Please don’t forget to vote in Virginia today. The polls are open from 6am - 7pm and you may vote at any time during those hours. Everyone who is registered to Vote in Virginia can vote in the Virginia primary today.
Please see this prior post on on the differences in the three candidates.
Check for your polling place here
For those who have not been paying attention, Virginia has a hot Democratic governor’s primary going on at the moment where all three candidates are neck and neck in the polls. The three contenders are Brian Moran, Creigh (pronounced Cree) Deeds, and Terry McCauliffe. The Republican, Robert McDonnell, is running unopposed.
Brian Moran has been praised for fighting for Virginia families in the trenches for decades. Moran’s brother Jim has been cited as a potential liability but Brian Moran has been praised for his strong record on public safety, his 20 years in Virginia public service, his commitment to improving transportation, his solid record as a lawmaker, his advocacy of victims of domestic violence, working to raise the minimum wage, expanding healthcare for every child, and raising teacher salaries. Moran has been endorsed by Mayors, Board Chairs, Democratic Committee leaders, the majority of the Democratic Steering Committee, Democratic leaders in Arlington, Alexandria, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Falls Church, Richmond, etc. counties, and numerous Grassroots groups. See the growing list of Brian Moran endorsements here and here.
Creigh Deeds also has a record of public service but has been criticized for his far right leaning stance on gun control and for being the only Democrat who sought and received the endorsement of the NRA. More specifically, Deeds voted against banning guns for convicted domestic abusers and other violent crime offenders. In addition, Deed co-sponsored legislation proposing to repeal Virginia’s prohibition against concealed weapons in restaurants and bars. In fact, Deeds voted repeatedly to allow concealed weapons in bars (four votes total) in the last two years. There is also concern by some Democrats as to whether Deeds can beat McDonnell because he went up against the presumptive Republican gubernatorial nominee for attorney general four years ago and lost by 323 votes. Btw, in that attorney general race the NRA endorsed Democrat Deeds over GOP candidate McDonnell. So Deeds is the first Virginia Democrat that the NRA has endorsed in the last twenty years. However, Deeds has been praised for his record of green jobs promotion, land conservation, and has been endorsed by the Washington Post.
Terry McCauliffe was chairman of the Democratic National Committee and has a fundraising ability nationally that has been touted as second to none but McCauliffe has also been criticized for boasting that he launched five businesses in Virginia none of which created any jobs in the Commonwealth. It turns out that the Virginia businesses launched by the former DNC Chairman were investment partnerships with no employees. McCauliffe cites a Washington Post article as proof that as a businessman he has created thousands of jobs. However, what McCauliffe fails to mention in his television ad is that the cited Post article in such ad goes further to explain that as the head of a Florida-based home-building company that created thousands of jobs, McCauliffe did not create any of those jobs in Virginia. As a result, the McCauliffe ad has been criticized as being misleading. See full article here. One new endorsement McCauliffe will receive this weekend is from Brian Schweitzer, Governor of Montana and Chairman of the Democratic Governor’s Association. Brian Moran’s campaign manager, Andrew Roos, had this to say about the Schweitzer endorsement:
“The guy who was rumored to be running for governor of New York and wanted to be governor of Florida is having the governor of Montana tell us why he should be governor of Virginia?” Roos asked.
We at ProgressPolitics have decided not to endorse any candidate until the after the primary. However, we do encourage everyone to go out and vote on Tuesday. If you don’t vote then you cannot stake a claim in how the Commonwealth is lead. If energy efficiency is important to you, if gun control is important to you, if bringing new jobs, green or otherwise, to Virginia is important to you, if investing in education in Virginia is important to you, if reducing crime in Virginia is important to you, if keeping Virginia BLUE is important to you, then PLEASE VOTE TUESDAY! Anyone who is registered to vote in Virginia can vote in the Virginia’s open primary on Tuesday, SO PLEASE VOTE. Just go to your normal voting place or click here to find your polling place. Polling hours are 6am – 7pm.
Below is one of the Gubernatorial debates moderated by bloggers FireDogLake and the Collegiate Times. The debate lasts for 1 hour 49 minutes.
Friends,
Nothing like it has ever happened. The President of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the head of General Motors — a company that’s spent more years at #1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else — “You’re fired!”
I simply can’t believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days. I keep saying, “Did Obama really fire the chairman of General Motors? The wealthiest and most powerful corporation of the 20th century? Can he do that? Really? Well, damn! What else can he do?!”
This bold move has sent the heads of corporate America spinning and spewing pea soup. Obama has issued this edict: The government of, by, and for the people is in charge here, not big business. John McCain got it. On the floor of the Senate he asked, “What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?” Senator Bob Corker said it “should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise.” The stock market plunged as the masters of the universe asked themselves, “Am I next?” And they whispered to each other, “What are we going to do about this Obama?”
Not much, fellows. He has the massive will of the American people behind him — and he has been granted permission by us to do what he sees fit. If you liked this week’s all-net 3-pointer, stay tuned.
I write this letter to you in memory of the hundreds of thousands of workers over the past 25+ years who have been tossed into the trash heap by General Motors. Many saw their lives ruined for good. They turned to alcohol or drugs, their marriages fell apart, some took their own lives. Most moved on, moved out, moved over, moved away. They ended up working two jobs for half the pay they were getting at GM. And they cursed the CEO of GM for bringing ruin to their lives.
Not one of them ever thought that one day they would witness the CEO receive the same treatment. Of course Chairman Wagoner will not have to sign up for food stamps or be evicted from his home or tell his kids they’ll be going to the community college, not the university. Instead, he will get a $23 million golden parachute. But the slip in his hands is still pink, just like the hundreds of thousands that others received — except his was issued by us, via the Obama-man. Here’s the door, buster. See ya. Don’t wanna be ya.
I began my day today in Washington, D.C. I went to the U.S. Senate and got into their Finance Committee’s hearing on the Wall Street bailout. The overseers wanted to know how the banks spent the money. And many of these banks won’t tell them. They’ve taken trillions and nobody knows where the money went. It certainly didn’t go to create jobs, relieve mortgage holders, or free up loans that people need. It was so shocking to listen to this, I had to leave before it was over. But it gave me an idea for the movie I was shooting.
Later, I stopped by the National Archives to stand in line to see the original copy of our Constitution. I thought about how twenty years ago this month I was just down the street finishing my first film, a personal plea to warn the nation about GM and the deadly economy it ruled. On that March day in 1989 I was broke, having collected the last of my unemployment checks, relying on help from my friends (Bob and Siri would take me out to dinner and always pick up the check, the assistant manager at the movie theater would sneak me in so I could watch an occasional movie, Laurie and Jack bought an old Steenbeck (editing) machine for me, John Richard would slip me an unused plane ticket so I could go home for Christmas, Rod would do anything for me and drive to Flint whenever I needed something for the film). My late mother (she would’ve turned 88 tomorrow if she were still with us) and my GM autoworker dad told me in the kitchen they wanted to help and handed me a check for an astounding thousand dollars. I didn’t know they even had a thousand dollars. I refused it, they insisted I take it — “No!” — and then, in that parental voice, told me I was to cash it so I could finish my movie. I did. And I did.
So on that March day in 1989, as I was driving down Pennsylvania Avenue, my 9-year-old car just died. I coasted over to the curb, put my head down on the steering wheel and started to cry. I had no money to take it in to be repaired, and I certainly had nothing to pay the tow truck driver. So I got out, screwed the license plates off so I wouldn’t be fined, turned my back and just left it there for good. I looked over at the building next to me. It said “National Archives.” What better place to donate my dead car, I thought, as I walked the rest of the way home.
Though it wasn’t easy for me, I still never had to suffer what so many of my friends and neighbors went through, thanks to General Motors and an economic system rigged against them. I wonder what they must have all thought when they woke up this Monday morning to read in the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press the headlines that Obama had fired the CEO of GM. Oh — wait a minute. They couldn’t read that. There was no Free Press or News. Monday was the day that both papers ended home delivery. It was canceled (as it will be for four days every week) because the daily newspapers, like General Motors, like Detroit, are broke.
I await the President’s next superhero move.
Yours,
Michael Moore
Click here for full transcript
Like in that Doobie Brothers song ‘Takin it to the Streets,’ the grassroots organization Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, an organization that assists homeowners in avoiding foreclosure, took their grievances directly to the source of their frustration….Wall Street executives. Almost 400 members of the group of potential foreclosure victims protested outside the homes of several CEO’s of Wall Street firms who refuse to renegotiate loans on behalf of NACA homeowners. One particular manager, William Frey of Greenwich Financial Services, was targeted because he is currently suing Bank of America on behalf of two of BofA’s primary investors because BofA moved to modify several hundred mortgages to make them more affordable the homeowners. Monikered “the Predators tour,” the group has mounted an all out “accountability campaign” against the excesses of Wall Street executives and their obliviousness to the pain and distress of Main Street, i.e., their fellow man and woman. NACA confronted the executives on their own turf by showing up outside their homes and placing furniture on the lawns to demonstrate what it might feel like to be displaced. The protesters also stood on the street in front of the executive’s homes holding signs reading “Stop the Loan Sharks.” That’s another way of getting accountability. See full story here.
Given the situation, this little melody is particularly pertinent. For those not familiar with the song it was recorded in the 70’s (video above) and in this case is a message to all those who, in the name of greed, were willing to exploit the desperation of the oppressed and disenfranchised simply trying to achieve the American dream.
Takin’ It To The Streets
You don’t know me but I’m your brother
I was raised here in this living hell
You don’t know my kind in your world
Fairly soon the time will tell
You, telling me the things you’re gonna do for me
I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Take this message to my brother
You will find him everywhere
Wherever people live together
Tied in poverty’s despair
You, telling me the things you’re gonna do for me
I ain’t blind and I don’t like what I think I see
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Takin’ it to the streets
Georgia early voting numbers seem to favor Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. John McCain
Number of ballots cast:1,994,990
Number of ballots voted in person: 1,773,752
Number of mail-in ballots returned: 221,238Turn out Demographics:
Black Female 439,434 Black Male 260,432 White Female 666,827 White Male 534,174 Asia-PI Female 6,370 Asia-PI Male 5,007 Hisp-Lt Female 8,504 Hisp-Lt Male 6,214 Native AM Female 159 Native AM Male 137 Other 67,372 Total
1,994,990 Top 5 Counties in turn out:
1. Dekalb: 177,320 2. Fulton: 160,641 3. Cobb: 135,907 4. Gwinnett: 106,801 5. Henry: 69,604
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Transcript Below (with props to Dopeman).
Charles:
I was born in ‘22. I lived through the Great Depression. That’s the reason I’ve been a Democrat all my life, ’cause I saw what Roosevelt did when he first come into office. My mother would have lose her farm and we would’ve lose everything we had if it hadn’t have been for President Roosevelt elected to office.
Merideth:
Charles started volonteering with us here about 4 weeks ago now, it was right after his wife passed away. He’d been married to her for 69 years. And he has been helping us with the front desk, greeting folks, signing them in, making sure they feel welcome here, um, he’s just, he’s one of the most amazing people I’ve met on the campaign. he saw our raffle box that we had set up for every volunteer who came in to help us was able to submit a raffle ticket to be pulled at random and the next day was the day that we pulled out, we pulled the winner and I stuck my hand in the big box then swirled it around at random and pulled out Charles Alexander’s ticket and everyone was just in shock. Everyone said that if there is one one person out of Boulder County, out of Colorado could meet Barack, this was the guy that absolutely deserved it, um, and we told him the next day and he looked at us and he said ‘are you pulling my leg? Are you kidding me? I’ve never won anything in my life.’
Charles:
Oh that’s the greatest thing in my life, I tell ya, I never did think I would meet.. uh… someone going to be the president of the United States in my lifetime. He is such a lovely person, he is just the same in person as he is on tv. And uh, if he gets to be elected president it will be one of the greatest jobs this country’s people ever done for this country. to elect him president now, somebody who can unite the country back together. ‘Cause divided we will never go no place when we are divided.
Merideth:
He’s the type of person that gets me up out of bed every morning and keeps me going.
Charles:
My God, all these young people here, they are tomorrow’s future. I’m dying off. Everybody my age is dying off. Everybody. The next 4 or 5 years, I probably won’t be around. These young people are going to take the lead. That’s what I love about seeing all these young people in here volunteering ’cause they are all tomorrow’s future. They are my grandkids’ future and great great grandkids, the young people that you see here today. God knows that I see a bunch of them. They really are wonderful people. They’re just as friendly as they can be. They are real united people. And that’s what this country needs to be, 100% united. and I just think Barack Obama is the person that can do it.
Georgia early voting exceeds prior records. As of today, early vote totals in Georgia are close to 500,000! Un-freakin-believable! And the kicker is that 37% of the early voters are African-American. Woohooo! Given that polling suggest that at least 90% of black folks vote for Sen. Obama, I’d say that that is pretty good news for the Obama campaign. Can a democrat win Georgia?? Hmmm. For all those black folks out there who are determined to vote on Election Day, I have this to say….VOTE EARLY. I voted early and had a better experience than I have had in previous general elections. I voted without the hassle of long lines, dirty tricks, traffic, weather, etc. I went in, just as I have every past Election Day and voted on the equipment. It was an exhilarating experience and I highly recommend it. I walked around all day with a rediculous smile on my face. And guess what, you can help get others to the polls on Election Day instead of worrying about getting there yourself. Read Georgia article.
Early vote totals have now reached 499,582 — about 75,000 more than were cast early in all of 2004. (The state is also newly encouraging early voting this year, so that’s a major factor.)
And the ratio of African-American voters remains extremely high: 37% of the early votes were cast by black voters, who make up just 29% of the state’s electorate.
Obama Campaign’s Response to McCain’s ACORN LetterSeptember 23, 2008
Honorable John C. Danforth
Honorable Warren B. Rudman
McCain-Palin 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington , VA 22215
Dear Senator Danforth and Senator Rudman:
We have received your letter of September 15, 2008, informing us of the formation of what you call the “Honest and Open Election Committee” by the McCain-Palin Campaign.
However attractively labeled, this seems a starkly political maneuver to deflect attention from the reality of the suppression strategies pursued by national,state and Republican party committees. This has been the shameful history of the party from the Goldwater “Operation Eagle Eye” program to the present day—a history replete with instances of systematically planned and executed programs to block access to the vote for targeted communities of voters.
In 2004, the Republican Party, on the eve of the general election, mounted challenges to tens of thousands of voters in Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin based on “caging lists,” that is, lists of returned mailers or based on similar information providing no legitimate grounds whatsoever for such challenges. None of these challenges, to our knowledge, was upheld and accusations of voter fraud by national Republican Party leaders were proven utterly baseless.
Now,in 2008, the Republican Party again appears determined to engage in tactics and strategies to deny the right to vote to qualified citizens:
· In Michigan, the chairman of Macomb County Republican Party has threatened to use lists of persons whose homes have been foreclosed to challenge those persons at the polls. Only after public exposure, did he deny that this was the plan for Macomb County, and this matter is now before the federal district court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
· In Florida, the RNC has mailed non-forwardable letters to Democratic voters asking them to “confirm” their party affiliation as Republican—thereby raising doubts about their registration status and creating the basis for possible challenge lists. Even top Republican election officials in Florida, including the Secretary of State,have publicly condemned this tactic.
· In Wisconsin, the Republican Attorney General, who serves as co-chair of the McCain-Palin campaign in the state, has filed suit challenging the refusal of the state’s own election administration authorities to throw thousands of voters off the rolls based on dubious and impractical matches of identifying information.
· In Ohio, Republicans are challenging the decision of the Secretary of State to allow first-time voters to obtain an absentee ballot at the time they register even though the law clearly affords this right.
Manifestly, the confusion,uncertainty, deprivations of rights and interference with efficient election administration created by these tactics, and similar ones that the Republican Party has used in recent election cycles, cannot be effectively addressed by the creation late in the day of “committees” with gloriously self-serving names. Rather, the best way to address them is for responsible Republican leaders like both of you to speak out, loudly and forcefully, to condemn these tactics, to insist that they be shut down once and for all and then to make sure that they are.
This is what we would hope that you could accomplish. If your concern truly lies with ‘Honest and Open Elections”, then your work is properly and effectively begins at home–with the Republican operatives who are planning and running these suppressive programs and who are being directed in these activities by the same national McCain and party leadership that recruited you to this “Committee”.
Sincerely yours,
David Plouffe,
Campaign Manager, Obama for America
National
Rasmussen Obama 48 McCain 48
Hotline/Diageo Obama 47 McCain 43
Gallup Obama 47 McCain 44
Battleground State Polls
SurveyUSA here
VIRGINIA Obama 51 – McCain 45
Quinnipiac here:
COLORADO: Obama 49 - McCain 45
MICHIGAN: Obama 48 - McCain 44
MINNESOTA: Obama 47 - McCain 45
WISCONSIN: Obama 49 - McCain 42
Trust to handle the economy:
CO: Obama 47 – McCain 41
MI: Obama 50 – McCain 38
MN: Obama 45 – McCain 45
WI: Obama 47 – McCain 40
NBC/Mason-Dixon
FLORIDA: Obama 47 – McCain 45
Arkansas: Obama 41 – McCain 53
Massachusetts: Obama 55 – McCain 39
Oregon: Obama 52 – McCain 41
Pennsylvania: Obama 50 – McCain 46
Vermont: Obama 56 – McCain 38
National: Obama 48 – McCain 46
PPP here
COLORADO: Obama 51 – McCain 44
INadv/PollPos
OHIO: Obama 46 – McCain 46
The GOP dirty tricks campaign has begun. It started with Florida’s “No Match, No Vote” law requiring that a voter’s identification match up exactly with the state or federal database in order to vote. If the voters identification does not match with the voter rolls on Election Day, the voter is given a provisional ballot and two days to prove his/her identity for their vote to count. The law disproportionately excludes Latino and African American voters. Republican Secretary of State, Kurt Browning, sent notice to the state’s 67 supervisors of elections that the law would take effect on September 8th. This means that if your name is “Robert” and the federal/State database says “Bob,” that is not an exact match and you need to correct it or you will be disenfranchised. If your identification indicates that you are a Jr. or Sr. and it does not match the federal/state database, or vice versa, it is not a match. Better safe than sorry, correct your information by the voter registration deadline in your state. In Florida, the voter registration deadline is October 6th. Make sure that you are registered in Florida and properly identified here.
The Republican party is planning to used foreclosure list in Michigan to block African-Americans from voting on November 4th. They will use the lists to challenge voters at the polls in predominate African-American communities. Michigan Republican party Chairman said “[w]e will have a list of foreclosed homes and will make sure people aren’t voting from those addresses[.]” Michigan allows election challengers to challenge any voter who they “have reason to believe” is not a “true resident of the city or township” on election day. The Michigan GOP plans to use foreclosure lists to attempt to challenge voters as not being “true residents.” If you have recently been foreclosed on and no longer reside in your forclosed home, please change your address here and you will be assigned to the proper precinct on Election Day. Again, be safe rather than sorry correct your address by the voter registration deadline. In Michigan, the voter registration deadline is Oct 6th. Check your address and registration in Michigan here.
Currently, as this Republican president is about to leave office, our country is 9.7 trillion dollars in debt, the unemployment rate is 6.1%, we have a $357 billion dollar budget deficit, and gas is $4 a gallon. We are also on our way to a fifty year high deficit. Eight years ago, when President Bill Clinton, a democrat left the office, we had a 4.2 unemployment rate, $281 billion dollar budget surplus, we were only 5.7 trillion dollars in debt, and gas was $1.46 a gallon. In addition, last month alone America lost 84,000 jobs. McCain, in his attempt to re-brand himself, claims that the Republicans have lost their way. This is a proven falsehood, the last six Republican Presidents have been fiscal spendthrifts.
In 1981 the gross national debt, compared to the nation’s annual income, reached its lowest point since 1931. Despite his claim to hate the debt, Reagan instituted unprecedented peacetime deficit spending. This is not partisan politics, this is straight off the White House web site. Bush II repeated Reagan’s performance and turned the debt upward again. Bush II’s own Office of Management and Budget provides all the data. See graphs and facts here
As to the question….are you better off today than you were 8 years ago? When Bill Clinton left office eight years ago, we had a budget surplus and the economy was thriving. Things have turned abyssmal during the Bush administration. Further objective evidence is that by every economic performance metric, except one, democratic presidents have out-performed republican presidents. In the last fifty years, the democrats have done much better in terms of economic growth, reducing the deficit, and strengthening the middle and working class than republicans. Therefore, logic dictates that if as a voter you are really interested in turning around this sinking economy and putting more money in your pocket, it is the democratic party that has the track record of doing just that. History further demonstrates that the republican claim that it is the party of fiscal conservatism is a myth. No President has been more proof of such myth than George W Bush. And, given the fact that the majority of the McCain campaign staff have made a beeline from Bush to McCain there is no CHANGE in sight if McCain has his way. On NPR’s All Things Considered in April this year McCain claimed:
“I can eliminate $100 billion of wasteful and earmark spending immediately–35 billion in big spending bills in the last two years, and another 65 billion that has already been made a permanent part of the budget.”
The problem is that the Office of Management and Budget only identified $16.9 billion total in appropriations bills for 2008. “The figure includes such items as $4 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which could not be eliminated without halting hundreds of construction projects around the country. Another big chunk goes to military construction, including housing for servicemen and their families, which McCain has also promised not to touch.” Sooo…exactly how does McCain cut 35 billion dollars in spending from 16.9 billion? Sounds like “voodoo economics.” Just goes to further demonstrate that the Arizona senator just doesn’t get it.
Listen, the leaders and big-time players of McCain’s campaign staff were hired directly from the Bush unemployment line. There is absolutely no chance that a McCain administration will be any different than Bush. More fiscal irresponsibility and no accountability. Especially if McCain gets away with dressing the emperor in new clothes and claiming he’s a different emperor. Even Karl Rove now admits that he gives strategy advice to the McCain campaign. Bush-McCain are exactly the same. Please pay attention to history. It clearly shows that the McCain and republican claim of owning fiscal conservatism is imaginary. History is our best guide as to which party is best equipped to get us out of this mess and history shows that that party is the democratic party. Think about it folks, the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. Don’t be distracted by the lipstick………vote your interest and your pocketbook
Larry Bartles of Princeton University
My examination of the partisan politics of economic in equality…….reveals that Democratic and Republican presidents over the past half-century have presided over dramatically different patterns of income growth. On average, the real incomes of middle- class families have grown twice as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans, while the real incomes of working poor families have grown six times as fast under Democrats as they have under Republicans. These substantial partisan differences persist even after allowing for differences in economic circumstances and historical trends beyond the control of individual presidents. They suggest that escalating in equality is not simply an inevitable economic trend— and that a great deal of economic in equality in the contemporary United States is specifically attributable to the policies and priorities of Republican presidents.
Any satisfactory account of the American political economy must therefore explain how and why Republicans have had so much success in the American electoral arena despite their startling negative impact on the economic fortunes of middle- class and poor people. Thus, in chapter 3, I examine contemporary class politics and partisan change, testing the popular belief that the white working class has been lured into the Republican ranks by hot-button social issues such as abortion and gay marriage. Contrary to this familiar story, I find that low- income whites have actually become more Democratic in their presidential voting behavior over the past half-century, partially counterbalancing Republican gains among more affluent white voters. Moreover, low- income white voters continue to attach less weight to social issues than to economic issues—and they attach less weight to social issues than more affluent white voters do. The familiar image of a party system transformed by Republican gains among working- class cultural conservatives turns out to be largely mythical.
Registered voters are being illegally purged from the voter rolls and being disenfranchised in several battleground states. Many states are not following federal law which mandates procedures for voter registrant removal from the voter rolls. “The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) limits the circumstances in which a state may cancel a voter’s registration,” the Fair Elections Legal Network, a Washington-based voting rights consortium. We have cited examples of alleged/actual illegal activity in Michigan, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, and Ohio. It is that time in this political race were the dirty tricks begin to manifest in various forms of dress but the goal is clear…….disenfranchise voters. It is important to be ultra vigilant with respect to your registration, the registration of your family members, etc. Go to your states Secretary of State or Board of Elections website to verify/confirm that you are registered to vote. If you have moved you may have to reregister with your new address/change your address. Check your states rules with respect to changing your address. Also, check your voter status online if possible. See the articles here and here and here. Please send us an email at progress@progresspolitics.com if there are any irregularities in your state or more specifically with your voter registration.
Thus far we have heard of Michigan:
In Michigan, the issues are more complex. Advancement Project’s Heard said there has been an overall lack of “transparency” regarding several aspects of the state’s voter purge process. In 2006, he said, Michigan election officials did a statewide mailing to all voters that did not mention the mailing would be used to verify voter registration information. Still, Heard said the returned postcards were used to remove 230,000 registered voters from voter rolls within 90 days of that year’s general election, which also violates the NVRA, he said.
In MICHIGAN, voters can check status here
For VIRGINIA, check voter status online here.
Colorado:
In swing-state Colorado, the Republican Secretary of State conducted the biggest purge of voters in history, dumping a fifth of all registrations. Guess their color.
In COLORADO, voters can check status here
Florida:
In swing-state Florida, the state is refusing to accept about 85,000 new registrations from voter drives – overwhelming Black voters.
In FLORIDA, voters can check status here
New Mexico:
In swing state New Mexico, HALF of the Democrats of Mora, a dirt poor and overwhelmingly Hispanic county, found their registrations disappeared this year, courtesy of a Republican voting contractor.
Nevada and Ohio:
In swing states Ohio and Nevada, new federal law is knocking out tens of thousands of voters who lost their homes to foreclosure.
In OHIO, voters can check status online here
In NEVADA, voters can check status online here
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
(as prepared for delivery)
New Energy for America
Michigan State University
Monday, August 4th, 2008
Lansing, Michigan
We meet at a moment when this country is facing a set of challenges greater than any we’ve seen in generations. Right now, our brave men and women in uniform are fighting two different wars while terrorists plot their next attack. Our changing climate is placing our planet in peril. Our economy is in turmoil and our families are struggling with rising costs and falling incomes; with lost jobs and lost homes and lost faith in the American Dream. And for too long, our leaders in Washington have been unwilling or unable to do anything about it.
That is why this election could be the most important of our lifetime. When it comes to our economy, our security, and the very future of our planet, the choices we make in November and over the next few years will shape the next decade, if not the century. And central to all of these major challenges is the question of what we will do about our addiction to foreign oil.
Without a doubt, this addiction is one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced – from the gas prices that are wiping out your paychecks and straining businesses to the jobs that are disappearing from this state; from the instability and terror bred in the Middle East to the rising oceans and record drought and spreading famine that could engulf our planet.
It’s also a threat that goes to the very heart of who we are as a nation, and who we will be. Will we be the generation that leaves our children a planet in decline, or a world that is clean, and safe, and thriving? Will we allow ourselves to be held hostage to the whims of tyrants and dictators who control the world’s oil wells? Or will we control our own energy and our own destiny? Will America watch as the clean energy jobs and industries of the future flourish in countries like Spain, Japan, or Germany? Or will we create them here, in the greatest country on Earth, with the most talented, productive workers in the world?
As Americans, we know the answers to these questions. We know that we cannot sustain a future powered by a fuel that is rapidly disappearing. Not when we purchase $700 million worth of oil every single day from some the world’s most unstable and hostile nations – Middle Eastern regimes that will control nearly all of the world’s oil by 2030. Not when the rapid growth of countries like China and India mean that we’re consuming more of this dwindling resource faster than we ever imagined. We know that we can’t sustain this kind of future.
But we also know that we’ve been talking about this issue for decades. We’ve heard promises about energy independence from every single President since Richard Nixon. We’ve heard talk about curbing the use of fossil fuels in State of the Union addresses since the oil embargo of 1973.
Back then, we imported about a third of our oil. Now, we import more than half. Back then, global warming was the theory of a few scientists. Now, it is a fact that is melting our glaciers and setting off dangerous weather patterns as we speak. Then, the technology and innovation to create new sources of clean, affordable, renewable energy was a generation away. Today, you can find it in the research labs of this university and in the design centers of this state’s legendary auto industry. It’s in the chemistry labs that are laying the building blocks for cheaper, more efficient solar panels, and it’s in the re-born factories that are churning out more wind turbines every day all across this country.
Despite all this, here we are, in another election, still talking about our oil addiction; still more dependent than ever. Why?
You won’t hear me say this too often, but I couldn’t agree more with the explanation that Senator McCain offered a few weeks ago. He said, “Our dangerous dependence on foreign oil has been thirty years in the making, and was caused by the failure of politicians in Washington to think long-term about the future of the country.”
What Senator McCain neglected to mention was that during those thirty years, he was in Washington for twenty-six of them. And in all that time, he did little to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. He voted against increased fuel efficiency standards and opposed legislation that included tax credits for more efficient cars. He voted against renewable sources of energy. Against clean biofuels. Against solar power. Against wind power. Against an energy bill that – while far from perfect – represented the largest investment in renewable sources of energy in the history of this country. So when Senator McCain talks about the failure of politicians in Washington to do anything about our energy crisis, it’s important to remember that he’s been a part of that failure. Now, after years of inaction, and in the face of public frustration over rising gas prices, the only energy proposal he’s really promoting is more offshore drilling – a position he recently adopted that has become the centerpiece of his plan, and one that will not make a real dent in current gas prices or meet the long-term challenge of energy independence. Read the rest of this entry »
Max Bergman listed several reasons why McCain’s candidacy should have ended this week. One must admit that this week the McCain campaign has made some race-breaking blunders. Yet the main stream media seems to brush off his mistakes as “McCain being McCain.” Voters must ask themselves….is this the person that we want representing us to foreign nations and leading our country? One must also recognize that if Sen. Barack Obama had made even one of these mistakes this race would be over. This writer appreciates that McCain is perceived as a “maverick” rightly or wrongly. However, what should concern voters is whether McCain’s judgement can be trusted with respect to this nation’s challenges? For a voter to make that decision, the voter must examine the candidates decisions and character leading up to the election. Below are some of McCain’s decisions made in a single week courtesy of Max Bergman.
1. McCain unambiguously called Social Security “an absolute disgrace.” This is not a quote taken out of context. John McCain called one of the most successful and popular government programs, which uses the tax revenues of current workers to support retirement benefits for the elderly “an absolute disgrace.” This is shocking – and if uttered from Obama’s mouth would dominate the news coverage and the Sunday shows, as pundits would speculate about the massive damage the statement would cause him among retirees in Florida.
2. McCain’s top economic policy adviser calls Americans a bunch of “whiners” for being worried about the slumping economy.Words cannot fully explain how devastating this statement should be from Phil Gramm. You would think it would be enough to sink McCain’s campaign. Of course McCain only thinks that the economic problems are psychological.
3. Iraqi leaders call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, McCain gets caught in a bizarre denial and flip flop. The Iraqis now want us to begin planning our withdrawal – McCain however wants to stay foooorrreeevvveerrrr. So what does McCain say – First, he refuses to accept Maliki’s statement as being true. Then he concedes that it was an accurate statement, but was probably just a political ploy to curry favor with his own people and WOULD NOT influence his determination to keep US troops in Iraq indefinitely. Yet, McCain in 2004 at the Council on Foreign Relations said that if the Iraqis ask us to leave, we would have to go. No matter what. But that was apparently a younger and less experienced John McCain.
But let’s just look at his comment that Maliki’s statement is “just politics.” If that is true, then it must also be true that the American military presence in Iraq is so unpopular with Iraqis that the government is forced to push for a timetable in order to survive at the ballot box. That’s a reason to stay for 100 years.
4. McCain’s economic plan to cut the deficit has no details and is simply not believable. There are so many things out there. McCain pledges he would eliminate the deficit by the end of his first term (the campaign latter flip flop flipped about whether it was four years or eight years), but does not provide any details about how he would do it. Economists on both sides of the political aisle said that this was simply not believable, especially given McCain’s other proposals to a) cut individual and corporate taxes even further, b) extend the Bush tax cuts and c) massively increase defense spending on manpower (200,000 more troops) and d) maintain a long-term sizable military presence in Iraq.
5. McCain’s deficit plan includes bringing the troops home represents a major Iraq flip-flop. Speaking of the long-term military presence – a story that has gotten absolutely no attention is that McCain now believes the war will be over soon. The economic forecasts made by his crack team of economists predict that there will be significant savings during McCain’s first term because we will have achieved “victory” in Iraq and Afghanistan. The savings from victory (ie the savings from not having our troops there) will then be used to pay down the deficit. The only way this could have any impact on the deficit in McCain’s first time is if troop withdrawals start very soon.So McCain believes victory is in our grasps and we can begin withdraw troops from Iraq pretty much right away — doesn’t sound that different from Obama’s plan does it. Someone should at least ask McCain HOW HE DEFINES VICTORY – and why he thinks we will achieve it in the next couple of years.
6. McCain campaign misled about economists support. In the major press release the McCain campaign issued to tout its Jobs for America economic plan that would balance the budget in 4 years, it included the signatures of more than 300 economists who the campaign claimed to support the plan. Only problem is that the economists were actually asked to sign up to SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Um, hello?
7. McCain makes a joke about killing Iranians. Haha… that’s just McCain being McCain. I am sure that is exactly how it is being reported in Tehran. This guy is running for President not to become a talk radio pundit. Yet according to the AP this was just a humanizing moment between candidate and spouse – I am not sure when joking about the deaths of civilians became humanizing.
8. McCain denies, flatly, that he ever said that he is not an expert in economics. Are you kidding?
9. McCain distorts his record on veterans benefits in response to a question from Vietnam Veteran, who then proceeds to call McCain out on it.
10. McCain demonstrates he knows nothing about Afghanistan and Pakistan.McCain said “I think if there is some good news, I think that there is a glimmer of improving relationship between Karzai and the Pakistanis. ” Pat Barry notes how crazy this comment is….”Just what “glimmer” is McCain talking about?? Maybe he’s referring to President Karzai’s remarks last month, which threatened military action in Pakistan if cross-border attacks persisted? Or maybe McCain is talking about Afghanistan’s allegations that Pakistan’s ISI was involved in a recent assassination attempt on Karzai? Maybe in McCain’s world you could call that a silver-lining, but in reality-land I’d call it something else.”
Any one of these incidents and comments would dominate the news cycle if they came from the Obama campaign. Yet McCain barely gets a mention.
Obama is doing very well right in red states typically won by republicans in recent past elections.
What is really interesting is that McCain is only leading by one percentage point in Georgia when Bush won the state by 16 points. Also, McCain is leading by a mere four points in Mississippi, Alaska, and North Carolina, all states that Bush won by landslides in 2004. I guess we all understand more why McCain has put Bush’s point person in charge of the day to day operations of his campaign.
First, I would like to thank Sen. John McCain for his sacrifice and service to our nation. He deserves our utmost respect for what he endured and his defense of country. However, the candidates for President of the United States also deserve our utmost scrutiny before receiving a single vote for the nation’s highest office. Especially with respect to leadership style and methodology. Recently, I published a post listing Sen. McCain’s various approaches to difficult political and personal issues. As previously stated, I believe that this information is vital in determining whether the Arizona senator should be the next President of the United States. I have come across additional information profiling the McCain method of dealing with a challenging political issue he faced in his home state of Arizona. Because McCain is not this writer’s senator, I find illuminating the opinions of the people who know him best. His fellow Arizona republicans. This is from the people who have a birds-eye view of how McCain leads. The leadership of the Arizona GOP have very strong opinions about Sen. McCain and his ability, or inability, to lead. They are also very dissatisfied with his conservatism. According to Max Blumenthal of the Nation, Bob Haney, the Republican state committee chairman in Arizona’s 11th District, had this to say:
“People would be calling in to [state committee] headquarters every week, absolutely enraged, threatening to leave the party because of some comments McCain made,’ Haney told me. ‘The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the ’straight talk express.’ Well, down here we call it the ‘forked tongue express.’”. .
Dissatisfied with McCain’s commitment to the state, Haney introduced a resolution to censure the U.S. Senator for “dereliction of his duties and responsibilities as a representative of the citizens of Arizona.” The resolution was introduced before Arizona’s largest GOP county committee and passed by almost unanimous vote. That was the wrong move as far as McCain was concerned. Rather then let stand what was viewed by most as a mere symbolic gesture, McCain wanted revenge. Target: Bob Haney and his allies. McCain recruited a candidate slate to oust Haney and his allies in that November’s state committee election. Concerned about a loss and potential rebuke by his party, the Arizona senator put himself on the ballot in effort to makeover his image and increase his odds of winning this battle. Both McCain and his slate suffered a resounding lost. Arizona republicans gave their take on McCain’s handling of the situation.
Per Blumenthal: “McCain’s botched revenge has solidified his reputation in
Arizona’s Republican circles as a divisive, untrustworthy and even dangerous figure. Haney hopes the general public meets this side of McCain before his penchant for angry reprisals is invested with the powers of the presidency. ‘This just shows that McCain is mentally unstable and out of control and vindictive,’ Haney told me. ‘If he is determined to go through that much trouble to attack a district committee chairman, what does that say about his ability to handle real political problems?”
Yes, what does that say indeed. Is this the way McCain will handle America’s allies and enemies if they happen to anger him? Will diplomacy or military might be the first line of defense in a McCain administration? There are too many instances such as this that raise questions as to his ability to handle, not to mention effectively handle, the litany of challenges facing our nation. In the Senate, checks and balances on each Senator’s power make it difficult for an individual senator to make a catastrophic blunder. Not so in the Executive Office. One word…Iraq.
As a voter, this writer is much more concerned that this person has a fifty percent chance of becoming the next President of the United States.
Our airline and trucking industries are collapsing as a result of skyrocketing gas prices. Our president went to Saudi Arabia and begged them to produce more oil…Saudi’s response? Tell you what Mr. Bush, we will THINK about producing more oil if you sell us nuclear technology and materials. President Bush and Condoleeza Rice’s response…sounds good, lets do it. Okay, so we are selling nuclear technology and power plants to Saudi Arabia in exchange for a mere promise from Saudi Arabia to THINK about producing more oil. When asked if he thinks that this deal will compromise U.S. security, Bush responded that he trusts the King of Saudi Arabia. I am by no means a foreign policy expert but that leaves this writer a little uneasy. There is a consensus among those who are experts in this area that any domestic drilling will not produce a drop of oil for at least ten years. However, listening to Bush, McCain, and the republican party, you would think that domestic off-shore drilling is the panacea for our energy crisis. So their answer to our “oil addiction” is to drill more oil to feed our habit? Hmmm………the crack addict strategy…….works for me! Even Ruper Murdoch’s conservative Wall Street Journal agrees that if domestic drilling were to take place, the American people would not see any oil for seven to ten years. This seems to be a last minute grab from the two oil men before they leave office. Oil companies or republicans never seem to mention that U.S. oil companies already have over 400 oil leases that allows them to drill domestically and are only drilling on 20% of those leases. So, although 68 million acres are already leased to the oil companies for domestic drilling, they are not drilling. Reason claims said oil companies…..a lack of the necessary equipment or not enough acres to make drilling profitable. Yea right! It seems that they and the republican party have decided to obtain and hoard as many leases as possible while the gettin is good, i.e., before the oil men administration leaves office. McCain has also decided to flip-flop and jump on the bandwagon by changing his position regarding off-shore drilling. Originally, McCain’s position was no off-shore drilling domestically. Interesting tidbit….Wall Street values oil companies based on their reserves. The more reserves the oil company claims that it has, the greater the value of said oil company.
Off-Shore Drilling
The moratorium on off-shore drilling was put in place two decades ago in an effort to preserve the environment (routine leaks, spills, pollution from rigs, affect on climate change when burning the end product, tar bogs on the beach) and to prevent damage to oceanlife that off-shore drilling would cause. Further, residents of coastal communities do not want to see parts of their coastline industrialized nor do they want view eyesore oil riggs from their coastlines. Also, business and residential communities of such coastlines do not want the on-shore development of support facilities and refineries that come along with off-shore drilling. For these communities, the coastlines are huge economic engines that drive business to their localities. Side point: Even if the ban is lifted, there is a shortage of ships available to oil companies to do the off-shore drilling. Back to my main point. The U.S. is the third largest producer of oil in the world. We cannot produce enough oil to meet our huge demand. Better solution, drive down demand in the U.S. and become much more fuel-efficient and energy independent. We cannot produce enough oil domestically to meet our demand. Fuel efficiency will have a much greater effect on our dependence than any negligible effect achieved by increased domestic drilling. Even though McCain has been quoted to say that domestic oil “resources will take years to develop,” he is now pushing for us to become more fuel dependent by agreeing with Bush in his proposal to increase off-shore drilling. Funny thing, Jeb Bush is Against lifting the ban. However, current Florida governor and vice presidential hopeful Charlie Crist supports lifting the ban. Another interesting tidbit is that John McCain has received $800, 000 in campaign donations from the oil and gas industry. Though Sen. McCain is advocating otherwise, less drilling and renewable energy such as wind and solar seems to be the quickest and more preferable methods. After all, experts confirm that it will take 20 or 30 years before consumers will actually see cheaper gas as a result of domestic off-shore drilling. Sen. Barack Obama supports maintaining the ban.
Will not make a difference in gas Prices
Claiming otherwise is political pandering. Selling more domestic drilling leases to oil companies will not make a difference in the price of gas. This is a world market and individual fields do not have a big influence on how the price of oil is set. Further, the U.S. has only 2% of the worlds proven oil reserves yet we consume 21% of global oil demand. We import 60 percent of our oil. We will never be able to drill enough oil to make us energy independent simply with domestic off-shore drilling. Fuel efficiency and alternative forms of energy are our best options. Off-shore drilling is a red herring that will not come anywhere near solving our current energy crisis
Speculators (Enron loophole)
Speculators have also been cited as the reason for high gas prices by way of the Enron loophole. The Enron loophole, proposed by then Sen. Phil Gramm(TX) now McCain’s Chief Financial advisor, is a provision in the Commodities Futures Modernization Act that exempts electronic trading of energy (oil) from oversight of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. In 2000, Gramm and former CEO of Enron, Kenneth Lay, convinced Congress that the energy market would be much more “efficient” without federal oversight. Actually, Gramm slipped the Enron, backed and drafted, provision into the CFM Act. Also, at the time, Wendy Gramm, Phil Gramm’s wife, was on the board of directors of Enron. Nothing like keeping it in the family. The Enron provision allows for energy trading in unregulated markets, also referred to as “dark markets.” American investors and hedge funds can purchase an unlimited number of energy contracts on foreign exchanges. This practice artificially inflates oil demand. Because of the lack of federal oversight with respect to foreign exchanges, traders are able to avoid the ”position limits” set by the Commodities Futures Trade Commission for American markets resulting in ”price distortion and supply squeezes.” Trading in such unregulated markets have soared in the last three years. Speculation appears to be playing a significant role in driving up the price of oil. Oil is being used as a hedge against the dollar. As the dollar falls foreign investors buy oil using dollars because it is perceived as discounted. This then increases the demand for oil in the energy market. Further, to purchase stocks on margin in regulated markets, investors must put down at least 50 percent of their own money. However, in the unregulated energy (oil) market, investors need only put down seven percent of their own money and hedge funds need only put down 1 percent or less. This allows speculators/investors to take huge bets with tiny amounts of money. Raising the margins for such speculators would make this type of trading less profitable by decreasing the demand for energy contracts. Some say that the Enron loophole can account for as much as $80 of the $140 cost of a barrel of oil. Such speculation has also been estimated to account for as much as 60 percent of the price for a gallon of gasoline. Lack of policing by the government allows traders to manipulate, if not outright control, the market. Legislators took a small step towards reform in the farm bill legislation but they need to go much further and close this loophole altogether. McCain opposed the farm bill and defended the Enron loophole. The Arizona senator claimed to oppose the bill because he did not want to reward lobbyists. However, a McCain aide speaking on the condition of anonymity, acknowledged that McCain opposed the bill after being advised by Gramm to resist it because of the regulatory language affecting the energy futures market. Speak to you congressman about closing this loophole and increasing margin requirements.
Supply and Demand
Many claim that the increased demand for oil by developing countries China and India is the reason for the high oil prices. “World demand for oil is projected to increase 37% over 2006 levels by 2030, according to the US-based Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) annual report.” India and China are becoming big oil consumers as a result of urbanization, development, and pursuit of higher living standards. China’s oil consumption doubled from 1996 -2006. It also imported over 50 percent of its oil in 2005. India’s oil imports are expected to triple by 2020. The increase demand for cars and trucks in India and China will be the primary cause of 75 percent increase of oil consumption. This number will only increase as more and more countries develop. The price of oil has risen 400 percent in the last six years. Yet the demand for crude oil has has only risen a little over nine percent in the last six years. In 2002, the price of oil per barrel was $20. Last week a barrel of oil reached an all time high of $142 a barrel. Though oil production has outpaced demand 9.87 to 9.38, the price of oil has increased spectacularly. The way market forces usually work is when supply is less than demand, the price of oil increases. When supply is greater than demand, the price of oil should go down. Deductive reasoning dictate that because oil production exceeded oil demand and the price of oil still increased 400 percent within the last six years, China and India are probably not the reason for the meteoric rise in oil prices.
Gas Tax Holiday
A gimmick. Nough said.
What We can Do
America needs to become more energy independent. What can we the consumers do? We can do our part. We are already parking our cars, driving less, and moving more towards mass transit. Driving 60 mph will eliminate 2 million barrels of oil a day and will significantly affect our demand thereby impacting the price of gasoline in the U.S. We do not need politicians to tell us this. These are things that we can do as consumers. What can Washington, DC do with pressure from us the consumers? Renewable energy and heightened fuel economy standards can have a substantial impact. Fuel economy standards were only recently increased after being frozen since the Reagan era. Congress is finally telling Detroit that its cars must be much more fuel efficient. For goodness sake…..cars in Japan get 50 miles per gallon of gas. Trucks in Japan get 40 mile per gallon of gas. Ninety percent of the new cars sold in Brazil this year will be flexible-fuel vehicles operating on a mixture of sugar based ethanol and gas. Why are we so far behind this trend? Complacency. America is fully capable of jumping on this bandwagon but has not had the incentive up until this point…..well circumstances have changed dramatically and the US is forced to move toward the gasoline alternative direction. With respect to Detroit making these large fuel-inefficient vehicles, Detroit posits that its predicament of having to pay pensions and high healthcare cost necessitate that they make larger cars because the profit margin on such cars is much greater than that on small vehicles. Now however, the demand for compact, fuel efficient cars is imperative and Detroit needs to adjust its business model. Many suspect that we need $8 dollar a gallon gas to incentivise Americans to use less gas. I don’t think so. As previously mentioned, we have already begun to take big steps in this direction by driving less and moving to mass transit as our primary mode of transportation. Mass transit ridership is up15 percent in some metropolitan cities. The demand for hybrid cars is enormous, so much so that the length of time that a hybrid car stays on the sales lot after delivery from the manufacturer is 17 hours. Mercedes Benz, maker of the SmartForTwo, says it will stop producing gasoline cars altogether in 7 years. The company is now testing their SmartForTwo as an Electric Vehicle in LA using lithium batteries. Nissan plans to roll out its electric car in significant quantities to the American market by 2010 and mass market the electric vehicle by 2012. The cars release zero emissions. We sent a man to the moon for goodness sake, I do not buy the excuse that it is impossible to become less oil dependent. Denmark and Israel have already moved in this direction. Denmark especially are using wind energy to power their electric cars. One mid-size two mega watt windmill can supply the energy needed for 3000 cars. 700 mid-size two mega watt windmills can power two million passenger cars. Given that our reliance on foreign oil undermines our national security and defense capabilities, a move in this direction makes sense. We have the science and technology to go all electric today. We just need the car companies to begin the process. If you think about the evolution of mail from letters (snail mail), to fax, to email; the evolution of the electric car is on the same path. First we have the gas vehicle, then we have the hybrid, the next logical step is an all electric vehicle. Electric cars are inevitable, call your congressman and express your backing of putting in place incentives to Detroit and other car companies to begin producing them in large quantities.
Hours before bitter-gate at a speaking engagement just before the comments about guns and “bitter” were made, Obama revealed his true feelings about guns. Obama made the following statement, “[w]e need sensible gun laws,” said the Senator. “I just got back from Montana where just about everyone has guns. In that culture, fathers and sons bond over hunting. You can’t take that away from rural America. But the inner city is different, and we should tighten the laws on gun purchases and close the loopholes in gun show sales to unscrupulous buyers. The gun control people and the right to bear arms people are talking past each other about disconnected topics.” Obama said this just a few hours before the meeting in San Francisco where “bitter-gate” happened. It’s unfortunate that the main stream media did not pick up this story but instead spun bitter-gate beyond recognition.
Today West Virginia holds its democratic presidential primary. Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama take their contest to the Appalachian state. There are 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia and Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected to win the state by at least 30 percentage points.
The polls are open from 6:30am to 7:30pm. Voter Hotline: 1-866-SOS-VOTE (1-866-767-8683)
Voters may enter their precinct any time duing those hours to cast their vote. Independents may vote in the democratic primary simply request a democratic ballot. Here are a few more tips to help with the process.
General Information for
72 delegates at stake
Find your polling place in Indiana
Magnaquench is a former Indiana company that manufactured magnets used in the guidance systems of “smart bombs” (precision guided missiles). As a result of a deal approved by the Clinton administration, where Magnaquench was sold to China, 200 Indiana jobs were sent to China. There were no real safeguards for American workers included in the deal. Sen. Clinton claims now in 2008 that the plan was to keep such jobs in the United States. Others who worked on the deal during the time say that Clinton’s recollection is incorrect. Sen. Clinton claimed at a speaking event in Indiana that it was the Bush Administration that sent the Magnaquench jobs overseas to China. However, if the Clinton Administration had competently structured the deal at its genesis, the Bush administration would not have had any authority in the matter. Also, if the alleged conditions protecting Indiana workers had been solid, we would still have 200 American jobs instead of 200 new jobs in China. Going to the White House 10 years after-the-fact and asking it to fix your mess does not make it the fault of the Bush White House but your fault for not structuring the deal properly in the first place. Not to mention that these are defense weapon parts that are being outsourced to China and the implications to America’s national security that such outsourcing raises. So now we are not only indebted to China financially but it is now manufacturing parts of our defense weapons. As an American, that does not make me feel safe at 3am in the morning. Even Clinton friend and top surrogate, Sen. Evan Bayh, blamed the outsourcing of the Magnaquench jobs to China on the original agreement approved by the Clinton Administration in 1995. Unfortunately for Sen. Clinton, this deal was approved by the Clinton Administration despite the national security concerns and the forecasted job losses to Indiana. By not including the necessary safeguards for Indiana workers in such agreement, many workers in Indiana and the Midwest feel that the Clintons failed them. This will not exactly help her with Indiana voters.
Sen. Hillary Clinton said yesterday that all the economists who disagree with her gas tax holiday are “elite.” Sen. Clinton went on to say that she thinks if “we did it right” then it can be done. However, if you cannot name a single economist who thinks that this is a good idea then how exactly will you, Sen. Clinton, “do it right.” Do you have a special kind of knowlege that the people whose life work is studying, writing about, and problem solving the economy do not have? Economist say that this is a horrible idea and even if by some miracle you were able to get such a bill passed through the Senate before the summer, during your free time while competing in a highly contested presidential race, that oil companies and retailers will raise their prices in order to capture the tax relief. American families will not see any of the relief of which you speak when they fill up at the pump. Clinton supporter, Paul Krugman of the New York Times called the idea “pointless and disappointing.” Krugman also says that the “gas tax plan is a giveaway to oil companies, disguised as a gift to consumers.” Obama has called the plan a political gimmick designed to pander to Indiana and North Carolina voters and does not give any relief to the American people. Also, in a recent CBS poll, the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with Sen. Obama and see this tax suspension plan as a political ploy by Clinton designed to get votes and has nothing to do with helping out ordinary Americans. It is occurrences like these that may explain why 60 percent of voters think that Sen. Clinton is dishonest. This is a new day, voters are engaged and they are listening….don’t insult our intelligence. Progress
