usdemocrats.com political news weblog
AUGUST 2007
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usdemocrats.com political news weblog
AUGUST 2007
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Democrats Search for Cheney
Role in Fish Kill -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By J.R. Pegg read at source> http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2007/2007-08-01-10.asp WASHINGTON, DC, August 1, 2007 (ENS) –
House Democrats held a lengthy hearing Tuesday to probe evidence
that Bush administration officials improperly meddled with several
decisions affecting endangered species, but they failed to find
the smoking gun directly linking Vice President Dick Cheney to
a controversial decision that contributed to the largest fish
kill in U.S. history. |
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Democrats Signal Deal on Terrorism
Law -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/01/ap3976013.html WASHINGTON - Democratic congressional leaders said Wednesday they want to expand the government's surveillance authority over suspected terrorists and get it done before going on recess at week's end. But they remain in a stalemate with President Bush over spending, with no signs of progress. The administration is pushing to update
the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to allow surveillance
without a warrant of terror suspects who are overseas. The proposal,
offered late last week by Director of National Intelligence Mike
McConnell, is designed to fix what the White House says is a
glaring problem: the missing of significant foreign intelligence
that could protect the country against terrorist attacks. |
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Democrats Surge, Giuliani
Drops, Thompson Flops -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://pundits.thehill.com/2007/08/01/lets-landslide-democrats-surge-giuliani-drops-thompson-flops/ If you notice the growing number of foaming-mouth attacks from Tony Snow and some of our Republican brothers and sisters, here is why: There is landslide in the air. New polls are starting to show the leading
Democrats doing better and better than the leading Republicans
in the presidential campaign. Senate Republicans face a true
debacle; 22 of them face reelection battles in 2008, and almost
all of them are acting like Bush-lite, Bush-heavy, or Bush-44.
In what may be the worst strategy since
the Titanic stopped for ice, Republicans facing multiple investigations
appear to be the party of perjury and pardons, the party of corruption
and cover-up. |
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Why all California's electronic
voting systems should be decertified -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why all California's electronic voting systems should be decertified by Paul Lehto http://www.opednews.com August 1, 2007 read at source> http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_paul_leh_070801_why_all_california_s.htm Dear Secretary of State Bowen: As you know, you are statutorily authorized to conduct this top to bottom review for the purposes of assessing the suitability of computerized voting systems for use in California . As an election lawyer with some litigation experience in California elections, I wish to offer the following comments supporting complete decertification of all electronic voting systems in use in California for the reasons stated below, particularly emphasizing your own inability (on account of vendor resistance and delay) to even complete and accomplish your own duties of inspection and review as a direct result of vendor opposition and reluctance to produce any and all information required. In general, it is impossible for these computerized voting products to meet Calif. Elections Code section 19205, and particularly section (c) which requires that those systems be safe from fraud. It is completely undisputed that all bets are off if there is a criminal insider as an election official. This alone means that no system can be considered "safe from fraud" since insider crimes like embezzlement are traditionally the top crimes in working environments. The key section provides
19205. The Secretary of State shall establish the specifications for and the regulations governing voting machines, voting devices, vote tabulating devices, and any software used for each, including the programs and procedures for vote tabulating and testing. The criteria for establishing the specifications and regulations shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) The machine or device and its software shall be suitable for the purpose for which it is intended. (b) The system shall preserve the secrecy of the ballot. (c) The system shall be safe from fraud or manipulation.
While the regulations adopted under the above can provide more detail, they may not veer or vary from the requirement that systems be "safe from fraud or manipulation." Indeed, of all the problems established in the red team reports, precisely NONE of those risks can be eliminated, perhaps a majority can be "mitigated" or have their risks reduced some, and a few resist even reasonable mitigation attempts. When none of these problems can be removed, these voting systems simply can not be "safe from fraud or manipulation" as required by law. Mitigation means less risk, but doesn't mean "safe" as required by law.
Specific points supporting decertification in addition to the above are as follows:
1. It is clear that the Secretary has authority under Elections Code section 19203 to "make all arrangements for the time and place to examine voting equipment proposed to be sold in this state." You made those arrangements, you know the manner in which they were not complied with was numerous and egregious. This alone prevents you from forming a belief that you have properly inspected those voting systems such that you can approve them. You would be speculating as to software not provided or reviewed, and information withheld. Thus, the information required to be provided by vendors is insufficient to form a finding that the systems comply with California. Accordingly, this alone requires decertification.
2. Under elections code section 19205, the software is required to be suitable for the purpose intended. However, all vendor contracts of which I am aware routinely disclaim the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. This constitutes a signed statement for each vendor DENYING that their voting systems will work for their usual purpose (the general legal definition of merchantability warranties) and it constitutes DENYING that the systems will work for the particular purpose intended, namely elections in California Counties (the general definition of fitness for a particular purpose). These denials are, standing alone, sufficient evidence not only to decertify, but to conclude beyond any doubt that the manufacturers themselves do not believe in and do not stand behind their products, and do not in fact think they are suitable for the purpose of California elections in a way that is meaningfully relevant to the public's goals of transparent and accurate elections. See my legal white paper on this at http://www.wheresthepaper.org/ZeroGuarantee0707.pdf
3. The security papers adopted by the Secretary as contractually or legally demanded by vendors constitute significant if not total (in some instances) restrictions on the discretion of the Secretary to inspect and evaluate voting systems. These requirements, be they from trade secrecy or contract, constitute additional conditions blinding the eyes and limiting the ability of the Secretary to do her job and support the public interest.
4. False Statements and Fraud by Vendors. http://www.sequoiavote.com/bAVCEdge.php states as follows, and has so stated since at least August 2004, and constitutes a warranty and representation that inheres in the contracts Sequoia signed, since it is an express warranty it is not waivable: ---------------------- Unmatched Security The AVC Edge® provides nothing less than 100 percent accuracy, privacy and security. The Audit Trail provides an unalterable electronic record of all votes cast during an election --------------------
For reasons clearly established in the Top to Bottom and red team reviews, this statement is false and fraudulent. This constitutes an independent basis for rescission of contract under the law of fraud and false pretenses because the records ARE alterable, and the systems are NOT 100% accurate, private, and secure. History of Inaction. I personally sued Sequoia in April 2005, on issues including the "yellow button" that, pressed twice, allows unlimited manual voting. Sequoia has proven an intense pattern of recklessness by taking no action on this, despite all the notice one could possibly have of this problem See www.votersunite.org/info/lehtolawsuit.asp (choose "complaint" near bottom)
6. Diebold represented to the NH Ballot Commission on videotape that they would do whatever the California SOS required. They did this to obtain a NH approval. Obviously this was a false statement. Diebold, and all other vendors, are NOT LISTENING nor do they sincerely wish to have their code vulnerabilities corrected. This is an additional reason, in the nature of "other good cause" sufficient for decertification.
7. Decertification can and should be sought also under Election Code section 19214.5. (a) [...] for an unauthorized change in hardware, software, or firmware to any voting system certified or conditionally certified in California." This should include a prohibition on doing business in California for 3 or more years, and refund of money under subsection (4).
8. Local elections officials are also prevented by vendors from doing a proper inspection every two years, and this is supporting cause for decertification under Elections Code section 19220. The elections official of any county or city using voting or vote tabulating equipment shall inspect the machines or devices at least once every two years to determine their accuracy. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE To determine accuracy under conditions of secret vote counting or trade secret software. Most certainly any TIMELY determination of this accuracy, prior to certification of the election result is not possible, especially when local elections officials claim to be too busy to provide whatever very limited information they do have access to. Here again, it is impossible for the Secretary of State, or any rational human being, to form a rational belief that a complete top to bottom review has been had. Secret vote counting defeats this entirely.
Please decertify the non-transparent, secret vote counting software from all vendors, as it completely prevents and defeats the required democratic accountability of elections. Whenever the private power exceeds the government power, as FDR specifically noted, we have met the definition of fascism. To approve any of these systems is to accept that private power of corporations is greater than the public interest in transparency, since they insist on secrecy in vote counting. I do not believe that you could, consistent with your oath of office, allow any vendors to continue to do business, since you would be violating your duty to uphold the Constitution and laws of the state of California and its people, in favor of corporate power, and implicitly finding that power superior to the sovereignty of California. This is impossible, if we remain a democracy.
Very truly yours
Paul R Lehto Attorney at Law
-- This is substantially similar to the email submitted August 1, 2007 with the exception of the addition of two paragraphs involving section 19205 that assist the general reader with clarity and context, plus a couple typographical errors corrected.
http://www.psephos-us.org Paul Lehto practiced law in Washington
State for 10 years in business law and consumer fraud, and several
years in election law, and is now a clean elections advocate.
His forthcoming book is tentatively titled DEFENDING DEMOCRACY.
He can be reached at plehto@psephos-us.org |
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Report: post-election audits
needed to ensure election integrity -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070801-report-post-election-audits-needed-to-ensure-election-integrity.html A study (PDF) conducted by the Brennan
Center for Justice at NYU School of Law in collaboration with
the Technology and Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley's Boalt
Hall School of Law reveals that most states don't have adequate
procedures for validating the integrity of elections conducted
with electronic voting machines. The report also analyzes an
assortment of election auditing techniques and provides guidance
on the best practices for conducting various facets of post-election
audits. |
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Democrats Offer Compromise
Plan On Surveillance -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ellen Nakashima and Spencer S. Hsu read at source> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080101514.html Congressional Democrats outlined a temporary plan yesterday that would expand the government's authority to conduct electronic surveillance of overseas communications in search of terrorists. The proposal, according to House and Senate Democrats, would permit a secret court to issue broad orders approving eavesdropping of communications involving suspects overseas and other people, who may be in the United States. To issue an order, the court would not need to identify a particular target overseas, but it would have to determine that those being targeted are "likely," in fact, overseas. If a foreign target's communications to a person inside the United States reaches a "significant" number, then an court order based on probable cause would be required. It is unclear how "significant" would be defined. Under a sunset provision, the authority would have to be revisited in six months. "Given the continued threat environment and some recent technical developments, I have become convinced that we must take some immediate, but interim, step to improve collection of foreign intelligence in a manner that doesn't compromise civil liberties of U.S. citizens," said John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. In recent days, the administration has proposed giving the attorney general sole authority to authorize the surveillance, suggesting that if Democrats do not act quickly Americans would be at greater risk of attack. Democrats said that giving sole authority to the attorney general would be unacceptable and insisted that the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court have an oversight role. Some civil liberties advocates were pleased. "It is vastly better than the administration's
bill and preserves the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement,"
said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security
Studies. |
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Petrodollars have the potential
to expedite democracy in Arab world --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petrodollars have the potential to expedite democracy in Arab world Published: 08.02.07, 07:56 / Israel Opinion read at source> http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3432483,00.html Let's take a look at the Arab Muslim arena: The three fragile democracies – in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq – are somehow surviving. The elected Lebanese government has succeeded in warding off a coup by Hizbullah; Mahmoud Abbas and his cronies managed to confine the Advertisement
Hamas fire to the Gaza Strip, and under the leadership of a reliable prime minister they are making an effort at renewal; in Iraq there are growing indications of normalization - normalization under the auspices of the American army, but also under the auspices of the fatigue of murderous Iraqi terror perpetrated by marginal organizations.
This is not yet the democratic Middle East that George Bush doesn't tire of addressing in his speeches, yet in the summer of 2007 there is room for cautious optimism.
The hundreds of billions of petrodollars are also, as of now, strengthening democratic trends. The wealth of oil has crisscrossing influences. Dark and tyrannical regimes can use it to bribe the people, quell opponents, and establish their rule for a few more years. More open and enlightened regimes can use it to open up to globalization, exploit its advantages, invite foreign investors, and along with it foreign cultures – and in so doing raise the population's standard of living.
Ostensibly, there is no way of knowing in advance which influence would take precedence. Economic research that examined the relationship between oil wealth and democratization found a negative statistical correlation between additional oil fields and the implementation of democratic institutions.
I would like to propose a reverse argument here (also contrary to my own theories in the past): Petrodollars could expedite democratization of the Muslim world; they are already making a change. The billions of petrodollars have turned the countries of the Persian Gulf – with the exception of Iran – into a paradise for their people.
The young generation is preoccupied with
planning investments and in shopping sprees, not in organizing
terror. The internal risk to their stability has waned and the
not-quite democratic regimes can allow themselves a significant
democratic boost. |
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Ghana: Nothing can send us
back from democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=4331§ion=9 Ghana cannot go back to the days of so
much suffering and distress. "We have come a very long way
in the practice of democracy, not even our politics should send
us to autocracy", said Kojo Asante, a legal officer of the
Center for Democratic Development. |
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Commentary: Force-feeding
democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Column: Rule of Lords read at source> http://www.upiasiaonline.com/human_rights/2007/08/02/commentary_forcefeeding_democracy/ The interim government of Thailand is about
to make a spectacle of itself -- one that will make brilliantly
clear its ideal future society. According to an announcement
by the Public Relations Department, a Democracy Festival will
usher in the Aug. 19 referendum on the new military-backed constitution.
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“Why Democracy”
at Toronto -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.screenafrica.com/news/film/320300.htm Three documentaries from the globe-spanning initiative “Why Democracy” have been selected for the Toronto Film Festival’s Real-to-Reel programme. Just 20 documentaries in total were selected from around the world. The three “Why Democracy” films,
which will be shown at Toronto as a preview to a major international
broadcast event in October, include unprecedented looks at the
lives of two diverse Presidents in “Iron Ladies of Liberia”
and “Dinner With The President: A Nation’s Journey”. |
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Why oil is the enemy of democracy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/08/01/do0105.xml The anti-war crowd is right. It is all
about oil - although perhaps not in the way it means. Consider
some of the current threats to global stability: Russia's contempt
for international norms, Iran's nuclear ambitions, the massacres
in Darfur, the descent of South America into Leftist authoritarianism.
All these crises are oil-fuelled. |
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Democracy and freedom -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As India completes 60 years of independence, it is important to ponder a couple of basic issues. We are justly proud of India being a vibrant democracy despite shortcomings. The gargantuan task of holding free and fair elections in a country with a population of over a billion people is being performed with increasing efficiency. People vote with remarkable freedom and change Governments. The country has an independent judiciary and a robustly free media. The main importance of a formal political democracy, however, lies in the fact of its being the institutional cradle for a progressive maximisation of human freedom. Not all democracies have discharged this function well. In some, people have voted for Governments and measures that have snuffed out democracy. After all, Adolf Hitler came to power on the basis of popular votes.
Freedom has both an individual and a societal dimension. In its essence, it connotes a situation in which individuals are able to realise all their inherent potential and take and implement autonomous decisions on the basis of conclusions arrived through the exercise of reason in the light of morality. The societal dimension pertains to the creation of conditions that make all this possible.
This is not an easy thing to do at a time when a wide-range of media-driven impulses and ideas, which are by no means value neutral, impinge on the mind. Particularly strong is the influence of advertising which, in the age of the television as the dominant media, is increasingly the cutting age of market capitalism. Its objective is simple: Increase the sale of goods and consumption of services through perennially rising demand. In the process, consumption is projected as the supreme goal in life, and everything else as subordinate to it.
Two things result from this. The first
is the tendency to judge a person's worth by his or her ability
to consume and not by his or her character. Lifestyle is more
important than whether a person is honourable, considerate, compassionate
and rational, and has the ability to take autonomous decisions
and the courage and strength to stick by them. Second, when consumption
becomes the most important goal of life and morality takes the
backseat then everything - including crime - that helps to further
it, appears warranted. The law and order situation deteriorates. |
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Established proper democratic
systems -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Abdulaziz Al-Tarb* Many young African countries have understood
well the rules of the state; however, they obtained their independence
four decades ago or more, particularly in the eastern and western
parts of the Dark Continent. They have established proper democratic
systems and entered advanced stages of the peaceful transfer
of power in a way provoking surprise, respect, and consideration.
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Media brickbats a must for
functional democracy: Dasmunsi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Indiantelevision.com Team read at source> http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/aug/aug18.php (1 August 2007 8:29 pm)
NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting
minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi today lauded the media for their
bouquets and brickbats to the government since that was the essence
of democratic functioning. |
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Impeachment: To preserve democracy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.oregonlive.com/oregonian/stories/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1185922550143870.xml&coll=7 John Nichols' thought-provoking column, "Impeachable offenses? It isn't just Bush who should worry about his legacy" (July 28), challenges us all. As conservative scholar Bruce Fein discussed with Nichols and Bill Moyers on July 13, our current administration has consistently violated the Constitution, committing political crimes by "asserting powers and claiming that . . . Congress can't say it's illegal -- judges can't say this is illegal." America's Founders "intended impeachment
less as a punishment for officeholders than as a protection against
the dangerous expansion of executive authority," Nichols
wrote. |
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Country Has Scored Significantly
in Building Democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://allafrica.com/stories/200707300577.html The Times of Zambia (Ndola) EDITORIAL Ndola WHICHEVER way one looks at the issue, Zambia has scored significantly in building democracy. To be fair, the country can be described not only as a young democracy, but a budding one too. |
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Moot demands restoration of
Pakistani democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Staff Report read at source> http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C07%5C31%5Cstory_31-7-2007_pg7_46 LAHORE: Restoration of democracy and free and fair elections in Pakistan are the only answers to the numerous predicaments faced by the country, lawyers, politicians, journalists and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) representatives jointly said in a moot organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in Islamabad on Monday. The discussion mainly focused on four areas – rule of law in the context of chief justice verdict, rise of militancy, obligations of political parties and upcoming general elections. Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) president Munir A Malik said the reinstatement of the CJP had ushered in the new era of independence of the judiciary which could protect people’s rights and interests. He said lawyers would continue their struggle till President General Pervez Musharraf left both offices. He said an independent election commission and an interim government were important for the democratic process. He said with the CJP’s reinstatement, people’s expectations for obtaining justice had been revived. He said bar associations would take practical steps to ensure that people were receiving justice and would secure rights for the vulnerable and the poor. Lt Gen (r) Asad Durrani said the army’s interference in politics had not taken place in isolation. “The military takes over the elected government only when it knows that it will have a conducive post-takeover environment and that it will find collaborators,” he said. Participants in the consultation expressed concern over the growth of militancy and its spread in the country. They said that the first step towards curbing militancy was to accept that militancy in Pakistan was an indigenous affair that had been sponsored by the state. They said militancy could not be overcome through the military means but the real representative government was imperative for curbing militancy in society. When democratic avenues are blocked and the state fails in delivering good governance, militants fill the vacuum in areas where government’s writ in not established, they said. The government is not sincere in curbing militancy and that is why it contented with mere rhetoric, they added. Participants also demanded the BA condition for candidates be withdrawn and valid documents along with an NIC should be suffice. They said voter lists should be published on the net and voters’ registration should remain open few days before polling. The said discriminatory laws against minorities should be eliminated and that stern action should be taken against those interfering with women’s right to vote or contest elections. A resolution in the consultation was also
passed on the prevailing situation in Balochistan that called
for an immediate end of the military operation and the release
of all political detainees. The resolution also demanded that
those affected by the recent natural disasters should be given
appropriate relief and the formula of distribution of resources
among provinces should be formulated on the basis of population. |
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U.S. in Iraq with Democrazy,
not Democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://uruknet.info/?p=m34950&s1=h1 July 30, 2007 Today, the ASSOCIATION of MUSLIM SCHOLARS in IRAQ (AMSI) condemned the heinous massacre of the American occupation forces that bombed the home of Ramzi al-Dulaimi killing 14 innocent people from one family. In their press statement AMSI states that "The American occupation forces no longer can fool the world community and misled the world public opinion" and invites the world community to consider which democracy that America came with to the Iraqi territory. Team NEWSDESK HELSINKI FINLAND has been pondering the same question and the answer apparent to our team is that instead of democracy the U.S. (and its lackeys) came to the Iraqi territory with democrazy. In our opinion, the U.S. democrazy can defined as a hideous attempt to prevent the Iraqis from benefiting the Iraqi National wealth, oil, themselves turning (by war) the country from a "high absorbtion country" to a low absorbtion one by denying the oil from Iraqid themselves. Furthermore, the U.S. went on to denationalize (i.e. corporate) the Iraqi wealth intending to leave the Iraqis with nothing but occupation, there for ever to guard the assets. To achieve these evil intentions the U.S.,
led by the neo-conservatives, but actually the true hard-core
neo-crazies, the U.S. Oil-War Cartel, which ultimately brought
the democrazy, the U.S. mercennary-extended Expeditionary Force
- and even more significantly, the only real terror there ever
was in this so-called "war on terror", the U.S. Aerial-Terror
War, the blind indistinguishing "death from above"
(as they used to call it in Vietnam days). |
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Time for a Democracy Movement --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
read at source> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/naomi-wolf/time-for-a-democracy-move_b_58507.html What country is this? The president is
claiming the right to keep his aides from testifying for Congress
about the U.S. attorneys scandal; hundreds of men -- according
to a Seton Hall study, many of them innocent -- are in legal
limbo in Guantanamo Bay; U.S. agents are kidnapping people off
the streets in Italy and Macedonia and `rendering' them to be
tortured; the president and his lawyers claim the executive has
the right to call anyone -- U.S. citizen or not -- an `enemy
combatant' -- and the person who should decide what that means
is the President himself; civil rights organizations say peaceful
citizens' groups are being infiltrated and put under surveillance;
and a new bill just made it easier, as Senator Patrick Leahy
warned, for the president -- any president of whatever party
-- to declare martial law. |
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unprecedented voter protection
effort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our organizers are still on the ground in all 50 states, preparing for 2008 in every way possible. And starting this month, they are kicking off an unprecedented voter protection effort, of a scale never attempted by any organization. While Democrats protect everyone's right to vote, Karl Rove and the Republican Party have a long history of threatening this right, working to make it harder for Americans to vote. We're going to stop them. Protecting the right of every eligible American to vote is our party's top priority because we know that it's good for America and good for our democracy when everyone votes. All Americans deserve to go to the polls confident that they won't be harassed or intimidated. That they won't wait hours for a ballot and that their vote will be counted fairly and accurately. Unfortunately, nearly forty-two years after the signing of the voting rights act, millions of American's are treated like criminals just for trying to vote. So we're going to meet with every election official in the country, visit every polling place, and make sure that every American will have their vote counted-and we will do it now, instead of waiting to hear about big problems on the news on Election Day 2008. We need your help. By giving $20, $50 or $100 you can help support the organizers working in your state and the vital work they are doing to make sure every vote counts. http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVote Under the Bush Administration's politicized Justice Department we have seen an outright attack on voting rights. In their latest scheme, the Republican Administration has manipulated the mission of the Department of Justice, firing U.S. Attorneys who were unwilling to pursue phony "voter fraud" cases, and politicized the Civil Rights Division. Over the past several years the GOP has tried everything from phone jamming schemes to vote purging to voter intimidation tactics to try and suppress the vote. That's why this effort is so necessary. Support our organizers on the ground and help us make sure we can fix voting problems now, instead of on Election Day 2008. http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVote I've promised to build the infrastructure and develop the strategy Democrats need to fight everywhere, and this is exactly the kind of effort it takes. Our work may not be in the headlines right now, but it's how we are going to make an impact next year and in every election after that. We all know what happened in Florida in 2000. We all know what happened in Ohio in 2004. Help make sure it doesn't happen again in 2008. http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVote Sincerely, Gov. Howard Dean, M.D. |
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DNC Announces Unprecedented
Election Protection Project --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Democrats to conduct nationwide survey
of administration of elections as WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- As the 42nd anniversary Through its 50 State Strategy, Voting Rights
Institute and National No organization has ever undertaken a project
of this magnitude. This While the Democratic Party continues to
work to protect every DNC Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting
Rights Institute Chair Donna Republican Record of Denying and Suppressing
Voting Rights GOP Suppression Tactics in 2006. In Maryland,
just days before Email from Bush Campaign in FL to RNC Includes
List of Voters to Be RNC-Funded Company Trashed Voter Registration
Forms in 2004: "Voter's Republican Admits Systematic Challenges
of Black and Hispanic Voters in Republicans Tried to Scare Hispanic Immigrants
From Voting. State Florida Election Officials Sought to Purge
African-Americans From Voter Native Americans Told "To Go Home"
in June Primary. Poll workers Armed, Plain Clothes Police Officers Intimidated
Elderly Black Voters Convicted Republican Phone Jammer Blamed
GOP "Culture" and Was Afraid Paid for and authorized by the Democratic
National Committee,
SOURCE Democratic National Committee |
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So much for that obstructionist
strategy Senator -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Steve Soto read at source> http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/010768.php So much for that obstructionist strategy Senator. According to the latest national poll done by Democracy Corps, the current gridlock in Washington is being blamed on the White House and the GOP, and not the Democrats. In fact, in the 70 battleground districts around the country: By 52 to 38 percent, voters in these battleground districts say the gridlock in Washington makes them want to see more Democrats elected to the Congress. That same dynamic is at work even in the Republican-held seats. How many more Democrats? Perhaps another
20-30 more in the House. Can you imagine what Nancy Pelosi could
get done with a 260-Democrat House and a Democratic president? |
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Bush Administration Killed
Increased Highway Repairs In 2004 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Steve Soto MSNBC image read at source> http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/010765.php The Republicans have no problem rubber-stamping
$144 billion a year into a failed war in Iraq and Afghanistan
without demanding results. But if we committed that same $12
billion a month out of a $2 trillion federal budget, and paid
for it with a gas tax increase, we could address our infrastructure
needs by the end of the next president’s first term. And
we would create millions of good paying jobs at the same time
and do our economy a world of good, especially if we married
it to a redirection of oil and gas subsidies and a gas tax increase
towards development of a domestic, sustainable energy industry. |
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Why Bush Cancelled Warrantless
Wiretapping Program -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2007/08/03/why-bush-cancelled-warrantless-wiretapping-program/ Some of you may remember this story, from
mid-January (covered by Doug here). The tone of the story is
that Bush backed down to pressure from Democrats and the American
public, and realized that his program might be over the line. |
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Courts rules FBI raid on lawmaker
illegal --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington Updated: 4 minutes ago read at source> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20114520/ The FBI illegally seized documents from the Capitol Hill office of a Louisiana lawmaker last year, a US court ruled on Friday, in a decision that could affect the ability of federal prosecutors to investigate political corruption. The court of appeals for the District of
Columbia said the Department of Justice must return to William
Jefferson some privileged documents that were taken during the
raid. |
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Rove Skips Senate Testimony;
Aide Grilled Instead -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12453856
All Things Considered, August 2, 2007 · The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday heard its first public testimony from a current White House aide in the investigation of U.S. attorney firings. Scott Jennings, President Bush's deputy political director, was not the committee's first choice to headline the hearing. The panel had issued subpoenas for Jennings and his boss, Karl Rove, to testify and bring documents about the dismissal of U.S. attorneys. But Wednesday evening, in a letter to the committee, the White House claimed executive privilege and said that Rove, the president's top political adviser, would not show up. Jennings, the White House said, would testify with instructions not to answer questions about the firing of U.S. attorneys. The witness, who pointed out that he's only 29, compared himself to a Greek hero, trapped between two mythological sea monsters. "I hope that you can appreciate the difficulty of my situation," Jennings told the panel. "It makes Odysseus' voyage between Scylla and Charybdis seem like a pleasure cruise." The witness pleaded for the committee's sympathy as he refused again and again to answer senators' questions. "Senator, I'm doing the best I can," Jennings said. "And believe me, this is likely as frustrating for me as it is for you, but I'm doing the best I can." A very unsympathetic committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) replied, "No, trust me, it is not." He added: "I believe you and others at the White House who have refused to answer questions could answer questions if you wanted to." Whether Jennings could or not, he often
didn't. |
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The Candidates Need to Catch
Up to the Public -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rose-ann-demoro/the-candidates-need-to-ca_b_59062.html Those presidential candidates who continue to tip toe on the critical issues facing voters ought to take a close look at poll results in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. The poll shows again how far the voters are ahead of the cautious politicians, especially on such essential matters as overhaul of our dysfunctional health care system and the hijacking of our economic and public life by big corporations. (Admittedly, it may be the last independent glimpse like this we see in the news pages of the venerable Journal whose new owner Rupert Murdoch is a greater practitioner of fantasy than Harry Potter.) Buttressed with a telling headline, "America's Economic Gloomy," the Journal/NBC News poll demonstrated that Americans are especially alarmed about their health security and the shift in resources from working people to wealthy interests. On the biggest question, 44% of respondents identified "health care costs" as their top economic worry. That was followed by "jobs going overseas" and "the gap between rich and poor." More reinforcement of those views could
be found later in the poll when respondents were asked to rate
their confidence in 16 varied institutions. The bottom rung was
firmly held by health insurance companies, for which 62% of Americans
said they have "very little confidence" or "no
confidence at all." Next in line at the rear -- large corporations,
49% little or no confidence, and the pharmaceutical industry,
coming in at 47%. |
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YouTube Democracy? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published 03 August 2007 read at source> http://www.newstatesman.com/200708030002 If politicians really want interactivity, then they'll have to do more than just 'connect' with voters via YouTube Winston Churchill once said that “the
best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation
with the average voter.” Thanks to CNN and YouTube we now
have to update this Churchillian epigram to something along the
lines of: “the best argument against democracy is a one-minute
YouTube video of the average voter.” |
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U.S. democracy agenda in Mideast
closed, activists say -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CAIRO (Reuters) - A Middle East tour by
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has confirmed to democracy
activists in the Middle East what they had long suspected --
the United States has lost interest in democracy for Arabs. |
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Working group to study e-democracy
efforts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BY John Moore
read at source> http://www.fcw.com/article103400-08-02-07-Web An international panel plans to study the use of online meetings as a way to boost citizen participation in government decisions. The International Working Group on Online
Consultation and Public Policy Making aims to advance e-democracy
research. It includes members from Australia, France, Israel,
Italy, Slovenia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The
group is the first to launch under the Center for Technology
in Government’s digital government initiative. The center’s
funding for the online consultation group stems from a $1 million
National Science Foundation grant. |
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Bridge disaster shows infrastructure
woes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=120637 Washington (dpa) - Even before a deadly highway bridge collapse in Minnesota state, Americans had warnings that infrastructure is crumbling in the world's richest nation. Experts have said for years that US roads,
bridges, water supplies, electricity grids, schools and railroads
are strained and ageing, eaten away by tight money for maintenance
and expansion. |
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Florida Report Spurs Growing
Distrust of E-Voting -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Erika Morphy read at source> http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Kp6u0....-Machines.xhtml Concerns over the use of e-voting machines
are mounting, as a spate of reports deepens doubts over their
security. Florida researchers found that Diebold's fixes to the
optical scanning systems used there didn't do the job, while
a California team uncovered numerous avenues for hackers to change
voting results. Studies in other states are also causing jitters
as election season draws near. |
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Democrats' ad to praise Congress -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8QPIJRO0.htm Democrats disclosed plans Thursday for
nationwide television advertising that praises Congress for raising
the minimum wage, seeking expanded health care for children and
"taking on George Bush to end a war gone wrong." |
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House passes competitiveness
bill -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8QPHQGG0.htm Congress on Thursday approved broad legislation
to promote math and science skills and develop the technology
needed to compete in the global economy |
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A "stolen" vote
in Congress? Democrats OK investigation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Washington Post read at source> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003821171_cong04.html WASHINGTON — The House late Friday
unanimously agreed to create a special select committee, with
subpoena powers, to investigate Republican allegations that Democratic
leaders had "stolen" a victory on a parliamentary vote. |
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Rep. Cohen Leaning Towards
Impeachment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by Bob Fertik on August 4, 2007 - 10:52am. read at source> http://www.democrats.com/steve-cohen-leaning-strongly-towards-cheney-impeachment Here's some breaking news from YearlyKos about Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), a very progressive freshman who serves on the crucial Judiciary Committee. Rep. Cohen could not get to Chicago but he sent a spokesman who just announced (my notes): Rep. Cohen is leaning strongly towards joining Rep. Kucinich's bill to impeach Cheney. Congress needs hearing, but so much evidence has already been produced, and there is so much obstructionism from the administration. Congress does not have to wait months for procedural decisions to come down from the Supreme Court. If Congress can't get to the root of the
matter right quick it could be brought to a vote. All they need
is a majority in the House... |
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California decertifies Diebold,
ES&S and Sequoia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.democrats.com/node/13878 Yesterday, as a result of voting system
reviews, Secretary of State Debra Bowen decertified for state
use the voting systems of Diebold Election Systems, Inc., and
Sequoia Voting Systems. A third vendor, Election Systems and
Software (ES&S), declined to participate in the review process
mandated by law, and so Secretary Bowen withdrew approval of
their Inkavote Plus Precinct Ballot Counting System for use in
California. A fourth firm, Hart InterCivic, Inc. chose not to
submit the voting system previously used by California voters
for examination and certification, and voluntarily withdrew from
the certification process. Instead, the company plans to upgrade
their county customers to a newer version and submit that version
for review and certification by the Secretary of State. |
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‘Daily Show’ lines
up presidential candidates -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updated: 3:29 p.m. PT Aug 5, 2007 read at source> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20136286/ NEW YORK - Four presidential candidates
are lined up to visit Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show”
over the next three weeks as Comedy Central’s satirical
news review ramps up its “Indecision 2008” coverage.
|
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Official: Iran begins production
of first fighter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/06/africa/ME-GEN-Iran-Fighter-Jet.php TEHRAN, Iran: Iran has begun industrial-scale production of its first domestically manufactured fighter jet, state-run television reported Monday, part of Tehran's efforts to become militarily self-sufficient. The plane was first tested in 2006 and was derived from the reverse engineered components of U.S. combat aircraft. "The airplane, Azarakhsh, was made by Iranian experts, and it has already reached the industrial production stage," the television quoted Iran's defense minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, as saying. According to previous reports, the Azarakhsh,
or Lightning, was designed for close air support |
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Restrictions set for voting
machines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By: CHRIS BAGLEY - Staff Writer read at source> http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/06/news/californian/1_00_608_5_07.txt SACRAMENTO ---- The state's chief elections official will sharply restrict electronic voting machines in the Feb. 5 elections, and a long list of new security requirements she issued late Friday night leaves questions for even the handful of voters who might need them. Secretary of State Debra Bowen laid out
new conditions for the touch-screen terminals and electronically
scanned paper ballots that the vast majority of California's
counties had planned to use in the February presidential primaries.
Riverside, San Bernardino and a dozen other counties that use
Sequoia Edge touch screens will have to limit their use to one
per polling place. Similar restrictions will apply to several
other counties, including San Diego, that use touch screens made
by Diebold Election Systems. |
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Obama Defends Foreign Policy
Comments -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By KATHLEEN HENNESSEY read at source> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con....7080501754.html ELKO, Nev. -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday stood by foreign policy comments that sparked an anti-U.S. protest in Pakistan and attacks from his opponents, telling an audience in rural Nevada, "There was no mistake there." "I made a simple proposition that
I'd like anybody here to challenge me on," Obama said of
his Wednesday speech in which he said that he would use military
force in Pakistan, a U.S. ally, if necessary to root out terrorists. |
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Says Newt: ‘Odds are
significant’ the Democrats win the White House -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution read at source> http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/shared-....gnificant .html If you’re a betting man, you have to like Democrats’ chances of taking over the White House next year, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said early this morning. “The odds are fairly significant that
that the left will win next year. My personal bet is that it’ll
be a Clinton-Obama ticket. I think they have a very high likelihood
of winning,” Gingrich told business leaders at a gathering
of the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce. |
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Democrats Call for $150 Million
for Bridges and Highways -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Ted Mann Published on 8/6/2007 read at source> http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=55450a9c-dd41-42c7-a36d-11b475213611 Hartford - The Democratic leaders of the General Assembly today called for $150 million in state funding to speed repairs and maintenance to Connecticut’s highways and bridges. In the wake of last week’s deadly
highway bridge in Minneapolis, legislative leaders and Gov. M.
Jodi Rell alike have called for increased spending on road and
bridge maintenance and inspection, saying not just lives but
also the state’s economic vitality depend on the condition
of its roadways. |
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General Clark's Keynote Speech
at Yearly Kos 2007 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We are not questioning the generals. Mr. President, we are questioning you! Stop hiding behind Dave Petraeus." - Wesley Clark Jon Soltz: ...an Iraq war veteran. (applause) (laughs) I find that so funny, because whenever you go to a Republican event, they don't seem to cheer for the troops. So, I (laughs) I, I thank you guys for that applause. I'm also the Chairman of VoteVets.org a group that (cheering) y'all have been so supportive of that without, without the support of the Kos community we would never've been where we are today. We obviously penetrated the political system from the outside much like everybody in this room, and for your support I, I thank you. It's obviously an honor to be here. I'm here this morning to introduce General Wesley Clark who, who sits on the board of, of VoteVets. (applause and cheering) Click here for Jon Soltz's complete introduction Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for General Wesley Clark. (enthusiastic cheering and applause) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. (more cheering and applause) Thank you. It makes me feel good and I
haven't even announced yet. That was a joke. I'm, I'm really happy to be here, and I'm really happy to see all of you here. This community's made a huge difference in American politics. This is the centerpiece of a new politics, and you can feel it. You can feel it in the energy. You can feel it in the ideas. You can feel it in the enthusiasm and the commitment and the, the, the selflessness that you all have brought into the business of politics. You didn't work your way up to get positions. You weren't after a claim. All you wanted was an opportunity to have your ideas heard and to be able to resonate with others who have the same concerns and the same love for America that you have. And you built a community that's incredibly powerful, and I want to thank you for that, and I want to thank you for what you did for helping Democrats take over the House and the Senate in 2006. You're wonderful. (applause) And I want to, I want to also recognize we've got a lot of people here who are working in this community now, you've got a lot of people here, you may not have met them, but who are candidates for elective office in the 2008 cycle. And could I ask all the candidates in 2008, if you're here, would you stand up and let this community get a look at you, because they want to meet you? (applause) I'm real proud of those people who are running, because it takes a lot of courage to go out there and run for office. It's not the kind of courage that you might get a Silver Star for in the military. It's the kind of courage where you really think about it, where you worry about your family. You worry about what the impact is. You worry about what it's going to do to your life and whether you actually are pursuing a, a dream that's got some chance of becoming real. It takes true, deep courage to make those kinds of commitments. So, I salute the candidates, and I'm really proud of you. I hope every one of you win. (applause) |
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America’s Promise Restored -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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Inaugural Benefit Reading
Of LADIES FIRST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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What I Learned During My 22-Months
in Iraq -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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Direct Internet Link: OC DEMOCRATIC
WEEKLY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, December 31, 2007 Date: Monday, December 31, 2007 |
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Join Cindy Sheehan For a Special
Announcement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 225 11th Street starts: 08/08/2007 - 7:00pm From the ditches of Crawford, Texas to the trenches Of Washington D.C. Cindy Sheehan has shown the world that it's about people before politics. Now it's time to bring that message home. You are cordially invited to join Peace Mom Cindy Sheehan in celebrating her official announcement challenging Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi for her seat in the 8th District of California. Come for a meeting of the minds with activists and leaders from the great city of San Francisco and learn about Cindy's congressional campaign for humanity. Please RSVP to Tiffany Burns at campcaseymom@yahoo.com or Dede Miller at (562) 912-5838 Power To The People - Peace Mom For Congress |
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Ukiah Weekly Peace Vigil 5
to 6 pm every Friday -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- North State Street at Perkins Street starts: 07/28/2007 - 12:00am A weekly peace vigil has been held in front
of the Mendocino County Court House every Friday night from 5
to 6 pm for the last 5 years. All are welcome to come and join
our demonstration. Dignity and respect for others is the only
requirement. Bring your own peace signs or borrow ours. |
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Raising America’s Consciousness
for Peace -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Encinitas, CA 92024 read at source> http://www.democrats.com/node/13736 starts: 08/12/2007 - 11:00am The newly opened Chopra Center for Living is a harmonious setting to meet presidential candidate and champion of peace, Dennis Kucinich and his wife, Elizabeth. Here is a rare opportunity to see the first and only estate in the world designed and built according to Deepak Chopra’s philosophies. Well-known leaders from the spiritual and progressive community and other celebrities will be among the guests and entertainment. In each room and courtyard of the Center, guests will experience Conscious Cuisine” and inspiring entertainment. Presidential Candidate, Congressman Dennis Kucinich will discuss his plans for making peace the guiding principle of his presidency and how all of us can be a part of that vision.With the harmonious Chopra Center as a backdrop, guests will have the opportunity to meet our next President and First Lady. Plenty of time is allotted for guests to personally ask Dennis questions. I, Jeeni Criscenzo, am working for the Kucinich for President 2008 campaign. This is like a dream come true for me -- to be putting all of my experience and energy into getting my hero, Dennis Kucinich, elected. I don't use "hero" lightly. On the issues that really matter, Dennis stands apart, as the one with the courage to take the side of what's best for the people. He's right there where it counts, against the war and the Patriot Act, for healthcare without HMOs, fair trade - not free trade, and marriage equality. He introduced H. Res 333 to impeach Cheney and says we should re-open the 9/11 investigation. As President, Dennis Kucinich would create a Department of Peace and he won't jump on the neo-con bandwagon to attack Iran! Mark your calendar for this healing and inspiring opportunity to provide our only genuine Peace Candidate with the financial edge he needs to win this critical election. Proudly Hosted by: Azim Khamisa, Bree Walker, Blase & Theresa Bonpane, Fernando Suarez del Solar, Chuck Lowery, Gloria Daviston, John & Soma Stickler, Shelley Morrison & Walter Dominguez, Susan & Saul Frommer, Tanja Winter, Ted & Nelisse Muga, Gary Visconti & Carlos Navarette, Paul & Deborah Haggis, Sharon & Bob Jimenez, Barbara & Joe Hudson, Sandra & Ulis Williams. Minimum contribution $250.00. RSVP required prior to August 10th. For more information, directions and reservations, see www.SoCal4kucinich.com or call Jeeni at 760-525-1915 or email jeeni@kucinich.us. If you can't afford the suggested minimum contribution, I'm personally inviting you to come anyway. Give what you can. I want you to meet Dennis, so you'll know why I'm so committed to his campaign. If you'd like to volunteer to help at this event, call me at 760-529-9809. Kucinich for President 2008 ~ www.kucinich.us ~ 877-41-Dennis (877-413-3664) Directions & Parking Parking is very limited at the Chopra Center for Living, so when you RSVP please let us know which of these shuttle stops you'll be using: Solana Beach Train Station, 105 S. Cedros
Ave, Solana Beach, CA 92075 (just north of Lomas Santa Fe) Encinitas Town Hall: 505 S. Vulcan Avenue,
Encinitas, CA 92024 Mira Costa College, San Elijo Campus, 3333
Manchester Ave., Cardiff, CA 92007 There is limited valet parking available
at the Chopra Living Center. Let us know, when you RSVP, if this
is needed. RSVP at 760-529-9809 or email jeeni@kucinich.us. |
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Presidential candidates to
debate before huge union audience -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?news_6_3216 6 August 2007 CHICAGO - Seven Democratic
hopefuls will make their case Tuesday before the largest audience
of this early campaign season—the 15,000 union family members
expected at the AFL-CIO Presidential Candidates Forum at Chicago’s
Soldier Field. |
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Four Presidential Candidates
Lined Up For "The Daily Show" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 6, 2007 6:12 p.m. EST Shaveta Bansal - AHN News Writer read at source> http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008121225 New York, NY (AHN) - Presidential hopeful
Sen. Joseph Biden is all set to once again appear on Comedy Central's
satirical comedy program "The Daily Show." The Delaware
Democrat will be interviewed by the show's host Jon Stewart on
Wednesday as part of its 2008 election coverage, presciently
dubbed "Indecision 2008." |
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Democrats Raise Heat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118644161576589821.html?mod=googlenews_wsj WASHINGTON -- As a wave of mortgage foreclosures
buffets financial markets and feeds voter economic anxiety, Democratic
presidential candidates are jockeying to get ahead of the emerging
issue. The latest, Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton,
is scheduled to unveil today a plan to combat "mortgage
lending abuse" -- another example of the Democratic Party's
increasing willingness to explore new regulations on business
and markets. |
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Democrats sue bank over card
fraud --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jon Murray read at source> http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070806/LOCAL/708060434 The Indiana Democratic Party is suing National City Bank over a credit card issued to a former employee without the party's permission.
Party officials discovered the unauthorized
credit card after comptroller Kimberly Bostic, 29, left her job
in January. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court
in Indianapolis, says National City issued Bostic the card after
Bostic submitted a letter of authorization on party letterhead
containing the stamped signature of the wrong party officer. |
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Memo Says Republicans Will
Lose in 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://777denny.wordpress.com/2007/08/06....l-lose-in-2008/ A memo from Friends of Democracy Corps and sent by James Carville, Stan Greenberg and Ana Iparraguirre predicts that Republicans will suffer in 2008 due to the Iraq war. The report assets that “there really
could be another wave election,” and that “Republican
members in competitive districts face a range of trends that
are working against them, reflected in their deteriorating margin-a
10 point net advantage against them since mid-June. |
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Democrats happy to let Gonzales
dangle -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/....ck =3&cset=true WASHINGTON — Democrats are not winning
the battle to force Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales from office,
stymied by a legal system that gives the Bush administration
wide discretion to block investigations of itself. And they are
not getting the White House witnesses or records they have demanded
in recent weeks. |
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On the military solution in
Iraq -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Below are excerpts and links to some highlights from the speech. On the military solution in Iraq:
I know these guys. They're all my friends. Many of them have worked for me or worked with me, and I admire them, and they're doing a terrific job. And I admire Dave Petraeus. He's a fine officer, but he's going to do his best to make the surge work. That's his duty, and I think you can see by the results that where you put American troops, they're competent, they're capable, they're well led, they're well motivated, they're fearless, they do their duty, and of course they do make a difference. If you're a terrorist or you're Al Qaeda in Iraq or you're the Madhi's Army and you come face to face with American troops, you're in trouble. You take a shot at them, they shoot back. You miss, American troops hit. Our soldiers, they hit what they shoot at. They're trained to do that, and they're good, and I'm proud of them. But what we've got to do is create not an argument in the United States over the troops or their tactics, but raise the debate to the administration's strategies and policies in this region. Here's why: We can't succeed in Iraq with the numbers of troops, no matter how good they are, because you can't succeed in this war just by killing people or intimidating the opposition. Dave Petraeus would be the first one to tell you that. The military's part of the solution. It's not the answer. The answer's the politics.
On the Iraq debate:
What [President Bush and his administration] want to talk about is troops. They want to say they support our troops, and if we question the numbers of troops or their effectiveness, they want to say, 'You people don't support our troops. If you don't support our troops then you're not patriotic, and if you're not patriotic, then you don't have a voice.' I mean, that's what leaks out from everybody from Undersecretary Edelman and Vice President Cheney all the way down in every dialog. When we argue about troops, what we're doing is we're playing on George Bush's home court. That's what he likes. Now, I'm not up here saying, 'Okay, let's go play on his court. Let's say he's only put 170,000 troops. The Democrats, we should put 270,000 troops in.' Listen, I would've done it if I'd had it at the beginning. I wouldn't have gone into the mission, but having the decision been made, it was clear we didn't, we've never had enough troops to do the job. But you're not going to change the policy by arguing about the troop strength. We've done it. We're on record. We want the troops home, but may I suggest that if we can raise the dialogue, take it away from George Bush's safe ground of troops and people in uniform and 'How dare you question these Generals and these people in uniform that are so patriotic,' and say, 'No, we're not questioning the Generals. Mr. President, we are questioning YOU, your administration, your leadership!' I want you to say to President Bush, 'Mr. President, stop hiding behind Dave Petraeus and come out here and defend YOUR strategy! This is your war. You defend it.' I mean, I've been there in uniform, and when your boss tells you, 'Go in there and do the best you can,' you do the best you can, and you try to make it work. And that's what Dave Petraeus is doing, but you can't win it with what Dave Petraeus is doing. The only person who can make a difference is the person who controls the overall strategy in the region. We need your help. We need you to hammer on the theme of the strategy and the policies. Stop isolating people we disagree with. Start engaging. Come out with some real American leadership instead of simply leading by sending men and women in uniform into combat.
If you would like to watch the entire speech, (http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vZ2E0Lm9yZy9jdC9GcGEzOFM2MU1YbmUvc3BlZWNo). You can also watch other highlight clips from the speech here (http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vZ2E0Lm9yZy9jdC8tMWEzOFM2MU1YbmQvaGlnaGxpZ2h0cw==). Then forward this to everyone you know. Help us change the terms of the Iraq debate and bring our troops home safely. Show them the leadership on national security
issues that General Clark brings to the Democratic party! |
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A Breath Of Fresh Air In Post-Katrina
Mississippi -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.democrats.com/node/13910 Today’s a big day in Mississippi. While there are plenty of contested local races throughout the state—particularly on the Republican side, the insurance commissioner is the most important statewide race because it impacts every individual, family, community, and every form of government inside the state. Here on the coast, electing Gary Anderson as the Democratic nominee and booting out George Dale from office would clearly send more than a few ripples of joy throughout the Katrina-ravaged region. You see, the insurance crisis impacts so many things that most of us—myself included—just don’t think about until it is pointed out. For example, I’m hearing how drug and alcohol abuse among teens and adults has dramatically increased since Katrina. Kids have no where to go—not a movie theater, skating rink, nothing. What is there to do? How are they to channel all the usual that comes with being a teen and all the unusual that resides inside of them because of Katrina’s impact? Their friends may be scattered to the winds. The kids may have had to deal with death of friends or family members. Their homes may be gone, schools destroyed, social groups evaporated. Their families finances shattered because of jobs no longer available since most businesses were lost in Katrina. On top of that, little to no money for rebuilding the family home. We know that communities everywhere struggle with this issue of teens and having places for them to go and activities to keep them occupied in healthy ways. Put on top of that having lost everything they’ve ever known including their social network that helps them go through those difficult years that transform kids into young adults. No wonder drugs and alcohol are rampant. |
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YearlyKos' popularity with
Dem presidential candidates indicates a move to the left -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Liberal bloggers' convention packs in Democratic headliners, while presidential candidates skip centrist DLC's meeting Tuesday, read at source> http://www.cleveland.com/politics/plaind....0910.xml&coll=2 August 07, 2007 The Democratic Party's top dogs weren't
out to see the resurgent Cubs or downtown's magnificent Millennium
Park. They stayed indoors, wooing 1,400 liberal bloggers and
activists at the second YearlyKos convention. Clinton may have
declined to call herself a liberal during last month's CNN/YouTube
forum - she said she thought of herself as a "proud, modern
American progressive" - but the Democrats she and her rivals
courted last weekend take great pride in the L-word. |
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Democracy Activists in Burma
Mark 1988 Uprising -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-08-voa67.cfm About 500 activists and opponents of Burma's
military-ruled government have held a rare ceremony inside the
country to mark the deaths of hundreds of people killed in a
nationwide pro-democracy uprising nearly two decades ago. |
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Japan’s Democracy Comes
of Age -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After decades of near paralysis, Japan’s stultified political system starts to get interesting read at source> http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?op....d=623&Itemid=31 A slow motion political evolution that
commenced some 15 years ago in Japan is beginning to bear fruit.
The long quest to transform the country into a competitive, two-party
democracy is closer to realization than some, including longtime
Japan watchers, are willing to admit. It was first manifested
in the Liberal Democratic Party’s blowout in 2005. Last
week the opposition Democratic Party of Japan returned the favor,
handing the LDP an historic defeat in the election for half of
the House of Councilors, Japan’s senate. |
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Democracy — A Strategy
for Fair Conflict Resolution -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof. Dr. Thomas Meyer, Dortmund University, Germany read at source> http://telegraphnepal.com/news_det.php?news_id=1698 In the struggle to establish democracy and in the cases of its failure in countries outside of the European Union, opponents of democracy often raise the objection that it is in fact only a culture of the West and therefore not so suitable for the rest of the world. It is something foreign to them. In the process, reference is often made to the history of European imperialism, along with the comment that it left behind a doubtful legacy of democracy when it withdrew from its former colonies. According to this objection, the establishment of democracy is only supposed to open the door in order to secure the influence of the dominant western market economy in the respective countries. Whoever shares such objections is no longer interested in improving and stabilizing democracy, but rather can be easily recruited for authoritarian regimes. This idea completely misjudges the nature,
the goals, and the possibilities of democracy and ignores the
conditions and the conflict of interests which contributed to
the rise of democracy in Europe. In the discussions of the 1980s
and 1990s of the 20th century, political power holders, especially
in Southeast Asia, raised this objection against democracy. In
general, it was connected with a similar restriction on the general
validity of human rights. |
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Congress Investigates Yahoos
Role In Chinese Crackdown Of Democracy And The Media – Shi
Tao Sent To Prison For 10 Years --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submitted by Dan Wilson on August 7, 2007 - 7:07pm read at source> http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=080707...._to_chinese.htm (Best Syndication) The House of Representatives is looking into whether Yahoo lied to Congress concerning a Chinese reporter who was sent to prison for 10 years. Reporter, poet and editor, Shi Tao, ran into hot water with Chinese authorities when he posted a document concerning the Communist Party on an overseas Chinese democracy site. The document concerned the crackdown on media and democracy in China. The House Foreign Affairs Committee announced the probe last Friday after reviewing the testimony of Yahoo senior vice-president and general counsel Michael Callahan. There are questions concerning Yahoo’s co-operation with Chinese authorities in the case against Tao.
Chairman Tom Lantos will be investigating whether “Yahoo! misrepresented the company’s role in a human rights case in China that sent a journalist to jail for a decade.”
“It is bad enough that a wealthy American
company would willingly supply Chinese police the means to hunt
a man down for shedding light on repression in China,” said
Lantos, who also co-chairs the Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
“Covering up such a despicable practice when Congress seeks
an explanation is a serious offense. For a firm engaged in the
information industry, Yahoo! sure has a lot of secrecy to answer
for. We expect to learn the truth, and to hold the company to
account.” |
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Iraqi Oil Law Impasse: Good
News for Democracy? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.accuracy.org/newsrelease.php?articleId=1535 Iraqis oppose plans to open the country's
oilfields to foreign investment by a ratio of two to one, according
to a poll released yesterday. |
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Meet on ‘Youth and democracy
in South East Asia’ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Express News Service read at source> http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=249762 Pune, August 7: AROUND 40 students from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, China, Austria, Maldives, Kazakhstan, France, Bhutan and Bolivia will join Indian students in the celebrations to commemorate 60th year of Indian Independence. City-based Center for Youth Development and Activities (CYDA) is organising a four-day international conference on ‘Youth and democracy in South Asia’ from August 11-14 at the YMCA. The meet will see youth coming together
to discuss varied issues like role of young parliamentarians
in democracy, role of women in democracy, freedom of speech with
special reference to South Asia and so on. Politicians, activists,
campaigners, academics would be participating in the seminar.
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Most Americans critical of
US foreign policy: poll -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Masood Haider read at source> http://www.dawn.com/2007/08/08/top14.htm NEW YORK, Aug 7: Public opinion poll in the US has revealed on Monday that a majority of “Americans believe that people around the world are growing more afraid that the US will use force against them and that this diminishes US national security and increases the likelihood that countries will pursue weapons of mass destruction”. The poll released by a non-profit organisation named World Public Opinion (which compiles a digest of polls), says that Americans “believe that the US is viewed negatively by people in other countries and see this as derived primarily from the current US foreign policy, not American values.” |
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India's vibrant democracy
turns 60 - Feature -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted : Tue, 07 Aug 2007 06:10:19 GMT
read at source> http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/90864.html New Delhi - From a nation beset with widespread
poverty and illiteracy and riven by secessionist strife, India's
rise as an economic and political power 60 years after it won
independence can be attributed chiefly to its robust democracy
and civil-society institutions. India holds the distinction of
being the world's largest democracy, with freely contested elections
at regular intervals. This is a monumental task by itself, with
620 million people - a tenth of humanity - registered to exercise
its franchise. |
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Georgia urges emergency UN
council meeting on missile dispute --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.chinaview.cn 2007-08-09 05:37:05 read at source> http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/09/content_6498203.htm UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Georgia
is seeking a special meeting of the UN Security Council to address
its recent missile dispute with Russia, Georgia's deputy permanent
representative to the UN said Wednesday. |
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Koreas agree to hold summit
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.hindu.com/2007/08/09/stories/2007080956521400.htm SINGAPORE: In a surprise move, the two Koreas on Wednesday announced their intention to hold a bilateral summit in Pyongyang on August 28-30. The timing of the decision, at a sensitive stage in the six-party process related to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, has sparked both hope and caution in the region. The summit, only the second such event since June 2000, will also take place in Pyongyang. The parleys would “provide momentum to settle the North Korean nuclear problem,” it was officially stated in Seoul. The meeting between South Korean President
Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il “is expected
to contribute to peace and prosperity on the Korean peninsula.”
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Iraqi Leader Talks Security
in Iran -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/08/ap4000466.html TEHRAN, Iran - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki appealed to Iran on Wednesday for greater cooperation
in easing his country's violence, even as the United States has
stepped up accusations that Tehran is arming Iraqi Shiite militants. |
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Governor's health care solution:
Mandatory coverage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By DIANA DEL MAURO | The New Mexican read at source> http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/66220.html Tue Aug 7, 2007 8:45 pm Expert says Richardson’s $100 billion proposal 'good' but not a standout Gov. Bill Richardson on Tuesday fleshed out his $100 billion national plan for universal health care, which contains a few unique features but fails to set him far apart from the other Democratic presidential candidates, according to one analyst. “I think it’s a very sensible
plan, but it doesn’t differentiate him from the pack,”
Leif Wellington Haase, director of New America Foundation’s
California program and former health care fellow at The Century
Foundation, said in a telephone interview. |
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California to recertify insecure
voting machines -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200....g-machines.html California Secretary of State Debra Bowen announced on Friday that the state hopes to recertify and continue using electronic voting machines produced by Diebold, Sequoia, and Hart, even though the machines have known security vulnerabilities and severe flaws. The state government decided that the machines can still be used as long as the vendors adhere to a lengthy list of requirements that aim to limit the potential for security breaches and machine failure. |
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make sure that everyone's
vote counts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If we really want to compete in all 50 states, we have to do more than ask for everybody's vote -- we have to make sure that everyone's vote counts. That's why Gov. Dean announced that the organizers hired to work in all 50 states are going to go to every single county in the country to find out how they plan to run the 2008 elections. Make a donation of $20, $50 or $100 to help Democratic Party organizers protect everyone's vote: http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVotes The Democratic Party won in 2006 because we fought back early and aggressively. We put the Republicans on the defensive and demanded accountability for years of failed policies. We can do even better in 2008 -- and it starts by working hard in 2007. Every single county has different policies for how they assign voting locations, what types of machines are used, what types of early voting are allowed, what methods people can use to register. The Democratic Party wants to know about the problems your voting location has now, not on Election Day. Help the Democrats make it happen by donating $20, $50 or $100 to the Democratic Party's 50-state operation: http://www.democrats.org/ProtectTheVotes As Gov. Dean said last week, protecting the right of every eligible American to vote is our party's top priority. It's good for America, and it's good for our democracy. Thank you for your help with this unprecedented effort. Sincerely, Tom McMahon P.S. The DNC is working on the ground -- but we're also taking to the airwaves. The DNC, along with the Senate and House campaign committees just released a commercial to counter the Republican spin machine and highlight our New Direction for America. Check it out here:
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Democratic presidential candidates
come out punching at debate sponsored by AFL-CIO. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/222723.html CHICAGO | The two front-runners in the
Democratic presidential race vigorously defended themselves Tuesday
against criticisms of their stands on terrorism and corporate
influence. |
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Fla.: Ex-Commissioner Charged
With Fraud -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/08/ap4000219.html WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A former Palm Beach County commissioner faces jail time on fraud and tax evasion charges. Warren Newell is expected to be arraigned Wednesday on charges of honest services fraud and tax evasion. Federal prosecutors say he pocketed more than $500,000 in illicit profits through "corrupt schemes." The 52-year-old faces up to five years in prison and about $400,000 in fines and forfeitures. Newell was seeking re-election to a fifth term when he resigned July 17. The governor will appoint his successor. Newell is the fourth elected official in
the county to face corruption charges since last year. |
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Democrats Debate Infrastructure
Needs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3456870 Democratic presidential candidates said
Tuesday the nation should invest more money in infrastructure
and less in the Iraq war, citing the Minneapolis bridge collapse
as a symptom of neglect. |
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Democrats Raise Heat On Mortgage
Overhaul -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Christopher Cooper read at source> http://www.realestatejournal.com/buysell....jrss=frontpage As a wave of mortgage foreclosures buffets
financial markets and feeds voter economic anxiety, Democratic
presidential candidates are jockeying to get ahead of the emerging
issue. The latest, Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton,
is scheduled to unveil today a plan to combat "mortgage
lending abuse" -- another example of the Democratic Party's
increasing willingness to explore new regulations on business
and markets. |
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Democrats debate before union
members in Chicago -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 7, 2007 By John McCormick and Stephen Franklin
| Tribune staff reporters read at source> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/natio....ack=1&cset=true Two of the leading Democratic presidential
candidates found themselves repeatedly under attack Tuesday evening
at Soldier Field, one for recent foreign policy statements and
the other for taking money from lobbyists. |
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Democrats balk at tax proposals
floated by Republicans -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press - August 8, 2007 12:55 PM ET read at source> http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=6904151 MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Republican legislators are pushing for a property tax freeze and for rejecting a fee increase for home sellers during the state budget negotiations today. Predictably, Democrats are not supportive of the proposals. They say the ideas are nothing more than
a restatement of positions taken in the budget passed by the
Republican-controlled Assembly and not an attempt at compromise. |
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Democrats press FCC over Dow
Jones sale -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jim Puzzanghera and Joseph Menn read at source> http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.murdoch08aug08,0,5691329.story WASHINGTON - Federal rules try to limit media power by prohibiting a company from owning a newspaper and a TV station in the same city. Billionaire Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
faces no such hurdle in its pending deal to acquire the country's
second-largest paper, Dow Jones & Co.'s The Wall Street Journal,
even though it owns a broadcast TV network and a national cable
news channel that blankets the U.S. |
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War on Terror Takes Focus
at Democrats’ Debate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By JEFF ZELENY and STEVEN GREENHOUSE read at source> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/us/politics/08dems.html?_r=1&oref=slogin CHICAGO, Aug. 7 — The Democratic presidential
candidates tangled over foreign policy Tuesday night, criticizing
Senator Barack Obama for proposing an attack against Al Qaeda
in Pakistan. He struck back at his rivals who had supported the
Iraq war, saying they had “engineered the biggest foreign
policy disaster of our time.” |
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U.S. Democrats debate on Iraq,
other issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/08/content_6492960.htm WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Seven Democratic presidential candidates on Tuesday evening attacked U.S. President George W. Bush administration's Iraq policy and agreed that the United States should withdraw its troops from Iraq. "We went into Iraq, a war that we
should have never authorized and should not have been waged,"
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a front-runner in the Democratic
field, said at televised the AFL-CIO presidential forum in Chicago.
The debate was broadcast live by MSNBC. |
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Democratic presidential candidates
head to Chicago -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Philip Maddocks -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.townonline.com/framingham/opinion/x126634988 Framingham - "We’ve opened ourselves up to YouTube and bloggers, now it’s time we pressed our case with the machines that make it all work, that are the heart, soul and brains of the Internet," said Democratic presidential candidate Christopher Dodd. Though he is well back of the frontrunners in the polls, Dodd vowed "to keep on fighting the good fight as long as I have my Web site." All eight Democratic contenders will be
present for the second YearlyDomainProtocol convention, which
opens today., and they all hailed the event as a fresh beginning
for a democracy that is "as much virtual as actual." |
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CHANGING THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 11, 2007 States Try to Alter How Presidents Are Elected By JENNIFER STEINHAUER read at source> http://accomackdems.wordpress.com/2007/08/12/changing-the-electoral-college/ LOS ANGELES, Aug. 10 — When state Democratic leaders from around the country meet this weekend in Vermont, the California chairman, Art Torres, expects to be peppered with the sort of questions that have been clogging his in-box for weeks. What is this about Republicans trying to change the way Electoral College votes are allocated in California? Is there a countereffort by Democrats in the works? What does it mean for presidential candidates? Frustrated by a system that has marginalized many states in the presidential election process, or seeking partisan advantage, state lawmakers, political party leaders and voting rights advocates across the country are stepping up efforts to change the rules of the game, even as the presidential campaign advances. In California, this has led to a nascent Republican bid to apportion the state’s electoral votes by Congressional district, not by statewide vote, in a move that most everyone agrees would benefit Republican candidates. Democrats in North Carolina are mulling a similar move, because it would help Democrats there. In more than a dozen states, the efforts
have also led to a game of leapfrog in the scheduling of presidential
primary and caucus dates. Most recently, on Thursday, Republicans
in South Carolina moved their primary to January from February
to get ahead of Florida’s. |
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Democrats advocate better
treatment of soldiers in radio address -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://digg.com/politics/Democrats_advoc....n_radio_address Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher from California
delivered the Democratic response to President Bush ’s radio
address this week. Last week, the House passed her bill that
intends to stop the Pentagon from sending soldiers to Iraq without
adequate rest or training. |
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Electronic Voting Machines
Issue Goes To Court -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Democratic Party, State Officials Argue About Voting Machines read at source> http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_223134406.html (AP) The Texas Democratic Party today argued that its lawsuit against the state over eSlate electronic voting equipment has merit and should proceed. The dispute is being heard in federal court in Austin. Lawyers for the Democrats contend the equipment,
in some cases, doesn't properly record straight-party votes. |
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Democrats Say Leaving Iraq
May Take Years -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By JEFF ZELENY and MARC SANTORA read at source> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/us/pol....d1d5&ei=5087%0A DES MOINES, Aug. 11 — Even as they
call for an end to the war and pledge to bring the troops home,
the Democratic presidential candidates are setting out positions
that could leave the United States engaged in Iraq for years. |
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Local Democrats urged to back
Clinton -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BY REID J. EPSTEIN | reid.epstein@newsday.com
read at source> http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usobam125329581aug12,0,71374.story Local Democrats, with the urging of Gov.
Eliot Spitzer and Sen. Charles Schumer, were expected to jump
on Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bandwagon, especially
after the senator won a sweeping re-election victory with overwhelming
margins in New York City and Long Island. |
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Welcome to the Jungle: US
Military Psychological Operations and You -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by Heather Wokusch on August 12, 2007 - 8:28am. read at source> http://www.democrats.com/node/13979 "...the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other." - Benjamin Franklin, 1787 They say that if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out, but that if you raise the pot's heat gradually, the frog won't react. The US public has been on a slow boil since 2001. This administration's rollbacks have been so consistent and so egregious that it's no surprise many Americans feel apathetic. And that begs the question: What exactly would it take to get the US public spurred into action? Sentient World Simulation (SWS) may have an answer. It's a computer-based project designed to "generate alternative futures" and no surprise, the US Defense Department is actively involved. According to one of the project's developers, Purdue University professor Alok Chaturvedi, "SWS will consist of a synthetic environment that mirrors the real world in all it key aspects - Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, and Infrastructure." The goal is to copy each person on earth into the SWS parallel universe, and then see how they respond to external events such as natural disasters or political upheavals. The concept paper Chaturvedi co-authored additionally notes, "SWS provides an environment for testing Psychological Operations (PSYOP)," to help the military "develop and test multiple courses of action to anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners." To anticipate and shape behaviors of adversaries, neutrals, and partners. Blurring the lines between military and civilian Psychological Operations is nothing new. In 1989, US forces in Panama blasted Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" into the Vatican Embassy during negotiations for the handover of General Manuel Noriega, and from 1998-1999, US military PSYOP personnel interned at both CNN and NPR. More recently, a 2003 Pentagon document called Information Operations Roadmap detailed the US military's approach to exploiting information in order to "keep pace with warfighter needs and support defense transformation." Personally approved by former Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, the document was declassified in 2006 and covers everything from the Pentagon's plans for Computer Network Attack ("We Must Fight the Net") to beefing up the use of Psychological Operations ("We Must Improve PSYOP") to manipulating information through means including: "Radio/ TV/Print/ Web media designed to directly modify behavior and distributed in theater supporting military endeavors in semi or non-permissive environment." While The Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 forbids US propaganda intended for foreign audiences from being used domestically, Information Operations Roadmap acknowledges that "information intended for foreign audiences, including public diplomacy and PSYOP, increasingly is consumed by our domestic audience and vice-versa." The 2003 Pentagon document adds, "the distinction between foreign and domestic audiences becomes more a question of USG [U.S. government] intent rather than information dissemination practices." Perhaps that's why a top US general ordered public affairs to be joined with combat PSYOP into one "strategic communications office" in Iraq in the summer of 2004. Domestically, it doesn't help that SWS and other developments in military Psychological Operations are accompanied by rollbacks in the right to dissent and bipartisan support of government surveillance of American citizens. Makes you wish our cyberspace clones could tell us how best to fight the Matrix. At the very least, we must become more vigilant about the ongoing use of military PSYOP and misinformation – the Pat Tillman case is a perfect example. Holding the Defense Department and media accountable for every mislead regarding the Bush administration's military adventurism is more important than ever. Action Ideas: 1. For a great database on the Bush Administration's misleads about Iraq, see Rep. Henry A. Waxman's Iraq on the Record. (http://oversight.house.gov/IraqOnTheRecord). 2. One Defense Department group particularly especially interested in these topics is The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Its Information Exploitation Office, (http://dtsn.darpa.mil/ixo/) for example, is focused on "shaping the battlespace before conflict" and its site is filled with snappy computer graphics reminiscent of militaristic video games. Taxpayer dollars hard at work. 3. For media watchdog groups, check out Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (http://www.fair.org) and Media Matters for America (http://mediamatters.org) 4. Had enough? E-mail, call or write the White House, Congress or state and local government at http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/. Heather Wokusch is the author of The Progressives'
Handbook: Get the Facts and Make a Difference Now series. For
a linked version of the article or to contact Heather, visit
www.heatherwokusch.com. |
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U.S.'s Iraq Surge Likely to
Fail, U.K. Lawmakers Say -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aXn3SRi.yt2E&refer=uk Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. military ``surge'' in Iraq, which added 30,000 troops to quell an insurgency, probably will fail, a panel of lawmakers in the U.K. Parliament said. ``It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the U.S. `surge' but it does not look likely to succeed,'' the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee wrote in a report. Success ``will ultimately ride on whether Iraq's politicians are able to reach agreement on a number of key issues.'' The cross-party panel of lawmakers called on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to set out a policy to promote reconciliation between rival political factions in Iraq. The U.S. force in Iraq reached 162,000 soldiers last week, the most since the war begin in 2003. President George W. Bush faces a deadline to show progress made from his surge strategy by September, when General David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, will give Congress an assessment. The U.K. has been lowering its troop levels
in the south of Iraq, from 46,000 at the peak of combat operations
four years ago to 5,500 at the end of May. |
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Clinton to run first TV ads
in Iowa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R07QQ80.htm Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton will launch
her first television ads of the presidential campaign in Iowa
where polls show her in a tight race with rivals Barack Obama
and John Edwards, a source familiar with the campaign's strategy
told The Associated Press Monday. |
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Japan FM touts economic plan
in Mideast -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R06KD00.htm AMMAN, Jordan Japan said Monday it can boost peace prospects between Israel and the Palestinians with a new economic initiative aimed at building cooperation between the two sides. |
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Upcoming Presidential Election
Will Set Stage For Future Political -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20070813k At the National Urban League's recent annual conference, our presidential candidates forum illustrated just how difficult the choice for president will be among African Americans of all political affiliations, in light of the strong field of contenders from both sides of the aisle. From Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich's impassioned
plea for universal health care to New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's
plan to put all the nation's children on the path to success
to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's idea of holding a White House
summit on minority business to former North Carolina Sen. John
Edwards' ongoing fight against poverty, all four presidential
contenders threw their arms around the Urban League's Opportunity
Compact, a public policy blueprint for a stronger urban America.
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Sen. Feingold Seeks Citizen
Sponsors for Censure Resolutions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just in from Senator Feingold: Over the last week, I've held Listening Sessions across Wisconsin and heard the same sort of comments that thousands of people like you have emailed my way over the last week - it's time to hold the President, and his administration, accountable. Become A Citizen Co-Sponsor of Censure The President and Vice President led our nation into an unwise war, under false pretenses, without adequate planning, and have mismanaged the situation that continues today. The President and Attorney General have time and time again thumbed their noses at the Constitution and the rule of law - on everything from warrantless wiretapping to undermining Congress' role to conduct adequate oversight. If Congress stands by and does nothing to hold this administration responsible, we open the door for this President, and future presidents, to continue to undermine the very foundation of our government whenever they see fit. The President, Vice President and Attorney General must be held accountable citizen censure > http://ga1.org/campaign/censure07?source=web_censure07 |
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citizen censure president
for breach -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the false assertion that Iraq was linked to al-Qaeda, to that claim that Iraq harbored weapons of mass destruction that threatened the U.S., to insufficient war planning, to manipulating intelligence data to suit their ideology, to fiscal mismanagement of the war; this administration has failed our country at every turn and must be held to account. Second Resolution: The President and the Attorney General must be condemned for their blatant disregard for the rule of law and the Constitution. From the implementation of the illegal, domestic wiretapping program, to the use of military commissions, to redefining torture, to the politicization and mishandling of the U.S. Attorney scandal, to the refusal to comply with congressional subpoenas; the Bush White House, time and time again, has thumbed its nose at the law. If Congress does not censure the President, the Vice President and the Attorney General, we will be tacitly condoning their actions, and undermining the very foundation on which our country was founded. I therefore sign on as a citizen co-sponsor of Senator Feingold's resolutions to censure the President, Vice President, and the Attorney General.
sign the censure> http://ga1.org/campaign/censure07?qp_source=web%5fcensure07
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Democrats invite voters to
take part in the political process -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: 8/15/2007 As the chairman of the Lyon County Democratic
Central Committee I would like the voters of Lyon County to know
the Democratic Central Committee is extending an open invitation
to Democrats and disaffected voters of other parties to join
in selecting the best qualified candidate for the presidency
of the United States. |
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Democrats gain among US voters,
but support is soft -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0816/p01s02-uspo.html Washington - Political strategist Karl Rove has long dreamed of an America where a clear majority of voters are Republicans. But he's leaving the White House at a time when GOP popularity is at its lowest ebb in years. In 2002 the two great parties that govern
the nation were at rough parity in terms of adherents. But now
half of US voters lean toward or identify themselves as Democrats,
according to figures by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center in
Washington. The corresponding figure for Republicans has slid
to 35 percent. |
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Ark. gov: Act on health care
now -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R1NS1G0.htm Gov. Mike Beebe told a group of health
advocates Wednesday that states like Arkansas have to find ways
to expand health care options on their own instead of waiting
for guidance from the federal government |
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Passport headaches costing
nearly $1B -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R1NNVO2.htm The nation's passport headaches may be
easing a bit, but now comes the bill: almost $1 billion. |
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Middle East: Peace through
joint venture -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R1LBGG0.htm The foreign ministers of Israel, Jordan
and Japan sat down with a senior Palestinian delegation in the
West Bank on Wednesday to launch plans for a joint Israeli-Palestinian
agroindustrial park. |
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U.S. seeks Iran funding clampdown -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R1K2Q00.htm The Bush administration's move to blacklist
Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist" organization
is a new salvo in a broader effort to choke off funding to Iranian
elements accused of developing nuclear weapons and fomenting
violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East. |
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Ahmadinejad to attend security
summit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R1FS800.htm Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived
Wednesday in Kyrgyzstan to join the leaders of Russia and China
for a summit of a regional group seen as a platform for countering
U.S. interests in strategic, energy-rich Central Asia |
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Watchdog asks U.N. to help
reporters -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R1ETLG1.htm A journalists' watchdog group said Tuesday
it sent a letter to the U.N. chief asking him to intervene in
the cases of two Iranian journalists who were sentenced to death
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Democratic Candidates to Participate
in Univision’s Historic Presidential Forum -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site....983&newsLang=en NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Univision Communications Inc., the nation’s leading Spanish-language media company, and the University of Miami, one of the top research universities in the U.S., will hold two historic forums that will focus exclusively on the issues of particular interest to the Hispanic community, which comprises the fastest growing segment of the U.S. electorate. The events will be broadcast in primetime on the most significant Spanish-language media outlets in the country – Univision’s television, radio and online platforms. The Democratic candidates participating in the forum, in alphabetical order are: Senator Joe Biden, Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Chris Dodd, Senator John Edwards, Senator Mike Gravel, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Senator Barack Obama and Governor Bill Richardson. The Democratic Candidate Forum will be held on Sunday, September 9th at the University of Miami’s BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Florida. |
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Democrats promote health care
plans -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles....3390012572b.txt WATERLOO, Iowa -- A parade of Democratic
presidential candidates touted the virtues of universal health
care and criticized unfair international trade practices Wednesday
afternoon at the annual Iowa Federation of Labor convention. |
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Democrats target electoral-vote
plan that could tilt 2008 race -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6636380?nclick_check=1 LOS ANGELES—Leading Democrats are uniting with Hollywood producer Steven Bing and hedge fund manager Tom Steyer to block a California ballot proposal they fear could hand the 2008 presidential election to the Republican nominee. A lawyer with ties to the Republican Party wants California voters to change the way the nation's most populous state awards its electoral votes—a proposal Democrats call a power grab but supporters describe as a blueprint for fairness in presidential contests. California allots its cache of 55 electoral votes to the statewide winner in presidential elections, a practice followed in most states. But the proposal calls for awarding only two electoral votes to the statewide winner and the rest would be distributed to the winning candidate in each of the state's congressional districts. The change, in effect, would create 53 races with one electoral vote each that would make the state into a grab-bag for candidates in both parties. California has voted Democratic in the last four presidential elections. The change—if it qualifies for the June primary ballot and is approved by voters—would mean that a Republican would be positioned the following November to snatch 20 or more electoral votes in GOP-leaning districts. That's a number equal to winning Ohio. In what is shaping up as an important subplot to the 2008 race, a political committee is being formed by Steyer that will raise money—possibly tens of millions of dollars—to defeat the GOP-backed idea. The committee is being supported by U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Democratic leaders in the Legislature. The proposal is a "power grab orchestrated by the Republicans," Feinstein and Boxer said in a joint statement. It's "another cynical move to keep the presidency in Republican control." Democrats were scheduled to announce formation
of the committee, Californians for Fair Election Reform, Thursday.
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Democrats pledge to protect
workers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.journalgroup.com/Westland/5686/democrats-pledge-to-protect-workers If Michigan Democrats have their way, businesses will have to do more than just invest in the state to receive tax incentives. They’ll have to put Michigan workers first. Democrats are touting a package of bills
that fall under the umbrella of the ‘Hire Michigan First’
plan, according to State Rep. Marc Corriveau (D-Northville).
The package would give preference to companies that pledge to
hire Michigan workers and crack down on companies that hire illegal
immigrants, he said. |
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Democrats invite voters to
take part in the political process -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: 8/15/2007 read at source> http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl....50303/1144/NEWS Editor: As the chairman of the Lyon County Democratic
Central Committee I would like the voters of Lyon County to know
the Democratic Central Committee is extending an open invitation
to Democrats and disaffected voters of other parties to join
in selecting the best qualified candidate for the presidency
of the United States. |
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Benazir for peaceful revival
of democracy in Pakistan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200708152125.htm New York, Aug. 15 (PTI): Calling for political
options for Pakistan's peaceful transition to democracy, former
Premier Benazir Bhutto has sought "an end to militants who
tried to "hijack our foreign policy" by attacking the
Indian Parliament and other sites in the neighbouring country.
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Vote Will Test Kazakhstan's
Democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/08/16/017.html ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Parliamentary elections will be held in Kazakhstan on Saturday in a test of its leader's commitment to democratic reform, a commitment he may have already undermined by seizing the right to remain in office for life. |
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PML-N President calls for
restoration of true democracy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.app.com.pk/en/index.php?optio....=14882&Itemid=2 LONDON, Aug 15 (APP): President, Pakistan Muslim League-N, Shahbaz Sharif has said democracy remains key to the progress and prosperity of the South Asian country. Addressing an Independence Day function organised by his party in the East London locality of Ilford on Tuesday evening, the PML-N leader said civilian rule was essential for Pakistan to address the problems facing the country. He expressed his determination to return
home along with his brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
to play their role for the service of the country. He said the
people of Pakistan desire that military should confine its role
to the defence of the country. |
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War On Democracy TV Premiere
- 20th August -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.tvscoop.tv/2007/08/war_on_democrac.html In his second inauguration address George
Bush mentioned the words ‘democracy’ and ‘liberty’
21 times. However, in his latest film, Bafta winning documentary
maker John Pilger argues that far from bringing democracy to
the world as it claims, the US is doing its best to stifle its
progress. The War on Democracy (TV premiere 20th August 11pm
ITV1) explores the brutal reality behind America’s notions
of 'spreading democracy' – suggesting that America is actually
conducting a war on democracy. |
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Obama Pledges Most Transparent,
Accountable Administration in History -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Earnest FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 15, 2007 Contact: Josh Earnest: 515.229.9571 Tommy Vietor: 515.418.7972
Obama Pledges Most Transparent and Accountable Administration in History Illinois Senator Says He’ll “Take the Blinders” Off the White House
CEDAR FALLS – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today said that as President, he will enact sweeping reforms to dramatically increase transparency and accountability in government to make it responsive and accountable to the American people. The Illinois Senator outlined his plan in remarks that highlighted his record of fighting for ethics and lobbying reforms that were unpopular with political insiders while in the U.S. Senate and the Illinois state Senate. “More and more, the real business of our democracy isn’t done in town halls or public meetings or even in the open halls of Congress,” Obama said. “Decisions are made in closed-door meetings, or with the silent stroke of the President’s pen, or because some lobbyist got some Congressman to slip his pet project into a bill during the dead of night. We have to take the blinders off the White House. The more people know about what’s going on in Washington, and how their tax dollars are being spent, and who’s raising money for who, the less likely it is that major decisions will be hijacked by lobbyists and special interests.” Obama said that as President, he will post all bills brought to his desk online for five days before they are signed. He also said that all meetings between lobbyists and government agencies will be posted online, a marked contrast to Vice President Cheney’s efforts to hide the activities of his secret energy taskforce. Obama also discussed a law he co-authored in the U.S. Senate that requires all government spending to be posted online, and his efforts in Illinois State Senate to create hospital report cards so that every consumer could better understand the quality of care they could expect at each hospital. “I know it’s easy to be cynical
about politics in this country,” Obama said. “I understand
that cynicism. But I’ve always said that when the American
people are paying attention – when they’re involved
and engaged and informed about what’s going on in their
government – then good things happen. I’ve spent my
life trying to open up the political process to people, and I
believe we can do it again. And when we do that, we will have
a government that listens to their voices and finally responds
to their best hopes once more.” |
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Biden to Make Campaign Stops
Across Iowa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Victoria Dillon FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
CONTACT: Mark Paustenbach/ 515-440-2008 Annie Tomasini/302-428-5427 press@joebiden.com
SEN. BIDEN TO MAKE CAMPAIGN STOPS ACROSS IOWA Will Speak At State Fair and Participate in ABC News Presidential Debate
Des Moines, Iowa (August 13, 2007): After a busy weekend in the Hawkeye State which featured campaign stops by his wife, Jill and sons, Beau and Hunter, Sen. Joe Biden will return to the Iowa campaign trail this Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 to campaign in Central and Eastern Iowa.
On Wednesday, Biden will speak at the Iowa
State Fair in Des Moines -where he will address fairgoers at
the Des Moines Register Soap Box- and the AFL-CIO Forum in Waterloo
before finishing the day in Waverly. He will meet with Buchanan
County Democrats in Independence, followed by a stop in Manchester
during the day Thursday. On Saturday, he will meet with Scott
County Democrats at State Sen. Joe Seng’s home in Davenport
and attend Rep. Polly Bukta’s Old Fashioned Corn Boil in
Clinton before addressing the Hawkeye Labor Council Forum in
Cedar Rapids. On Sunday morning, Sen. Biden will participate
in the ABC News / Iowa Democratic Party Debate hosted by Drake
University in Des Moines. |
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What Polls Can and Can't Tell
Us in Presidential Politics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-westen/what-polls-can-and-cant-_b_60597.html The polling season has started early. Nearly
a year and a half before the general election, we are already
in the midst of the horserace. On the right side of the aisle,
straw polls just in from Iowa have already shown what anyone
who can read the nonverbal writing on the wall would have already
known from watching the most recent debates (see the Huffington
Post blog of the debate): that Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee
can connect with voters. |
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Canada rejects asylum to Guantanamo
detainees -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canadian Press read at source> http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/st....0816?hub=Canada OTTAWA -- The Canadian government balked at several requests from Washington to provide asylum to men cleared for release from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, say newly released documents. The material, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, indicates the Bush administration asked Canada to accept detainees of Uighur decent from China's Xinjiang region who were deemed to be no threat to national security. The U.S. was not prepared to resettle the men in its own territory, but could not send them back to China for fear they would face persecution. Canada _ like other countries _ seemed ill at ease with taking on refugees to remedy a massive public-relations headache for its southern neighbour. Today, 17 of the men are still being held and live in isolation for 22 hours a day. "Canadian officials indicated to the
U.S. delegation that the men would likely also be inadmissible
under Canadian immigration law, requested the exact ground for
ineligibility to enter U.S. territory,'' says a Foreign Affairs
briefing note prepared about a meeting last May. |
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a note of thanks and encouragement
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This week, our entire national field staff is meeting in Cleveland, Ohio for intensive training in preparation for elections ahead. These are the same staff members who worked in every state in 2006 to deliver our unprecedented victories up and down the ballot in your state -- and will be heading back to the field to prepare for 2007, 2008 and beyond. Can you send them a note of thanks and encouragement for the work ahead? http://www.democrats.org/thankorganizers Imagine the look on our field organizers' faces when thousands of "Thank-You's" and "Go Get 'Em's" land on their desks from the communities they work in every day. I guarantee they'll read every one. Organizing can be lonely work -- especially when you're pioneering territory the Party hasn't targeted for decades -- but these Democrats are up to the challenge. They share Governor Dean's fighting spirit and conviction that Democrats must build an infrastructure to compete in every state -- including your state. These organizers are taking concrete steps to make sure our state parties and campaigns have the tools and training they need to persuade voters, organize core Democratic constituencies, and mobilize supporters. That's how we'll win in 2008: training the troops, building the precinct programs, and implementing it with winning technology and tactics. But more than that, our organizers are building the types of relationships with local candidates and activists that our people-powered Party requires. Now you can connect with these front-line Democrats and show them that we are all in this together: http://www.democrats.org/thankorganizers Gov. Dean said it best: "Election by election, state by state, precinct by precinct, door by door, vote by vote...we're going to lift our Party up and take this country back for the people who built it." We're lifting our Party up on the backs of dedicated Democrats like these organizers. Let them know how much you appreciate it. Sincerely, Tom McMahon |
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Fraud lawsuit settled ahead
of trial -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/328229.html Weeks before trial, Assemblyman Guy Houston has settled a 3-year-old lawsuit accusing him of cheating investment clients out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Agreement was reached at a time when Houston,
a San Ramon Republican who is termed out of the Assembly next
year, is preparing a 2008 campaign for a Contra Costa County
supervisorial seat. |
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Diebold Stock Falls as Company Fraud is
Exposed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tumbling Down: Diebold Stock Price Falls in Sell Off as Still More Company Fraud Comes to Light Analyst Cuts DBD Rating 'citing possible legislative concerns in the company's voting machines business' As Diebold Election System, Inc. Website Continues to Perpetuate Knowing Lies About 'Ballot Security' on Touch-Screen Voting Systems... Blogged by Brad Friedman from St. Louis... read at source> http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0708/S00192.htm Po', po' Diebold. Being unAmerican only
pays well up to a point, we guess, as the company's stock once
again begins to tumble today after a key analyst cuts his rating
for the once-great "security" company, citing "possible
legislative concerns in the company's voting machines business." |
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Presidential Candidates Respond
to Seven Key National Security Questions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://newsblaze.com/story/20070816102655tsop.nb/newsblaze/IRAQ0001/Iraq.html Council for a Livable World today released responses to seven critical questions on national security issues that were posed to all declared presidential candidates from both parties. Joseph Biden, Hillary Clinton, Christopher Dodd, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson responded to the Council's questionnaire. Their responses exhibited noteworthy unity while differing on some important details. The seven questions were on reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles, new nuclear weapons, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, Iraq, space weapons, nuclear non-proliferation, and negotiating with Iran and North Korea. |
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Machinists Union to Host Presidential
Candidates Aug. 27-28 in Orlando, Florida -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/storie....04646777&EDATE= WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- The International |
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military surge will not solve
diplomatic requirements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.democrats.com/bushs-iraq-surge-dies-of-asphyxiation On 1/10/07, Bush went on TV to announce his rejection of the recommendations of James Baker's Iraq Study Group, which included troop reductions, and his decision to send another 20,000+ troops - the defiant escalation that the media blandly called "the surge." Everyone assumed the "surge" was a temporary effort to reduce bloody violence so Iraq's government could overcome its deep sectarian differences - in other words, "breathing space." Al-Arabiya is reporting that the emergency political summit of Iraq's leaders has failed to produce even nominal political reconciliation. This is a devastating outcome for the Maliki government and for those Americans who hoped to have some political progress to show in the upcoming Crocker/Petraeus report. There's no other way to spin this: this summit was billed as the last chance, and it has failed.
The goal of the summit was to bring alienated
Sunnis back into Maliki's government. The result was the opposite
- forming a sectarian Shia-Kurd government and alienating Sunnis
completely. |
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US Democrats slam 'political
spin' over Iraq report -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.anatoliantimes.com/hbr2.asp?id=&s=int&a=070817033657.h243r8dv Anti-war Democrats on Thursday accused President George W. Bush of plotting to lace a potentially pivotal report on his Iraq troop surge strategy with "White House spin." The attack came as senior congressional aides were reported as saying the White House wanted to block public testimony in Congress next month from war commander General David Petraeus and US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker. Democrats are also angry the assessment
on the surge, required under US law, will be written at the White
House, not personally by Crocker and Petraeus. |
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Democrats to hear about worldwide
plight of children -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.rossmoornews.com/articles/200....atschildren.txt Professor Thomas Nazario will discuss the worldwide plight of children at the Democrats of Rossmoor meeting on Thursday, Aug. 23, in the Diablo Room at Hillside. The social portion of the evening is at 7 p.m., with the program starting at 7:30 p.m. Nazario is a law professor at the University
of San Francisco School of Law. He is also an attorney whose
interests lie in the fields of community legal education, children's
rights, family law, civil rights litigation, educational policy
and human rights, particularly as they relate to children worldwide. |
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Democrats Speak Out for Spitzer
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/n....124§ionID=1 ALBANY, NEW YORK (2007-08-15) Democrats this week have begun standing up for Governor Eliot Spitzer, in the face of continued news stories and developments about the scandal that's become known as "troopergate". In the days after the state's Attorney
General issued a report that found two of Governor Spitzer's
aides misused the state police to try to embarrass the Republican
Senate Majority Leader, Joe Bruno, few Democrats spoke up in
Spitzer's favor. Now, weeks after continuous news stories have
raised concerns about whether the governor and his aides have
answered all of the questions surrounding the incident, and even
whether they even tried to cover up some of their actions, Democrats
in the state have begun mobilizing. |
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Profs are donating to Democrats
in a big way -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Profs are donating to Democrats in a big way Date published: 8/17/2007 read at source> http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08172007/308537 THE FACT that college professors and administrators lean left is not exactly breaking news. What is interesting is that they are increasingly putting their money where their mouths are. According to the bipartisan Center for Responsive Politics, people employed by institutions of higher learning already have contributed more than $7 million to 2008 presidential campaigns--three-quarters of it to Democrats. This is after their giving doubled to $30 million in 2004, in an effort to defeat George W. Bush. The rarefied air of academia bodes particularly
well this year for Barack Obama: College and university employees
have given more than $1.5 million so far to see him gain the
White House. And while Hillary Clinton's nearly $1 million lags
well behind, her take is still more than the amounts donated
to Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain combined. |
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Coalition death toll in Iraq
hits 4,000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/08/16/iraq.main/index.html BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The number of coalition military deaths in the war in Iraq has reached 4,000.
Sara Salazar kisses the grave marker of a grandson, Army Pfc. Bruce Salazar, in Fort Stewart, Georgia, on Thursday. more photos » The gloomy milestone was reached as a U.S. general said there has been a rise in insurgents booby-trapping houses. Most of the fatalities throughout the Iraq
war -- almost 3,704 -- have been U.S. military service members.
That number also includes seven civilians working for the Pentagon. |
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Russia bomber flights 'permanent' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Russia to send bomber aircraft on long-range flights on a permanent basis
read at source> http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/17/russia.airforce.reut/index.html CHEBARKUL, Russia (Reuters) -- President Vladimir Putin said Russia sent 14 bomber aircraft on patrols far beyond its own territory on Friday, marking the permanent return to a Soviet-era practice.
A Russian startegic bomber flies over an airfield outside Moscow during an air show. Putin said the resumption of flights was a response to security threats posed by other military powers. "We have decided to restore flights by Russian strategic aviation on a permanent basis," Putin told reporters at joint military exercises with China and four Central Asian states in Russia's Ural mountains. "Today, August 17 at 00:00 hours, 14 strategic bombers took to the air from seven airfields across the country, along with support and refueling aircraft. "In 1992, Russia unilaterally ended flights by its strategic aircraft to distant military patrol areas. Unfortunately, our example was not followed by everyone. "Flights by other countries' strategic aircraft continue and this creates certain problems for ensuring the security of the Russian Federation," Putin said. |
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IAEA: N Korea aiding in atomic
shutdown -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6648057 VIENNA, Austria—North Korea is cooperating
with U.N. experts supervising the shutdown of its plutonium-producing
reactor and monitoring its other nuclear facilities, the International
Atomic Energy Agency said Friday. |
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Ashcroft 'feeble and stressed'
during Gonzales visit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.philly.com/dailynews/national....ales_visit.html WASHINGTON - John Ashcroft was "barely
articulate," "feeble" and "clearly stressed"
as he sat in a hospital room chair in March 2004 when top White
House aides unsuccessfully tried to persuade him, as the attorney
general, to sign an extension for warrantless domestic eavesdropping
on Americans, according to notes made by Robert S. Mueller III,
the director of the FBI. Mueller's typed notes, which are undated, also reveal a series of meetings earlier and later that month between the FBI director and other administration officials, including Comey, Alberto R. Gonzales, then White House counsel, and Gen. Michael V. Hayden, then the director of the National Security Agency, which conducted the electronic monitoring program. Mueller's notes show that Ashcroft said that he was "barred" from getting as much information as he wanted about the highly classified eavesdropping program, because of strict White House secrecy rules. Mueller's notes, which have been turned
over to the House Judiciary Committee, were described by two
officials who had reviewed them. The notes recount Mueller's
arrival at the hospital after Gonzales and Andrew H. Card Jr.,
then the White House chief of staff, had attempted to persuade
Ashcroft to sign a presidential order reauthorizing the program.
Comey, who was acting as attorney general during Ashcroft's hospitalization,
had declined to sign the reauthorization because he believed
that part of the program was unlawful. |
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Ethics Commission Issues New
Guidelines for Aircraft Use -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wxxi/n....833§ionID=1 ALBANY, NEW YORK (2007-08-16) The State
Ethics Commission has released a new advisory opinion on the
use of state aircraft by politicians. It tightens up the rules,
and requires that elected officials reimburse the state if part
of their trip includes a fundraiser or other political business.
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US supports Pakistani moderates
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Musharraf is a vital US ally in the region read at source> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6950300.stm The United States says it is talking to
what it called all important political parties in Pakistan ahead
of elections, which are due later this year. But a spokesman would not confirm reports
the US was pushing President Pervez Musharraf to join forces
with Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. |
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Sources: White House spokesman
Snow to step down -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/17/whitehouse.snow/index.html WASHINGTON (CNN) -- White House press secretary Tony Snow will step down from his position as early as next month, sources inside and outside the Bush administration told CNN on Friday.
White House press secretary Tony Snow will step down from his position soon, sources said Friday. When contacted by CNN about his possible departure, Snow said, "I'm not making any announcement." Snow told conservative talk-show host Hugh
Hewitt on Thursday that "financial reasons" may prevent
him for serving the remainder of his boss's presidency. |
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Don’t Use Iraq Report
To Score Political Points -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By the News-Register POSTED: August 17, 2007 read at source> http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/51880.html We wonder sometimes whether anything can be accomplished in Washington, D.C., without politics rearing its ugly head. Apparently not, to judge by a dispute between the White House and some members of Congress. In September, President Bush is to deliver a “progress report” on Iraq to Congress. But some lawmakers have created a controversy over how it will be delivered. Bush has proposed that Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker will deliver a briefing on the report in private. Then, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will discuss the report in an open session of Congress. No way, Bush’s liberal foes have proclaimed. Petraeus cannot be allowed to testify behind closed doors, they insist. Clearly, the White House proposal was intended
to provide members of Congress with information that cannot be
made public, for security reasons. But the White House appears
ready to capitulate to the liberals’ demands. That will
mean merely that members of Congress will be deprived of some
information concerning Iraq, because Petraeus undoubtedly will
refuse to comment on anything that might jeopardize U.S. troops. |
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The Cheney Surveillance Program -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.democrats.com/the-cheney-surveillance-program There has been much controversy over the NSA's warantless wiretapping program, but very little interest in its authorship. So if someone is going to be impeached for it, who should it be? Until now it was assumed to be Bush's program, largely because he went before TV cameras and spoke about it on 1/25/06: In the weeks following September the 11th, I authorized a terrorist surveillance program to detect and intercept al Qaeda communications involving someone here in the United States."
So Bush signed the key document - and did
so over 30 times by his own admission. But who created the program
and persuaded Bush to approve it? It wasn't Gonzo, who proved
all spring before Congress that he's too stupid to run a candy
store, let alone a global wiretapping program. |
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Stonewall Democrats of Denton
holds 1st meeting of group -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aug 17, 2007, 11:08 Email this article read at source> http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_6394.php The first meeting of Stonewall Democrats
of Denton attracted 21 people. The LGBT political group is the
fifth member of the national association to form in North Texas.
Jesse Garcia, president of Stonewall Democrats of Dallas, told
the gathering that national leaders are excited about the growth
of gay political chapters in Texas. |
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Democrats press Bush to respond
to FISA, surveillance requests -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9761582-7.html Top Democrats in Congress have come up
with a strategy to force President Bush to respond to their unanswered
questions about the National Security Agency's surveillance program.
They seem to be saying: Unless you do, we may not renew your
eavesdropping legislation you like so much. Scroll down for the
letter they sent yesterday. |
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Widening Clinton lead over
rival Democrats in California -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By: Field Research Corporation read at source> http://yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_63610.shtml New York Senator and former First Lady
Hillary Clinton has enlarged her lead among California's likely
voters in next February's Democratic primary over her two main
opponents, Illinois Senator Barack Obama and former North Carolina
Senator John Edwards. |
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As Karl Rove Resigns, Democrats
Wonder Where He Might Resurface -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 August 2007 read at source> http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2007-08-17-voa1.cfm The news that Karl Rove will leave his job at the end of the month has the political world debating why and what effect it will have.
President Bush and his closest political adviser announced the resignation on Monday (pictured). The president called his deputy chief of staff a "dear friend" and thanked him for his service to the country. The two men have known each other since
the nineteen seventies. George W. Bush was elected governor of
Texas in nineteen ninety-four and later re-elected by a bigger
majority. Karl Rove led both campaigns. |
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Democrats target California
electoral-vote plan that could tilt 2008 race -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.topix.com/state/ca/2007/08/de....race?from rss=1 “Democrats would lose 20 electoral votes and very likely the presidency if California abandons the winner-take-all system while large Republican states like Florida and Texas do not” LOS ANGELES: Leading Democrats are uniting
with Hollywood producer Steven Bing and a prominent hedge fund
manager to oppose a proposal in California they fear could hand
the 2008 presidential election to the ... |
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Put a Leash on the Bush Dogs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.democrats.com/put-a-leash-on-the-bush-dogs Our friends at OpenLeft.com have launched an excellent campaign to put a leash on the Bush Dog Democrats. As Matt Stoller writes, I'm hearing more and more frequently a sense of rage with the Democratic leadership in Congress. From failing to stop the war to expanding Bush's wiretapping authority, the swing vote of conservative Democrats in the House are forming an effective conservative majority that is enabling Bush to govern as he wishes.
OpenLeft's Chris Bowers is defining "Bush Dogs" as Democrats who voted both for the Supplemental Surrender on 5/24/07 and for Warrantless Wiretapping on 8/4/07. So the "Bush Dogs" are: Jason Altmire, PA-04
The "Bush Dog" list is similar to the broader "Bush Democrat" list we created at Democrats.com, but we add more votes and end up with a longer list that also includes: Shelley Berkley NV01
So what will OpenLeft do with its Bush Dogs? Put a leash on them, and even threaten primary challenges. One, many of these members feel no pressure to vote correctly or uphold progressive values. Criticism is the signal they are relying on to let them know when they err. Two, some of these members may need to face a primary challenge, and it's useful for potential primary challengers to know that there is criticism of these members. Three, other members considering joining the Bush Dog caucus may be dissuaded if they know there will be criticism. Four, candidates running for office will finally have a signal on how they should talk about being good Democrats that are willing to take tough votes.
To get started, OpenLeft is inviting its readers to write profiles of the Bush Dogs: When we're done doing these profiles, we
can begin to track these members, engage in online advertising
to let their constituents know their record, and/or help local
activists in their districts. This is going to be a completely
open process, and as votes come up this fall, we won't hesitate
to add new Bush Dogs or honorary Bush Dog titles based on political
games played by leadership... Already, there's a contempt vote
in the House that I'm going to watch closely, and of course,
there's the Petraeus PR ploy. |
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Job Opportunity: Young Democrats
of Nevada Executive Director -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://ydabondelli.wordpress.com/2007/08....utive-director/ YDA is hiring our 6th state Executive Director – this time in Nevada. Applicants should send resume, cover letter, and three references to jobs@yda.org by Friday, September 7. Position: Executive Director, Young Democrats of Nevada The Young Democrats of America (YDA) is the nation’s largest youth-led, partisan political organization. As the official youth arm of the Democratic Party since 1932, YDA now operates as an independent 527 organizations. Our membership includes middle school, high school and college students as well as young workers, young professionals and young families, with over 1,500 local chapters in all 50 states. YDA’s national and state staff work with national, state, and local leaders across the country on peer-to-peer young voter mobilization campaigns, issue advocacy, leadership and skills trainings, and other activities to grow sustainable chapters and build the national infrastructure of YDA. The Young Democrats of Nevada is the official youth arm of the Nevada Democratic Party and has members between the ages of 14 and 36. Job Description: The Young Democrats of America is continuing to expand state-based staff as part of our State Partnership Programs. State Executive Directors work to build long-term infrastructure for the youth movement. The Young Democrats of Nevada (YDNV) Executive Director reports directly to the President of the Young Democrats of Nevada and the Executive Director of the Young Democrats of America. The position is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The YDNV Executive Director is responsible for the overall implementation of programs on behalf of the Young Democrats of Nevada and the Young Democrats of America. This includes, but is not limited to: * Manage the daily operations of the Young
Democrats of Nevada. Salary and Benefits: $30,000 to $35,000 annually, health insurance, and reimbursement for cell phone. To Apply: Applicants should have at least two years experience with campaigns or politically-focused non-profit organizations. Management experience and knowledge of fundraising and the budget process is preferred. The position requires regular in-state and national travel and access to a car. Applicants should send resume, cover letter, and three references to jobs@yda.org by Friday, September 7. Young Democrats of America is an Equal
Opportunity Employer. YDA does not discriminate on the basis
of race, creed, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age,
sex, gender identification, sexual orientation, disability, marital
status or any other protected status covered by federal, state
or local law. |
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NH Democrats pick speaker
for fund-raising dinner -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.boston.com/news/local/politic....mocrats_pi.html US Senator Jim Webb, a Virginia Democrat, has been selected to speak at a large fund-raising dinner for the New Hampshire Democratic Party this fall, the Globe has learned. Last year Webb defeated incumbent US Senator
George Allen in one of the country's most high-profile races. |
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MySpace, MTV Plan Candidate
Chats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/myspace-mtv-plan-candidate-chats/ The popular social networking site MySpace
is teaming up with MTV to hold a series of “candid, unfiltered
discussions” this fall between young voters and the major
Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. |
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U.S.-Cuba Relations Emerges
as Presidential Issue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-clemons/uscuba-relations-emerg_b_61562.html At the first Democratic presidential primary
debates, Bill Richardson was asked about what he'd do with regards
to Cuba, and he proceeded to spend much of his time answering
not that question but rather an earlier question about how each
of the potential presidents would react in case of another terrorist
act. |
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No confidence in Nigerian
election result: EU -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2375981420070823 ABUJA (Reuters) - European Union observers
said on Thursday they had no confidence in the results of April
elections in Nigeria because of fraud in collating the votes. |
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Poll: SC voters looking for
more information from presidential candidates -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aug 23, 2007 12:35 PM PDT read at source> http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6974424 COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - Retired voters want more information from presidential candidates on healthcare and financial security. That's according to a new AARP poll of likely South Carolina voters. Thursday, the AARP reveled the results
of that survey, but they say simply asking members about the
issues isn't enough. |
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Automation can only worsen
election fraud -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/aug/24/yehey/opinion/20070824opi2.html Pending before the Commission on Elections are bids from private contractors to automate voting. Exasperated by the slow counting of ballots—along with the cheating that accompanies the process—many Filipinos are clamoring for electoral reform. Automation is now seen as the panacea to the stubborn disease of election fraud. Some Filipinos, however, warn that automating
the vote count can only make things worse. One of them is Roberto
Verzola, ironically an information technology expert. |
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MTV, MySpace to Host US Presidential
Candidates Web Chats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-23-voa25.cfm A screenshot from Hillary Clinton's MySpace
campaign webpage A total of 11 one-hour dialogues will be
held from September through December on college campuses across
the United States. Each event will feature one presidential candidate
and be streamed live on both MySpace and MTV's Web site. |
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In latest Google search, candidates
hunt Silicon Valley cash -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/23/business/valley.php SAN FRANCISCO: For presidential candidates campaigning in Iowa, the place to be is the state fair. Diners are popular in New Hampshire. But for those visiting Silicon Valley, it's the Googleplex. Google's headquarters is packed with young
millionaires, just the kind of audience presidential candidates
want to meet while building campaign funds. Already, Google,
the fast-growing search and advertising company, has been visited
by five candidates, including Barack Obama, Bill Richardson,
Hillary Clinton and John McCain. |
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AARP survey says many still
haven't decided on presidential candidates -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?....7308A3C5FF96D03 It may seem like the presidential candidates
have been in Iowa a lot -- but a survey by AARP shows those who're
likely to attend the Iowa Caucuses haven't heard enough yet.
Jeff Love is the AARP's regional research director. Love says:
"Most Iowans are far from being settled in their choice
of candidates. Right now, 77% of Democrats and 84% of Republicans,
say they are likely to change their minds as they learn more
about the candidates." |
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U.S. government moves hurricane
victims out of travel trailers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/2....ic-Trailers.php NEW ORLEANS: About 1,000 families in Louisiana have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to move them out of government-issued trailers and mobile homes amid concerns that the temporary shelters are contaminated by a carcinogen, FEMA officials said Thursday. Jim Stark, director of FEMA's Louisiana
Transitional Recovery Office, said FEMA already has moved —
or is in the process of moving — about 140 of those families
out of trailers and into apartments at the agency's expense. |
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Kanye West To Urge Presidential
Candidates To Focus On Education In New PSAs -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contributed by: Roman Wolfe read at source> http://www.hiphop-elements.com/article/read/4/6940/1/ Superstar rapper Kanye West and his Kanye
West Foundation has partnered with Strong America Schools and
will be featured in a series of public service announcements
(PSAs) urging the presidential candidates to address issues within
America's educational system. |
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Who Will Stand Up and Be Transparent? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meet the only three would-be chief execs who will dare to tell you how the government spends your money. Nick Gillespie | August 24, 2007 read at source> http://reason.com/news/show/122132.html Presidential aspirants Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) don't agree on very much. When it comes to immigration, stem-cell research, abortion, health care, trade--you name it, basically--these three get along about as well as Reggie Jackson, Billy Martin, and George Steinbrenner did during the Yankees' legendarily fractious 1977 season. But they alone among would-be White House occupants have signed a trans-partisan initiative that has the potential to radically transform not just the presidency but the way the federal government does business. Obama, Brownback, and Paul have all signed The Oath of Presidential Transparency, a pledge to follow through on two actions. First, signatories agree to conduct "THE
most transparent Administration in American history--a lofty,
laudable, far-reaching goal. This oath signals that whether it's
earmarks, directives, or ongoing management of taxpayer expenditures,
the goal of transparency will be evident throughout all policy
making aspects of your Administration." |
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Presidential primaries get
earlier, and political parties get angrier -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chicago Tribune JIM COLE / AP read at source> http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003852605_primary25.html Democratic presidential hopeful Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., holds a "job interview" town meeting Friday in Peterborough, N.H. — one of the few states permitted to have an early primary. The rules Democratic Party rules say states can't
hold primaries before Feb. 5, except for Iowa (Jan. 14), Nevada
(Jan. 19), New Hampshire (Jan. 22) and South Carolina (Jan. 29).
Sanctions for violating the rules: A state would lose some or all of its delegates to the nominating convention in Denver next August. And presidential candidates would be prohibited from campaigning in that state before the primary. Florida is among 31 states that will present their voting plans today, but it's the only one expected to be found in violation of party rules. Washington state Although Washington in June moved up its 2008 presidential primary to Feb. 19, state voters will only have a partial say in allocating delegates. State Republicans will allocate about half of their delegates based on the primary and about half on Feb. 9 party caucuses. State Democrats, as in the past, will ignore results of the primary and allocate delegates using the results of its Feb. 9 caucuses. Seattle Times archives and news services
But the polite reminders could become unpleasant today, when a panel of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) meets over this summer's attempts to flout the rules. The DNC's Rules and Bylaws Committee is expected to vote today to sanction Florida for violating party rules by moving its primary up to Jan. 29, violating a party rule against holding a primary before Feb. 5. The action would deny Florida half -- and maybe all -- its delegates at the party's national convention next year and prohibit Democratic presidential candidates from campaigning in the state before the primary. The clash between a national party and one of the nation's biggest -- and most politically important -- states is the latest evidence that the decades-old system of picking presidential nominees is in crisis. Republican leaders also are struggling to maintain control over the schedule of voting and could similarly sanction Florida's Republican Party. "The situation has gotten so chaotic,
we have to do something about it," said one member of the
DNC panel. "It's a problem for the candidates, who have
no idea when the primaries are going to be." |
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St. Louis region provides
cash, clout to presidential candidates -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/st....0?OpenDocum ent Note: Figures have been rounded. Research by Matthew Fernandes. SOURCE: Federal Election Commission | Post-Dispatch The St. Louis area, long known as Missouri's economic engine, is pumping even more money than usual into the presidential campaigns. Three-quarters of the state's campaign donations for White House hopefuls — Republican or Democrat — had come from St. Louis-area residents as of the end of June, according to federal election data. The local deep pockets help explain why
most of this year's visits by presidential hopefuls have been
more about collecting cash, and less about spreading messages. |
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The World's First Coup D'Internet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.democrats.com/worlds-first-coup-d-internet I've been following political uses of the Internet since the very beginning, but this one is a shocker. A top GOP lobbying firm in DC is using the Internet to overthrow Prime Minister Maliki. Shall we call it a Coup D'Internet? Right-Wing Operatives Plot To Overthrow Maliki, Replace Him With Reliable Collaborator Allawi The powerful Republican lobbying group of Barbour Griffith & Rogers is plotting an effort to displace Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and supplant him with former interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. IraqSlogger reported: BGR’s work for Allawi includes the August 17 purchase of the Web site domain Allawi-for-Iraq.com. In recent days, BGR sent hundreds of e-mail messages in Allawi’s name from the e-mail address DrAyadAllawi@Allawi-for-Iraq.com.
I had trouble believing this so I tried to visit Allawi-for-Iraq.com. Sure enough it has been registered, but it is under construction. Then I checked WHOIS and sure enough, the site is owned by BGR. Until now, American coup d'etats were done by the CIA and in secret. Why? For starters, the guy you're trying to
overthrow usually has a military, and said military usually think
it's perfectly ok to use their weapons to kill anyone trying
to overthrow their Commander-in-Chief, either at home or abroad.
Has BGR built itself a hardened underground bunker capable of
withstanding an Iraqi military attack? |
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Florida Democrats threaten
lawsuit over primary date -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/2007/08/florida-democra.html Prominent Florida Democrats wrote a letter to Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean today threatening a lawsuit if the party penalizes them for moving their presidential primary to Jan. 29. The DNC's rules and bylaws committee meets Saturday to decide what to do about the state, which now is set to vote inside the window Democrats were trying to reserve for Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Sen. Bill Nelson and four House members said in the letter that they thought rules problems had been resolved, but now are reading in news reports that their primary could be reduced to a "meaningless beauty contest." They write: "If true -- and, if the DNC strips Florida of all or some of its delegates to the national convention -- we would ask the appropriate legal officials to determine whether this could violate any state or federal laws governing and protecting individual voting rights. Furthermore, we would recommend to the chairman and leadership of the Florida Democratic Party that they send the party's entire delegation to the national convention in Denver next year anyway." There was no immediate response from the
DNC. Update at 5:33 p.m. ET: DNC spokeswoman Stacie Paxton said
Florida DNC members voted for the rules and never applied to
be an early state. "We hope Florida will do the right thing
and work |
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Washington County Democrats
hold annual picnic -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=173210&format=html WILLIAMSPORT — The Washington County Democratic Central Committee hosted its annual picnic Thursday night at the Williamsport Red Men Lodge. More than 230 people attended the event,
which came one day after the Washington County Republican Club
held its annual picnic in Smithsburg. |
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Democrats pursue affordable
college education -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art..../708240311/1008 When writing about the proposed "College Family Bill of Rights," The Detroit News asserted that it contained "real ideas for reform (Higher education spending) doesn't need to be become another partisan political chew toy" ("Granholm puts tax hike ahead of tuition reform," Aug. 7). In fact, the College Family Bill of Rights is little more than empty rhetoric. State Rep. Craig DeRoche, R-Novi, claims that Republicans invested more in higher education than even Gov. Jennifer Granholm called for, and it was done without a tax increase. The truth is that DeRoche's higher education budget was cut mid-year due to revenue shortfalls. During the past decade, the GOP leadership
has repeatedly disinvested in higher education. |
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Bush’s Vietnam-Iraq analogy
irks Democrats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/world.aspx?ID=BD4A547034 KANSAS CITY — US President George Bush has drawn heavy flak from the Democrats with his warning that a hasty withdrawal from Iraq would trigger a bloodbath similar to that in southeast Asia after the US retreat from Vietnam. Bush, in an effort to turn on its head the analogy by critics who liken the Iraq war to the Vietnam quagmire, said there was now a legitimate debate in the US about how the superpower was drawn into the Vietnam war, and its damaging exit.
“Whatever your position is on that debate (of US intervention), one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price of America’s withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens whose agonies would add to our vocabulary new terms, such as ‘boat people’, ‘re-education camps’ and ‘killing fields’,” he said. Bush’s remarks to US veterans of 20th-century conflicts in Asia were pounced on by senior Democrats, who challenged the president’s grasp of historical fact. Bush’s 2004 rival for the White House, senator John Kerry, said it was “not surprising that he (Bush) would oversimplify the differences and overlook the tragic similarities. If the president wants to heed the lessons of Vietnam, he should change course and change course now,” said Kerry. Senator Edward Kennedy also criticised Bush’s speech, in which the president drew broad parallels between the global war on terrorism and conflicts in Asia, and likened Japan’s 1941 strike on the US Pearl Harbor base to the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks by Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda . “The president is drawing the wrong
lesson from history,” he said. |
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Colorado Democrats Pushing
New Type of Politics - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/8/24/145547/599 There's a quiet revolution going on in Colorado as more and more Democrats are being drawn to the "politics of service" model we've been pushing through Democrats Work. Last week over 30 volunteers joined three Congressional candidates running for Mark Udall's seat - Joan Fitz-Gerald, Jared Polis, and Will Shafroth - to cleanup and do some weeding at an open space in Broomfield, which is between Denver and Boulder. You know, like this: On Saturday, dozens of Democrats from in
and around Denver will plant over 70 trees in the Villa Park
neighborhood. We hope you'll join us, the Denver Dems, the Colorado
Young Dems, the Denver Young Dems, candidates and elected officials
if your in the area. All of the details are here. |
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Hillary Clinton Vows To Win
Arkansas For Democrats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Hillar....s_For_Democrats "We can win this election and I intend to win Arkansas with your help," Clinton told a crowd of about 200 people in front of the state Capitol. |
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Democrats’ Senate Fundraising
Committee Stayed Hot in July -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/08/democrats_senate_fundraising_c.html The Democrats’ national Senate campaign committee established an edge over its Republican counterpart during the 2006 election year, and that advantage has grown dominant with the party’s Senate takeover, which was produced by those elections. This was borne out again in July —
as it has been in every other month this year. The Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) reported raising $2.9 million
last month to $2.2 million for the National Republican Senatorial
Committee (NRSC), according to reports filed Monday by the two
organizations that will oversee their parties’ Senate campaigns
in 2008. |
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Democrats Optimistic After
Trip to Israel -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Published 2007-08-22 07:59 (KST) read at source> http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?no=378303&rel_no=1 Israeli and Palestinian leaders conveyed a new sense of "hope and optimism" in the future, but maybe not much more, in meetings with 18 Congressional legislators of the Democratic Party who were visiting Israel and the territories last week. The five-day visit led by House Majority
Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) went virtually unnoticed by the Israeli
and even foreign media, resembling a similar visit a week earlier
by a 20-member Congressional party delegation of Republican legislators. |
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Poll shows Clinton leading
Democrats in Iowa -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 21, 2007 read at source> http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.d....S/70821048/1001 Sen. Hillary Clinton has climbed to the top of the Democratic lineup in Iowa in a NewsMax/Zogby poll for the first time. Former Sen. John Edwards, the 2004 vice
presidential nominee, has been on top in most Iowa polls of Democrats
this year. |
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FedEx, UPS, General Dynamics
Increase Donations to Democrats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jonathan D. Salant read at source> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aP.wzYGVZJBo&refer=news Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service Inc. and General Dynamics Corp. are among companies shifting campaign contributions to Democrats after years of favoring Republicans, federal records show. FedEx's political action committee contributed
58 percent of its money to Democrats in the first half of the
year as it lobbies against a bill making it easier for the company's
truck drivers to unionize, according to the Federal Election
Commission. In the 2006 election, two-thirds of FedEx's PAC donations
went to Republicans in their unsuccessful bid to keep congressional
control. |
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Obama's right on Cuba -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The candidate's call to end the U.S. ban
on travel and remittances to Cuba should go even further. read at source> http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition....la-news-comment Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, determined
to cast himself as the Democratic presidential candidate most
open to new ideas on foreign policy, raised plenty of eyebrows
recently when he proclaimed that he would be willing to meet
personally with such rogue figures as Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
But that was nothing compared with the opinion article he published
Tuesday in the Miami Herald saying Cuban Americans should have
unrestricted rights to travel and send remittances to the island. |
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America's Faith in Vote Counting
Crashes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Project Vote Page 1 of 2 page(s) http://www.opednews.com read at source> http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_project__070824_americans_faith_in_v.htm More than half of California voters are not fully confident that their votes are accurately counted, prompting the assessment of a “huge change in the country's attitude,” according to John Wildermuth of the San Francisco Chronicle, Thursday. The recent Field Poll findings from the country's most populous state are a clarion call for voting rights advocates to press election officials to be more transparent about the election process and in addressing the system's flaws. Lack of confidence in the vote count is
split evenly between paper ballots and touch screen voting machines,
however, those with most concern about election integrity are
more skeptical about electronic systems. One out of every seven
“likely voters” who vote every election and pay attention
to politics do not believe their votes are being counted. |
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US Democratic presidential
candidates reach out to Hispanics in key state — but not
far enough -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/2....s-Hispanics.php MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa: Democratic presidential candidates say they are reaching out to Hispanics — a group that could play a key role in Iowa, which holds the earliest primary contest in the country. But apparently they need to stretch a little
further. Most Hispanics say they did not know they were being
courted. |
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More than the US Attorney
scandal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When the US Attorney scandal first broke in March, I told you that this scandal could be George Bush's Watergate. We're still trying to learn just what George Bush, Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales knew about the political purge of eight US Attorneys -- and when they knew it. But even though Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales are gone, the investigation must continue. The problems at the Justice Department -- using federal prosecutors to smear Democratic opponents and suppress Democratic votes -- haven't stopped. Make a contribution to the Democratic Party, and help us send a message -- that we're not going to stop until we win the White House back in 2008: http://www.democrats.org/NotGoodEnough President Bush's White House appears to be falling apart -- but more work still needs to be done. Alberto Gonzales, Karl Rove, George Bush, and their Republican cronies still haven't admitted any of their failures. The Attorney General scandal. Hurricane Katrina. The Iraq War. These problems won't get fixed by resignations. While the Bush Administration tries to shuffle around their cronies into newly vacant positions, the Democratic Party is building a sustainable party organization to show every single one of them the door in 2008. Please help make it possible. http://www.democrats.org/NotGoodEnough Our organizers in all 50 states have already started an unprecedented voter protection effort. We're talking to every election official in every precinct, making sure we identify potential problems before they happen. Now our organizers will also keep up the heat on Republican Senators, telling them that we still want answers from Alberto Gonzales about voting rights and the scandal at the Justice Department. If the Bush administration won't take action -- we will. Please support our work, and send a message to the Bush administration -- this doesn't stop with a resignation. It isn't over yet. Sincerely, Tom McMahon |
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Democrats Take a Tough Line
on Florida Primary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By ADAM NAGOURNEY read at source> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/us/pol....ics&oref=slogin WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 — The Democratic
National Committee, threatening to take the toughest line possible,
voted Saturday to refuse to seat any Florida Democrat at the
Democratic presidential convention in 2008 if the state party
did not delay the date of its 2008 primary to conform to the
party’s nominating calendar. |
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Democrats tell Florida: Delay
primary or lose delegates -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The national party says the state has 30
days to reschedule presidential balloting from January 29 til
later or it'll be barred from the nominating convention. August 26, 2007 read at source> http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition....ck=2& cset=true WASHINGTON -- The Democratic National Committee voted Saturday to strip Florida of all its presidential convention delegates, threatening to leave the state without a voice in choosing the party's 2008 nominee, unless it delays the date of its primary election. The ultimatum marks party leaders' most drastic attempt yet to impose order among states that have been trying to elbow their balloting closer to the front of the election cycle. Three months ago, Florida controversially set its primary for Jan. 29. The DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee voted
overwhelmingly to give Florida's party 30 days to reschedule
-- to Feb. 5 at the earliest -- or risk losing accreditation
for its 210 delegates to the nominating convention next summer
in Denver. |
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Even some Republicans happy
about Gonzales resignation -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://edition.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/27/gonzales.reax/ WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Both Republican and
Democratic lawmakers Monday urged President Bush to nominate
a replacement for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who can restore
confidence in the Justice Department. |
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What Would You Ask The Presidential
Candidates? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aug 27, 2007 06:29 PM PDT read at source> http://www.krnv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6989961 As the 2008 Republican and Democratic presidential caucuses approach, more candidates from both sides of the aisle are making campaign stops in Northern Nevada. If you had the chance, what would you like to ask the candidates who stop here? KRNV News 4 wants to know. You can submit your questions on right here on krnv.com. Click on the links below to tell us what you think. You could hear your question on News 4
or see it online. |
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2008 Candidates on ex-Attorney
General -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/2008-candidates-on-gonzales/ At least four of the Democratic presidential
candidates used the same phrase to describe the resignation of
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales: “long overdue.”
Republican contenders Mitt Romney and Rudolph W. Giuliani both
praised Mr. Gonzales for his public service, but Mr. Romney went
a step further, saying that the attorney general “made the
right decision to step aside.” |
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2008: Candidates on Katrina
recovery incompetence -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/27/2008-candidates-on-katrina/ This week marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and several of the presidential candidates are traveling to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the site of the hurricane’s devastation, to focus on the unfinished business of recovery and restoration. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports
that Illinois Senator Barack Obama visited the city on Sunday
to discuss his plans to “quicken the pace of storm recovery”
there. The Times’s Jeff Zeleny has more detail on Mr. Obama’s
proposals, including ideas for “restructuring how the federal
government responds to future catastrophes in America.” |
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U.K. Decisions in Iraq Won't
Depend on U.S., Miliband Says -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Gonzalo Vina read at source> http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aTivJvoQcOnc&refer=uk Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Decisions about the number of British troops in Iraq won't depend on the U.S., Foreign Secretary David Miliband said. ``Our decision is about the situation in
Basra, not the situation around Baghdad,'' Miliband told BBC
Radio 4's Today program. ``I come back to the point of clear
objectives, clear criteria for when they are met and clear command
structures based on the assessment of the situation on the ground
by the real experts.'' Decisions will be taken ``in the British
national interest.'' |
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Flood-insurance program vulnerable,
experts say -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JOURNAL WIRE REPORT read at source> http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satell....5252104 8&path=!nationworld&s=1037645509161 WASHINGTON - Despite promising changes, Congress has shown little enthusiasm for taking the unpopular steps that experts say are necessary to fix the nation’s main flood-insurance program. Recent flooding in the Midwest has brought
the issue back to the forefront. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
back-to-back storms in 2005, dispelled any notion that the insurance
program was self-sustaining. They threw it about $20 billion
into debt and called attention to major structural flaws. |
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Bill Clinton defends health
care effort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R9JNF80.htm Former President Clinton defends his administration's
attempt to reshape the nation's health care system in a new book,
saying the effort "was killed by politics, not the plan's
particulars." |
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Senator urges unethical lender
crackdown -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R9F4GG1.htm State and federal lawmakers are calling
for a crackdown on unscrupulous mortgage firms, saying that "predatory"
lending practices have fed a growing national wave of foreclosures
affecting millions of people with subprime home mortgages. |
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YRC CEO concerned about economy's
future -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R9F4180.htm The president and chief executive of YRC
Worldwide Inc., one of the nation's largest trucking companies,
on Monday expressed concern about the U.S. economy's future growth,
and its affect on the company. |
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Jordan's king wants nuclear
power sooner -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8R9EP380.htm Jordan's King Abdullah II has urged his
government to speed up in implementing the country's nascent
nuclear power program in a bid to cut energy imports, the official
Petra news agency reported |
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Republicans, Democrats decry
still-ravaged New Orleans -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6991220&nav=MXEFM7m7 Associated Press - August 28, 2007 1:03 AM ET NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Republican and Democratic presidential candidates have been criticizing the Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina and calling for ways to spur the recovery of New Orleans two years after the devastating storm. Republican White House hopeful Mike Huckabee
says the federal government's response to Katrina was marked
by incompetence, political interference, poor leadership and
inadequate planning. |
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Capitol Hill Democrats will
continue investigations of Justice Department -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submitted by crew on 28 August 2007 - 9:04am. Alberto Gonzales Justice Department read at source> http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29977 Following the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, leading Congressional Democrats vowed to continue their investigations of the Justice Department and Gonzales: Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill reacted swiftly Monday to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, calling it long overdue and vowing to continue their investigations of the Justice Department and whether it had been politicized under his tenure. The attorney general has been under intense
scrutiny since Democrats took control of Congress and began investigating
the firings of several U.S. attorneys and whether they were ousted
for improper political reasons. Throughout the probe, Gonzales’s
public statements and testimony before Congress, as well as those
of his subordinates at the Department of Justice (DoJ), spurred
more questions from Democrats and several Republican senators
than they answered. |
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German and Austrian Social
Democrats oppose US Missile Defence -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.labourhome.org/story/2007/8/28/12627/2361 The Chair of the German SDP, Kurt Beck,
has reaffirmed his opposition to US Missile Defence. Speaking
at a meeting of the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY)
in Berlin this weekend he said his party remained strictly opposed
to US plans for the stationing of any new kind of mid-range ballistic
missiles - the US is planning to station interceptor missiles
in Poland and make use of radar bases in Yorkshire and also in
the Czech Republic. |
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Is Petraeus 'Fixing the Intelligence
and Facts Around the Policy'? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes he is, according to the Pentagon Post: read at source> http://www.democrats.com/petraeus-fixing-the-intelligence-and-facts The NIE [National Intelligence Estimate], requested by the White House Iraq coordinator, Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, in preparation for the testimony, met with resistance from U.S. military officials in Baghdad, according to a senior U.S. military intelligence officer there. Presented with a draft of the conclusions, Petraeus succeeded in having the security judgments softened to reflect improvements in recent months, the official said.
What "improvements"??? According to the AP, Iraq is suffering about double the number of war-related deaths throughout the country compared with last year - an average daily toll of 33 in 2006, and 62 so far this year.
So how is this an improvement? Petraeus
says U.S. focus on bringing security to Baghdad has reduced its
share of daily murders from 76% in January to 52% in July. |
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Democrats Say They Will Press
Gonzales Inquiries -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By PHILIP SHENON and DAVID JOHNSTON read at source> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/washington/29gonzales.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — The resignation
of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales does not mean an end
to several investigations into his actions and truthfulness during
his tenure at the Justice Department, with Congressional Democrats
promising on Tuesday to press their inquiries. |
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State Democrats, Republicans
moving up caucus date -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/article....eea22f1243c6f54 Minnesota Democrats announced Tuesday they
will join Republicans in moving their caucuses up to Feb. 5,
when two dozen states are set to hold presidential preference
contests. |
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Democrats create ePrimary
to counter GOP -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Party creates ePrimary as GOP gathers in FW for straw sampling 10:58 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 read at source> http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/....ll.34f12aa.html Texas Democrats don't want to be left out of the presidential sweepstakes, either, so on the day Republicans descend on Fort Worth for a GOP presidential straw poll, Democrats will start their own – virtual – presidential primary. In what's been dubbed the ePrimary Poll, Democrats will have the chance to choose one of the Democratic contenders for president, as well as mention the issues that they care about in anticipation of next year's elections. But so will everyone else. Party officials
say they'll try to police responses to make sure only Texans'
votes are counted, but they acknowledged that anyone – even
a staunch Republican – could probably click in a vote. |
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Analysis: Democrats hit jackpot
as Republicans reel from scandals rife with money and sex -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/3....blican-Woes.php WASHINGTON: When it comes to scandal, Democrats could be forgiven for thinking they hit the political jackpot this summer. At Republicans' expense. First came the disclosure that Louisiana Sen. David Vitter's telephone number was listed in the records of an escort service. Then Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Alaska was raided by federal agents as part of a corruption investigation. Now Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho is recanting a guilty plea that grew out of a police undercover operation in an airport men's room, adding, "I am not gay" for emphasis. "This is a serious matter," said
the Senate Republican leadership, an understatement for the ages. |
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Sen. Clinton to address New
Jersey Democrats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/n....0,2208799.story TRENTON, N.J. (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected next week to speak at the New Jersey Democratic Party's Annual Conference in Atlantic City. Democrats said the New York senator, who has comfortable leads in New Jersey presidential primary polls, will help Democrats jump-start this fall's campaign effort. Democrats control the Assembly 50-30 and the Senate 22-18, and all 120 legislative seats are up election in November. Gov. Jon S. Corzine is also expected to
address the conference at the Sept. 7 luncheon. |
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Talk Shows Pursue White House
Contenders -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (John Paul Filo/CBS ©2007 CBS Broadcasting)
read at source> http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Decision2008/story?id=3536348&page=1 Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., joked with David Letterman Thursday night her ex-president husband wouldn't be her pick for vice-president should she win the Democratic nomination -- because he can't. "He looked into that," Clinton
told Letterman, in her seventh appearance on "The Late Show."
The leading Democratic candidate also read her "Top Ten
List," of campaign promises, including number three: "We
will finally have a president who doesn't mind pulling over and
asking directions." |
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Kucinich is right on healthcare -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editori...._on_healthcare/ DENNIS KUCINICH rarely gets much airtime in Democratic presidential debates. That was underscored recently when ABC's George Stephanopoulos called on him in an Iowa forum to talk about God. Kucinich said, "George, I've been standing here for the last 45 minutes praying to God you were going to call on me." With poll numbers at 1 or 2 percent, the Ohio congressman is the nudge kicking at the knees of the Democratic Party to offer more than incremental change. He deserves more attention than he gets. On healthcare, he says what Americans believe, even as his rivals rake in contributions from the industry. In a CNN poll this spring, 64 percent of respondents said the government should "provide a national insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes," and 73 percent approve of higher taxes to insure children under 18. Those results track New York Times and Gallup polls last year, in which about two-thirds of respondents said it is the federal government's responsibility to guarantee health coverage to all Americans. Such polls allow Kucinich to joke that, far from being in the loony left, "I'm in the center. Everyone else is to the right of me." More seriously, in a recent visit to the Globe, he accused the other Democratic candidates of faking it on healthcare reform. "One of the greatest hoaxes of this campaign -- everyone's for universal healthcare," Kucinich said. "It's like a mantra. But when you get into the details, you find out that all the other candidates are talking about maintaining the existing for-profit system." |
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A Rigged Report on U.S. Voting? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Tova Andrea Wang read at source> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con....7082901928.html After the 2000 Florida election debacle, Congress established a body called the Election Assistance Commission to improve voting and democracy in this country. Two years ago, the commission approached me about doing a project that would take a preliminary look at voter fraud and intimidation and make recommendations for further research on the issues. Because my approach to election issues tends to be more closely aligned with Democrats, I was paired with a Republican co-author. To further remove any taint of partisanship, my co-author and I convened a bipartisan working group to help us. We spent a year doing research and consulting with leaders in the field to produce a draft report. What happened next seems inexplicable. After submitting the draft in July 2006, we were barred by the commission's staff from having anything more to do with it.
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Save & Share Article What's This? DiggGoogle What was the problem? In all the time we were doing our research and drafting the report, neither the staff nor the commissioners, who were continually advised of our activities and the substance of our work, raised any concerns about the direction we were going or the research findings. Yet, after sitting on the draft for six months, the EAC publicly released a report -- citing it as based on work by me and my co-author -- that completely stood our own work on its head. Consider the title. Whereas the commission is mandated by law to study voter fraud and intimidation, this new report was titled simply "Election Crimes" and excluded a wide range of serious offenses that harm the system and suppress voting but are not currently crimes under the U.S. criminal code. We said that our preliminary research found widespread agreement among administrators, academics and election experts from all points on the political spectrum that allegations of fraud through voter impersonation at polling places were greatly exaggerated. We noted that this position was supported by existing research and an analysis of several years of news articles. The commission chose instead to state that the issue was a matter of considerable debate. And while we found that problems of voter intimidation were still prevalent in a variety of forms, the commission excluded much of the discussion of voter intimidation. We also raised questions about the way the Justice Department was handling complaints of fraud and intimidation. The commission excised all references to the department that might be construed as critical -- or that Justice officials later took issue with. And all of the suggestions we received from political scientists and other scholars regarding methodologies for a more scientifically rigorous look at these problems were omitted. Once these "revisions" to the report were revealed this spring, there was an uproar among voting rights advocates. I was eager to set the record straight, but the commission would not allow me to speak about the report because of a broad "confidentiality provision" in my contract. The EAC finally released me from the gag order this summer, and, under pressure from Congress, it has publicly released 40,000 pages of revealing documents and e-mail. What was behind the strange handling of our report? It's still unclear, but it is worth noting that during the time the commission was holding our draft, claims about voter fraud and efforts to advance the cause of strict voter identification laws were at a fever pitch in Congress and the states. And it has been reported that some U.S. attorneys were being fired because they failed to pursue weakly supported voter fraud cases with sufficient zeal. We have learned that several Republican officials, including a state official, a former political appointee at the Justice Department and current Federal Election Commission member (Hans Von Spakovsky), and a Capitol Hill staffer complained about our project, particularly about my role in it. Officials at Justice were actively involved in the report throughout the process and even exerted some degree of editorial control over the new report. And it is evident from the commission's "document dump" that its Republican general counsel assumed primary control over the rewriting of the report. Even without a smoking gun showing political motives in the handling of the draft, the results are disappointing. This is not the way an institution created to promote democracy should function. A government entity that seeks democratic progress should be transparent. It should not be in the business of suppressing information or ideas. Such an institution must be thoroughly insulated from political interference from outside operatives or other parts of the executive branch. We need an institution like the Election Assistance Commission to provide guidance and research information to the states, election officials, elected leaders and voters. But this agency's structure and procedures need to be seriously reexamined in light of this episode. I support a strong, well-funded EAC that can help our country find reforms to the election system that will make voting more accessible, fair and accurate. But only after it finds some reforms for itself. The writer is Democracy Fellow at the Century
Foundation. |
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Bush, Democrats square off
on mortgage plans -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20534597/ The measures President Bush outlined Friday
for dealing with the ailing mortgage market are just the beginning.
When congressional Democrats return from their summer break,
the list of proposals addressing how far government should go
to help borrowers who got in over their heads will likely get
longer — and the debate about how to pay for it will likely
get louder. |
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Dean Urges Presidential Candidates
To Adhere To Calendar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/arch....tial_candid.php In a strongly worded letter to the Democratic presidential candidates, DNC chair Howard Dean urges them to abide by the calendar and delegate selection process set out by the committee. Dean does not address what would happen if the candidates stray from the rules and campaign in penalized states like Florida. "As the leader of the Democratic Party, I strongly urge you to adhere to the 2008 delegate selection rules." Last weekend, the party's rules and bylaws committee found Florida's proposed Jan. 29 primary in noncompliance. They stripped the state of all of its delegates, pending a decision by Florida to revise its plan. Florida refused and has threatened to sue the DNC for depriving Democrats the right to vote. "My goal as Chairman, and our objective
as a Party, is to structure a nominating process that adheres
to rules that are clear, straightforward and published. The vast
majority of states have complied with these rules," Dean
writes. "The RBC did one thing on Saturday: enforced the
Party's rules." |
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Five presidential candidates
to be in Iowa for Labor Day -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?....9D5390D0098CC9C Five presidential candidates plan to campaign
in Iowa over the Labor Day weekend. Four are Democrats. The lone
Republican candidate to schedule a trip to Iowa this weekend
is John McCain, who will speak at the dedication of a veteran's
monument in Neola on Monday. |
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Jersey Democrats to give away,
return Hsu donations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/n....0,3187248.story CAMDEN, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine, U.S.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg and the New Jersey Democratic Party plan
to donate to charity and return money given to them by a top
Democratic fundraiser who had been wanted as a fugitive in California.
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IAEA says Iran nuclear accord
'significant step' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hS9LBYRfFNhxvLWYM1vuI_BpWTWQ VIENNA (AFP) — Iran's decision to answer key questions about its nuclear programme is "a significant step forward," the UN nuclear agency said Thursday, in a development expected to help Tehran avoid new sanctions. The IAEA also said Iran's nuclear work
was far below the industrial level vaunted by Tehran in April,
according to a confidential IAEA report obtained by AFP. |
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Bush press secretary Tony
Snow to leave post -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- read at source> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-snow_webaug31,1,2565457.story WASHINGTON - Tony Snow, the White House
press secretary, will leave this month to devote time to writing,
speaking and playing a more active public role in combating cancer,
a disease that he has confronted for three roller-coaster years. |
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