There is too much to lose if we let ourselves become deluded into thinking "they're all the same." Yes, Obama and the Dems have let us down but just imagine what this country will turn into if the tea baggers and repuglicans take over Congress.
They already own the Supremes and have essentially given the richest 2% complete power over the electoral process by granting corporations the right to spend as much as they want to on campaign funding. How do you think that will INFORM citizens? Tax and spend, they scream, while laughing all the way to their jets and island hide-a-ways.
No, dear citizens, we must get out and VOTE and this article knocks down the bullshit. This is from Campaign for America's Future
Eight False Things The Public “Knows” Prior To Election Day
[ ...] This stuff really matters.
If the public votes in a new Congress because a majority of voters think this one tripled the deficit, and as a result the new people follow the policies that actually tripled the deficit, the country could go broke.
If the public votes in a new Congress that rejects the idea of helping to create demand in the economy because they think it didn't work, then the new Congress could do things that cause a depression.
If the public votes in a new Congress because they think the health care reform will increase the deficit when it is actually projected to reduce the deficit, then the new Congress could repeal health care reform and thereby make the deficit worse. And on it goes.
Help us spread the word about these important stories...
Tim Robbins was put through the paces on election day, and here is his follow up letter to the Board of Elections in our "liberal" NYC. In spite of anticipating problems and being prepared, he STILL suffered the indignity of having to prove just how determined he was to place his vote, no matter what obstacles were placed in his way. How many others gave up? Here's Tim's letter via OpEd News: Mr. Gregory C. Soumas Board of Elections, City of New York Executive Office 32 Broadway New York, NY 10004-1609 November 17, 2008 Dear Mr. Soumas: I would like to publicly apologize for being such a dim-witted dilettante on Election Day. I was under the naïve assumption that I could vote where I voted in the last two elections. Your thoughtful letter pointed out that if I had voted in the recent primary election in September I would have discovered that I was no longer registered in the polling place I have voted in since 2004. Considering your position at the Board of Elections and your deep respect for the democratic process I must assume that my local 14th St. poll worker, Betty J. Williamson's assertion that my name was on the active voter rolls for the primary in September of this year was erroneous and that she must be as confused and wrongheaded as I am. If Ms. Williamson saw my name in the book in September that would mean that you are lying. Certainly you wouldn't lie about a thing like that. That is unbecoming of a man of your bureaucratic stature. And why would anyone in the Board of Elections be eliminating legitimate voters from the rolls in late September and October of 2008? That's just crazy and un-democratic. I should also apologize for the misguided actions of Justice Paul G. Feinman in issuing a court order on Election Day allowing me to vote on 14th St. He apparently thought that a printed out record from your own Board of Elections computer verifying my polling place as 14th St was justification for issuing the court order. If he had only thought to contact you, you could have helped him understand the logic and wisdom of eliminating my name from the book on 14th St. where I have always voted and leaving my name registered at a place I have never voted. I must also thank you for sending your letter not to me but to all the major newspapers in the New York area and across the internet. [my bold] I understand it was your way of clearing up this matter and for that I am grateful. I am particularly appreciative of your sending a copy of my voter registration card with my home address and driver's license number to all the newspapers and, by extension, to millions across the internet. [my bold] What celebrity dilettante wouldn't want his private information made public? What kind of snob gets angry that his family's safety might be compromised? It comes with the territory, right? I was thinking of returning that favor by publishing your home address in this letter but then I thought that maybe one of the thousands of New Yorkers that were taken off the voter rolls in the last two months might not understand what a patriotic upstanding man you are and might show up at your doorstep with the misguided assumption that you are a petty vindictive corrupt scumbag. Tim Robbins New Yorker since 1961 Voter since 1976 P.S. If anyone reading this letter had a similar experience on Election Day it can and should be reported at 866ourvote.org. cc: Commissioners of Elections Marcus Cederqvist, Executive Director George Gonzalez, Deputy Executive Director Pamela Perkins, Administrative Manager Beth Fossella, Coordinator, Voter Registration Steven H. Richman, General Counsel Troy Johnson, Chief Clerk Timothy Gay, Deputy Chief Clerk After more searching it's starting to look like there was another hand behind Tim's problems. Last year the NY Times reported about the next darling of NYC's repuglican party, also the executive director of the Board of Elections:
Gearing Up for the Big Countdown
By ROBIN FINN Published: February 1, 2008 Marcus Cederqvist: The man in the shadows
A DEFINITE contender for the title of Most Precocious Republican in New York City, Marcus Cederqvist, at 37 the baby-faced new executive director of the Board of Elections, is gearing up for his debut as the city’s chief vote counter for Tuesday’s New York presidential primary.
[...] Cederqvist is currently executive director of the Manhattan Republican Committee. He will succeed fellow Manhattan Republican John Ravitz, who left in October. The election board's commissioners are appointed by their respective county political bosses.
[…] Mr. Cederqvist is responsible for monitoring the city’s 1,363 polling stations on Tuesday and supplying them with some 6,300 voting machines — yes, the clunky but dependable Shoup lever machines that must all be replaced by modern, voter-friendly machines in time for the 2009 mayoral election. But public service is old hat. He got his start while a student at the University of Rochester by volunteering for Charles Millard’s 1991 campaign for the New York City Council. He then had a summer internship with State Senator Roy M. Goodman in 1992, after which he coordinated the successful City Council campaign of Andrew S. Eristoff in 1993. By age 25, he was elected Republican leader of the 65th District on the East Side, and he went on to serve as Mr. Eristoff’s chief of staff until 1999. “Granted, this is a partisan agency,” he says about the board of 10 commissioners: a Democrat and a Republican from each borough, a recipe that he is convinced ensures checks and balances. He is a true-blue Republican — “Better make that true red,” he corrects, with a rare giggle — whose fascination with the party began as a Manhattan teenager improbably attuned to the oratory of Ronald Reagan. But the board’s deputy director and its administrative manager are both Democrats. Hurrah for partisan parity. “What everyone here is interested in, and what everyone truly wants, is a fair election,” he insists, waving a yellow pencil like a baton. “There isn’t really a Republican or a Democratic way to run an election; there’s just a right way. No, really! [Really? Are you protesting too much?] Here in this role, my job is very specifically to count votes, not influence them. That’s the only game I’m involved in now. The Board of Elections is kind of like the boiler in your house: It’s something you don’t think about much, but as long as it chugs along and keeps you warm, it’s doing its job.” He frets that the analogy sounds dumb. […] “I’VE been unbelievably busy,” [my bold, & you betcha!] he reiterates. He has even, because protocol demanded it, already voted (he won’t say for whom, but his palpable disappointment, and fleeting pout, at the news of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s withdrawal is a telltale sign). Mr. Cederqvist, before being named to this post, spent six years as executive director of the New York Republican County Committee. Making it a computer-savvy and candidate-rich organization was his mission. [...] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/nyregion/01lives.html
BTW: Mr. Robbins, I'm very happy to give these civil servants more than one Google entry!
Do you think these Repuglican schemesters have the good of the nation in mind when they broadcast their omnipotence in turning American into a totalitarian state? Are they so afraid of liberty that they would destroy every single inaliable right? They should move to China if that's what they want! Here's the brave man. Maybe he'd like to hear from you!
Michigan Republicans plan to foreclose African-American voters
The chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County, Michigan, a key swing county in a key swing state, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of the state GOP’s effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.
“We will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses,”[my bold] party chairman James Carabelli told Michigan Messenger in a telephone interview earlier this week. He said the local party wanted to make sure that proper electoral procedures were followed.
State election rules allow parties to assign “election challengers” to polls to monitor the election. In addition to observing the poll workers, these volunteers can challenge the eligibility of any voter provided they “have a good reason to believe” that the person is not eligible to vote. One allowable reason is that the person is not a “true resident of the city or township.”
[...]“You can’t challenge people without a factual basis for doing so,” said J. Gerald Hebert, a former voting rights litigator for the U.S. Justice Department who now runs the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington D.C.-based public-interest law firm. “I don’t think a foreclosure notice is sufficient basis for a challenge, because people often remain in their homes after foreclosure begins and sometimes are able to negotiate and refinance.”
The Macomb County party’s plans to challenge voters who have defaulted on their house payments is likely to disproportionately affect African-Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters. [my bold]More than 60 percent of all sub-prime loans — the most likely kind of loan to go into default — were made to African-Americans in Michigan, according to a report issued last year by the state’s Department of Labor and Economic Growth.
Saulius "Saul" Anuzis
Chairman, Michigan GOP
He'd like to hear from you!
[...]Kelly Harrigan, deputy director of the GOP’s voter programs, confirmed that she is coordinating the group’s “election integrity” program. Harrigan said the effort includes putting in place a legal team, as well as training election challengers. She said the challenges to voters were procedural rather than personal. She referred inquiries about the vote challenge program to communications director Bill Nowling, who promised information but did not return calls. [too ashamed? repuglican with a conscience?]
Party chairman Carabelli said that the Republican Party is training election challengers to “make sure that [voters] are who they say who they are.”
When asked for further details on how Republicans are compiling challenge lists, he said, “I would rather not tell you all the things we are doing.” [my bold]
[...]“At a minimum what you are seeing is a fairly comprehensive effort by the Republican Party, a systematic broad-based effort to put up obstacles for people to vote,” he said.
[...]Challenging all voters registered to foreclosed homes could disrupt some polling places, especially in the Detroit metropolitan area. According to the real estate Web site RealtyTrac, one in every 176 households in Wayne County, metropolitan Detroit, received a foreclosure filing during the month of July. In Macomb County, the figure was one household in every 285, meaning that 1,834 homeowners received the bad news in just one month. The Macomb County foreclosure rate puts it in the top three percent of all U.S. counties in the number of distressed homeowners.
Jane Abraham
Co-Chair
Michigan GOP
She's waiting for your email!
[...]David Lagstein, head organizer with the Michigan Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), described the plans of the Macomb GOP as “crazy.”
“You would think they would think, ‘This is going to look too heartless,’” said Lagstein, whose group has registered 200,000 new voters statewide this year and also runs a foreclosure avoidance program. “The Republican-led state Senate has not moved on the anti-predatory lending bill for over a year and yet [Republicans] have time to prey on those who have fallen victim to foreclosure to suppress the vote.”
[...]If there's Election Day disorder brewing for 2008, it might well be rooted in the nation's mortgage-foreclosure crisis. In Columbus, across Ohio and in other key presidential battlegrounds, more people losing their homes means more registered to vote from addresses where they no longer live.
Although federal law ensures that most still will be able to cast a ballot on Nov. 4, Ohio voters with outdated addresses risk pre-election challenges and trips from polling place to polling place. They're also more likely to cast provisional ballots that might not be counted.
"It's a real issue," said Daniel Tokaji, an Ohio State University law professor who wonders whether foreclosures might explain the increasing percentages of provisional votes cast between 2004 and Ohio's latest election, the presidential primary in March.
Nearly 3,700 people are registered to vote at Columbus addresses the city lists as vacant, according to records maintained by the city's code-enforcement office and the Franklin County Board of Elections.
The number of voters on the move, though, is higher than that. The board of elections sent out a plea in January to about 27,000 Franklin County residents who had filled out change-of-address forms with the U.S. Postal Service but hadn't updated their voter registrations.
[...]Ohio's 2-year-old requirement that voters show identification [SHOW ME YOUR PAPERS] at the polls makes it more important that they keep their registration information current, said Jeff Ortega, a spokesman for Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
[...]Columbus ranked 32nd among U.S. cities in the number of foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a Web site that lists homes on the market in most cities. Cleveland, Dayton, Akron, Toledo and Cincinnati also were among the top 50, and Ohio was ninth among states during May, with one filing for every 410 homes.
Other battleground states rank high in foreclosure filings as well: Nevada led the nation in May with one filing for every 118 homes, while Florida was fourth, Michigan fifth, Georgia sixth, Colorado seventh and New Jersey 10th.
The Macomb County Republican Party chair who told Michigan Messenger earlier this week that Republicans planned to challenge voters at the polls using a list of foreclosed homes has changed his story.
James Carabelli now says the party has “no plans to do anything,” according to a story in the Macomb Daily.
Reports of the plan for foreclosure-based challenges have spurred outrage and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) planned a demonstration today at the Macomb County Republican headquarters.
Eric Doster is former counsel for the Michigan Republican Party and a lawyer who plans to represent GOP election challengers on Election Day.
Doster returned a call Wednesday afternoon and in a 30-minute conversation told Michigan Messenger that while he is unfamiliar with plans to use foreclosure lists to challenge voters, he does expect party volunteers to challenge voters in other ways.
When asked whether Michigan Republicans plan to create a challenge list based on returned direct mail, a practice known as “vote caging,” Doster replied, “I think so. I know this has been done in years past … both parties may be doing this.”
Doster said that the party’s deputy political director, Kelly Harrigan, would have more information about the challenge lists. Harrigan did not respond to a call from Michigan Messenger.
“Voter caging” is controversial because it can be used to target certain groups of voters. Some say that a piece of returned mail should not be enough to challenge a person’s claim of residency.
Last week Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner acknowledged that the use of mail for vote caging has disproportionately affected poor and minority communities and she instructed that returned mail should not be considered reasonable evidence that someone has moved.
Last word: MI GOP is in full denial, calling the Michigan Messanger "a liberal blog funded by the Center for Independent Media, "aknown front group for liberal billionaire George Soros."
Keep up the pressure. It's our democracy at stake.
McCain’s Michigan headquarters rented from law firm specializing in mortgage foreclosures By Todd A. Heywood 7/15/08 4:47 PM The new Great Lakes Campaign Headquarters for Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid is located in a Farmington Hills building owned by Trott & Trott, a law firm that specializes in mortgage foreclosures, documents show. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, considered a possible running mate for McCain, delivered a keynote address that served as a ribbon-cutting there Monday on McCain’s behalf. This potentially embarrassing news comes at a time when many Michigan homeowners are suffering. In January Detroit led the country with nearly 5 percent of its homes entering some phase of foreclosure. [my bold] This was 4.8 times the national foreclosure average of just over 1 percent. In addition, Foreclosure.com shows thousands of properties in foreclosure in Oakland County, where Farmington Hills is located. When Michigan Liberal’s Eric Barren reported the new office, the Trott Financial Center, is located at 31440 Northwestern Highway, Suite 100, Farmington Hills; his post identified the owner as Trott & Trott. In fact the property is owned, according to Famington Hills city property records online, by NW13, L.L.C. The agent for contact on this company is Paul Stodulski. Crain’s Detroit Business reports Trott & Trott is a majority owner of the building, along with Stodulski. [...] Calls to Trott & Trott, which identifies itself as a collection agency on the recorded greeting, were also not returned. McCain campaign officials have not yet responded to a request for comment on this story. http://www.michiganmessenger.com/1571/mccains-michigan-headquarters-rented-from-law-firm-specializing-in-mortgage-foreclosures David A. Trott Trott & Trott Farmington Hills, Michigan David A. Trott practices in the areas of mortgage foreclosure and bankruptcy. He is a member of the State Bar of Michigan, the District of Columbia Bar, the Consumer Bankruptcy Association, the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the U.S. Foreclosure Network (USFN), the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, the Young Presidents Organization, and the Michigan Land Title Association. He has served as a faculty member and lecturer for ICLE, Professional Education Systems, Inc., and the National Business Institute. Mr. Trott has delivered seminars on matters relating to mortgage servicing to the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association and to all of the Michigan field offices of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He has served on the advisory committee to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court responsible for reviewing and revising the Local Rules for the Eastern District of Michigan and also on a similar committee for the State District Court in Detroit. This committee made recommendations on how to simplify and streamline the eviction process. He participated on the "Free Legal Advice" panel at the National Servicing Conference in 1994, and spoke on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Lender Liability arising from Force Placed Hazard Insurance. In 1996, Mr. Trott was selected by "Crain's Business Weekly" as one of "Detroit's Best and Brightest Leaders Under the Age of 40." He has chaired several Michigan Mortgage Lender Association committees, including Loan Administration, Convention, and Affordable Housing; was elected to its board of governors; and, in 1997, completed his term as president of the association. In November of 1999, he received the James T. Barnes award recognizing his outstanding contributions to the mortgage banking industry. Mr. Trott is president and managing attorney at his firm, president of USFN (America’s Mortgage Banking Attorneys), and a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. Trott & Trott is mentioned on this web site which reports real estate fraud and the "flipping frenzy, but I'm sure there's more dirt out there: http://www.flippingfrenzy.com/category/predatory-lending/
Well, are we supposed to believe this another CIA plot? Aren't Mongolians, like Tibetans and the Uyghurs simply demanding the same civil liberties we have here and shouldn't we be supporting them? Messers Parenti and Michel Chossudovsky would disagree, along with numerous China-is-ONE nuts who troll the internets. Shame on China for not listening to the people!
5 Killed in Riots After Mongolia Vote By JIM YARDLEY July 3, 2008 BEIJING — The president of Mongolia, Nambariin Enkhbayar, declared a national state of emergency on Tuesday after hundreds of people angered by election results rioted in the capital, Ulan Bator, leaving five people dead. Troops were patrolling the capital to enforce martial law, Mongolian state media reported. Mongolia’s national news agency, Montsame, said 710 people were detained after groups of protesters, alleging fraud in last weekend’s national elections, clashed with the police. [my bold] Preliminary results of the elections gave a parliamentary majority to the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, the successor to the country’s Communist Party, which dominated the nation when it was a puppet of the Soviet Union. The opposition Democratic Party rejected the election results but disavowed the violence, Reuters reported. Both political parties held closed meetings on Tuesday, and the Parliament was planning to hold a special session to address the crisis, the national news agency reported. “At this moment, the situation in the capital city is relatively normal,” the Ulan Bator police chief, Amarbold, said on state television, according to Reuters. “It is very peaceful compared to yesterday, but the troops need to stay on the street.” [...] The UB Post, an English language newspaper in Ulan Bator, reported that 74 percent of the country’s 1.6 million eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday’s parliamentary races. [my bold] [Doesn't the fact that 74% of eligible voters turned out indicate a desire for change?] It also reported that the People’s Revolutionary Party had won at least half of the 76 legislative seats even as votes were still being counted. “Based on information we got through our primary units, we have won all mandates in nine provinces,” Yo Otgonbayar, secretary general of the party, told a news conference in Ulan Bator. A 16-member team of international election observers confirmed the results of the race. Leaders of the Democratic Party disagreed with the preliminary results but also wanted to meet with the People’s Revolutionary Party to defuse the crisis. “From the Sea of Japan to the eastern border of Europe, we are the only functioning democracy, and we have a duty to save it,” the Democratic Party leader, Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, told Reuters. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/world/asia/03mongolia.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
For previous posts on ethnic struggles in China, please click on the tags below.
Another creative approach: Let the lawyers do what they do best...SUE THE BASTARDS! CitizenClassAction.comBecause It's Time To Take Our Country Back It's Time To Act To Save Our Democracy, Friday, 18 January 2008 [...]The practice of excluding candidates from presidential debates has become far too common and casual. Who has the right to decide which candidates the American people get to hear from? Who has the authority to select which political positions are acceptable, and which ideas should be considered? That's not a choice that the corporate media or their corporate masters should be permitted to make. The decision about which candidates are 'viable' is entirely up to the American people, and it is expressed when they VOTE. The American people have repeatedly spoken out about this issue, but they are largely being ignored. [...]The only recourse left to concerned citizens now is to take legal action in the form of a class action lawsuit to force the corporate media to allow all presidential candidates to participate in broadcasted presidential debates. [...]we believe that there are valid legal grounds to pursue a lawsuit in order to correct the injustices that the corporate media are perpetrating against the American people, and against our democracy. But, we need your help. In order to effectively pursue this lawsuit, we must demonstrate that the American people support our claims, and want to remove the stranglehold that the corporate media is exercising over our election process. We need a large group of concerned citizens to join our class action suit. If you want to help protect our democracy, and are troubled by the way the corporate media is manipulating our election process, please sign up to be part of the lawsuit.[...] Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 January 2008 ) http://www.citizenclassaction.com/ When you sign up you will be asked the usual questions as well as more specific ones. You do not have to answer them. Just to be clear, they say they have “material evidence” to convince the ACLU that a case can be made. I happen to have personal reasons to believe the ACLU is not the way to go with something like this, but … I joined anyway. Use your own judgment.
A presidential election tainted by vote-tampering - now Kenya’s future hangs in the balance, with over 600 killed and 250,000 made homeless. We need to act fast. The world can play a crucial role, by supporting Kofi Annan’s mediation efforts and refusing to recognize any government until it is legitimately established - so let’s send a wave of messages to our leaders asking for this. To make sure Kenya’s politicians hear us too, we’re taking out a full-page ad in the East African Standard, a respected newspaper [below]... Kenya still teeters on the brink of disaster – today bullets are flying on the streets, with over 600 killed and 250,000 made homeless as government and opposition dispute the presidency. There's hope yet, as Kenyan civil society groups stand up for peace and justice – but only dialogue and an independent review of the tainted election can end this crisis and prevent escalating violence. Please follow this link to sign the petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/kenya_free_and_fair/5.php
Eight False Things The Public “Knows” Prior To Election Day
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