You may not have read this, or if you did, you may have simply ignored it or dismissed it as liberal propaganda. However, it's truly amazing. Even with all the dissention and undermining from the "right", our prayers are being answered. We've been praying for our country, not a party or one person. We're confident that with God's help, "all things are possible". America is turning around ... whether you agree or not!Apparently, "His Annointedness" (as some have dubbed our president), with God's help, is doing something right! :)"Three months into the new administration, President Obama's approval ratings remain high. This in itself is hardly unusual for a newly inaugurated president, but today we learned of a turn-around that is far from ordinary.The Associated Press reported: For the first time in years, more Americans than not say the country is headed in the right direction, a sign that Barack Obama has used the first 100 days of his presidency to lift the public's mood and inspire hopes for a brighter future.Intensely worried about their personal finances and medical expenses, Americans nonetheless appear realistic about the time Obama might need to turn things around, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll. It shows most Americans consider their new president to be a strong, ethical and empathetic leader who is working to change Washington.No recent president has seen such a dramatic turn-around in such a short period. The number of Americans who believe that the nation is headed in the right direction has roughly tripled since the election."
We're so happy with this news and we're so very proud of our president, Barack H. Obama. May God continue to bless him and the United States of America.
We just signed a pledge of support for President Obama's plan to renew and strengthen America's economy. Please help "our president" to succeed. By helping President Obama succeed, America will succeed!Unless your sentiments are in agreement with such ignorant, malicious people like Rush " I hope he fails" Limbaugh and "the party of no" (the GOP), who are determined to see President Obama fail, thus causing America to fail ... please show your support for America and get involved now.
Watch the video announcing this new initiative and pledge your support now:http://my.barackobama.com/pledgeprojectThank you.Peter and Linda Realmuto "2 Reals 4 Obama" NJmort@aol.com
Everyone agrees that the United States urgently needs a few good banks. Turning bad banks into good banks is a difficult and risky way to get them. It's simpler and safer to start entirely new banks.
In this context, "good" means a bank with assets and liabilities that are easy to value using market prices. At a good bank, officers, regulators and investors can be confident about the value of the bank's capital.
The government has $350 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds that it can use to encourage new bank lending. If this money is directed to newly created good banks with pristine balance sheets, it could support $3.5 trillion in new lending with a modest 9-to-1 leverage. Right out of the gate, the newly created banks could do what the Fed has already been doing -- buying pools of loans originated by existing banks that meet high underwriting standards.
If the TARP funds go to existing banks, much of them will end up stuck in financial institutions that are still bad after the transfer. We know from the previous round of TARP that giving more capital to bad banks generates very little net new lending.
Proposals for turning existing banks into good banks -- recapitalizing them, nationalizing them, transferring the toxic assets off their balance sheets, or insuring the toxic assets -- require prices for all these hard-to-value assets or, worse still, prices for derivative contracts on the toxic assets. (Calling the derivatives "insurance" doesn't make them any easier to price.) Without reliable market prices for the hard-to-value assets, any proposal for turning bad banks into good banks could lead to huge transfers of wealth between taxpayers and bank shareholders.
If the government lets new banks provide the new lending that the economy needs, it could return to clearly stated and familiar policies for bank regulation. The government could announce that it will not invest any new capital in a troubled bank that it hasn't yet taken over. Nor will it offer troubled banks any transfers or implicit subsidies. It can stick to a policy of assigning accurate values to assets as new information comes in. It can follow the usual FDIC procedures for protecting depositors and taxpayers and for deciding when to take over a distressed bank, and managing careful workouts that avoid the turmoil that a Lehman-style bankruptcy proceeding can cause.
With a return to a clearly articulated and familiar pattern of bank regulation, investors from the private sector could invest in the banking sector without fear that they will be competing with zombie banks that receive ongoing subsidies and transfers from taxpayers. Provided that the government accelerates the approval process, investors from the private sector can quickly create the new banks that the government backs. Over time, they can also buy the government's shares in these banks. Investors from the private sector can also invest in existing banks that truly are good banks.
The government should move first and signal unambiguously that new banks with at least $350 billion worth of capital will enter the market quickly. Over time, the private sector will deliver on this commitment. The government's role is merely to act as a temporary bridge.
There are, to be sure, risks of political interference from government involvement in banking, but all of the current proposals for increasing lending require more government involvement. The challenge is to find one that increases lending and does the least harm.
If the government starts as a shareholder in new, healthy banks that eventually end up entirely in the hands of the private sector, the political risks start small and diminish. If instead the government combines open-ended and opaque financial support for troubled banks with promises of tight supervision and punishment for bad behavior, the risks are large and grow over time.
The brewing backlash against the existing players from the financial sector is almost certain to burn hotter as the recession wears on, and new election campaigns get underway. If the new administration ties its fate to the existing players, it could lose its room to maneuver on countercyclical policy and be put under political pressure to intervene in bank decisions in ever more intrusive ways.
Because they can and will borrow, new banks will be much more effective in leveraging TARP funds. They will undertake more total lending, bring more trading to financial markets, and do more to limit the depth of the recession. As a result, investing the TARP funds in new banks will do more to help the troubled but potentially viable existing banks than giving funds directly to them.
Banks that are not viable, the ones with liabilities that substantially exceed their assets, will lobby vociferously against a return to historical patterns of bank regulation. They will say anything to postpone a looming FDIC takeover. The administration should not listen to threats and pleas from these doomed banks. It does not have to rely on them to get new lending going quickly and on a large scale. New entrants could give us a few good banks. That, plus an FDIC that can do its job, is all we need.
Mr. Romer is a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
I send my deepest congratulations and wish upon you the wisdom to make wise choices and be an exemplary leader of this nation in a time of war and domestic stress. Respectfully, Robert V. Simpson
Westampton, NJ
This election is coming down to the wire and we need to make sure everyone is doing all they can to elect Barack Obama as our next President.
Please help us call voters. You can phonebank from home and help get out the vote in key states.
To join Mobile Obama, text NJ to 62262 (OBAMA) on your mobile phone to receive important updates and opportunities.
Throughout the Garden State, the movement of change has inspired millions. This is a defining moment in our history. We have a chance to bring the country together in a new majority — to finally tackle problems that Washington has ignored for too long. And that is why New Jerseyans are answering the call of the Obama campaign to become involved and volunteer during the final days of the campaign.
This weekend, volunteers contacted nearly half a million voters in New Jersey and battleground states across the country to personally deliver Obama’s message of Hope and Change. With over 2,000 volunteers signed up, New Jerseyans heard and answered the call to travel to Pennsylvania, a key battleground state in this election.
Volunteers have shown dedication, crowding NJ Campaign for Change offices sharing stories of why they believe in Barack Obama and the historic importance of this election. They also talked about how this campaign is bringing people together.
Arthur Thomas from Princeton explained, “I was calling a woman named Stephanie Watkins in North Carolina and a man answered. I identified myself as Arthur Thomas a volunteer for the Obama campaign and the response I received was completely unexpected: ‘Uncle Arthur is that you? This is your nephew Derek. Stephanie Watkins is my wife.’ I had called my nephew who I hadn’t seen in twelve years due to distance. We had a conversation about the election and the need for Obama to be our next president. I told him to pass the word on to his friends and coworkers. If they needed anymore information about Obama then he should feel free to give them my home phone number and I will talk to them personally.”
Volunteering with Arthur was his wife Linda. She shared her thoughts about the election: “As a baby boomer I think about the progress in our lifetime and what an honor it is to work on this campaign. This is the culmination of things we’ve worked for since our college days of demonstrating and fighting for civil rights."
“This is the first time that the world gets a chance to see America actualize its ability to be nonbiased by electing Obama to the presidency of the United States.”
Linda and Arthur Thomas urge you to make history and vote.With one day left before the election, there’s still time for you to become a member of the team and be part of history. Volunteer today by visiting your local NJ Campaign for Change Office or signing up here. If you aren’t able to go in person, set up your own phonebank and make calls from home or with a group of your friends.
On a beautiful fall day in Union County College, President Bill Clinton headlined a rally for change with Assemblywoman Linda Stender, and other members of the Democratic team. The long lines began to form at 10 a.m. and by the time the event started at 1p.m. nearly 2,000 Democratic supporters were fired up and ready to go. “Presidential elections I can tell you having been there, should be decided by philosophy, positions on the issues, the decision making capacity of the candidates, and what we feel about their ability to turn a decision into real change in our lives,” said President Clinton. “Barack Obama clearly has the right philosophy. The economy grows from the ground up not from the top down. Senator Obama’s positions on the economy, on energy independence, with a clean efficient energy future, the key to creating more jobs and higher incomes.”
“Bill Clinton is a phenomenal force. Ten words from Clinton are a thousand words for McCain. He knows how to electrify an audience. His job today is to electrify the crowd and get them ready to knock on doors, make phone calls and get out the vote for the NJ democratic ticket,” said Diane Edkins from Westfield.
When asked how she felt about the upcoming election, Diane Edkins from Westfiled responded, “I feel nervous. We have to keep the pressure on and the push going especially in battleground states. We need to remember Pennsylvania. It’s very important for people to travel to Pennsylvania and do whatever they can. I have many friends who are traveling to New Hope, Pa. and Ohio to volunteer their time and help the Obama campaign.”
“I’ll be canvassing in Summit this weekend,” Clemens Gunther from Mountainside added. “I was undecided until this week, but now I know. I will definitely be voting for Barack Obama. There’s too much at stake not to.” NJ elected officials joining President Clinton included Governor Jon Corzine, Congressman Rush Holt, Congressman Frank Pallone, Congressman Donald Payne, Congressman Steve Rothman, Democratic Party Chairman Joe Cryan, Senator Raymond Lesniak, Senator Teresa Ruiz, and Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman. Please spend a few hours, a day, or even the next two days fighting for change in our neighbor state Pennsylvania. The people you talk to could be the ones that make the difference. Find a free ride to Pa. now at http://nj.barackobama.com/PArides.
An important note from Tricia Mueller, Obama for America NJ State Director.
“We’re going to win in Pennsylvania,” John McCain told supporters on Wednesday before traveling to a rally in North Carolina.In 4 days, this race is going to be won or lost in a few crucial battleground states.We need you now more than ever to help secure our sister state Pennsylvania’s 21 Electoral votes. Please go to Pennsylvania the critical days leading up to Election Day! If you need a ride, or have a ride to share, visit http://my.barackobama.com/ridesPA. This election is down to the final stretch, and we're too close to slow down now. Can we count on you to help get out the vote for Barack in Pennsylvania? Sign up now to do your part and go to PA.Thank you for all that you do. Tricia MuellerNJ State DirectorObama for America PS: If you aren’t able to go to PA, please help get out the vote here in New Jersey. Sign up now at http://nj.barackobama.com/njgotv1.
During the past several weeks, a number of false information about Election Day have been circulated through the Internet. To be clear on what is fact and what is an Election Day myth, the Obama campaign has released, "Election Day Myth-Busters."
Election Day Myth-Busters Myth #1: Voters who are wearing Obama clothing or other gear will not be allowed to vote.Truth: Any registered voter who meets his or her state’s requirements to vote has the right to cast a ballot at the polls on Election Day. It is true that wearing campaign gear is not allowed at the polls. Officials do have the authority to tell voters to leave the polling place and it is a disorderly persons offense if they wear partisan gear or electioneer in a poll site, but most do not strictly enforce that as long as the voters are not trying to influence other people in line to vote a certain way. But no matter what, your vote cannot be taken away from you. At most, you will have to take off a button or put a jacket over a T-shirt. You will still be allowed to vote. Myth #2: You have to punch Barack’s name first and then punch “Straight Democratic” or else the vote for president won’t count. Truth: The Sequoia Advantage machines used in 19 counties have no straight ticket button at all and all candidates must be individually selected. Myth #3: When voters are not in the book of registered voters, they can’t vote. Truth: They can still vote in the machine if they are on the “supplemental list” of registered voters (those whose registration applications could not be processed in time for the printing of the regular book). If voters aren’t on either list but say they registered by October 14, then they have the right to either vote by provisional ballot at the poll site (which may or may not be counted later based on investigation of the registration application) or to request from a judge an order to vote in the machine (which should be granted if they made a good faith attempt to register to vote). Myth #4: Voters must show photo identification at the polls.Truth: Usually they don’t have to show ID, but they should bring ID as a precaution in case they are challenged. Under HAVA, voters who should be asked to show ID are those who registered to vote by mail (not in person) for the first time in the County after January 1, 2003, never voted in a federal election in the County, and never previously showed ID. Voters who fit that description and do not have ID with them should never be turned away. If they can’t go home and get ID right away, they should vote by provisional ballot and must bring or fax ID to the County election officials by the close of business on the second day after the election, which is Thursday, Nov. 6th at the close of business, usually 4 or 5 p.m. Acceptable ID is any document that has the voter’s name and address on it, including but not limited to driver’s licenses (photo or non-photo), student or job identification cards, bank statements, pay checks, or utility bills. Voters who are not voting for the first time could still be challenged, so bring ID as a precaution. Myth #5: Voters can be challenged for any reason. Truth: It is a crime to challenge voters because of their race, national origin, expected manner of voting, or residence in a particular ward, housing complex, or section of town. The challenger must have a good faith basis for making the challenge, i.e. they must know or ‘reasonably believe’ the voter is not qualified to vote. If a challenge is made and the board ties 2-2, the voter can still vote on the machine. If the poll workers accept the challenge and find the voter not qualified, the poll workers and challenger must sign and give the voter affidavits citing the grounds for challenge so the voter may go to a Superior Court judge to seek an order allowing him or her to vote. Myth #6: College students cannot vote at their college address. Truth: College students may choose to register and vote either at their home address or at their new college address, but not at both addresses. Myth #7: If you’re not at a voting machine by 8 pm, you can’t vote. Truth: Everyone waiting in line when the polls close at 8 p.m. must be allowed to vote. Myth #8: Voters going through foreclosure can’t vote. Truth: Voters can vote in that location until the foreclosure process is complete, and even if they end up homeless, homeless people can still vote at any address they regularly spend time at (such as a homeless shelter). Myth #9: When I walked in, the light was already lit showing McCain (or other candidates) as my choice. I’m worried the voting machine was rigged to cast votes for particular candidates before voters even walk into the voting booth. Truth: When some voters walk into the booth, the button for Candidate X is already lit because the prior voter cast his/her vote for Candidate X but forgot to press the “cast vote button” to register their vote. The voter can inform the poll workers of the problem, and they will cast the prior vote and clear the machine for your vote. Myth #10: I accidentally chose McCain before hitting the cast vote button, but the machine wouldn’t switch my vote when I pressed the Obama button. I’m worried the machine was rigged for McCain. Truth: On most machines in New Jersey, a voter must press the button for the accidentally selected candidate a second time to unselect the candidate and extinguish the light, and then can hit the appropriate button for the candidate of choice. Myth #11: If you get sick on election day and can’t go to the polls, you can’t vote. Truth: Although the ability to get an absentee ballot in person at the County Clerk expires at 3 pm the day before the election, voters can still vote by emergency ballot with a Judge’s order. The authorized messenger requesting the Judge to grant an emergency ballot must be a family member of the sick voter or a registered voter in the applicable county, must show photo ID, and cannot be a candidate in the election. Myth #12: Felons are barred from voting for life. Truth: Felons, no matter how many convictions they have, can vote as long as they are off probation or parole by election day and they have re-registered after their felony conviction. People who are on probation or even in jail for disorderly persons offense convictions (misdemeanors in other states) are still eligible to vote. Please help us spread the truth by sharing the Election Myth-Buster with friends. To download a PDF of Election Myth-Busters, click here.
Myth #1: Voters who are wearing Obama clothing or other gear will not be allowed to vote.Truth: Any registered voter who meets his or her state’s requirements to vote has the right to cast a ballot at the polls on Election Day. It is true that wearing campaign gear is not allowed at the polls. Officials do have the authority to tell voters to leave the polling place and it is a disorderly persons offense if they wear partisan gear or electioneer in a poll site, but most do not strictly enforce that as long as the voters are not trying to influence other people in line to vote a certain way. But no matter what, your vote cannot be taken away from you. At most, you will have to take off a button or put a jacket over a T-shirt. You will still be allowed to vote.
Myth #2: You have to punch Barack’s name first and then punch “Straight Democratic” or else the vote for president won’t count. Truth: The Sequoia Advantage machines used in 19 counties have no straight ticket button at all and all candidates must be individually selected.
Myth #3: When voters are not in the book of registered voters, they can’t vote. Truth: They can still vote in the machine if they are on the “supplemental list” of registered voters (those whose registration applications could not be processed in time for the printing of the regular book). If voters aren’t on either list but say they registered by October 14, then they have the right to either vote by provisional ballot at the poll site (which may or may not be counted later based on investigation of the registration application) or to request from a judge an order to vote in the machine (which should be granted if they made a good faith attempt to register to vote).
Myth #4: Voters must show photo identification at the polls.Truth: Usually they don’t have to show ID, but they should bring ID as a precaution in case they are challenged. Under HAVA, voters who should be asked to show ID are those who registered to vote by mail (not in person) for the first time in the County after January 1, 2003, never voted in a federal election in the County, and never previously showed ID. Voters who fit that description and do not have ID with them should never be turned away. If they can’t go home and get ID right away, they should vote by provisional ballot and must bring or fax ID to the County election officials by the close of business on the second day after the election, which is Thursday, Nov. 6th at the close of business, usually 4 or 5 p.m. Acceptable ID is any document that has the voter’s name and address on it, including but not limited to driver’s licenses (photo or non-photo), student or job identification cards, bank statements, pay checks, or utility bills. Voters who are not voting for the first time could still be challenged, so bring ID as a precaution.
Myth #5: Voters can be challenged for any reason. Truth: It is a crime to challenge voters because of their race, national origin, expected manner of voting, or residence in a particular ward, housing complex, or section of town. The challenger must have a good faith basis for making the challenge, i.e. they must know or ‘reasonably believe’ the voter is not qualified to vote. If a challenge is made and the board ties 2-2, the voter can still vote on the machine. If the poll workers accept the challenge and find the voter not qualified, the poll workers and challenger must sign and give the voter affidavits citing the grounds for challenge so the voter may go to a Superior Court judge to seek an order allowing him or her to vote.
Myth #6: College students cannot vote at their college address. Truth: College students may choose to register and vote either at their home address or at their new college address, but not at both addresses.
Myth #7: If you’re not at a voting machine by 8 pm, you can’t vote. Truth: Everyone waiting in line when the polls close at 8 p.m. must be allowed to vote.
Myth #8: Voters going through foreclosure can’t vote. Truth: Voters can vote in that location until the foreclosure process is complete, and even if they end up homeless, homeless people can still vote at any address they regularly spend time at (such as a homeless shelter).
Myth #9: When I walked in, the light was already lit showing McCain (or other candidates) as my choice. I’m worried the voting machine was rigged to cast votes for particular candidates before voters even walk into the voting booth. Truth: When some voters walk into the booth, the button for Candidate X is already lit because the prior voter cast his/her vote for Candidate X but forgot to press the “cast vote button” to register their vote. The voter can inform the poll workers of the problem, and they will cast the prior vote and clear the machine for your vote.
Myth #10: I accidentally chose McCain before hitting the cast vote button, but the machine wouldn’t switch my vote when I pressed the Obama button. I’m worried the machine was rigged for McCain. Truth: On most machines in New Jersey, a voter must press the button for the accidentally selected candidate a second time to unselect the candidate and extinguish the light, and then can hit the appropriate button for the candidate of choice.
Myth #11: If you get sick on election day and can’t go to the polls, you can’t vote. Truth: Although the ability to get an absentee ballot in person at the County Clerk expires at 3 pm the day before the election, voters can still vote by emergency ballot with a Judge’s order. The authorized messenger requesting the Judge to grant an emergency ballot must be a family member of the sick voter or a registered voter in the applicable county, must show photo ID, and cannot be a candidate in the election.
Myth #12: Felons are barred from voting for life. Truth: Felons, no matter how many convictions they have, can vote as long as they are off probation or parole by election day and they have re-registered after their felony conviction. People who are on probation or even in jail for disorderly persons offense convictions (misdemeanors in other states) are still eligible to vote.
Please help us spread the truth by sharing the Election Myth-Buster with friends. To download a PDF of Election Myth-Busters, click here.
In order to assure that every New Jersey voter is able to exercise his or her right to vote, and that those votes are counted, we need lawyers to volunteer and become part of our voter protection operation. To volunteer on Election Day and be part of Counsel for Change, please email Michael Passante no later than Wednesday, October 29 by 3 p.m.
Major NJ newspapers endorsed Barack Obama for president today, adding to the overwhelming consensus that Barack Obama is the best candidate to bring about real change in Washington.
Obama for presidentSunday, October 26, 2008 WHATEVER HISTORY makes of the Bush presidency, its immediate legacy is an administration that turned budget surpluses into deficits, launched a pre-emptive war in Iraq and left us divided by politics, ideology and economics.We cannot stay this course. We need a leader: Barack Obama.... The Record endorses Barack Obama. To read the full article, click here.
Barack Obama for presidentOctober 25, 2008 When voters went to the polls in 1932, Herbert Hoover's Republican Party had been in power for 14 years. The GOP's policies hadn't prevented the crash of 1929, and life for most Americans was still grim by the time the president sought reelection. Voters that year opted for change, trusting that a confident Franklin Delano Roosevelt would deliver on his promised New Deal. The parallels today are inescapable. Making the right choice for president is just as vital to the nation's future today as it was in the midst of the Great Depression. Barack Obama offers America an opportunity to get back on track. His uniquely American story can inspire people from all walks of life to once again believe in what their country can accomplish. John McCain came into the campaign with a well-deserved reputation for fighting for what he thought was best, even if it meant taking on his own party. Yes, he was a maverick. The tag has become a cliche, but at one time it was spot on. Now, however, he has reversed himself on many of the positions he fought for, jettisoning long-held principles, in a seemingly impulsive manner. Obama, on the other hand, has demonstrated an ability to stay cool and level-headed amid a grueling election campaign, a quality that should well serve his presidency. On each of the crises confronting the nation -- two wars, chaos in the financial and housing markets, the need to reform health care, energy consumption, an increasingly inadequate education system -- Obama has more to offer…. We believe Barack Obama offers the best hope for what he has called the promise of our ideals at a time when we most need to reaffirm what it means to be Americans. To read the full article, click here.
For the change we need, elect Obama The Democratic presidential nominee has the ideas, vision and temperament to get this nation back on track.In this presidential election, the important question each American voter needs to ask is this: Is she or he better off now than four years ago?Some Americans have been able to weather the financial storm better than others, but few have been untouched by the nation's roiling economy. If voters are dissatisfied with where they are now, with where the country stands today, this is an election in which they can do something about it. They can vote for change.We believe Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is the candidate who can bring about the change that Americans want and need. We endorse his candidacy to be the next president of the United States.To read the full article, click here.
Obama can bring change America sorely needsOctober 26, 2008By now, American voters are probably tired of hearing candidates promise to change the federal government.But change in government is what the country needs — a change in the overall culture of special interests and irresponsible spending and a change from the specific public and foreign policies of the past eight years.Cultural change may be too much to hope for, but a change from the direction of the past eight years is within reach and can be grasped with the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States.Obama, the Democrat, would bring to the presidency an intellectual grounding, a thoughtfulness, a sense of balance that has been lacking for too long; he would not bring self-righteousness, bravado, disregard for human and civil rights, or a foreign policy based on saber rattling and name calling…. It's time for a change. It's time for Barack Obama. To read the full article, click here.
For president:Sunday, October 26, 2008 In the last few weeks, the economic foundation of the United States has been ebbing like sand sucked up by the sea. Despite the erosion of confidence and commerce, one man has stood firm among those shifting sands. Sen. Barack Obama's leadership and calm command have distinguished him, as they have time and time again throughout his campaign for the presidency. We're proud to lend our voice to the many others endorsing the Democratic candidate and his bid to be the 44th president of the United States…. Republican contender Sen. John McCain has served his country well and honorably for many years as a serviceman and a senator. Sen. McCain has been a good captain, but Sen. Obama is clearly the commander we need. To read the full article, click here.
Obama best-suited to lead AmericaOctober 19, 2008Our nation is facing its gravest economic crisis since the Depression. It is bogged down in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The standard of living for most Americans, which had been largely flat during the 1980s and 1990s, has fallen during the past decade despite an economic expansion.The meltdown on Wall Street has eroded the life savings of many Americans by a third. The fallout from the real estate bust could result in a loss of home equity of a third or more. We are far more dependent on foreign oil today than we were 35 years ago, when the oil embargo failed to awaken us from our slumber.And thanks to a Bush administration that arrogantly chose to go its own way in Iraq and employed bullying tactics rather than reason and diplomacy to achieve its ends, we have alienated many of our longstanding allies around the world.Change is needed — badly. Since World War II, there has never been a greater need for leadership, for a president who can pull a deeply divided nation together, someone who can help restore our self-esteem at home and help repair our tattered reputation abroad. Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is better equipped than Republican Sen. John McCain to meet that challenge…. Obama is keenly aware of how badly this nation needs to chart a new course — one that is respectful of other nations. He is committed to rebuilding the middle class, working to align America's policies with its long-cherished ideals and making the country the beacon for prosperity and justice once again.To read the full article, click here.
The McCain campaign has been flooding swing voters with mailers and "robocalls" -- automated phone calls smearing Barack's character. Most recently, they've launched another round of these false, dangerous attacks across the U.S.
New Jerseyans are saying enough and fighting these dishonorable campaign tactics.
Don't let these under-the-radar fear tactics continue to spread, visit Radar.BarackObama.com to report attacks and find the facts about smears you've heard.
New Jersey voters are facing issues too important to allow this election to be focused on character attacks and fear tactics.
Visit Radar.BarackObama.com and fight back today. You can also join your neighbors at a Last Call for Change phonebank near you. Just one call from you is enough to counteract dozens of these dishonest "robocalls."
WHAT: Rally for Change hosted by Edison Mayor Jun Choie featuring Governor Jon S. Corzine, Congressman Frank Pallone and Assemblywoman and congressional candidate Linda StenderWHEN: Saturday, October 25 at 10 a.m. WHERE: 1907 Oak Tree Road, Edison, NJ 08820. Click here for directions. RSVP: http://my.barackobama.com/edisonrally
Last night members of Moms for Obama, an online grassroots constituency group created through MyBO, gathered at the Obama Campaign New Jersey headquarters to make phone calls and speak with voters about Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s campaign for change. “The mothers in our organization are supporting Senator Obama because he has spoken to our concerns about the economy, healthcare and family leave,” said Michelle Schultz, a New Jersey member of Moms for Obama. “We are committed to doing everything we can over the next two weeks to elect Senator Obama, because he’s the only candidate committed to changing Washington in the ways that are important to us.”
Cara Laitusis and Dana Kooistre call voters for Obama. "In March 2002, I watched the U.S. march into a war in Iraq. My husband and I were astonished that we heard a call for war over and over again from President Bush without any sound explanation,” said Dana Kooistre, a mom from Lawrenceville. “I’m very excited to vote for Barack Obama who has the judgment and temperament to be able to know when to use military force. I have two sons. I don’t want a president who would commit American troops to war unless all other options were exercised.” Read Barack Obama’s plan to end the war in Iraq.
These days, the old west rail hub of Las Vegas, New Mexico, is little more than a dusty economic dead zone amid a boneyard of bare mesas. In national elections, the town overwhelmingly votes Democratic: More than 80 percent of all residents are Hispanic, and one in four lives below the poverty line. On February 5th, the day of the Super Tuesday caucus, a school-bus driver named Paul Maez arrived at his local polling station to cast his ballot. To his surprise, Maez found that his name had vanished from the list of registered voters, thanks to a statewide effort to deter fraudulent voting. For Maez, the shock was especially acute: He is the supervisor of elections in Las Vegas.
Maez was not alone in being denied his right to vote. On Super Tuesday, one in nine Democrats who tried to cast ballots in New Mexico found their names missing from the registration lists. The numbers were even higher in precincts like Las Vegas, where nearly 20 percent of the county's voters were absent from the rolls. With their status in limbo, the voters were forced to cast "provisional" ballots, which can be reviewed and discarded by election officials without explanation. On Super Tuesday, more than half of all provisional ballots cast were thrown out statewide.
This November, what happened to Maez will happen to hundreds of thousands of voters across the country. In state after state, Republican operatives — the party's elite commandos of bare-knuckle politics — are wielding new federal legislation to systematically disenfranchise Democrats. If this year's race is as close as the past two elections, the GOP's nationwide campaign could be large enough to determine the presidency in November. "I don't think the Democrats get it," says John Boyd, a voting-rights attorney in Albuquerque who has taken on the Republican Party for impeding access to the ballot. "All these new rules and games are turning voting into an obstacle course that could flip the vote to the GOP in half a dozen states."
Suppressing the vote has long been a cornerstone of the GOP's electoral strategy. Shortly before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Paul Weyrich — a principal architect of today's Republican Party — scolded evangelicals who believed in democracy. "Many of our Christians have what I call the 'goo goo' syndrome — good government," said Weyrich, who co-founded Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell. "They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. . . . As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."
Today, Weyrich's vision has become a national reality. Since 2003, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, at least 2.7 million new voters have had their applications to register rejected. In addition, at least 1.6 million votes were never counted in the 2004 election — and the commission's own data suggests that the real number could be twice as high. To purge registration rolls and discard ballots, partisan election officials used a wide range of pretexts, from "unreadability" to changes in a voter's signature. And this year, thanks to new provisions of the Help America Vote Act, the number of discounted votes could surge even higher.
Passed in 2002, HAVA was hailed by leaders in both parties as a reform designed to avoid a repeat of the 2000 debacle in Florida that threw the presidential election to the U.S. Supreme Court. The measure set standards for voting systems, created an independent commission to oversee elections, and ordered states to provide provisional ballots to voters whose eligibility is challenged at the polls.
But from the start, HAVA was corrupted by the involvement of Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, who worked to cram the bill with favors for his clients. (Both Abramoff and a primary author of HAVA, former Rep. Bob Ney, were imprisoned for their role in the conspiracy.) In practice, many of the "reforms" created by HAVA have actually made it harder for citizens to cast a ballot and have their vote counted. In case after case, Republican election officials at the local and state level have used the rules to give GOP candidates an edge on Election Day by creating new barriers to registration, purging legitimate names from voter rolls, challenging voters at the polls and discarding valid ballots.
To justify this battery of new voting impediments, Republicans cite an alleged upsurge in voting fraud. Indeed, the U.S.-attorney scandal that resulted in the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales began when the White House fired federal prosecutors who resisted political pressure to drum up nonexistent cases of voting fraud against Democrats. "They wanted some splashy pre-election indictments that would scare these alleged hordes of illegal voters away," says David Iglesias, a U.S. attorney for New Mexico who was fired in December 2006. "We took over 100 complaints and investigated for almost two years — but I didn't find one prosecutable case of voter fraud in the entire state of New Mexico."
There's a reason Iglesias couldn't find any evidence of fraud: Individual voters almost never try to cast illegal ballots. The Bush administration's main point person on "ballot protection" has been Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department attorney who has advised states on how to use HAVA to erect more barriers to voting. Appointed to the Federal Election Commission by Bush, von Spakovsky has suggested that voter rolls may be stuffed with 5 million illegal aliens. In fact, studies have repeatedly shown that voter fraud is extremely rare. According to a recent analysis by Lorraine Minnite, an expert on voting crime at Barnard College, federal courts found only 24 voters guilty of fraud from 2002 to 2005, out of hundreds of millions of votes cast. "The claim of widespread voter fraud," Minnite says, "is itself a fraud."
Allegations of voter fraud are only the latest rationale the GOP has used to disenfranchise voters — especially blacks, Hispanics and others who traditionally support Democrats. "The Republicans have a long history of erecting barriers to discourage Americans from voting," says Donna Brazile, chair of the Voting Rights Institute for the Democratic National Committee. "Now they're trying to spook Americans with the ghost of voter fraud. It's very effective — but it's ironic that the only way they maintain power is by using fear to deprive Americans of their constitutional right to vote." The recently enacted barriers thrown up to deter voters include:
1. Obstructing Voter-Registration Drives
Since 2004, the Bush administration and more than a dozen states have taken steps to impede voter registration. Among the worst offenders is Florida, where the Republican-dominated legislature created hefty fines — up to $5,000 per violation — for groups that fail to meet deadlines for turning in voter-application forms. Facing potentially huge penalties for trivial administrative errors, the League of Women Voters abandoned its voter-registration drives in Florida. A court order eventually forced the legislature to reduce the maximum penalty to $1,000. But even so, said former League president Dianne Wheatley-Giliotti, the reduced fines "create an unfair tax on democracy." The state has also failed to uphold a federal law requiring that low-income voters be offered an opportunity to register when they apply for food stamps or other public assistance. As a result, the annual number of such registrations has plummeted from more than 120,000 in the Clinton years to barely 10,000 today.
2. Demanding "Perfect Matches"
Under the Help America Vote Act, some states now reject first-time registrants whose data does not correspond to information in other government databases. Spurred by HAVA, almost every state must now attempt to make some kind of match — and four states, including the swing states of Iowa and Florida, require what is known as a "perfect match." Under this rigid framework, new registrants can lose the right to vote if the information on their voter-registration forms — Social Security number, street address and precisely spelled name, right down to a hyphen — fails to exactly match data listed in other government records.
There are many legitimate reasons, of course, why a voter's information might vary. Indeed, a recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that as many as 20 percent of discrepancies between voter records and driver's licenses in New York City are simply typing mistakes made by government clerks when they transcribe data. But under the new rules, those mistakes are costing citizens the right to vote. In California, a Republican secretary of state blocked 43 percent of all new voters in Los Angeles from registering in early 2006 — many because of the state's failure to produce a tight match. In Florida, GOP officials created "match" rules that rejected more than 15,000 new registrants in 2006 and 2007 — nearly three-fourths of them Hispanic and black voters. Given the big registration drives this year, the number could be five times higher by November.
3. Purging Legitimate Voters From the Rolls
The Help America Vote Act doesn't just disenfranchise new registrants; it also targets veteran voters. In the past, bipartisan county election boards maintained voter records. But HAVA requires that records be centralized, computerized and maintained by secretaries of state — partisan officials — who are empowered to purge the rolls of any voter they deem ineligible. Ironically, the new rules imitate the centralized system in Florida — the same corrupt operation that inspired passage of HAVA in the first place. Prior to the 2000 election, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and her predecessor, both Republicans, tried to purge 57,000 voters, most of them African-Americans, because their names resembled those of persons convicted of a crime. The state eventually acknowledged that the purges were improper — two years after the election.
Rather than end Florida-style purges, however, HAVA has nationalized them. Maez, the elections supervisor in New Mexico, says he was the victim of faulty list management by a private contractor hired by the state. Hector Balderas, the state auditor, was also purged from the voter list. The nation's youngest elected Hispanic official, Balderas hails from Mora County, one of the poorest in the state, which had the highest rate of voters forced to cast provisional ballots. "As a strategic consideration," he notes, "there are those that benefit from chaos" at the ballot box.
All told, states reported scrubbing at least 10 million voters from their rolls on questionable grounds between 2004 and 2006. Colorado holds the record: Donetta Davidson, the Republican secretary of state, and her GOP successor oversaw the elimination of nearly one of every six of their state's voters. Bush has since appointed Davidson to the Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency created by HAVA, which provides guidance to the states on "list maintenance" methods.
4. Requiring Unnecessary Voter ID's
Even if voters run the gauntlet of the new registration laws, they can still be blocked at the polling station. In an incident last May, an election official in Indiana denied ballots to 10 nuns seeking to vote in the Democratic primary because their driver's licenses or passports had expired. Even though Indiana has never recorded a single case of voter-ID fraud, it is one of two dozen states that have enacted stringent new voter-ID statutes.
On its face, the requirement to show a government-issued ID doesn't seem unreasonable. "I want to cash a check to pay for my groceries, I've got to show a little bit of ID," Karl Rove told the Republican National Lawyers Association in 2006. But many Americans lack easy access to official identification. According to a recent study for the Election Law Journal, young people, senior citizens and minorities — groups that traditionally vote Democratic — often have no driver's licenses or state ID cards. According to the study, one in 10 likely white voters do not possess the necessary identification. For African-Americans, the number lacking such ID is twice as high.
5. Rejecting "Spoiled" Ballots
Even intrepid voters who manage to cast a ballot may still find their vote discounted. In 2004, election officials discarded at least 1 million votes nationwide after classifying them as "spoiled" because blank spaces, stray marks or tears made them indecipherable to voting machines. The losses hit hardest among minorities in low-income precincts, who are often forced to vote on antiquated machines. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, in its investigation of the 2000 returns from Florida, found that African-Americans were nearly 10 times more likely than whites to have their ballots rejected, a ratio that holds nationwide.
Proponents of HAVA claimed the law would correct the spoilage problem by promoting computerized balloting. Yet touch-screen systems have proved highly unreliable — especially in minority and low-income precincts. A statistical analysis of New Mexico ballots by a voting-rights group called VotersUnite found that Hispanics who voted by computer in 2004 were nearly five times more likely to have their votes unrecorded than those who used paper ballots. In a close election, such small discrepancies can make a big difference: In 2004, the number of spoiled ballots in New Mexico — 19,000 — was three times George Bush's margin of victory.
6. Challenging "Provisional" Ballots
In 2004, an estimated 3 million voters who showed up at the polls were refused regular ballots because their registration was challenged on a technicality. Instead, these voters were handed "provisional" ballots, a fail-safe measure mandated by HAVA to enable officials to review disputed votes. But for many officials, resolving disputes means tossing ballots in the trash. In 2004, a third of all provisional ballots — as many as 1 million votes — were simply thrown away at the discretion of election officials.
Many voters are given provisional ballots under an insidious tactic known as "vote caging," which uses targeted mailings to disenfranchise black voters whose addresses have changed. In 2004, despite a federal consent order forbidding Republicans from engaging in the practice, the GOP sent out tens of thousands of letters to "confirm" the addresses of voters in minority precincts. If a letter was returned for any reason — because the voter was away at school or serving in the military — the GOP challenged the voter for giving a false address. One caging operation was exposed when an RNC official mistakenly sent the list to a parody site called GeorgeWBush.org — instead of to the official campaign site GeorgeWBush.com.
In the century following the Civil War, millions of black Americans in the Deep South lost their constitutional right to vote, thanks to literacy tests, poll taxes and other Jim Crow restrictions imposed by white officials. Add up all the modern-day barriers to voting erected since the 2004 election — the new registrations thrown out, the existing registrations scrubbed, the spoiled ballots, the provisional ballots that were never counted — and what you have is millions of voters, more than enough to swing the presidential election, quietly being detached from the electorate by subterfuge.
"Jim Crow was laid to rest, but his cousins were not," says Donna Brazile. "We got rid of poll taxes and literacy tests but now have a second generation of schemes to deny our citizens their franchise." Come November, the most crucial demographic may prove to be Americans who have been denied the right to vote. If Democrats are to win the 2008 election, they must not simply beat John McCain at the polls — they must beat him by a margin that exceeds the level of GOP vote tampering.
Contributing editor Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one of the nation's leading voting-rights advocates. His article "Was the 2004 Election Stolen?" [RS 1002] sparked widespread scrutiny of vote tampering. Greg Palast, who broke the story on Florida's illegal voter purges in the 2000 election, is the author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy." For more information, visit No Voter Left Behind and Steal Back Your Vote.
I have a soul searching question for all Jewish voters thinking of voting for McCain: have you ever voted Republican before?
If that is you, and the answer is no, then watch this video.
Holocaust survivor supports Barak Obama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylav7dY7SJQ
During the past 20 months millions have been inspired by Barack Obama’s message of change and have demonstrated their commitment to the campaign by volunteering. NJ Campaign for Change has been fortunate enough to have a number of extra special people who we call “Super Volunteers.” These individuals are powered by Barack Obama’s vision, probably lots of coffee, and desire to bring about real change in Washington. They are pushing themselves to do everything they can to help elect Obama as our next president.One of these Super Volunteers is Angie Stith from Willingboro. “Angie is the heart and soul of the office. Volunteers come for Obama and return repeatedly because Angie makes everyone feel valued and at home,” said Adam Goldfarb, regional field organizer for NJ Campaign for Change. “She always has a smile on her face and it’s contagious.”
Angie has volunteered everyday since February. She serves as the volunteer coordinator, and local grassroots captain, and has organized a number of successful campaign events. For Angie’s first Obama meetup event this summer, she drew over 80 people to her cookout in Mill Creek Park. She also helped to lead her team’s successful voter registration drives. Since July 4th, her team has registered thousands of new voters in Willingboro. When asked why she is so devoted to the campaign, Angie responds: “I have been waiting all my life to witness what is happening in this great country now. Obama represents what has been needed for so long. Obama is all-inclusive and he wants to bring everyone to the table. As a child, I was very much aware of the plight of poor people, especially people of color. Maybe now, for once and for all, we can live as one people coming together for a just and fair society. If there were eight days in a week, I probably would volunteer my time just as much. So, I pray my God continues to give me strength and guidance to push on until Obama becomes our next President of the United States.”Angie was first drawn to the political process earlier this year by Obama but since then has become completely immersed and will now be engaged in the long term. In June, Angie’s name was written in for the office of Democratic Committee Vice Chair, a non-paid elected position, and she won. “She’s the perfect mix of professionalism and enthusiasm,” explained Democratic Chairwoman Lavonne Bebler Johnson. “She’s a chairwoman’s dream.”
If you are interested in matching Angie’s enthusiasm to elect Obama, visit your local NJ Campaign for Change office and volunteer today.
Across the street from the NJ Division of Taxation, the Obama campaign set up a Tax Cut Calculation Station where voters were able to find out how much money they will save on Barack Obama’s “Making Work Pay” tax plan.Barack Obama and Joe Biden will cut taxes for 95% of working families, and provide at least three times as much tax relief for middle class families as John McCain and Sarah Palin. The Obama/Biden plan provides $1,000 of tax relief for workers and new tax benefits to help families pay for college, childcare and save for retirement.
“It’s convenient to be able to enter the numbers into the calculator and find out that I’ll have a $1,600 tax break. Obama’s got my vote,” said David Preston, an accountant in Trenton. “With all the talk between the candidates, it’s important to know what are the hard cold numbers.”Senator Obama has proposed a tax cut of $500 per worker and $1000 per family; a $4000 college tuition tax credit; a 10 percent mortgage interest tax credit (average of $500); and a tax credits for child care. Obama’s plan will not raise taxes on any family making less than $250,000 or individual making less than $200,000. As for Senator McCain’s tax plan, $2.8 million New Jerseyans don’t qualify and the rest only get $125. Despite McCain’s rhetoric on how he will help “Joe the Plumber,” he is out of touch with what middle-class Americans are going through. In fact, Joe receives a tax cut under Obama’s plan like 95% working Americans. Visit http://taxcut.barackobama.com to access the Obama-Biden Tax Calculator and find out how much you will save under Obama’s plan.
Here it is Obama Revolution - watch video of campaign footage played to the song "Revolution" by Chime. Awesome! link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks2cyu66xa8
Let me know what you think. It's time for a revolt to 8 years of Bush! YAH! YES WE CAN!
