Clipmarks | BartendingBear's 'elections' clips

Voting Doesn't Work - Corporate Avenger

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:48:10 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: "Voting doesn't work 1-2-3
It's time you know your enemy
I won't pledge allegiance to hypocrisy
Your democracy, is not for me
So, when we try to change this place
Courtroom pulls an about face
Fantasies of the master race
Our elections they erase"

Clip Source: youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: voting, rights, democracy, politics

Silencing Political Speech

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:51:00 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Stifling opinions through onerous regulation in Colorado.

Clip Source: www.ij.org

In America, the only thing you should need in order to speak out about politics is an opinion. After all, political speech and participation is exactly what the First Amendment was designed to protect.

But in Colorado, you need more than an opinion. To speak effectively about elections in Colorado, you must be prepared to register with the State, track and report all of your “contributions” and “expenditures” and disclose the identities of anyone who contributed money to your efforts. So if you and a neighbor distribute fliers or put up yard signs that support or oppose a ballot issue, Colorado considers you an “issue committee” and redefines your speech as campaign “finance” activities as long as you spend more than $200. If you do not register and comply with burdensome reporting requirements, anyone off the street with a political ax to grind can sue you for violations of the campaign finance laws.

Penn State Rife With Voting Problems

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:29:03 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Why is it so hard to have a reliable voting scheme... unless it is intentional. Don't officials understand that eyes are upon them? Could it be simply that they don't give a crap about the public they are supposed to be servants to, and that they know that things are so out of whack that their misdeeds, intentional or not, have no repercussions?

Clip Source: www.bradblog.com

4/22/2008

Problem reports from polling places in PA, including voting machine malfunctions and long lines, began coming in early this morning. That could be an ominous sign, given that on most Election Days, the real extent of problems, at least with voting systems, isn't fully revealed until later, and often in the days after the election.

4/23, 1:01am ET: More broken machines, missing registrations, voters turned away without being offered provisionals.

11:35pm ET: Machine, registration probs result in 'Countless eligible voters refused right to vote.'

9:24pm ET: Fox "News" confirms e-voting problems.

5:37pm ET: Machine malfunctions account for 30% of voter hotline calls.

[Video]

3:54pm ET: Voter-service phone lines jammed across state.

3:09pm ET: More machine breakdowns in Philly, voters only allowed provisions if both machines malfunction.

3:01pm ET: Obama camp, media report voting probs, Philly official says "all is well."

10:50am

100's leave without voting, Obama's name not on provisional ballot!

Tags: elections

John Cleese's "Letter to America" - I think we're all English now.

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 07:55:18 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: The finest English humour. 19 other points of transition to British rule listed at source site.

Clip Source: starrgazr.wordpress.com

In view of your failure to elect a competent President and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next.

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

8. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists.

Thank you for your co-operation.

John Cleese

Open Government Survey: What Do We Need To Know?

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:20:34 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Help shape the debate by voting for questions to be asked of the candidates regarding open government.

Clip Source: www.zoomerang.com

We deserve a more open and honest government. Elections are the time when politicians pay the most attention to people and issues, and therefore the best time to ask them questions about how they plan to govern. OMB Watch wants your help in selecting the best questions to ask.

We’re asking you to vote on your five favorite questions on the issue of government transparency and openness. We will then share the top questions with the news media and other organizations that have direct contact with candidates.

This election year, one of the most important issues we face is ensuring an open and transparent government, one that enables an informed citizenry. It’s an issue of central importance, and it’s up to us to make sure that the right questions are asked.

12 Steps To Election Honesty

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:53:39 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Mark Crispin Miller is a professor of culture and communications at New York University. He’s also a man on a mission: to make the case for electoral reform. Miller climbs into the minutiae of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections-voter caging in Florida, ballot stickers in Ohio, and lots of unseemly details in between. His argument has been published as “Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform in 2005”. In the end, he tells us that notwithstanding the reassurances of the mainstream media, we have no reason to be confident in the formally reported results of those two elections.

Clip Source: harpers.org

(1) Repeal the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

(2) Replace all electronic voting with hand-counted paper ballots (HCPB).

(3) Get rid of computerized voter rolls.

(4) Keep all private vendors out of the election process.

(5) Make it illegal for the TV networks to declare who won before the vote-count is complete.

(6) Set up an exit polling system, publicly supported, to keep the vote-counts honest.

(7) Get rid of voter registration rules, by having every citizen be duly registered on his/her 18th birthday.

(8) Ban all state requirements for state-issued ID’s at the polls.

(9) Put all polling places under video surveillance, to spot voter fraud, monitor election personnel, and track the turnout.

(10) Have Election Day declared a federal holiday, requiring all employers to allow their workers time to vote.

(11) Make it illegal for Secretaries of State to co-chair political campaigns (or otherwise assist or favor them).

(12) Make election fraud a major felony

Ohio Moves To Assure Less Election Tamper Potential

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 12:21:36 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: ABOUT DAMN TIME!

Clip Source: news.enquirer.com

Ohio's top elections official has ordered 57 counties that use touch-screen voting - including Butler, Adams and Highland - to offer paper ballots as an alternative during the March 4 primary election.

In the wake of her Dec. 14 report detailing security concerns with all voting machines in Ohio, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner told The Enquirer's editors and reporters that paper ballots "will be there for those who would prefer them."

The paper ballots, which look like standardized test sheets, will be read by optical scan machines already available - but in smaller numbers - to count absentee ballots. Brunner issued a directive - which is legally binding - on Wednesday.

Repubs. Accused Of Bribing Homeless For Petition Sigs.

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 20:16:56 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Manipulate the homeless. Nice. If they're vets, cut their meds benefit, too.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The chairman of a committee formed to fight a ballot initiative to change how California’s electoral college votes are apportioned has asked the city attorney here to investigate a report that a group collecting signatures for the initiative has offered food to homeless people in exchange for signing the petitions.

The Republican-supported initiative would replace California’s winner-take-all system of allocating its 55 electoral college votes with one that allots the votes by Congressional district.

Mr. Steyer’s letter, dated Nov. 19, stems from an article in The Los Angeles Downtown News that detailed reporters’ observations of signature gatherers asking homeless people on the city’s notorious Skid Row for their signatures to help qualify the electoral vote initiative and three others, as well as asking them to fill out voter registration cards.

In exchange, the paper reported, homeless people and those in nearby shelters were given Snickers bars, instant noodles and other snack foods.

Tags: ca, homeless, gop, calif, elections

Shame On NBC For Banning Mike Gravel From Debate

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 05:51:53 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: There does have to be a line, but this is the wrong line at the wrong time.

Clip Source: www.opednews.com

Mike Gravel was notified that he did not meet the NBC criteria for debate participants. This is a dangerous step. What right do the media have to decide who has a shot at winning. Contact info included, so you can tell NBC they are wrong.

Below you'll find Mike Grave'ls response to NBC and NBC's comment.

Tags: elections, gravel

Kucinich Calls Out Dems To Have A Spine

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 12:08:44 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Now, if only they had ears, this might mean something.

Clip Source: www.newsandpolicy.com

On the 5th anniversary of Congressional authorization to go to war in Iraq, Ohio Congressman and Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich today demanded that the Democratic leadership of the Congress honor its commitment to voters and demand that funds already appropriated to continue the war be used, instead, to bring all U.S. troops home beginning immediately.

"If they don't, then they're just as responsible as the President for continuing this illegal and immoral war," said Kucinich, "and open to accusations of fraud upon the American people for promising during last year's elections that Democratic control of the Congress would mean an end to the war. Instead of ending the war, the leadership has knuckled under time and time again and given the President every dollar he's asked for to continue it."

"Every member of Congress who voted for this war and who has voted to continue funding this war has a moral responsibility and a Constitutional obligation to end it,"

Tags: iraq, kucinich

Ethics? Ask Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA)

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 05:32:54 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear

Clip Source: www.beyonddelay.org

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) is a seventh-term member of Congress, representing the 4th district of Washington. His ethics issues stem from his improper contact with a Washington U.S. Attorney.

Improper Contact with U.S. Attorney

Former U.S. Attorney John McKay testified before the United States Senate that, in 2004, during a series of vote recounts in which a Democrat was narrowly elected governor of Washington, Rep. Hasting’s then-Chief of Staff Ed Cassidy called, informing him that “the purpose of the call was to inquire on behalf of Congressman Hastings” about the status of any ongoing investigation into voter fraud. Mr. McKay was “concerned and dismayed by the call,” believing the conversation might constitute obstruction of justice.

By having a staff member contact Mr. McKay to discuss an ongoing investigative matter for the impermissible political purpose of harming Democrats in the November elections, Rep. Hastings engaged in conduct does not reflect creditably on the House.

Tags: ethics, corruption

Ethics? Ask Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 05:04:32 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear

Clip Source: www.beyonddelay.org

Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) is a sixth-term senator from New Mexico. His ethics issues stem from his contacting the U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico to inquire about an ongoing corruption probe of Democrats.

Improper contact with U.S. Attorney

Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias has claimed that Sen. Domenici contacted him before the November 2006 elections to pressure him about an ongoing corruption probe into state Democrats. Sen. Domencici initially denied that he had ever contacted Mr. Iglesias, but later admitted he had inquired about the time frame of the investigation.

Sen. Domenici attempted to intervene in a pending legal action before the matter reached a resolution in the courts. Sen. Domenici violated the Senate rule that states that communication with an agency with respect to a matter in litigation is allowed as long as the agency is not engaged in an on-going investigative proceeding and engaged in improper conduct that reflects upon the Senate.

Tags: ethics, corruption

Romney Fund Raising Fraudster - Where's the TV Coverage?

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:39:55 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Just more GOP bullshit media bias.

Clip Source: mediamatters.org

In recent days, NBC, CNN, and Fox News have all aired reports or discussed the case of Norman Hsu, who The Wall Street Journal suggested may have funneled illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Hillary Clinton. However, when Mitt Romney's national finance committee co-chairman Alan Fabian was charged with mail fraud, money laundering, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice, the three networks did not report or discuss it during programs available in the Nexis database.

The AP reported that Fabian "allegedly ran a scheme to make $32 million in false purchases of computer equipment, spending the money instead on beach real estate and private jet travel." Fabian resigned from Romney's finance committee shortly after being indicted, and the Romney campaign said it would return Fabian's $2,300 contribution, but not, however, "contributions from donors who were recruited by or have ties to Fabian," as The Boston Globe reported.

Tags: romney, gop, elections, fund raising

Voting - The Redistricting Game

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:42:28 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: "...the system is out of whack..." David Winston, GOP Redistricting Consultant

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: elections, voting, redlining, redistrictricting

GOP Pollsters Biased Against Ron Paul? Seems That Way.

Mon, 21 May 2007 17:58:50 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Shouldn't he be included in polls in his home state?

Clip Source: www.usaelectionpolls.com

There have been 27 republican primary polls taken this calendar year WITHOUT referencing Ron Paul. And only 5 polls with Ron Paul. Here are the results in these polls.

Ron Paul Excluded From Home State. But what we find here is appauling. Ron Paul only averages 1.0% in the state polls. But that is not the true story because the states that Ron Paul would do well in like Texas never have polls citing him. It is like the media does not want to report any successful Ron Paul stories. Because if there was no worries to them, then they would poll Ron Paul from Texas where he is from.

Candidates With Less Money And Little Support Are Included. Ron Paul is currently 4th among Republicans in fundraising so if he is not mentioned in 27 state polls why are all the other candidates who get less money and have very little support being included in far many polls?

Tags: ron paul, gop, primaries, elections, polls