MIUCA
Movimiento Popular Dominicano
Movimiento por la Construccion del Partido Socialista
Mr. & Mrs. Delmar G. Clark, retired, Rockford, IL
Mumia Abu-Jamal Support Network in Maine
Mumia Defense Committee, Rochester, NY
National Peoples Campaign
Nicaragua Network
Nick Mamatas, writer, Greenwich Village Gazette*, National Writers Union*
NJ Hiroshima Remembrance Day Committee
North Coast Xpress
NY Coalition to Free Mumia
Oregon Committee to Re-Elect NOBODY for President
Pan-African Students Union, Wayne State University, Detroit
Partido 24 de abril
Partido Comunista del Trabajo-PCT
Pastors for Peace - DC chapter
Paul O'Hanlon, National Union of Students*, Scotland
Paul Williams, Coalition for Peace & Justice/Unplug Salem*
Payday
PEACE, Wilmington, NC
Penn State chapter of Students And Youth Against Racism
Penn State Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty
Peoples Fightback Center, Cleveland, OH
Peter Phillips, Project Censored
Philadelphia/Cardens Sister city Initiative
Pioneer Valley Village
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Prison Reform Coalition
Progressive Action Organization - U of Wisconsin Stevens Point
Progressive Student Alliance - Cal Poly
Queer Equity Advocate
Queers for Racial and Economic Justice
RADCom, Inc.
Radical Jewish Action Project
Rainbow Flags for Mumia
Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general
Ray Martínez, Jr., Philadelphia Chapter Chair SEIU Local 668 (Penn. Social 
Services
Union)
Real Democracy, Washington DC
Reality News Network
Red Gate Earth First!
Redleaf
Refuse and Resist
Renacer Machetero
Resyster, San Francisco, CA
Rev. Al Sharpton, National Action Network
Rev. Douglas B. Hunt, Ph.D., Justice Action*
Richmond Anti-Globalization Network
RightWatch Project, Richmond, VA
Rochester Food Not Bombs
Rochester Mumia Defense Committee
Ron Jacobs, author Burlington, VT
Ruth Holbrook- Sacramento Central Labor Council
Ryan Verzaal, student, St. Augustine, FL Matt Hayashi, student, Brown 
University
S. King County Green Party
SALAAM! (South Asian League of Artists in AMerica)
San Diego Coalition to Stop the Execution ofMumia
San Diego Student Action Network, Southwestern College
San Francisco Food Not Bombs
San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
San Pedro Alternative Media Council
Santa Cruz Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners
Saxakali: connecting communities of color across the world
Sexual Minorities Archives
Simmons College Feminist Union
SMACO - Southern Maryland Activists Coalition
SMC Political Science Club
Socialist Forum of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Socialist Party of Greater Philadelphia
Soph Davenport, SMWIA Local 66*, Pride At Work*, IWW Olympia Branch*
Stephen Krevisky, Professor of Mathematics, Central CT. Green Party*
Steve LaFayette, IA 476,IBEW 1220*, Chicago, IL
Storm of '38 Memorial Park Coalition, Inc
Storm Seve Henry, student, West Lafayette, IN
Stuart F. Chen-Hayes, Ph.D., Lehman College
Students for Economic and Environmental Justice, College of William and Mary
Students for Social Change
Sunita Devi Ali, Great Valley High, Newton Sq., PA
Susan Westmoreland, Cop Watch of Greensboro N.C*
SYSTEM
Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing
Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement
The Engaged Zen Foundation
The Green Party of New Jersey
The Move Organization
The Real Democracy Project
The Real Illumination on the Prison Population
Therapists for Families of Prisoners
Thomas F Gillespie, National Assoc.of Letter Carriers*
Thomas Johansson, editor, The Overwhelmer*, the University of Chicago
Tom Miller, Global Exchange*
Toolbox Productions
Trudy Rudnick, Organizer, AFT Local 3882*
U.P.R.O.A.R.
United Students Against Sweatshops at San Diego State University
Vassar College Student Activists Union
Veterans of Domestic Wars
Vieques Support Campaign
Vince Hayner, Project coordinator, Circle Greens
Vincent A. Griesi
W. Mundle, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Wages Due Lesbians
Walter E. Davis, Professor in Ethics of Sport
Washington Peace Center
Western Pa. Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
WinVisible: Women with Visible and Invisible Disabilities
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Workers World Party
World Federalist Association
Writers for Mumia
Youth for International Socialism


====================================


STOP THE DEATH MACHINE!

CALL TO: Protest the Inauguration of the Next President SATURDAY, JANUARY 20, 
2001,
WASHINGTON, D.C.

STOP THE DEATH MACHINE! -- STOP THE RACIST DEATH PENALTY -- STOP THE LEGAL 
LYNCHING
OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL -- STOP THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX -- STOP U.S. 
POLICE TERROR-AT
HOME & ACROSS THE WORLD -- STOP THE GLOBALIZATION DEATH MACHINE

Only the people can stop it - Fill the streets of D.C.

On January 20, 2001, the next president of the U.S will be inaugurated in 
Washington
D.C. Whether it's George W. Bush or Al Gore, one thing is certain: 
executions will
notstop. Whichever politicians come or go, police brutality and racial 
profiling
remains. Thirty years after the Atticaprison rebellion, the racist 
prison-industrial
complex will continue to grow.

More than 2 million people will observe Dr. Martin LutherKing's birthday in 
U.S.
prisons-including political prisonerMumia Abu-Jamal, who waits with 4,000 
others on
deathrow. The people must make it clear to the next presidentthat the death 
machine
must stop.No more executions.Mumia Abu-Jamal must be granted a new trial or 
set free.

We must stop the U.S. death machine around the world. Thebullets & bombs that 
have
murdered and maimed hundreds ofPalestinians are made in the USA. Ten years 
after
thebombing of Iraq began on Jan. 16, 1991, the U.S. stillmaintains economic 
sanctions
that have killed more than 1.2million Iraqis.

The Pentagon continues to plot another Vietnam war inColombia, and to bomb 
the island of
Vieques, Puerto Rico. Along with NATO, the U.S military machine forces
colonialsubjugation of the Balkans, and elsewhere in the world.We must stop 
capitalist
deathonomics. U.S. transnationalcorporations and banks, along with their 
puppet
institutions--the International Monetary Fund, WorldBank and World Trade 
Organization--
continue to impose the death machine of globalization on the world, 
reapingsuper-
profits from their exploitation of the planet while more than a billion 
people go
hungry, and at least 2 billionlive in abject poverty.

Hundreds of millions of people throughout Africa, Asia,Latin America and 
right here in
the U.S. will continue to die because capitalist greed has denied them
healthcare,shelter, jobs and other human needs.

Call issued by: International Action Center, International Concerned Family 
and Friends
of Mumia Abu-Jamal; the MOVE Organization; Millions for Mumia; Free Mumia Abu-
JamalCoalition, NYC; Refuse andResist; Korea Truth Commission;The Palestine 
Right To
ReturnCoalition ( NY-NJ Based Al-Awda)and a growing list of endorsers.

===========================

The Progressive Challenge: An Action Agenda on Electoral Reform January 19, 
2001 Capitol
Hill, Washington, DC 10:00am-5:30pm Exact location to be announced at 
www.ips-dc.org

(Below is information about an important conference in Washington, D.C. on 
the day
before all the Bush inauguration protests.)

Sponsored by: Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus including 
Barbara Lee,
Bernie Sanders, Earl Hilliard, the Institute for Policy Studies, the Center 
for Voting
and Democracy, the Nation Institute, and the member groups of the Progressive 
Challenge
Network

This forum is the kick-off event for a multi-issue action planning series 
over the first
three months of the 107th Congress. The forums are an opportunity for 
Progressives to
focus on issues where there are strong citizen action coalitions, good 
progressive
legislation, and political momentum for joint action between local 
organizations and
Congressional allies over the next year. Future forums will examine measures 
to deepen
democracy, shrink the wealth gap, extend health care to the uninsured, fix 
the system
that has incarcerated 2 million citizens, and promote global economic and 
environmental
justice. Please see www.ips-dc.org in the coming weeks for future Progressive 
Challenge
forums.

10am-11:30pm The Legacy of Dr. King: A Progressive Vision

Moderator: John Cavanagh, Director of the Institute for Policy Studies 
Opening remarks:
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Ron 
Dellums*: The
Legacy of Dr. King Marcus Raskin, Institute for Policy Studies Rep. Eleanor 
Holmes
Norton Rev. Walter Fauntroy, National Black Leadership Roundtable Rep. 
Barbara Lee* Rep.
Bernie Sanders Bob Borosage, Campaign for America's Future *invited.

11:30-1:00 Plenary on Electoral Reform and Clean Money Elections Moderator: 
Katrina
vanden Heuvel, The Nation Magazine Rep Jesse Jackson Jr.* Rep. Cynthia 
McKinney Rob
Richie, Center for Voting and Democracy Elaine Jones, NAACP Legal Defense and 
Education
Fund* Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School Nick Nyhart, Executive Director, 
Public Campaign
Stephanie Wilson, Fannie Lou Hamer Project Ron Daniels, Center for 
Constitutional Rights

1:00-2:00 Lunch

2:00-3:30 Session 1 of Workshops on Electoral Reform and Clean Elections 
(breakout
rooms) -Clean Money, Clean Elections, Alliance for Democracy and Public 
Campaign -2000
Electoral Rights Violations and Strengthening the Voting Rights Act, Anita 
Hodgkiss,
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights -Organizing strategies for Instant Runoff 
Voting and
Proportional Representation, Center for Voting and Democracy -Independent 
Electoral and
Debates Commissions, Jamin Raskin, American University Law School and Medea 
Benjamin,
Global Exchange

3:45-5:15 Session 2 of Workshops on Electoral and Campaign Finance Reform 
-The Voters'
Bill of Rights: Building a Broad-based Pro-Democracy Movement, Ted Glick of
theIndependent Progressive Politics Network, and Medea Benjamin of Global 
Exchange
-"Taxation Without Representation": Voting Rights for Washington, DC, Martin 
Thomas,
Stand Up for Democracy Coalition -Building Pro-democracy Commissions: The 
DeFazio/Leach
bill and local strategies -Fusion and Instant Runoff Voting: a strategy for
complementary action, ACORN

No pre-registration required. For more information contact the Progressive 
Challenge
Project at IPS 202-234-9382,x238 or a-quinn@mindspring.com

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Thanks!And please visit www.ippn.org for information on the Jan. 15-20 
Pro-Democracy
Week of Action!]

============================================


The Nation Counter-Inaugural Calender

George Bush is forging ahead with Cabinet appointments, policy forums and 
political
pronouncements designed to help him push his agenda quickly through Congress. 
But the
shock troops of the movements for social justice, environmental protection 
and economic
equality are already mobilizing. Civil rights groups and others will take to 
the streets
of Washington and other cities starting on January 15, Dr. Martin Luther 
King's
birthday, and continuing through the inauguration on January 20, to raise 
questions
about the legitimacy of Bush's election, and to press for reforms that will 
guarantee
more representative results in the future.

To encourage these efforts, we've launched the Counter-Inauguration Calendar, 
which
highlights many of the groups organizing the wide range of expected protest 
activities.
Available at:

http://www.thenation.com/special/counterinauguration.mhtml

There are also a number of new editorials, commentaries and articles looking 
at the
quickly-assembling Bush Administration currently at http://www.thenation.com

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