• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

After gaining a majority in the House of Representatives last November, the Republican party within months launched a full-on assault on workers’ rights and labor unions in state after state around the nation. Weakened and swayed by corporate influence, Democrats have been unable to efficiently counter GOP legislation. Even the Progressive Caucus, the largest caucus within the Democratic Party, with 83 members, has had arguable gains. One of the core members of the Progressive Caucus, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, is contemplating retirement in 2012 after representing the Sixth congressional district for 18 years. Her constituents, who reside in Sonoma and Marin County, have historically been mostly Democratic. If Rep. Woolsey does not run for office in 2012, several contenders will vie for her seat in the House. Longtime political activist Norman Solomon has announced an exploratory committee with the intent to campaign for Woolsey’s seat if she retires. Solomon founded the Institute for Public Accuracy in 1997, an organization dedicated to bringing media coverage to grassroots organizations and progressive ideas. Solomon also helped to found Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, or FAIR, in 1986, a national media watch group offering criticism of media bias and censorship. He has written a dozen books, the latest of which is Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State. He is also the co-chair of the Healthcare Not Warfare campaign launched by the Progressive Democrats of America.

GUEST: Norman Solomon, political activist, author of 12 books, co-chair of the Progressive Democrats of America’s Healthcare Not Warfare campaign, considering a run for California’s 6th district

Find out more about Norman Solomon’s run for Congress at www.normansolomonnow.com.