Campaign Finance Reform
About the Author
A group for those who believe Campaign Finance Reform is an important issue, if not the most important issue facing our country. Also a place for the discussion of everything from modest measures like the McCain-Feingold soft money ban to full public financing of elections.

GARNER - About 10 years ago, I interviewed a Southern Baptist seminary-educated minister who was pastor of a Carrboro church. A strong proponent of the Second Amendment, that pastor told me the day might come when American Christians might have to take up arms against the state.His comments, published in The Chapel Hill News, didn't as much as raise an eyebrow at the time. No federal agents asked to listen to the tape recording of my interview with the pastor. Times have changed. Two of the Raleigh U.S. Attorney's claims against alleged terror suspect Daniel Patrick Boyd are that he made "radical statements" and that "he urged the group of young Muslims to raise money and learn how to handle weapons to prepare for a violent jihad by insurgents and fighters overseas." My young children got to know Boyd when he was proprietor of the Blackstone Market, a small grocery store Boyd co-owned and managed in Garner's Forest Hills Shopping Center.

My children said Boyd "was really nice and funny." He gave them discounts when they didn't have enough money to pay for a piece of baklava or a nectar drink. My children were sad when Blackstone closed. The government, however, is painting a very different picture of Boyd, calling him the mastermind of a terrorist cell bent on waging a holy war.   Read More »
The current situation in Mexico merits significant attention. Not only has violence been ravaging the streets of multiple Mexican streets, but the violence is crossing the border into the United States and claiming the lives of innocent Americans. We need to actively pursue a means of securing the borer and ensuring that violence in Mexico does not spill over into our country. Furthermore, if he United States is going to serve as a hegemony, than we need to let our presence be known to our neighbors. We need to increase the pressure on Mexican authorities to better regulate their country and to quell violence. We also need to prevent the sale of guns to individuals who have criminal records, no citizenship, and who have not passed a thorough background check. If we fail to act now, bloodshed will become a reality in American cities.
This demographic is often overlooked, unappreciated, and definitely underfunded. Non-profit and community based organizations carry out the work in the local communities that is most helpful to the residents of the neighborhood. It is these organizations that have the time to provide individual attention for the American citizens in need. It is therefore imperative that politicians take into account the importance of having these institutions working in the community, and provide adequate funding and support. Often, these organizations carry out the work that city and state governments cannot be bothered to do, and the federal government would never undertake. These organizations need better funding in order to continue to provide the vast number of different services that they provide for local citizens. Without adequate funding, the organizations will have no choice but to lay-off employees, reduce available services, and unfortunately some will cease to exist. If this becomes the case, these organizations will take with them the services they provide for the community, and who will then step up to fill that void in our most hard-hit communities?
I hope that the new stimulus plan results in available money for the institutions and the people who are committed to ensuring an economic recovery actually occurs. Handing out money to organizations that refuse to put these finances to good use will only worsen the situation. We need to ensure that organizations like non-profit organizations, are receiving adequate funding in order to maintain the same high level of work in the local communities they service. These are the organizations that merit financial support, for they service the people at no cost and truly believe in helping the individuals who come into their offices. Handing money o these greedy organizations that do not but gobble it up and pay lucrative salaries to employees who serve the wealthy, goes against the intended purpose of this economic plan. I believe that President Obama needs to ensure that money is disseminated and put to use. Lets move away from the notion of "trickle-down" economics and move into the future with social-economic policies that better the lives of Americans and limit corporate greed. Big business cannot be the only concern of America. Whether we are red or blue, the most important color right now is green because it represents food, shelter, and livelihood. This plan needs to get green in the hands of those who need it most, not those who created this problem in the first place.
How long exactly are we going to remain on the ground in Iraq? Are we ever going to provide the necessary shift of troop strength from Iraq to Afghanistan? When are we going to allow the international community to take a greater role in affairs that are closer to their side of the world?

Essentially, I am interested in knowing if any changes in our foreign policy are going to take place or are we continuing failed policy. If we continue to ignore the issues that exist on a domestic level, choosing instead to focus on the international community, how are we ever going to rectify our problems here at home? Should we resign ourselves to a worldwide "policing" role? The last time I was abroad, which was fairly recent, I didn't get the sentiment that other nations were calling out for our assistance. Those that were, they needed aid, not military presence.
State attorney general asked to protect religious, legal rights

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/17/08) A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today called on Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker to bring sanctions against a judge in that state who has repeatedly barred Muslim women wearing religiously-mandated headscarves, or hijabs, from entering his courtroom.

Yesterday, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported that a Muslim woman was jailed and then released following a dispute over whether she could enter the judge’s courtroom in Douglasville, Ga., while wearing her hijab. In the past year, other Muslim women have either been jailed under similar circumstances or barred from that judge’s court.   Read More »
Political villains were rampant in 2008. It was impossible to give a single award for the injustices committed for solely political reasons this past year. For the first time ever, Democratic Talk Radio was unable to even narrow the infamous winners to just two. We have selected three “Villains of 2008” to share the award.

Our first choice is obvious. Fox News wins the first 2008 villain slot for their disinformation campaign against ACORN. The efforts of Fox News to provide political cover for Republican efforts at voter suppression during the 2008 elections were, in the opinion of Democratic Talk Radio, the lowest thing ever done by Fox News.

The second winner for 2008 political villain is George McGovern. Fans of Democratic Talk Radio may be surprised by this choice. Frankly, we never expected to be giving a former Democratic Presidential candidate a villain of the year award. However, McGovern has lent his name to the Right-Wing, corporate effort to undermine workers’ right to unionize. George McGovern has allied himself with the anti-worker efforts to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act. His TV commercials are frankly an open act on working Americans. McGovern has disgraced himself by joining with the most anti-working class political forces in America and misleading the American public on the nature of the Employee Free Choice Act.

The Senate Republicans out to destroy the American auto industry and the United Auto Workers union are our third villainous winners. Senator Corker of Tennessee, Senator Shelby of Alabama, Senator McConnell of Kentucky, Senator Vitter of Louisiana and their fellow Senate Republicans put the interests of foreign corporations over the interests of the American economy. Since all were opposed by the United Auto Workers in previous elections because of their militantly anti-worker voting records, their efforts are obviously motivated by personal political considerations that directly undermine the national interest. These Senate Republicans have sided with foreign companies to drive down the wages and healthcare benefits of American workers.

The hero of the year selected by Democratic Talk Radio is Al Franken. The American nation should be delighted at his political courage and determination. By insisting that all the votes be counted in the 2008 Minnesota Senate race, Franken has set a good example for all candidates running for office and for American voters. American Democracy has been strengthened by his resolve.

Al Franken will be a great asset should he eventually prevail when all the votes are finally counted. Norm Coleman has been very aggressive in his attempts to undermine a free and fair counting of the ballots.



For more information, contact Stephen Crockett at 443-907-2367.
Judge jails Muslim woman for refusing to remove her headscarf in court
By DIONNE WALKER
The Associated Press
ATLANTA

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=6479903

A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said Wednesday that she felt her human and civil rights were violated. A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court, said police in Douglasville, a city of about 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.

Valentine violated a court policy that prohibits people from wearing any headgear in court, police said after they arrested her Tuesday.   Read More »
(LOS ANGELES, CA, 12/4/08) Following an action alert sent out yesterday by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Fox television network reported receiving an overwhelming positive response from community members about a recent episode of “The Simpsons” that challenged anti-Muslim stereotypes.

The episode, which aired Sunday evening and is titled "Mypods and Boomsticks," highlights anti-Muslim sentiment by featuring a young Muslim character named Bashir and his family who face prejudice after moving to Springfield. In the program, Homer Simpson wrongly suspects that Bashir's family is involved in a terror plot. Bart Simpson befriends Bashir and defends him from bullies.   Read More »
The system of Corporate Governance in America is broken. We must destroy the auto companies as the only way to fix the problem. read more at http://blog.franklynch.org/2008/12/03/we-must-nationalize-the-auto-companies-because-sneaky-auto-executives-cheating-on-bailout/
Muslim civil rights group demands that hostages be ‘released immediately and unconditionally’

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/27/08) - A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today condemned attacks on a number of sites in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai that left at least 100 people dead and many more injured.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages taken during the attacks. Witnesses say the attackers sought out American and British citizens.   Read More »
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 11/19/08) - A prominent national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group today condemned threatening rhetoric and racial slurs contained in a new video by Ayman al-Zawahri and said Al-Qaida's second-in-command does not speak for Muslims in this country or worldwide.

SEE: Al-Qaida No. 2 Insults Obama with Racial Epithet (AP)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hPtm1yvXGJVcqVpQdQfpQLY8L-cwD94I51J02   Read More »
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=6261962

From taunts to a beating, Obama election spurs "hundreds" of racist threats, crimes nationwide
By JESSE WASHINGTON
The Associated Press

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.

Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders.   Read More »
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081114/ap_on_el_pr/obama_threats


By EILEEN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer Eileen Sullivan, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON " Threats against a new president historically spike right after an election, but from Maine to Idaho law enforcement officials are seeing more against Barack Obama than ever before. The Secret Service would not comment or provide the number of cases they are investigating. But since the Nov. 4 election, law enforcement officials have seen more potentially threatening writings, Internet postings and other activity directed at Obama than has been seen with any past president-elect, said officials aware of the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of a president's security is so sensitive.

Earlier this week, the Secret Service looked into the case of a sign posted on a tree in Vay, Idaho, with Obama's name and the offer of a "free public hanging." In North Carolina, civil rights officials complained of threatening racist graffiti targeting Obama found in a tunnel near the North Carolina State University campus.

And in a Maine convenience store, an Associated Press reporter saw a sign inviting customers to join a betting pool on when Obama might fall victim to an assassin. The sign solicited $1 entries into "The Osama Obama Shotgun Pool," saying the money would go to the person picking the date closest to when Obama was attacked. "Let's hope we have a winner," said the sign, since taken down.   Read More »
With Obama taking a commanding lead in many Red states and gaining momentum there is a real concern, will anyone watch the news on election day? Early voting and what seems to be a clear democrat victory will the election have the same pull as the networks need to charge the large numbers for the commercials they want to charge for? Maybe not!!!!

What to do, what to do? It's time to start supporting McCain, run lots of pro McCain and dare I say it, pro Palin stories. CNN taking the lead there. The same thing was done for Hillary towards the end of the primary, we just did not notice since we were fighting so much.

Expect this to be a very republican week in the news, to make the race tighter, and expect other stories saying its even tighter!!!!


In the long run this should not hurt us since it will only motivate us to go out and vote.

It is just annoying to see the press do this
I was just watching them for a minute, to see what the enemy was saying on their channel. Every time a Democrat opened their mouth the republican would start talking just so you could not hear the democrat. Completely unchecked by the anchor. It's bad enough that they are openly bias but they use childish tactics as well. Can you say propaganda. They were talking about the religious social conservatives again, talk about a scary group!!! Does not seem to care about anything except matters that do not count. Creationism????? are you kidding me??? Row vs Wade?? Hey republicans didn't you stand for small government that did not trample our rights and stays out of our bedrooms????? What happened???? I may not of liked every Republican policy but used to be able to respect them, now they are scary. Do we really care if gay couples can get insurance together?? I know there is more to it than that but come on. When did these issues start mattering more than our security and economy?
I am shocked that eight years after the 2000 election meltdown we still have not fixed our election process. We buy new digital machines from small little companies, that are easily influenced by money and politics and lack the size or the reputation to build a solid machine. We still do not have a rock solid system for registering voters. I find this amazing when the solution seems so simple.

For voting machines, standardize them, have a common machine across all states. Have the machine created by a company that is large enough and public enough that they would not risk the scandle if the machine was compromised, HP, IBM, APPLE, Microsoft, to name a few.

Voter registration is a bit more complicated but can be resolved by the issue of ID's for all Americans and making them, smart cards which can be used as licenses and other forms of certification, as much as I hate to quote a movie, the multi-pass in the fifth element makes a lot of sense and can save our government lots of money. We already do this in the private sector, its just time for the government to catch up. More important this puts some of the bureaucrats that are mostly corrupt out of a job.
The Back Story:


It's not hard to argue that the last 8 years have been really bad. It is also not hard to argue that McCain's 2000 campaign and message is must better then his 2008. Those two facts along with some recent events beg the questions. Why did McCain not win in 2000, why did he have to change his message? Why Palin? How stupid can she really be now that she thinks she is the future of the party and McCain is a has been? What happened to the republican party, no matter how much of a democrat you are, you have to wonder what happened, it went to the small government not help the small guy as much party to some really scary right wing religious cult. They have gone well beyond Row vs Wade, they do not even believe in Science anymore.

Besides this campaign there has been a growing problem in our country, deliberate ignorance!!! People who are using religion as a venue to breed ignorance, denounce science and intelligence and celebrating ignorance as "American" This Evangelical movement is potentially as dangerous as the radical muslin movement in the middle east. We might be breeding our own Bin Laden. When movements that go unchecked denounce the logic and a major political party is willing to change is core base and platform to feed this ignorance, it will breed intolerance and hurt our country

So why is Obama good for the GOP:

Obama is killing this Campaign, and Palin who must be one of the most ignorant elected officials in recent times is the air apparent of the republican base. When they loose and they realize that the McCain campaign of 2000 would of competed better, and they realize that the party base favors a stupid person, the blood letting will begin. The religious or social conservatives start to be hold in check, and the republican party gets back to its strengths, we can have a good debate again and government can start working again. With the republicans so far to the right and so twisted that they call it main stream, where true main stream is call liberal, no good government can be done with them.

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Every dollar given away for Dividend and Capital Gains tax cuts yields a miserly 9 cents in economic growth. Worse still, the billions of tax dollars lost on Estate Tax cuts yields absolutely nothing in economic growth.

 In contrast, extending Federal Unemployment Insurance benefits would yield $1.73 for every dollar spent. But why not leverage the power of the Federal Government to benefit the American People? Banks currently get loans from the Federal Government at a rate of 1.5% but are being very stingy in lending that money out. The Federal Government could issue ‘Jobs and Growth Bonds’ to cities, counties, states, small businesses and even to struggling homeowners at a rate of 3%. I bet we’d get a lot more bang for the buck doing that…

http://www.economy.com/dismal/economycom_bushfiscalpolicy.pdf

Get a negative robo-calls or emails from McCain-Palin report it here: http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/reportsmears

Report Negative Mailings and Phone Calls

The McCain campaign has orchestrated a vicious "robocall" and direct mail smear campaign against Barack. Fight the Smears is an online resource to help correct the record. More frequently now, Fight the Smears addresses the baseless accusations from John McCain's 100% negative campaign. You can help fight back by reporting one or more of the smears they are spreading. Report smear literature -- Create a digital copy There are three ways to create a copy. Once the copy is created, upload it using the form to the right.

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