(no subject)
Dear VoteToImpeach / ImpeachBush Member:
The unmistakable yellow and black signs and stickers reading Bush Lied, Thousands Died: Impeach Bush are appearing all over New York City in the last twenty four hours. The protests are building by the hour. People are streaming into New York from every corner of this country.
Tomorrow, many thousands of supporters of the impeachment campaign will be marching to send a clear message to the world, including Congress and the White House, that they will not allow Bush to carry out this four-day scripted charade depicting Bush as a "strong leader" without the truth being told. Bush and other high officials are guilty of terrible crimes.
Just think of the events of the last week inside of Iraq. Hundreds of Iraqis -- including peaceful marchers -- have been killed in the last few days in Najaf, Kufa and other sacred sites in Iraq. U.S. soldiers have been killed and wounded. This is not just madness. It is a crime and will only lead to an escalation in the cycle of violence. The number of U.S. war dead is approaching 1,000 and the number of wounded and maimed is many times greater. Tens of thousands of people in Iraq have lost their lives. Bush's war, based entirely on lies and deceit, is a crime. The President should be held accountable and impeachment is the constitutional mechanism available to the people and to Congress.
Families in Iraq are suffering the carnage of Bush's war with homes destroyed, loved ones killed and taken away to be tortured, and families in the United States are forced to endure the unbearable pain of learning they will never see their children or spouses again. The human suffering caused by their policies are of no concern to this administration. George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the crew will be posturing and strutting for the media in an orchestrated celebration of their "accomplishments."
Volunteers are working around the clock in New York to make sure that the truth of Bush's crimes, and the growing opposition to Bush at home, is ever-more apparent to the people in the world.
Your continued support is urgently needed for the activities this week during the Republican National Convention. To make a contribution via our online secure server or to locate the address to send a check, click here now.
- - All of us at VoteToImpeach / ImpeachBush.org
Week In Review
August 27, 2004
National Issues
Think George Bush's policies are working? Just ask a woman! This week the Kerry-Edwards campaign released a new report, "Just Ask A Woman: A National Report on Women in America" -- a look at the economy, health care and other work/life issues of concern to women in 2004. To get your copy of Just Ask A Woman, click here.
Official US Government Data Confirms What Women Know About The Bush Economy. The latest statistics from the US Department of Labor show that 22 states reported a drop in payroll jobs in July -- double the number of states losing jobs in June. Another reason to wonder what George Bush is talking about when he says we've turned the corner!
- The latest report from the US census confirms that 3 years of George Bush's economic policies have left too many Americans behind.
- More Americans are living in poverty: The number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.3 million last year, with the largest increase among children. Approximately 35.8 million people lived below the poverty line in 2003, or about 12.5 percent of the population, according to the bureau. That was up from 34.5 million, or 12.1 percent in 2002.
- More Americans are without health insurance: an additional 1.4 million people have joined the ranks of the uninsured in the last year.
The pay gap is growing again: Real median earnings of full time women workers declined for the first time since 1995. Women now earn just 76 cents for every dollar earned by men. Women saw their earnings decline 0.6 percent to $30,724 -- the first decline since 1995.
You don't need to ask President Bush about the direction of the country, just ask a woman!
No Wonder The Bush-Cheney Campaign Tries To Hide Behind Smears and Fears! With a record like this, no wonder the Bush-Cheney campaign is trying to change the subject! More information came out this week about connections between the Republican funded anti-Kerry swift boat organization, which claims to be "independent", and the Bush-Cheney campaign. Ben Ginsburg, chief outside counsel of the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign, resigned after news broke that he was also acting as attorney for the Swift Boat group.
George Bush could stop this negative smear campaign, which is funded by major Texas GOP donors -- but he won't. So the Kerry-Edwards campaign has launched a new ad on their website, For Shame, along with a petition, calling on George Bush to "Stop the Smear -- Get back to the issues." Click here to sign the petition.
As John Kerry said this week, "The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, health care, energy independence and rebuilding our alliances."
Campaign For The Court Heats Up! The future of the Supreme Court as a 2004 election issue got more attention this week. Republican Governor Bob Riley of Alabama blamed a "very liberal" Supreme Court for allowing the country to degenerate over the past few decades. Riley announced that if Bush wins the election, he would appoint far-right judges who will tip the balance and change the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Campaign to Save the Court is ready for this fight. This week the campaign launched its brand new interactive website to educate and empower voters on how the Presidential election will affect the composition of the Supreme Court and the court's commitment to the rights of women.
The website features the Save the Court Toolkit, which equips voters with the necessary tools to take action in their communities, including how to host a house party, write letters to local papers, organize community events, and spread the word about the rights that are at stake in this election. Visitors can also use the website to find out more information on how our rights are at risk, how John Kerry plans to move America forward, and to sign up for the bi-weekly Save the Court Campaign e-Newsletter. To view the Save the Court web site,click here!
THE GOP PLATFORM - LANDING PERFECT ZEROS.
In the spirit of the Olympic Games, we thought it would be a good idea to rate the rhetoric of the 2004 GOP Platform with the record of the Bush Administration. It looks like they landed some perfect zeros...
High Jumps for the Uninsured
GOP PLATFORM: Our efforts to build healthier families must begin with women -- our mothers, our daughters, our grandmothers and grand-daughters...
Over One Million Women Lost Health Insurance Under Bush's Watch. In 2003, the number of uninsured Americans increased by 1.4 million to 45 million. Overall, 13.9 percent (20.2 million) of women in America were uninsured in 2002 -- an increase of 1.3 million under Bush. [www.census.gov, Income Poverty and Health Survey, August 2004]
Belly Flopping on Equal Rights
GOP PLATFORM: We praise President Bush for his strong record on civil rights enforcement...
Wage Gap Widens As Bush Weakens Anti-Discrimination Enforcement. 2003 Census figures show that women's wages declined for the first time since 1995, with women earning just 76 cents on the dollar to men. At the same time, the DOL has ended the equal pay matters initiative, which identified wage discrimination by federal contractors, and the Department of Justice has brought fewer employment discrimination suits than the past three administrations. [Daily Labor Report, 1/12/04; NWLC, "Slip-sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward." To view these striking statistics, click here!
Sinking Social Security
GOP PLATFORM: Voluntary personal retirement accounts for today's workers will make Social Security more equitable, but just as importantly, will put the system on firm financial footing.
Bush Pension Plans Only Benefit The Wealthiest Americans. Bush's push for individual retirement accounts and tax-free pension savings plans aid wealthy individuals who can afford to save for social security, while leaving middle- and lower-income individuals at a disadvantage. Wage earners in the top tenth percentile would enjoy two-thirds of the benefits from the tax subsidies. The loss of tax revenue would drain government coffers and threaten Medicare and Social Security when baby boomers can begin to take advantage of it. [New Republic Online, 2/4/04; CBO, 3/04; Leonard Burman, William G. Gale, and Peter R. Orszag, "The Administration's Savings Proposals: Preliminary Analysis," Tax Notes, 3/303; Tax Policy Center, 2/4/03]
Fouling Female Entrepreneurs
GOP PLATFORM: Small businesses are the most potent forces of economic growth and job creation in America...And they have been the primary vehicles of economic advance for American women.
Bush Blocked Federal Program to Assist Female-Owned Companies in Obtaining Government Contracts. The Women's Procurement Program was passed into law in 2000, but the Bush Administration blocked its implementation. Bush's new budget FY 2005 budget still fails to implement the program. In 2002, the federal government failed to meet its own women-owned business goal of 5 percent of contracting, a loss of an estimated $4.95 billion in opportunities for female entrepreneurs! [Business Courier, 8/15/03; Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Press Release, 3/17/04; House Small Business Committee Democratic Staff, Federal Agencies: Closed to Small Business, 6/25/03]
Back-peddling for Flex/Comp-Time
GOP PLATFORM: More flexibility in the workplace will help Americans to better manage the demands of work and family... Comp-time and flex-time enable employees to choose paid time off as an alternative to overtime pay.
The Family-Time Flexibility Act: A Stealth Attempt to Make Americans Work More for Less Pay. The Republican-sponsored Family-Time Flexibility Act allows employers to compensate overtime work with time off in lieu of the standard time-and-a-half pay required for overtime. In reality, it allows employers to schedule workers for more hours worked per week, while avoiding paying for them. The new law provides less flexibility for workers, who will lack discretion in using their compensation time. The bill also lacks safeguards that will protect workers from employers who coerce workers to take flex time instead of overtime pay or from employers who discriminate against workers who choose overtime pay by allocating them fewer hours of overtime work. [Column, St. Louis Dispatch, 7/28/03; EPI Briefing Paper, 4/03; AFL-CIO, www.afl-cio.org]
"Poll" Vaulting with Votes
GOP PLATFORM: Our national commitment to a voting process that has integrity was underscored in 2002 when the Congress passed and the President signed the Help America Vote Act. We will continue to do all we can to ensure that every vote counts for all Americans.
Bush's Delay In Implementing HAVA Prevents Voting Reforms for Presidential Election. In October 2002, President Bush signed the "Help America Vote Act," in an effort to provide states with enough time to correct election irregularities by the 2004 elections. Bush delayed appointing commissioners to enact HAVA for over a year, and he limited the commission's funding. As a result, HAVA will not be able to create uniform federal guidelines for the November elections. [Chicago Tribune, 10/30/03, White House Bulletin, 10/29/03; New York Times, 10/17/02]
Landing The Perfect Zero In Support of Female Athletes
GOP PLATFORM: We support a reasonable approach to Title IX that seeks to expand opportunities for women without adversely affecting men's athletics.
Bush Guts Title IX. For every year Bush has been in office, his administration has tried to eliminate funding for the Women's Education Equity Act, which helps schools comply with Title IX and sponsors programs to promote gender equity in schools. Although Congress has restored funding for the act each year, the Women's Education Equity Resource Center, which coordinated the Act's programs, has been eliminated. [NWLC, "Slip-sliding Away: The Erosion of Hard Won Gains for Women Under the Bush Administration and an Agenda for Moving Forward,"]
Democrats Taking the Lead
Veterans Speak Up To Defend John Kerry
Democratic Senators and members of the House who served in the Armed Forces sent letters to President George Bush calling on him, as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, to denounce the smear campaign against John Kerry.
Unfortunately President Bush, on vacation in Crawford, was too busy to come out and meet with Vietnam veterans Max Cleland and Jim Rassman, who delivered the letter. Maybe he didn't want to face them: Cleland, who lost three limbs in Vietnam, was defeated by the Republican attack machine in 2002. Rassman is the life-long Republican who came forward this year to testify that John Kerry saved his life under enemy fire.
Here's the Honor Roll of those who signed the letter to the President: Senators: Daniel Inouye, HI, Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, SC, Tom Harkin, IA, Jack Reed, RI, Tom Carper, DE and Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg, NJ.
Members of Congress: Joe Baca, CA, John Conyers Jr., MI, William Delahunt, MA, John Dingell, MI, Lane Evans, IL, Maurice Hinchey, NY, Gerald Kleczka, WI, Jim McDermott, WA, Solomon Ortiz, TX, Bill Pascrell, NJ, Collin Peterson, MN, Silvestre Reyes, TX, Bobby Scott, VA, Jose Serrano, NY, John Spratt, SC, Pete Stark, CA, Vic Snyder, AR, Jim Turner, TX, Mike Thompson, CA.
Take Five To Change The Direction Of Our Country
On August 26, Women's Equality Day, the DNC Women's Vote Center announced the kickoff of TAKE FIVE: an innovative program designed to reach the 22 million unmarried women who did not vote in 2000 -- the biggest group of potential new voters in the country and the most likely to vote Democratic. As reported in USA Today, "...single women could be to Democrats what evangelical Christians have become to Republicans: a huge group of people who often haven't been engaged in politics before but hold many views in sync with the party."
TAKE FIVE participants commit to identifying five women they will be responsible for getting to the polls. Unlike other efforts that focus on registration, TAKE FIVE asks women to build a relationship with their 5 voters, and stay in touch with them through Election Day -- or until their votes have been cast.
"The good news is that we know these women," said Ann Lewis, Women's Vote Center chair. "Think about: the clerk behind the counter at the dry cleaner, the cashier at the grocery store, the young woman taking orders at the take-out lunch counter, the woman working in the office down the hall. Issues like better pay and health care are important to them.
"YOU can make the difference in whether these women get to the polls -- and they can make the difference in the 2004 election."
For more information about TAKE FIVE and what you can do, click here!
Quotes Of The Week
"Governor Bush had an event, and he paid for it...and stood next to the spokesman for a fringe veterans group. That fringe veteran said that John McCain had abandoned the veterans. Now I don't know...if you can understand this, George, but that really hurts." - Senator John McCain, speaking to George Bush about his 2000 Bush campaign tactics
"...as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, we believe you owe a special duty to America's combat veterans when they are under false and scurrilous attacks. We hope you will recognize this duty, and speak out against this group and their efforts to smear the reputation of a man who has served this country nobly." - Former Senator Max Cleland, and others who served in the US Armed Forces, letter to George Bush about his 2004 campaign tactics
Dear Amy,
Five days ago, we asked you to sign a petition demanding that George Bush call an end to the smear campaign and get back to the issues. Your voices were heard: 400,000 of you have already signed, with tens of thousands more signing each day. Thank you for making it clear that this election deserves a discussion of the issues, and not slander and character assassination.
If you haven't signed the petition please do so by visiting:
http://www.johnkerry.com/oldtricks
Unfortunately, the disgraceful attacks by the Bush front group "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" continue. The Bush campaign denies that the two organizations are connected, but an obvious web of connections exists. I wanted to share with you a letter I sent today to Ken Mehlman, Bush-Cheney campaign manager, detailing the connections between the Bush-Cheney campaign and the Swift Boat Veterans for Bush.
Dear Mr. Mehlman:
For three weeks now, your campaign has been saying there are no ties between the Bush campaign and "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." But the web of connections grows wider and wider every day. Yesterday we saw confirmation of another connection when your general counsel, Benjamin Ginsberg, was forced to resign for providing legal advice for this group.
Enclosed you will find a chart that makes clear the web of connections between President Bush and the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Now that you have this chart and the accompanying fact sheet to back it up, I wanted to ask you several specific questions that deserve your prompt response.
Ken Cordier served on the Bush Veterans Steering Committee and also stars in the latest "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" smear ad. As a member of the steering committee presumably he was involved in policy development. What information about the Bush campaign's veterans policy did he share with the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?" Did he ever discuss his activities with this smear group with anyone in the Bush campaign? How many times did "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" activities come up at Bush Veterans Steering Committee meetings?
Yesterday on Fox News, Karl Rove confirmed that he and Bob Perry are longtime friends. Bob Perry is the largest contributor to the Texas Republican Party and a longtime supporter of President Bush. When was the last time Karl Rove and Bob Perry spoke, and did they discuss the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?"
Based on newspaper accounts, we know Merrie Spaeth was involved in the underhanded shadow campaign against John McCain in 2000. She also helped organize the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" and did the debate prep for President H. W. Bush. She has also admitted that she advised Bush administration officials in the White House as recently as last year. Was Merrie Spaeth ever contacted by anyone from the Bush campaign, including you, about "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?"
John O'Neill's law firm, Clements, O'Neill, Pierce, Wilson & Fulkerson, has many connections to President Bush. In fact, Margaret Wilson, Mr. O'Neill's law partner, served as General Counsel to Governor Bush and followed him to Washington, where she worked as Deputy Counsel for the Department of Commerce. Did she ever discuss "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" with President Bush, members of his administration or any Bush-Cheney campaign officials?
If you say there's no connection, why did the Bush-Cheney campaign office in Florida pass out "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" flyers to promote a joint anti-John Kerry rally in Gainsville, Florida last weekend?
According to news reports, you have worked with "Progress for America," a newly formed 527 group that has announced it's going to spend $35 million to attack John Kerry and whose executive director is a top advisor to the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Have you had any additional contact with this group? Have Karl Rove or other Bush officials -- either in the White House or on the Bush-Cheney campaign -- had contacts with this group?
How many times did Karl Rove and Benjamin Ginsberg meet? Did they ever discuss the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?"
These questions go to the heart of why so many people now believe that "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" is nothing more than a front group for the Bush-Cheney campaign. The longer President Bush waits to specifically condemn this smear, the more it looks like he's behind it.
It's time for the president to stand up and specifically condemn "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth." Not only is this a smear on John Kerry's distinguished military service; it's an insult to all veterans who've served their country.
The American people want to hear an honest discussion of the issues. They're concerned about the economy and the troubling situation in Iraq. Today, as we enter week four of this smear campaign, I'm asking you to talk to the president and ask him to heed Senator McCain's call and condemn this smear. The American people deserve better.
Sincerely,
Mary Beth Cahill
These tactics are nothing new for George Bush. It seems that every time he has found himself in trouble, he's smeared the honorable record of a Vietnam Veteran. Sign our petition and make this election about the issues that really matter.
http://www.johnkerry.com/oldtricks
If you have already signed, be sure to forward this email to your friends and family.
Thank you,
Mary Beth Cahill
Campaign Manager
P.S. Here are the facts of the Bush-Cheney campaign's web of connections:
Karl Rove - Bush's White House political director; longtime associate to Bob Perry; consultant to Hutchison; most senior advisor to Bush campaign.
Ken Cordier - Former Bush-Cheney campaign advisor - forced to resign after appearing in Swift Boat Veterans for Bush commercial.
Benjamin Ginsberg - Former general counsel to Bush-Cheney - resigned after it was discovered he was advising both Bush and the Swift Boat Veterans.
Harlan Crow - Bush Foundation trustee; longtime friend of Bush family; longtime fundraiser for Bush family; donated at least $25,000 in seed money to the Swift Boat Vets for Bush.
Bob Perry - Largest Republican donor in Texas; donated hundreds of thousands to Bush family campaigns; donated at least $200,000 in seed money to the Swift Boat Vets for Bush; close colleague of Rove in Texas governor's race; longtime friend of John O'Neill.
Kay Bailey Hutchison - Longtime friend of Spaeth; former client of Rove; current co-chair of Bush campaign
John O'Neill - Longtime friend of Bob Perry; very close law firm connections to Bush as governor; close friend to Spaeth, former colleague to Spaeth's husband/Bush's 1994 running mate; front man for Swift Vets for Bush.
Merrie Spaeth - Provided media consulting to Swift Boat Vets; longtime friend of Hutchison; longtime supporter of/donor to Bush campaign; provide debate prep for GHW Bush; met with and gave media training to current, top White House officials; close associate to John O'Neill; advised smear campaign on McCain in 2000.
Tex Lezar - Late husband to Spaeth; former running mate with Bush in 1994; law partner to John O'Neill.
Harriet O'Neill - Close associate to John O'Neill, Lezar & Wilson; Bush judicial nominee.
Margaret Wilson - Law partner with John O'Neill, Lezar; Bush administration official; former counsel to Governor Bush.
Bush-Cheney Campaign HQ Florida - Regional Bush HQ in battleground state; coordinated activities with Swift Boat Vets for Bush rally; rally forced to be cancelled.
Minnesota RNC - Official Republican website in battleground state; coordinated linkage with Swift Boat website, providing direct link to Swift Boat commercial.
DCI Group - Political strategy firm with close connections to Bush campaign & Swift vets.
Charles Francis - Longtime friend/supporter of Bush; works for political firm with close ties to both Bush campaign and Swift Vets for Bush; colleague of Lacivita.
Tom Synhorst - Advisor to Bush campaign 2000; "major contracts" with Bush campaign 2004; works for firm with close ties to Swift Vets for Bush; colleague of Lacivita; worked on anti-McCain phone banking in South Carolina in 2000.
Chris Lacivita - Senior advisor to Swift Boat Vets for Bush; close ties to Bush campaign; associates with Synhorst & Friancis.
FCNL: Tell Your Representative to Support Indian Probate Reform (8/26/04)
If fractions were hard for you in math, you might have difficulties in Indian Country. Legislation before Congress attempts to deal with the longstanding intractable problem of Native American land owned by multiple individuals and families which creates the phenomenon of small ownership or tiny fractions of interest in land. Proposed legislation would cost a modest amount and, in the long run, would save federal dollars. It would also make Indian land more useable, thereby creating resources for tribes. The American Indian Probate Act of 2004 (S. 1721) is designed to prevent further segmentation of individual Indian-owned land, improve the legal process of documenting and distributing belongings after death (probate process), and allow consolidation of ownership of land.
The proposed legislation focuses on a number of interrelated issues by:
Buying back lands once held by tribes or purchasing lands near or on reservations from owners whether Indian or non-Indian (often called land consolidation);
Developing a federal unified and more easily understood probate code for tribes (which must now contend with 33 state codes) and ending the probate backlog;
Clarifying the definition of "Indian", and "eligible heirs" in the context of trusts, public domain allotments, and restricted lands; and
Providing will drafting assistance and estate planning in Indian Country in order to help families plan for the future.
Action: Contact your representative and urge him or her to support passage of the American Indian Probate Reform Act of 2004 in order to (1) create a new federal probate standard for Indian lands and trust funds and (2) provide mechanisms to address the mounting problems associated with "fractionated heirship." This phenomenon was identified as early as the 1920s and inaction has made the situation much worse. More affluent tribes are attempting to address the problem on their own, but poorer tribes need funds to buy back some of the fractionated interests and to consolidate the native land base. While the bill (S. 1721) has passed the Senate and been cleared by the House Resources Committee, it must be promoted by the leadership in order to be passed by the House.
Contacting Congress is Easy: Start with the sample letter posted in our Legislative Action Center, personalize the language, then email or fax your message directly from our site. You can also print it out and mail it. To view the sample letter, click on the link below, then enter your ZIP code and click in the box. Here is the link: http://capwiz.com/fconl/issues/alert/?alertid=6295271&type=CO
Background: Native Americans cherish their land interests as their birthright and cultural core.
How Those Problems Came About: Since the General Allotment Act or Dawes Act of 1887 when they were forced onto small portions of their original lands, American Indians have coped with vexing land, property, and inheritance transactions. Today's families inherit tiny fractions of trust land allotted to their ancestors. Currently, 4 million individuals own 10 million acres of Indian land but, without change, the fractionation problems multiply with each generation and will soon become "unfixable" according to experts. S, 1721 would untangle historically-based complexities to permit better functioning of tribal economies.
Problems Created for Individuals and Tribes: While the average U.S. couple that owns a house and small plot of land has free title, a typical Native American couple owns fractions of one or of many properties, usually land utilized by their people for centuries. Such land cannot be mortgaged due to the multiple owners, it is hard to lease, and when it is passed down to the couple’s children, the shares will be even smaller for them. There also can be complexities at the tribal level. A tribe may own 60 acres in a county, but 40 intermingled areas may be held by outsiders. Such a checkerboard pattern often makes it difficult for the tribe to utilize the land it has for economic development purposes. According to Senator Nighthorse Campbell (CO), "One hundred and seventeen years after the Dawes Act began to break up Indian land, [S. 1721] will re-consolidate those lands and revitalize what are now large tracts of economically useless lands."
Currently, the federal government has the power to say who is eligible to inherit rights to trust land. Narrow definitions of Indians can mean that direct descendants who are not members of a tribe can be left out, even though it is fairly common for Native Americans to have ancestry involving several tribes or to be married to non-Indians. The inheritance aspect of land and probate reform has made it hard to implement corrective legislation. However, S. 1721 includes rules more acceptable to tribes who want "greater certainty of who would qualify to hold and inherit interests in trust and restricted lands" and provide greater security "in passing their interests to their lineal descendants in trust or restricted status" (California Indian Legal Services testimony).
Problems Created for Government Agencies: The Interior Department must keep separate trust accounts for each native landowner, no matter how small the share, which makes administrative costs high. The Interior official in charge, Special Trustee Ross Swimmer,
says the task is epitomized by a 40-acre tract which in 1987 had 439 owners, one-third of whom received less than 5 cents and two-thirds of whom received less than a $1 in annual rent. Yet, the administrative costs for handling the tract were $17,560 annually. By 2003, there were 505 owners. It is understandable why the federal government wants to simplify the system, but the current situation does not work for individuals either. With such a convoluted system, the probate process of going to court and calculating inheritance after a death is unimaginably slow.
A legislative attempt in 2000 to fix these problems included language that was highly disadvantageous to Native Americans and, after an intense uproar, the Bureau of Indian Affairs did not "certify" the regulations. The Indian Land Working Group and the National Congress of American Indians helped modify and improve the language. These changes are incorporated into S. 1721.
The FCNL office will be closed the week of August 30, reopening September 7th.
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CONTACTING LEGISLATORS
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Information on your members is available on FCNL’s web site.
CONTACTING THE ADMINISTRATION
White House Comment Desk: 202-456-1111
Fax: 202-456-2461
Email: president@whitehouse.gov
Web Page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/
President George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC 20500
Dear MoveOn member,
Last month John Pappageorge, a Republican state representative in Michigan, told a journalist that the Republicans would do poorly if they failed to “suppress the Detroit vote.” Detroit, of course, is 83% black.[1]
Democratic officials expressed their outrage, and Pappageorge eventually apologized for his words, but his statement spoke to a bigger truth: Republicans continue to actively suppress black and minority votes in order to win elections through intimidation, misinformation, and tampering with voter rolls and records. In 2000, the black voters who were not allowed to vote would have almost certainly swung the election in Al Gore’s favor. And the practice continues: a recent report from the NAACP and the People for the American Way Foundation documents suppression tactics in use right now.[2]
The Republican Party's continued silence is shameful. We’re joining with Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP*, Reverend Jesse Jackson, President of the Rainbow/Push Coalition*, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others to demand that the Republican Party abandon these racist, unfair, and undemocratic tactics and condemn anyone in their ranks who uses them. Please join us by signing the petition below:
http://www.moveonpac.org/suppression/?id=3415-642605-Lsv38o73TWPP0fLsEQZFkg
Many of the leaders above and other signers will personally deliver this petition to the Bush/Cheney campaign headquarters next month, so please sign today and ask your friends to sign.
Just last week, Bob Herbert of the New York Times wrote a column describing armed, plain-clothes officers from the Florida state police (which reports directly to Governor Jeb Bush) going into the homes of elderly black voters and interrogating them, supposedly as part of an investigation into voter fraud. While ostensibly random, several of those questioned were members of the Orlando League of Voters, a group that has been very successful in mobilizing the city's black vote. According to Herbert, this supposed "investigation" has resulted in a blanket of fear, leaving organizers afraid to work and voters afraid of contact with campaign workers.[3]
Four years ago, Florida election officials removed over 52,000 voters from the rolls under the guise of “cleansing” the list of felons. Over 90% of those purged were not guilty of any crime and 54% were African-American, a group which, in Florida, are likely to vote Democratic over 90% of the time.[4] The company that provided the purge list warned Florida officials that thousands of eligible voters would likely be disenfranchised in the process, but Katherine Harris, the Florida Secretary of State who also served as state campaign manager for George W. Bush, went forward with the purge anyway. The result was thousands of voters not allowed to vote in an election that was decided by just over 500 votes.
It’s not just Florida. A joint report from People for the American Way Foundation and the NAACP "The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America Today" highlights recent attempts to suppress African-American and minority voting, documenting instances of the following:[5]
Challenges and threats against individual voters at the polls by armed private guards, off-duty law enforcement officers, local creditors, fake poll monitors, and poll workers and managers.
Signs posted at the polling place warning of penalties for “voter fraud” or “non-citizen” voting, or illegally urging support for a candidate.
Poll workers “helping” voters fill out their ballots, and instructing them on how to vote.
Criminal tampering with voter registration rolls and records.
Fliers and radio ads containing false information about where, when and how to vote, voter eligibility, and the false threat of penalties.
Internal memos from party officials in which the explicit goal of suppressing black voter turnout is outlined.
Here are a few other incidents highlighted in the report and elsewhere:
In 2003, in Pennsylvania, men with clipboards bearing official-looking insignias were reportedly dispatched to African American neighborhoods. Tom Lindenfeld, who ran a counter-intimidation campaign for Democratic candidate John Street, said there were 300 cars with the decals resembling such federal agencies as the DEA and ATF and that the men were asking prospective voters for identification. In a post-election poll of 1000 African-American voters, seven percent said they had encountered such efforts.
In 2002, in Louisiana, fliers were distributed in African American communities stating, “‘Vote!!! Bad Weather? No problem!!! If the weather is uncomfortable on election day [Saturday, December 7th], remember you can wait and cast your ballot on Tuesday, December 10th.” In a separate incident, apparently targeting potential supporters of Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Republican Party admitted to paying African American youths $75 to hold signs aloft on street corners in black neighborhoods that appeared to discourage African-Americans from voting.
Last month, in South Dakota, Native American voters were sent to the wrong polling places, and given misleading information about the ID they need to vote.[6]
Stopping eligible voters from voting is a basic affront to democracy. It is an outrage for any political party to condone or encourage the practice, especially given the history of African-Americans and other minorities being disenfranchised in our country. In the vast majority of these cases, Republicans are the perpetrators or it's a Republican candidate that stands to benefit. Call on Republican leaders to to publicly disavow the suppression of the minority vote by signing the petition at:
http://www.moveonpac.org/suppression/?id=3415-642605-Lsv38o73TWPP0fLsEQZFkg
Thanks for all you do,
-- James Rucker, Laura Dawn, and the rest of the MoveOn PAC team
MoveOn PAC
Thursday, August, 26th 2004
1 http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw101420_20040721.htm
2 http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oId=16368
3 http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/081704C.shtml
(original: http://nytimes.com/2004/08/16/opinion/16herbert.html?hp)
4 http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040517&s=palast
5 http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oId=16399
6 http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oId=16362
Other links:
1 million black votes didn't count in the 2000 presidential election"
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/20/ING2976LG61.DTL
Commentary in Detroit Free Press
Commentary in Detroit Free Press"> http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/eholl27_20040727.htm">Commentary in Detroit Free Press
"The Long Shadow of Jim Crow: Voter Intimidation and Suppression in America" (pdf)
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_459.pdf
*Organizations named above are for identification purposes only.
PAID FOR BY MOVEON PAC www.moveonpac.org
Authorized by Maxine Waters and Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Urgent Action Alert: Stop the Smears from Bush and the Republicans
Dear Amy Truax,
Weeks after Sen. John McCain asked him to, George Bush still refuses to condemn the lying smears made by a shadowy Republican front group against John Kerry. The attacks made by the so-called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" have been universally condemned by editorial boards across the country:
"An ugly attack... dishonest and indecent." -- St. Petersburg Times
"Shameful... including letting someone else do the dirty work." -- Las Vegas Sun
"A flood of misinformation, rumor, and outright lies." -- St. Louis Post Dispatch
But George W. Bush won't condemn the group's lies. Why? Maybe because one of his top veterans' issue advisers was in one of the ads. Maybe because he has a long history of letting other people do his dirty work for him.
Take Action Now
The Democratic Party is standing up for John Kerry and actively repudiating this vicious smear campaign. Today we took out a full-page advertisement in the New York Times asking readers to join us in this fight -- and we need you to join us as well.
We want to show George W. Bush that the American people aren't going to stand for this kind of negative, lying smear. Sign the Democratic Party's petition today and tell Bush to reject these gutter tactics, and listen to John McCain by smearing the ad.
www.democrats.org/StopTheSmear
Tell Your Friends
Spread the word about the vicious lies in this smear ad. Encourage your friends to take action by signing the Democratic Party's petition to George W. Bush.
www.democrats.org/tellafriend/
This story has been forwarded to you from
http://www.alternet.org by lpurdy@wells.edu
-------------------------------------
Protester Scare Stories
http://www.alternet.org/story/19667
The story we have been hearing for years about demonstrators performing acts of violence at demonstrations doesn't fit with the facts.