Council for a Livable World

The stakes in the Sestak-Twomey Pennsylvania Senate race reach well beyond the far reaching differences between the candidates. In this race the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), led by neo-conservative William Kristol and Gary Bauer head of the F…

United States Ambassador to NATO Ivo Daalder made a presentation today about the upcoming NATO summit  on November 19-20 at Lisbon, Portugal.

He pointed to three separate meetings in less than 24 hours:

1.  A NATO summit of the 28 member countries
2.  A meeting to focus on Afghanistan
3.  A meeting of NATO with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev

The first meeting will adopt a new strategic concept that will call for collective defense and cooperative security.

According to news reports, the summit will endorse a NATO-wide theater missile defense system while punting to the future any decisions about NATO’s estimated 200 tactical nuclear weapons (that Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman James Cartwright admitted no longer had any military utility).

While many of us believe it is long since time to get rid of these weapons, some NATO countries believe these weapons serve some sort of political purpose.

I agree with a wag who suggested we deploy Walmarts rather than nuclear weapons to reinforce ties.

The meeting on Afghanistan will focus on the Obama’s Administration plan to begin the transfer of military authority during the first half of 2011 from NATO forces to Afghan forces.

Good luck in that effort – which the Afghan Study Group recently suggested should be accelerated to get all U.S. troops out as promptly as possible.

The last meeting will work on resetting NATO’s relationship with NATO, a relationship that has been placed in a freezer after the Russian-Georgia conflict in 2008. The effort will be made to turn the strategic relationship to a strategic partnership. There may be talk about exploring cooperative missile defense between Russia and NATO – a development long talked about but short on implementation.  

AK Senate: Murkowski (R) 34%, McAdams (D) 29%, Miller 23%, Hays Research Group, 10/25-26, 500 likely voters, 4.4% margin of error

AR Senate: Boozman (R) 54%, Lincoln (D) 35%, Univ. of Arkansas poll – 10-8-20, 566 likely voters, 3.5% margin of error

CA Senate: Boxer (D) 49%, Fiorina (R) 41%, Field poll, 10/14-26, 1,092 likely voters, 3.2% margin of error

CT Senate: Blumenthal 52%, McMahon (R) 44%, Merriman River Group poll, 10/24-26, 1,846 likely voters, 2.3% margin of error

DE Senate: Coons (D) 51%, O’Donnell (R) 41%, Monmouth University Poll, 10/25-27, 1,171 likely voters, 2.8% margin of error

FL Senate: Rubio (R) 47%, Crist (I) 27%, Meek (D) 23%, Sunshine State News poll, 10-26-27, 1,576 voters, 2.5% margin of error  

KY Senate: Paul (R) 52%, Conway (D) 43%, Survey USA, 10/24-27, 637 likely voters, 4% margin of error

NV Senate: Angle (R) 49%, Reid (D) 45%, Mason-Dixon Polling, 10/20-26, 625 likely voters, 4% margin of error

PA Senate: Toomey (R) 47%, Sestak (D), 42% Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion and the Morning Call, 10/25-28, 470 likely Voters, 5% margin of error

WA Senate: Murray (D) 47%, Rossi (R) 47%, Survey USA, 10/24-27, 678 likely voters or already voted

WI Senate: Johnson (R) 53%, Feingold (D) 44%, Public Policy Polling, 10/26-28, 1,372 likely voters, 2.6% margin of error

JOB OPENING – Contributions Coordinator / Officer Manager

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and Council for a Livable World are dedicated to enhancing international peace and security and protecting the American people from the threat of weapons of mass destruction. They seek to accomplish this mission by reducing and eventually eliminating nuclear weapons as a tool of U.S. national security policy, halting the spread of all weapons of mass destruction, ending deployment of national missile defense  and redirecting Pentagon spending to better address the actual threats facing the United States.

The Council and Center are currently hiring a Contributions Coordinator / Officer Manager.  The duties of this position are:

Contributions Coordinator: The Contributions Coordinator is responsible for tracking a depositing all gifts to the Council and Center.  He/she will keep contributor data current and manage relations with donors.  The Contributions Coordinator is also primarily responsible for managing 2 fundraising events a year – one in Boston and one in Washington, DC.

The Council for a Livable World endorses and raises money for approximately 50 pro-arms control political candidates every election cycle.  The Contribution Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that all contributions received during the election are routed to the correct candidate or fund and recorded correctly and in a timely manner.  They will ensure that all contributions to the organization are deposited, that candidate checks are amassed and sent to campaigns, that credit card contributions are processed and the information is sent to campaigns and that all contributions are recorded in our database.  They will be responsible for keeping the information in the database current and correct.  Furthermore, they will prepare FEC files to send to our FEC specialist for review. They will also prepare and mail Thank-You letters and Pledge Reminders and contact constituents who have sent in contributions we cannot process.  They will be responsible for preparing financial reports.  The Contribution Coordinator will also be responsible for overseeing volunteers assisting in these tasks.

Office Manager: Ensure the smooth operation of the offices at 322 4th St. NE.  This includes, but is not limited to, the purchase and distribution of office supplies, maintenance of printers, fax machines and photocopy machines, scheduling of the conference room, and dealing with contractors for the physical maintenance of the building.

Salary is dependent on experience and includes a full benefits package.

Application process:  Please mail or e-mail a resume and three references complete with contact information to:

Contributions Coordinator / Officer Manager Search
Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
322 4th St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
jobs@clw.org

NO CALLS PLEASE

The Council and Center are equal opportunity employers.

Barney Frank has long been a champion of progressive causes in the House of Representatives.  Just this year, he drafted and won wide support for an alternate budget, cutting billions of dollars from the military budget.

Click here to make a contribution to Frank’s campaign.

Rep. Frank first took office when Father Robert Drinan stepped down from representing Massachusetts’ fourth congressional district in 1980.  In his 30 years of service, Frank has established a perfect voting record on arms control and foreign policy issues.

Frank is facing a serious challenge from a tea-party backed candidate this year and needs your help.

A recent poll shows Frank ahead of his opponent, Sean Bielat, but any time an incumbent polls under 50%, they must be considered vulnerable.  Bielat has become a darling of right wing talk radio shows, and has now raised nearly $1.3 million.

Outside groups are running ads attacking Rep. Frank.

Donate $15, $25, $50 or more today to Barney’s re-election.

Bielat portrays himself as a moderate, but he holds extreme views.  He has been openly critical of the New START treaty to reduce nuclear arsenals, claiming that nuclear weapons are not a current threat.  He has criticized Barney Frank for calling for reducing military spending to pay for underfunded social programs.  On domestic issues, he has advocated lower taxes on the wealthy, the privatization of Social Security and tougher requirements for Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

Barney Frank is well-known to Massachusetts’ voters, but many of them are unfamiliar with Bielat’s right-wing positions.  In the current anti-incumbent environment, Bielat poses a real threat to Frank.

Click here to support liberal icon Barney Frank.