Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) is a

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

political organization and grassroots political action committee operating primarily within the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. The group has established chapters in 32 states and territories.

History

The Progressive Democrats of America formed out of the presidential campaigns of

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...

and

Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich (; born October 8, 1946) is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008. He ran for ...

as well as with outside, independent involvement from peace and justice activists. PDA was founded during the

2004 Democratic National Convention The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated Senator John Kerry from Massachusetts for president and Senator John Edwards from North Ca ...

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a neighborhood within the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Roxbury is a dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for neighborhood services coordination. The city states that Roxbury ser ...

by Tim Carpenter, Steve Cobble, Kevin Spidel, Mimi Kennedy, Laura Bonham, Joe Libertelli, Bruce Taub, and about two dozen other former staffers and supporters of the Dennis Kucinich for President Campaign—as well as Joel Segal, and other progressive activists who helped organize delegates and activists. Appearing at the first PDA meeting were leaders, activists, and politicians including Dean and Kucinich, U.S. Representatives

John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroi ...

, Jesse Jackson Jr. and

Barbara Lee Barbara Jean Lee (née Tutt; born July 16, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . Now in her 12th term, Lee has served since 1998, and is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 9th d ...

, Rev.

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson ( né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senato ...

, James Zogby,

Tom Hayden Thomas Emmet Hayden (December 11, 1939October 23, 2016) was an American social and political activist, author, and politician. Hayden was best known for his role as an anti-war, civil rights, and intellectual activist in the 1960s, authoring th ...

, Medea Benjamin, John Lauritsen, and the late PDA Executive Director Tim Carpenter. PDA's mission is to strengthen the voice of progressive ideas inside and outside the Democratic Party by using "

inside/outside The inside/outside model of political reform is the organizing method/philosophy being used by the Progressive Democrats of America in its efforts to change the Democratic Party but also to foster a broad grass-roots progressive Progressive may re ...

" and "

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

fusion" models of working both in the Democratic Party as well as working with other progressive organizations both inside and outside the Party. In March 2019, PDA endorsed Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, with Sanders receiving two-thirds of member votes.

Policy positions

Foreign policy

The Progressive Democrats of America opposes wars and occupations. PDA launched a public awareness campaign called Healthcare Not Warfare to emphasize the group's positions. In February of 2022, the group called on the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washi ...

to reject the Abraham Accords, calling the measure "an endorsement of arms sales". The group also called on President Joe Biden to reject escalation of US involvement in the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...

following the deployment of more than 3,000 troops to eastern European countries bordering

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Healthcare

PDA supports establishing an expanded, improved

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...

national healthcare program. The group also supports advocates for the right for states to establish their own

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health ...

programs with publicly financed single payer systems.

Economic and social policies

PDA supports

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and envir ...

, which it asserts would protect consumers' and workers' rights as well as the environment while opposing free trade agreements that it believes tend to let

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

s exploit labor worldwide. PDA is opposing renewal of fast track authority that allows the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

to enact trade deals without Congressional amendment or full oversight. This especially as regards the

Trans-Pacific Partnership The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, was a highly contested proposed trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim economies, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Si ...

, a sweeping agreement which PDA believes would "save substantial negative impact on millions of people in the 12 nations holding talks, including the United States." PDA supports the

Employee Free Choice Act The Employee Free Choice Act is the name for several legislative bills on US labor law (, , , , , , , , .) which have been proposed and sometimes introduced into one or both chambers of the U.S. Congress. The bill's purpose, as taken from the 200 ...

, which would make it easier for workers to organize unions.

Electoral reform

PDA has endorsed and advocated for legislation to protect voter rights, expand same day voter registration, end prison-based gerrymandering, and establish voting as a Constitutional Right.

Environment

PDA supports the following legislation: S. 1135 the FRAC Act aka Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act "To amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to repeal a certain exemption for

hydraulic fracturing Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "frac ...

, and for other purposes", H.R. 1175 the FRESHER Act aka Focused Reduction of Effluence and Stormwater runoff through Hydrofracking Environmental Regulation Act "To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study with respect to stormwater runoff from oil and gas operations", H.R. 1154 the

BREATHE Act The BREATHE Act is a proposal for a federal omnibus bill, presented by the Electoral Justice Project of the Movement for Black Lives. The bill proposes to divest taxpayer dollars from policing and invest in alternate, community-based approaches t ...

aka Bringing Reductions to Energy's Airborne Toxic Health Effects Act "To amend the Clean Air Act to eliminate the exemption for aggregation of emissions from oil and gas sources", and H.R. 2825 the CLEANER Act aka Closing Loopholes and Ending Arbitrary and Needless Evasion of Regulations Act "To require regulation of wastes associated with the exploration, development, or production of crude oil, natural gas, or geothermal energy under the Solid Waste Disposal Act." PDA supports the reduction of America's dependence on fossil fuels by increasing automobile fuel economy and imposing taxation on

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...

while investing in public transportation, energy conservation technologies, and alternative energy development.

Democracy Restoration Act

PDA supports legislation including constitutional amendments to protect voting rights, and opposes court decisions, legislation and other efforts to roll back the Voting Rights Act.

Criminal justice

The End Mass Criminalization Issue Team works on the following related issues, including:

Mass Incarceration Incarceration in the United States is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarcerati ...

, Prison Industrial Complex/

Privatization of Prisons A private prison, or for-profit prison, is a place where people are imprisoned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with governments that commit ...

, School to Prison Pipeline, Restoration of Voting Rights,

Voter Suppression Voter suppression is a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting. It is distinguished from political campaigning in that campaigning attempts to change likely voting ...

by Incarceration, Stop and Frisk,

Harm Reduction Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to de ...

, Criminalization of Poverty,

Mandatory Minimum Sentences Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are ins ...

, Criminal Justice System, War on Drugs, Solitary Confinement.

Advisory board

* Medea Benjamin *

John C. Bonifaz John C. Bonifaz (born 22, June 1966, in Wilmington, DE) is an Amherst-based attorney and political activist specializing in constitutional law and voting rights. He is the president and co-founder of Free Speech for People. He is also the found ...

(emeritus) * Jeff Cohen (emeritus) * Marjorie Cohn * Rep. John Conyers Jr. * Rep. Donna Edwards (emeritus) *

Keith Ellison Keith Maurice Ellison (born August 4, 1963) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 30th attorney general of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Ellison was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to ...

(emeritus) * Jodie Evans * Lila Garrett * Rep. Raul Grijalva * Thom Hartmann *

Jim Hightower James Allen Hightower (born January 11, 1943) is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author. From 1983 to 1991 he served as the elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture. He publishes a monthly ...

* Mimi Kennedy, ''Advisory Board Chair'' * Rep. Barbara Lee * Rep. Jim McGovern *

Joel Segal Joel Segal is one of the co-founders and a current board member of the Progressive Democrats of America. He serves as Chair of the Congressional Universal Health Care Task Force and senior advisor to the Chairman of the United States House Commi ...

(emeritus) *

Andy Shallal Anas "Andy" Shallal ( ar, أنس شلال) (born March 21, 1955) is an Iraqi-American artist, activist, philanthropist and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder and CEO of the Washington, D.C., area, restaurant, bookstore, and performance ...

David Swanson David Swanson is an American anti-war activist, blogger and author. He currently resides in Virginia and is the Executive Director of World Beyond War. Education Swanson obtained a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of Virginia in 1 ...

(emeritus) * Rep. Maxine Waters (emeritus) * Rep. Diane Watson (emeritus) * Rep. Lynn Woolsey (emeritus) * Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. (emeritus)

References

External links

*
PDA YouTube channel
*Conservative site database entries for PDA:
on Discover the Networks project
of the

David Horowitz Freedom Center The David Horowitz Freedom Center, formerly the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (CSPC), is a Conservatism in the United States, conservative anti-Islam foundation founded in 1988 by political activist David Horowitz and his long-time co ...

**o
Influence Watch
by the Capital Research Center {{Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party (United States) organizations United States political action committees Factions in the Democratic Party (United States) Healthcare reform advocacy groups in the United States Progressive organizations in the United States