Featuring leading antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan and Green Party leader Matt Gonzalez

And a debate between the Tea Party and Socialists!
Saturday, May 8
10:30 AM – 6:30 PM
Seattle University
Bannan room 102

The American people elected Obama and the Democrats who promised to challenge Corporate America’s control over our country. Yet hundreds of thousands of hard-working Americans continue to be laid off and evicted from their homes while the bankers who created the economic crisis have continued using the $14 trillion in tax-payer bailouts and guarantees to lavish themselves with huge bonuses and salaries. And Republican and Democratic politicians have completely failed to take meaningful action to end global warming, discrimination, or the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The Northwest Socialism Conference will be a rare opportunity to discuss and debate real solutions to these problems. Don’t miss this chance to get involved, meet, and talk with activists who are organizing a grassroots movement to create a better world.

FEATURED DEBATE:
THE TEA PARTY vs. SOCIALISTS!
Keli Carender from the Tea Party vs. Ramy Khalil from Socialist Alternative
Keli Carender is a rising star in the Tea Party movement. She was leading Tea Party rallies in Seattle in early 2009 before there even was a national Tea Party movement. She has been featured in The New York Times and on National Public Radio. She recently won the $3,000 Town Hall Award from a conservative association for challenging Democratic Congressman Norm Dicks on healthcare at a town hall meeting. Well known as “Liberty Belle,” she blogs at libertybelle.net

Ramy Khalil is a regular contributor to Justice, the newspaper of Socialist Alternative. He has been an active member of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 and a leading organizer of mass protests against war and budget cuts to education and public services. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in U.S. and Latin American history, and his articles appear at www.SocialistAlternative.org

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:
10:30 AM Bagels and Coffee
11:00 AM "Capitalism in Crisis and the Case for Socialism" including Matt Gonzalez
2:00 PM "Where is the Change Obama and the Democrats Promised? Resisting War and Cuts in Jobs and Education"with Cindy Sheehan, Independent candidate for U.S. Senate Richard Curtis, and Justice editor Philip Locker

4:15 PM Debate: The Tea Party vs. Socialists! (Info above)

7:00 PM Dinner Party

About the Speakers:

Cindy Sheehan lost her son to the Iraq war and attracted international media attention in 2005 when she camped outside of President Bush's ranch to ask him simply why he had to send her son to die in Iraq. When Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi refused to impeach Bush for his crimes, Sheehan decided to run for Pelosi's seat, coming in second out of 7 candidates, winning 16% of the vote.

Matt Gonzalez was elected as the first Green Party member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2000. Three years later, he came within 6% of the vote of becoming the first Green Party mayor of a city in the U.S. in 2008, he ran as an independent for Vice President with Ralph Nader in 2008.
Suggested Donation: $10 (No one turned away)