Nils Palsson for US Congress - Bernie Delegate Challenging HRC Superdelegate Mike Thompson

Greetings, Sonoma County Family!

My name is Nils and I am your candidate for United States House of Representatives in CA's 5th District.

Many of you have already received your ballots. I am writing here to encourage you to make the most informed decision possible. As you're probably aware, something big is happening here -- a MOVEMENT -- and we now have a chance to replace the corrupt political machine with human beings who will actually serve the wellbeing of our families and communities.

I'm running for this office because -- with climate change, wealth inequality, and crises in housing, education and health care -- the times are too URGENT for us to keep playing this status-quo game with machine politicians who put big corporations before our families and communities.

I am challenging Mike Thompson, a 9-term (18-year!) Establishment incumbent whose corporate PAC financiers include not only the biggest real estate and wine interests in our district, but also lobbyists from an alarming number of out-of-district and multinational corporations including Wal-Mart, Bank of America, the fossil fuel industry (like local polluter Tesoro), big weapons manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Honeywell, telecom giants like Verizon and Comcast, Big Insurance, Big Pharma, and more.

You can follow the money for yourself here: https://www.peoplesvictory.us/news/nobigmoney

Here's a link to a document downloaded from the Federal Election Commission, showing our current Representative's big corporate PAC donations from this elections cycle:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8r...ew?usp=sharing

I'm sharing this information with you now because, in the last several weeks I've spent meeting voters around my home district, (which includes Santa Rosa, Cotati, Rohnert Park and parts of four other counties) I've found that many of our people are unaware of the sitting Congressman's record of political contributions from some of the world's most destructive corporations. The media doesn't mention it, and the people just don't know. Yet.

In addition to being endorsed by Berniecrats.net and the national group Elect Bernie Thinkers, I was also elected to be a delegate for Bernie Sanders at the DNC, and I will fight for his nomination in Philly (after he wins CA) because I want a President with the courage to stand up to special interests like the Big Banks and Fossil Fuel Industry (rather than accepting money from them like Hillary does). I also want a democratic nominee who can defeat Trump, and based on poll after poll, Bernie is the man to do it. I want a President who will lead us where we truly need to go -- in the direction of equity and sustainability -- in the direction of social, racial, environmental and economic justice for all.

And when he gets there, I don't want Bernie to have to do it alone. He repeatedly reminds up there is a political revolution happening, and that we need to step up and restore our democracy at every level.

We need to clean House.

I am running against a Superdelegate who has already pledged his vote to Hillary clinton, even though our district has yet to vote (and is highly likely to support Bernie Sanders in the primary). I am running against the chair of the Congressional Wine Caucus, whose only recently introduced legislation was an attempt to lower excise taxes on wine -- a bill with a 1% chance of becoming law, according to GovTrack.us. Thompson also sponsored and spoke in favor of the recent bill (which passed) repealing "COOL" or Country Of Origin Labeling on our meat. Thanks to this, we can go to the grocery store right now and we won't be able to determine whether that piece of chicken came from China, Australia, or Sebastopol. I'm running against an incumbent who has flip-flopped and missed a crucial vote on the TPP, and who hasn't committed to opposing future versions of TPP and other such trade bills coming before the House. In fact, he voted in favor of the 2011 US-Panama Free Trade Agreement that resulted in the money-offshoring schemes revealed in the Panama Papers. The list goes on.

But instead of reminding us all of the crises we face and myriad ways in which we aren't being represented by the current political establishment, I'll share what I am running FOR:

• Getting Money Out of Politics. Campaign finance reform, public elections, ending 'Citizens United' and affirming once and for all that corporations are not people. This is top priority because it deeply affects every other issue.
• Economic Justice for All. Fair pay for all, job creation, taxing Wall Street, eliminating corporate loopholes and holding white-collar criminals accountable.
• Climate Leadership. Global warming requires more than words. We must lead the charge to protect our home planet and the future of our grandchildren. Getting free from fossil fuels requires visionary leadership and bold action. We also all need healthy food and clean watersheds to thrive. To accomplish any of this, we need to elect a New Congress that is not beholden to big banks and big oil. I also support a ban on fracking. Together, we'll give future generations a thriving planet.
• Quality Health Care for All. America is the only leading country that does not guarantee health care to every child, woman and man. I will fight for real, universal, single-payer health care that works for all of our families.
• Quality Education for All. We must invest in the future of America by investing in our education. Our children deserve more than testing: every child deserves a quality education. I will fight for universal pre-school, improved classroom conditions for all, and tuition-free public universities. I'll also work to reform the predatory system of college debt so that our future leaders and innovators are free to create.
• Ending Systemic Racism & Mass-Incarceration. I stand in solidarity with all oppressed people. Together, we will end the for-profit prison industry and the disastrous 'war on drugs.' An America with the largest number of incarcerated people of any country on the planet is simply unacceptable. We must also put an end to police brutality, and bring economic empowerment to communities in need.
• Fair and Respectful Immigration Policy. Creo que nadie es ilegal. I believe that no one is illegal. We are a nation of immigrants, and we must honor and respect all people, regardless of language or national origin. I stand for fair pay and fair treatment for all, and I support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. We need to stop breaking up families. Diversity is essential to our wellbeing, and we're going to need to learn to share if we want to make it.
• A Just Trade Policy. I vigorously oppose the TPP and any other agreement that would derail the human rights, labor standards, environmental laws and corporate regulations we have fought for generations to enact. I support fair trade legislation that benefits the people and respects the planet.
• A Just Foreign Policy of peace, respect, diplomacy, and decolonization. All people deserve self-determination and freedom from empire. Any military action we take must have clear goals and objectives, and must respect human life. We must rein in weapons spending, end torture, close Guantanamo Bay, keep the NSA in check, and ensure that our government observes the rule of law and respects
  the rights to privacy, due process, and freedom from fear.
• Honoring Veterans. The men and women who serve this country deserve to be treated with great respect. I support truly honoring these heroes by expanding veterans' services.
• Women's Rights & Equal Pay. I will sponsor a new Equal Rights Amendment, because we are all equals and it's about time that be recognized by law. I stand firmly for a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. I am a feminist, meaning I believe in the radical notion that men and women are of equal value. I will fight for fair pay and fair treatment for all, and I'll work to build a society that honors women.
• LGBTQ Equality and Solidarity. We are one. I support a human's right to love whomever she or he chooses. I will fight to preserve marriage equality and expand the rights of the LGBTQ community, including protection from violations like 'bathroom bills' in places like North Carolina. We are one family -- and we need to stop bullying and learn to respect each other.
• Honoring Indigenous People. We need to recognize what happened here when this country was colonized, honor our indigenous communities, and share more equitably. I insist that we acknowledge and learn the atrocities of history, and move forward together with a fair deal for all.
• Listening to You. In addition to standing in firm solidarity with people and planet, and standing in my own integrity on all issues, I believe the Representative's job is to represent the needs, concerns and voices of the voters. Since I don't take any money from shady lobbyists or Super-PACs, you can trust that my allegiance is to Main Street, not Wall Street. I serve the community, and I am not for sale.

You can learn more about my campaign for our people and planet by visiting www.nilsforcongress.com

I'm really just a local dad who has had enough of these politicians. For my little girl -- for all our children and grandchildren (and our aging parents and grandparents!) we can no longer afford to wait to co-create a society of social justice and environmental stewardship.

Just taking care of ourselves, each other and our planet. This is the revolution.

If you believe in what I'm fighting for, I encourage you to get involved by forwarding this to friends, sharing our posts on social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and joining the growing number of volunteers who have had enough with the status quo and are ready to stand for real change. With only two weeks until the June 7th primary, we are in full grassroots mobilization, visiting farmers markets, distributing flyers and yard signs, and writing letters to the editor. You can learn more and get involved here.

Thanks to this whole conscious community of citizens joining together to be a part of something great. Together, we are re-empowering our communities and creating a thriving world for the seventh generation!

Yours in community, Nils I. Palsson

www.nilsforcongress.com
[email protected]
Facebook Twitter Instagram

PS. Below is a bit more about my campaign, from a recent press release.


Nils Palsson Running for U.S. House of Representatives in CA 5th District

Lake County community organizer Nils Palsson has filed as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the Fifth Congressional District. The district includes all of Napa County and parts of Lake, Sonoma, Solano and Contra Costa Counties.

Running as a “Berniecrat” (a progressive Democrat aligned with the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders), Palsson, 30, represents a platform of social, racial, environmental and economic justice for all, with an emphasis on getting money out of politics and restoring our democracy.

“Big money has taken over politics,” he writes in his candidate statement. “I am running for this office because we, the people, deserve a voice in government.” Palsson takes no campaign contributions from corporations or lobbyists.

“As an outsider to the political establishment, I bring a much-needed fresh outlook. I take no Super-PAC contributions. My clear allegiance is to our people and planet: to Main Street, not Wall Street,” he writes.

Palsson, 30, was recently elected to be a Pledged Delegate for Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia this July. Palsson was second overall vote-getter at the district-wide Democratic Caucus held in Napa on May 1st.

Endorsements for Palsson’s campaign include the national group Elect Bernie Thinkers, along with a growing list of community members and working people from around the district. When he filed his declaration of candidacy on March 11th, Palsson was the only candidate to turn in more than the bare minimum of 40-50 nomination signatures. He gathered hundreds from around the district, showing grassroots support for his campaign.

Running in a four-way primary on June 7th, in which the top two candidates advance to the November election regardless of party, Palsson hopes to be the one to challenge the nine-term, 18-year incumbent Mike Thompson, also a Democrat.

“We live in a progressive district,” Palsson wrote in a press release. “I believe the people here are ready to see our true values and needs represented in Congress.” He added that, if voters were to follow the money and see where Thompson’s campaign contributions actually come from, voters would overwhelmingly support a challenger to the status quo.

Palsson supports a Constitutional Amendment to end what he refers to as “the disastrous Citizens United ruling” and establish that corporations are not people, and that campaign contributions do not constitute free speech.

“The reason we’re not getting so many of our needs met -- from education and health care, to a fair economy and a real response to global warming,” he writes, “is because there is a corrupt system of money in politics that we urgently need to address if we truly want to thrive.”

Father to a 3-year-old, Palsson writes that parental concerns are a driving force behind his run for Congress. “The climate crisis is very real, and harmful practices like fracking are polluting our groundwater. The status quo is failing our children and grandchildren, failing future generations,” he writes.

“Unlike most of the Democrats and Republicans in Congress, including our incumbent, I do not accept money from the fossil fuel industry. I will work to ensure that all our children inherit a healthy planet, a strong economy, and a just society.”

Born in San Francisco and educated at New York University, Palsson moved to Lake County in 2010. He has served as a high school history teacher, a radio host at KPFZ Lake County Community Radio, and a community organizer for local resilience and social justice.

After five years of grassroots organizing as co-founder of the Transition Lake County, Palsson was hired in 2015 to be Communications and Special Projects Coordinator at the Sonoma-based nonprofit Transition US, national hub of a global “Transition movement” toward healthier, more sustainable and empowered communities.

Displaced during the notorious Valley Fire last September, Palsson was instrumental in the community response to the disaster. He was featured in the LA Times for racing to the KPFZ studio after flames forced him from his Loch Lomond home and initiating local radio coverage of the blaze and working in the field to facilitate the community response to the crisis.

Although the fire didn’t consume his home, Palsson was ultimately displaced by the fire this April, when his landlords chose to sell the home he was renting in the burn zone.

“I am just like the rest of the people in my district,” Palsson wrote in a statement. “I’m dealing directly with challenges like student debt and the housing crisis. I know how it feels to be a working-class parent -- and I am ready to represent the working-class people of this district in Congress.”

More information about his campaign is available at www.NilsforCongress.com

I have met Nils at a Transition event and he is the real thing. I also met Mike Thompson years ago. He is famous for his advocacy of Big Wine. He seems to have never met a pesticide that he did not like and advocate. It would be good if CA's 5th District was represented by someone else in the House of Reps. Please read his statement below.

Quote:

---

Posted in reply to the post by Nils Palsson:

Greetings, Sonoma County Family!

My name is Nils and I am your candidate for United States House of Representatives in CA's 5th District.
...
I'm running for this office because -- with climate change, wealth inequality, and crises in housing, education and health care -- the times are too URGENT for us to keep playing this status-quo game with machine politicians who put big corporations before our families and communities.
...
More information about his campaign is available at www.NilsforCongress.com

---

The Federal Reserve (an appointed body of private individuals) is the rocket fuel behind our monetary policies which has created unprecedented debt as well corroding our currency which is absurdly backed by consumer confidence. This circumstance will affect generations to come. It is time to eliminate the Federal Reserve.