Letters to the Editor
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It doesn't add up
This behavior by the democratic leadership doesn't add up. Are they authoritarian believers in unchecked executive power?
We should be looking for the dirt, or leverage, that's triggering this behavior. Can it be as simple as telecom campaign donations? Is the democratic leadership just deeply corrupt? Does Cheney have their grandkids at Gitmo? Has Mukasey threatened to indict their in-laws? Will they be brought down with the administration if they don't seal off this cause of action?
I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist, but "normal" explanations don't seem sufficient here.
JG
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Chump change
can it be as simple as telecom campaign donations?
I doubt it....
I don't think forty thousand would even by you a Chicago alderman for more than one vote.
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I'm starting a protest outside Harry Reid's house before the next FISA Vote
I put a Diary up on DKOS asking for support. It's time we tell him to his face that we need him to stand up to Bush or get the fuck out of the way.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/21/14319/836/832/425285
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@GreenCelery
Aw shucks.........
Love, coiled snake message of my heart!
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You become the majority with the leadership you've got
I am well aware that even remotely paraphrasing DRumsfeld is cause for deletion, but it has unfortunately been true. Nancy and Harry have been far to cautious with the facts this past session and I hope that Glen and his readership will support Wexler in his attempt to bring hearings about the impeachment of Dick.
http://WexlerWantsHearings.com/
Accountability avoidance syndrome is the plague that this administration will pass on to others to the detriment of all of us.
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"It doesn't add up"
Sure it does. 2+2=4.
What are Clean Elections?
Clean elections, or the public financing of political campaigns, are a proven reform to give voters more control over government, make politicians accountable to constituents rather than campaign contributors, save taxpayers money and level the playing field by giving all citizens a fair shot at getting elected.
In light of pay-to-play scandals that have rocked Congress and statehouses nationwide in recent years, many voters are eager for this kind of significant change. In fact, three out of four voters support a voluntary system of publicly financed campaigns, according to a June 2006 poll by a bipartisan polling firm. (View the poll results)
How Clean Elections work
Under a clean elections system, a candidate raises a threshold sum of small contributions. Once that amount is raised, the candidate gets a grant in exchange for an agreement to raise no more money. In Connecticut, for example, which passed a voluntary Clean Elections law in 2005, a state senate candidate would have to raise $15,000 in contributions of $100 or less. That candidate would then receive a $35,000 grant for his or her primary and an additional $85,000 to continue to the general election. Candidates would be eligible for additional matching funds to keep pace with a privately funded candidate who outspent them, or to deal with independent expenditures that target them.
Experience with Clean Election systems in the states cost in the range of $2 to $6 per voting age resident per year. Taxpayers win because elected officials serve the public's agenda, not the interests of lobbyists, unions and corporations.
Clean Elections at the federal level
Common Cause and our coalition partners are working hard to enact Clean Elections for congressional races. We have tripled the support in Congress for this reform in the last year alone. We're working with Sens. Durbin (D-IL) and Specter (R-PA) to pass the Fair Elections Now Act; visit StopTheMoneyChase.org to take action and learn more about our federal work.
Which states have Clean Elections?
As usual, the states are way ahead of the federal government on this reform. Seven states and two cities already have voluntary Clean Elections in place: Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Vermont, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Portland, Oregon.
Common Cause and our coalition partners are also currently working to pass Clean Elections in Maryland. Hundreds of candidates from both major parties have used the system and each election cycle brings more "Clean Election" candidates. Arizona's governor, Janet Napolitano, was elected under the system. Over 80 percent of Maine's legislators used Clean Election funding for their campaigns.
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=202895
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=2880181
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They have met the enemy...
...it's us.
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Dodd's hold is ignored
Calls to Reid's office prior to the debacle on the unacceptable Intel Committee FISA bill resulted in the staffers actually claiming that there was no Dodd hold. Would Reid so ignore a hold placed by Obama too? Perhaps we should start pressuring Obama to put up or shut up on his "support" for a Dodd filibuster by demanding that HE place a hold on the Intel Committee bill (or ANY bill with immunity in it). Of course, keep offering support to Dodd to be there again come January to filibuster again whether Obama puts a hold on the bill (and it gets ignored) or not. Time for Obama's feet to be put to the fire. He is especially vulnerable now given the accusations from Clinton (true, by the way) that he has simply voted "present" for controversial bills in recent history. He MUST put out this time.
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Greenwald: Reid vs Dodd
Thanks, Glenn, for your typically insightful, well-researched, well-thought-out, well-written post. There is one question I have heard no one ask, even you, whom I greatly admire. I would appreciate it greatly if you could get this question out there:
How can we be assured that Cheney, Rove or other White House officials have not used the illegal wiretapping system to spy on Ronnie Earl, Patrick Fitzgerald and other prosecutors or government-sponsored investigators for the purpose of obstructing or even denying justice?
Has anyone, anywhere publicly asked or answered this question? Certainly I am not the only one to suspect them.
Thanks,
Tom Paulk
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My "marketing letter" to friends and family
I took Glenn's advice, and cut-and-paste this together. I wouldn't necessarily use the text as it's shown below, but maybe go to eff.org & cut-and-paste yourself so you can maintain their embedded links:
Forgive the intrusion ... I almost never send out e-mails like this. But, I've assembled some information that I really hope you will all read. There is a raging battle that a small group of dedicated senators are waging against the Bush Administration's practices of SPYING ON AMERICANS ILLEGALLY. This is not from Orwell's 1984 ... it is happening now.
I really mean this. This is an important issue. (and ... happy holidays )
In 2005, Americans learned that the President authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to wiretap phone and email communications involving United States persons within the U.S. without obtaining a warrant or court order pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). FISA prohibits unauthorized electronic surveillance. Shortly afterwards Americans also learned that the major telecoms participated in warrantless surveillance surveillance, handing over billions of their customers private communications and communications records.
Key Facts:
1. Reporting from every major American media outlet and undisputed whistleblower evidence show that AT&T and other phone companies were complicit in the NSA's warrantless surveillance. This included the records and full content of the private domestic communications of millions of ordinary Americans. The President and the phone companies hid this information from Congress and the American people for at least six years.
2. These actions violated at least four major privacy laws that have protected Americans' privacy for over 30 years. The laws deliberately and specifically require telephone companies to safeguard the privacy of their customers communications, especially when the government seeks to access them. The violation of these laws is at the core of almost forty pending lawsuits against AT&T, Verizon, MCI, Sprint and other telephone companies. These lawsuits have been consolidated before Judge Vaughn Walker in California.
3. Now, the phone companies and the Bush administration are trying to bar Americans from defending their privacy. Their arguments in favor of retroactive immunity are manipulative, illogical and simply unconvincing.
4. The American people deserve their day in court. Companies that break the law deserve to be held accountable. Oppose retroactive amnesty for telecommunications companies.
For more info, or to take action visit these web pages:
http://www.eff.org/ ... is a non-profit to protect our privacy rights
http://firedoglake.com/ ... is a blog where writer Jane Hamsher writes on these issues
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/ ... Glenn Greenwald is a former constitutional lawyer, turned blogger, who covers these issues almost daily. a very good read.
http://chrisdodd.com/blog/standing-dodd-fisa ... Senator from CT Chris Dodd is waging a war on this issue. he is running from president (and i don't necessary support him in that endeavor, but I do support this). Other Senators are assisting ... like Feingold, Kennedy, Boxer.