Colorado Springs for Obama

Colorado Roots Leaders

Jenn from Denver, CO — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:25:11 EDT

Hello everyone,

For those of you who don’t know me, I was the Colorado New Media director for the Obama campaign. I’m now working with an organization called ProgressNow, which works to advance progressive politics and fight back against right wing propaganda in Colorado. We’re also working closely with OFA.

We know OFA is probably keeping you busy these days fighting for health insurance reform and we are working hard on those efforts too, in collaboration with OFA. We’ve been working to grow a listserv we call our GrassRoots Leaders. It’s made up of activists across the state and organizational leaders. And we’ve used this list to share information about events, local happenings and organizational happenings. The group also offers you a place to ask questions, find out more about the issues and learn about ways to get involved in local political action.

We’d love for you to join. Click on the link below and sign up.

http://www.progressnowcolorado.org/page/s/rootsleaders

By further building this group, we will to develop a comprehensive network that will give people the opportunity to stay informed and connected. We hope the Roots Leaders group will become a forum where people can discuss issues, build activism and support for local political movements in Colorado.

Thanks

Jenn

www.cityworthfightingfor.com

Martha W. — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:17:49 EDT

www.cityworthfightingfor.com

visit this website soon if you care about Colorado Springs!

White House Health Reform Site Updated

EsquireUK — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:00:37 EDT

Since the White House’s Reality Check site launched, we’ve seen incredible response from individuals eager to get the facts about health insurance reform and pass them along to family and friends.An ironic development is that the launch of an online program meant to provide facts about health insurance reform has itself become the target of fear-mongering and online rumors that are the tactics of choice for the defenders of the status quo.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/An-Update-on-Reality-Check/

The Indian Health Service will be fine and Native Americans will benefit

Kimberly Teehee, Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs at the White House Domestic Policy Council, debunks myths being spread about how health insurance reform will affect the Indian Health Service. To the contrary, reform will allow Native Americans to keep the care they have now and has benefits for every American.

Watch the Video

Reform will eliminate insurance discrimination against the disabled

Mike Strautmanis, Chief of Staff for Valerie Jarrett and father of a child with a disability, addresses the myth that health insurance reform will mean children with disabilities will not get the care they need. To the contrary, reform will make insurance more affordable, provide more options, and eliminate discrimination in purchasing health insurance so families won't be turned down if a parent or child has a pre-existing disability or other health condition.

Watch the Video

The return of the viral email

There are quite a few "viral emails" floating around, making outlandish claims about health insurance reform and pretending to be careful analyses of the bills moving through Congress. Drafted to appear as if they are written by concerned citizens, more often the information comes from organizations with a strident agenda to protect the status quo. White House Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle takes on one of the most prevalent emails directly.

Watch the Video

Reform will stop "rationing" - not increase it

Kavita Patel, who works with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett and who worked for years before as a physician, debunks the myth that reform will mean a "government takeover" of health care or lead to "rationing." To the contrary, reform will forbid many forms of rationing that are currently being used by insurance companies.

Watch the Video

The "euthanasia" distortion on help for families

Melody Barnes, the President's Director of the Domestic Policy Council, debunks the malicious myth that reform would encourage or even require euthanasia for seniors.

Watch the Video

Vets' health care is safe and sound

Matt Flavin, Director of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy, explains that nothing in health insurance reform will affect veterans' access to the care they get now. To the contrary, the President's budget greatly expands coverage for veterans who have been denied access in the past.

Watch the Video

Reform will benefit small business - not burden it

Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, debunks the myth that health insurance reform will hurt small businesses. To the contrary, reform will ease the burdens on small businesses and help level the playing field with big firms who pay much less to cover their employees on average.

Watch the Video

Your Medicare is safe, and stronger with reform

Robert Kocher of the National Economic Council debunks the myth that Health Insurance Reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits. To the contrary, reform would simply eliminate waste and unnecessary subsidies to insurance companies.

Watch the Video

You can keep your own insurance

Linda Douglass of the White House Office of Health Reform debunks the myth that reform will force you out of your current insurance plan or force you to change doctors. To the contrary, reform will expand your choices, not eliminate them.

Watch the Video

En Español

En Español

En Español

En Español

For more information, visit HealthReform.gov

En Español

Links to Facebook, Twitter, and "More Ways to Share," point to third-party sites that are not on the White House server.

En Español

President Obama's Weekly Address

EsquireUK — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:32:55 EDT

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Weekly-Address-Real-Conversations-about-Health-Insurance-Reform/

The President talks about how the chatter and ruckus around health insurance reform on television obscures the reality of what's happening in America. He discusses how in most towns people and Members of Congress are having constructive conversations, and how people are learning how reform will help them and their families with the real problems they have faced with the insurance system.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Weekly-Address-Real-Conversations-about-Health-Insurance-Reform/

Health Care For America Now

EsquireUK — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:31:32 EDT

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Taking-Questions-on-Health-Reform-in-New-Hampshire/

The President hosted a town hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on health insurance reform, telling the crowd, "I don't think government bureaucrats should be meddling, but I also don't think insurance company bureaucrats should be meddling. That's the health care system I believe in." The President was introduced by Lori, a woman who can’t find coverage because of her medical condition. We all know someone like Lori who has been discriminated against because of pre-existing conditions, and can't receive the care they need. This is a personal issue for the President, who recounted his mother's battle with insurance companies as she battled with cancer in the last months of her life.

The President outlined how his plan will end these unfair, and often deadly, practices:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Taking-Questions-on-Health-Reform-in-New-Hampshire/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cqQl3lZzzE

We launched www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck this week to knock down the rumors and lies that are floating around the internet. You can find the information below, and much more, there. For example, we've just added a video of Nancy-Ann DeParle from our Health Reform Office tackling a viral email head on.

Uninsured Teabag Protester Needs Donations for Medical Bill

KFreed — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:33:28 EDT

Cross-posted from TalkingPoints.Memo.com

Kenneth Gladney of St. Louis, anti-health care reform protester and newly christened poster boy for the teabag "revolution," is uninsured and seeking donations to cover his medical expenses. Hmmmm.

Get the full scoop at Washington Monthly: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_08/019423.php

At a recent town hall, I stumbled upon some rather interesting circumstances. The teabag experts with whom I spoke, and they were many and varied, were either Medicare recipients and thus insured by a government-run health care program, in the military or retired military and thus covered by Tricare (another government-run health care program), or uninsured. None of them had ever heard the term "rescission."

One woman, when I asked her what kind of medical insurance she had, told me that she had "the kind you pay for". So I asked, "Which insurance provider?" She said, "The kind you pay for." I replied, "Yes, but which insurance company?" She said, "The kind you pay for." It was a curiously Katie Couric/Sarah Palin moment.

I suspected that this woman was, in fact, uninsured.

Moreover, I can't count the number of times I was confronted with "Why should I pay for your health care?" My response: "Why not? I pay for yours, don't I? Both Medicare and Tricare are supported by federal taxes and I pay taxes. So what's your point?"

Besides, I have health insurance, but I also have a conscience about those who don't have it and can't get it.

In the car on the way home I told my husband that I didn't think many of these people even had health insurance, yet they were protesting Obama's public/private health care exchange.

So here's my dilemma: Do I contribute to Kenneth Gladney's health care fund or let him suffer?

Health Care is a Moral Obligation

Bennet for Colorado — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:13:51 EDT

We have an urgent moral obligation to change the health care system in this country so that every American has access to affordable, quality health care.

Yet at a town hall in Pueblo on Saturday, Sen. Michael Bennet was greeted by a self-described "mob" with chants of "Health care...NO!" and "I hate Obama-nation."

While we should have a substantive conversation about health care, we cannot back down in the face of these intimidation tactics.

Any health care reform bill should control costs, allow people to keep their own medical plan and their own doctor, increase competition, and increase coverage -- all in a fiscally responsible way.

Providing patients with a public insurance option -- that increases competition and drives down prices -- would help to achieve these goals.

Watch the video from Michael's town hall in Pueblo and sign the petition to support health care reform today.

Legislation Introduced by Michael Bennet to Protect Military Families Passes Senate

Bennet for Colorado — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:28:24 EDT

Washington, DC -- Legislation introduced by Michael Bennet to protect the eligibility of military families for income sensitive child nutrition programs passed the Senate yesterday.

Bennet introduced the Military Family Nutrition Protection Act of 2009 so military families will not be penalized for their service to our country.

Under previous guidelines the additional pay received by military personnel when deployed was factored into determining eligibility for several child nutrition programs. These programs include the National School Lunch Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). WIC provides health care and nutrition assistance for mothers and infants, including vouchers for food.

"Taking away these nutritional benefits to kids and families when a loved one is being deployed doesn’t make any sense. Our military families are already struggling in these tough economic times and the challenges only increase when a family member is deployed,” Bennet said. “This bill is a common-sense fix that will make sure our kids aren’t denied access to healthy foods when their family members are bravely serving our nation in combat overseas."

Bennet introduced this bipartisan legislation with Mike Johanns (NE-R) and Bob Casey (PA-D).

Bennet Pushes for Health Reform at St. Joseph Hospital

Bennet for Colorado — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:42:28 EDT

Denver, CO -- Michael Bennet continued his push for health care reform during a visit on Monday to St. Joseph Hospital in Denver.

Bennet pointed to runaway costs as a problem underlying all aspects of our health care system.

"Having to plan around a double-digit increase every year is simply intolerable," said Bennet.

Bennet stressed that our current system must be changed to empower doctors, nurses and patients, rather than insurance companies.

Our current health insurance structure was cited by the medical professionals in attendance as a source of increased medical costs. The Denver Post has more:

Medical providers talked about the costly and time-consuming process of processing insurance claims.
Dr. Janet Steele of Larimer County said she deals with 65 different insurance companies, all with different rules, "at an enormous cost to the bottom."
Bennet noted the problem is even worse in rural Colorado.

Bennet Discusses Education Reform; Stresses Importance of Great Teachers

Bennet for Colorado — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:37:32 EDT

Michael Bennet discussed the factors he thinks are essential to improving performance in our schools in a National Journal blog post on July 30.

Bennet emphasized that great teachers are the key factor in improving student performance. For that reason, it is important that the best talent is drawn into the teaching profession. To ensure this happens we need to reexamine and improve the way teachers are recruited, hired and compensated.

Bennet also urged that improving student performance starts with sending our kids to school ready to learn. Increasing the access and quality of early childhood education will mean more kids are prepared when school starts. We also need to make sure our children aren't going to school hungry or sick because that makes learning more difficult.

Bennet stressed that meaningful education reform is going to be a community effort. From the National Journal:

Our schools should be centers for communities, delivering services, providing opportunities for families to learn together, and engaging entire communities in raising expectations for our students.

If we expect failure from our schools, that's exactly what we'll get. Communities must own outcomes, and challenge the status quo. If a city does not pick up the trash, or shovel the snow, there is public outrage. Surely, we can muster that kind of outrage in response to what is happening to our kids.

When I was a superintendent, I was often asked if I was afraid of the unintended consequences of the changes we were making. My reaction was, and still is, that the burden of proof is not on the people who want to change the system. The burden is on people who resist change, and work to keep the system the same. We have to break free from existing policies that don’t work and never will, and we have to learn from our mistakes. Our kids are depending on us to show the courage to change. Let’s get to work so we can meet this challenge.

Bennet to Fight Deficit by Introducing Pay-go Legislation; Solidifying a Reputation as “Deficit Hawk”

Bennet for Colorado — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:44:11 EDT

Washington, DC -- Michael Bennet took steps this week to fight our enormous budget deficit by voting against wasteful government programs, and introducing legislation to guarantee more responsible spending by Congress.

Bennet explained that, “Coloradans have been forced to tighten their fiscal belts. It’s time the government did too.”

The Denver Post has more on the efforts by Bennet to reduce our budget deficit:

As he defines his still fuzzy political persona, Sen. Michael Bennet is honing in on the words "deficit hawk," with two significant moves in that direction this week.

On Tuesday, he voted to strip $1.75 billion in additional funding for the F-22 fighter jet. And Wednesday, Bennet scored a coup, announcing that he would be the primary co-sponsor in the Senate of the "pay as you go" legislation that just passed the House.

"One of his highest concerns is the deficit and debt, and how we're going to lower it. He believes that's a huge economic problem for our country," said Bennet's spokeswoman, Deirdre Murphy. "That's pretty much ground zero."

Known as pay-go for short, the legislation would require new spending to be offset by increased taxes or cuts in other programs. If that doesn't happen, automatic cuts kick in — giving the process more teeth than current Senate rules meant to do the same thing.

Organizing for America Supporters Join Michael Bennet in Calling for Urgent Health Reform

Bennet for Colorado — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:41:16 EDT

Denver, CO -- More than 50 supporters of Organizing for America gathered for a conversation about the urgency of reforming our health care system at Michael Bennet's Denver office today.

Today's health care conversation comes the day after President Barack Obama held a prime time news conference pressing the need to reform our health care system.

President Obama emphasized that reforming health care will improve the lives of millions of Americans, "This is about the woman in Colorado who paid $700 a month to her insurance company, only to find out that they wouldn't pay a dime for her cancer treatment; who had to use up her retirement funds to save her own life."

Michael Bennet spoke earlier this month in Colorado Springs about the principles he believes should guide health care reform: lowering costs, making coverage available to all Americans and not passing the costs of reform onto our children. Click here to see footage of Bennet’s comments.

Organizing for America supporters have been holding events nationwide to show opponents of change that Americans want health reform now. Earlier this week opponents of health care reform predicted its defeat will be President Obama's "Waterloo moment".

Bennet Votes Against $1.75 billion in Government Waste

Bennet for Colorado — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:12:10 EDT

Washington, DC -- Michael Bennet took a strong stand against wasteful government spending yesterday by voting for an amendment offered by Senators John McCain and Carl Levin to eliminate $1.75 billion of funding for the F-22 Raptor fighter jet.

Michael Bennet voted to eliminate the program at the request of the Department of Defense. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urged that the program is wasteful and the funding should be redirected to other, more useful programs. He said lawmakers need to abandon the Cold War mentality of military spending.

Bennet agreed with Gates, "We should be listening when the Air Force tells us not to put any more money into this program. These planes were not used in Iraq or Afghanistan and our military leaders are telling us they don't want the funding. It is only common sense that we redirect the money to weapons and equipment that our troops can actually use to keep our country safe."

President Barack Obama told lawmakers he would veto the military spending bill if the $1.75 billion to purchase more F-22 fighter jets was not eliminated.

"To continue to procure additional F-22s would be to waste valuable resources that should be more usefully employed to provide our troops with weapons that they actually do need," President Obama wrote.

Bennet Engages in Conversation with Arapahoe County Young Democrats and ArapaHope Community Team

Bennet for Colorado — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:11:56 EDT

Centennial, CO -- Michael Bennet engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with the Arapahoe County Young Democrats and the ArapaHope Community Team on Saturday, June 27. A large number of the crowd's questions for Michael concerned fixing our dysfunctional health care system.

Bennet told the crowd that changes must be made to our health care system because too many people aren't getting the care they need. He stressed the urgent need for health care reform that provides affordable access to quality health care for all Coloradans. Bennet said he is open to any fiscally responsible solution, including a public option, that will put an end to soaring health care costs while preserving patient choice.

Photo courtesy of Gena Ozols, President, Arapahoe County Young Democrats.

Health Care Reform Advocated by Michael Bennet

Bennet for Colorado — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:07:13 EDT

Washington, DC -- Michael Bennet pushed the case for reforming our broken health care system during a floor speech on June 25. Bennet cited skyrocketing health care costs as a barrier that prevents increasing numbers of Coloradans from receiving the medical services they need.

During his speech Bennet called for responsible solutions to our health care problems that won't "pass on the cost to the next generation in the form of increased deficits and debt." Bennet said the usual political gamesmanship -- on both sides of the aisle -- will need to be set-aside for meaningful, positive reforms to be enacted.

Bennet singled out the story of a woman in Pueblo as an example of what is wrong with our current health care system. The Pueblo Chieftain has more on her story:

Bennet, a freshman Democrat, said the real median income of American families has declined over the past decade while the cost of health insurance nearly doubled.
He cited as examples the cases of Theresa Trujillo of Pueblo and the small town of Blanca, in Costilla County.
In Trujillo's case, Bennet noted the young woman was forced to take out a loan to pay for breast cancer chemotherapy when her company-paid health coverage ran out.

Sen. Mark Udall Endorses Michael Bennet

Bennet for Colorado — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:55:51 EDT

Thornton, CO -- Sen. Mark Udall provided a key endorsement for Michael Bennet on Saturday, June 20. Udall says Bennet is, "The right person at the right time." He went on to say he looks forward to working with Michael to get things done in Washington. Click here for video of Udall's comments.

Nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor Praised by Michael Bennet

Bennet for Colorado — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:56:03 EDT

Washington, DC -- President Obama announced Tuesday that Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be nominated to fill the upcoming vacancy on the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor is set to become the first Latina justice on the court, and only the third woman ever to serve on the court. Michael Bennet praised the nomination of Judge Sotomayor as "historic" and a "tremendous choice."

Judge Sotomayor is the daughter of Puerto Rican migrants, born and raised in a public housing project in the Bronx, New York. After graduating summa cum laude from Princeton, she went on to receive a law degree from Yale. Judge Sotomayor currently sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The Colorado Independent has posted Michael's comments on Judge Sotomayor's nomination:

“Sonia Sotomayor is a tremendous choice for the U.S. Supreme Court. She is a thoughtful and balanced judge with a keen intellect and a broad academic and legal background. Her skill and fair-mindedness on the federal bench has won the praise and support of Republicans and Democrats alike.
“Judge Sotomayor’s nomination is historic. If confirmed, she will be only the third woman and the first Hispanic to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She brings with her a compelling life story and personal experience that will add to the Court’s diversity and its shared understanding of how its decisions affect the daily lives of hardworking Americans.
“Today, President Obama has showed us how he can bring this country together. By selecting Judge Sotomayor, he has chosen a nominee who has previously been nominated for judicial appointments by President George H.W. Bush and by President Bill Clinton. Judge Sotomayor has been confirmed twice before by the full Senate and her nomination to the Supreme Court should be considered swiftly.”

Biden Hosts Town Hall Meeting on Middle Class, Green Jobs; Makes Surprise Visit with Bennet to Local Restaurant

Bennet for Colorado — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:03:38 EDT

Denver, CO -- Vice President Joe Biden hosted a town hall meeting at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science on Tuesday, May 26. Sen. Michael Bennet joined Biden in a discussion about strengthening the middle class through building a green energy economy in Colorado and across the entire United States.

Programs to retrain workers for green jobs and retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient were highlighted as ways to jump-start the push for a green energy economy. Significantly, Biden announced that $500 million in federal funds will be used to get these programs off of the ground. For more information visit the White House’s website.

Bennet and Biden were joined on-stage by Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Poneman, and United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Also in attendance were Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, state House Speaker Terrance Carroll, state Senate President Brandon Shaffer, former Sen. Gary Hart and former Denver Mayor Federico Peña.

Following the town hall meeting Biden and Bennet paid a surprise visit to M&D’s Cafe on 28th Avenue. The pair found time to order fried green tomatoes between shaking hands and posing for photos. At one point Biden even took a patron’s cell phone to talk to her very surprised husband on the other end.

For more photos of the visit to M&D’s Cafe visit our flickr page or Michael's Facebook profile. Photos of the town hall meeting at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science are also available on flickr and Facebook. For video of the town hall meeting visit the Denver Post.

Statement By Sen. Bennet on the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act

Bennet for Colorado — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:35:05 EDT

Colorado homeowners need real help right now. That’s why I am proud to have voted for the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009, which will help middle class families stay in their homes. This Act takes real action to stem the tide of foreclosures, assist homeowners and strengthen our housing sector. This legislation will also help homeowners by making it easier for lenders to modify mortgages.

Earlier, I voted against one amendment to the overall bill, the Durbin amendment, also known as “cramdown.” I voted against this amendment for three simple reasons -- it was not tailored narrowly enough to those who need it most, it would have raised interest rates, and it would have slowed down the housing recovery. The last thing working families and our fragile economy needs to face is higher interest rates.

Thousands of Colorado families continue to be at risk of losing their homes and financial ruin as a result of unscrupulous lending practices over the past few years. They need our help now to protect their futures. That’s why I voted against this specific amendment that would have given debt relief to people with million dollar homes, and would likely cause a spike in interest rates that could cripple the housing recovery.

And that is why I have taken on the credit card industry and in March, I placed the deciding vote for passage of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act out of committee. Endorsed by virtually every consumer protection organization, the legislation will protect consumers from confusing, misleading and predatory practices by credit card companies. I am now working with Senator Udall to ensure that the legislation passes the Senate.

HAITI: Fanmi Lavalas Banned, Voter Apprehension Widespread

Jacob Fran�ois — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:51:41 EDT

HAITI: Fanmi Lavalas Banned, Voter Apprehension Widespread
By Jeb Sprague*

NEW YORK, Apr 17 (IPS) - Weekend senatorial elections in Haiti are mired in controversy as Fanmi Lavalas (FL), the political party widely backed by the poor majority, has been disqualified.

As the global financial crisis unfolds, U.N. officials in New York City and Port-au-Prince are struggling to defend a troubled electoral process while gathering donor aid.

Meanwhile, a recent study by the Florida-based advocacy organisation Haiti Priorities Project (HPP) has found widespread popular apprehension and disaffection among Haitians ahead of the upcoming senatorial elections.

During eight days in early April, seventy HPP volunteers, 10 from the United States and 60 from Haiti, dispersed across the country. Their goal was to survey how people viewed the upcoming election.

"Only 5 percent of potential voters nationwide say they are ready to go to the polls in order to elect 12 senators for the upcoming elections on April of this year," said the group in a press release. Many of the respondents had never heard of the candidates fielded in the election.

Jacob François of the HPP explained to IPS, "We organised our census primarily through town hall meetings, where organisers spoke to people in groups and individually. From this we tallied the opinions of what was estimated to be 65,000 people out of a population of 8 million."

In February it was announced that Haiti’s Conseil électoral provisoire (CEP) would not recognise candidates from FL in the upcoming senatorial elections. The reason given was that the candidates - listed in two different slates - did not have the signature of the party’s head, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted by the George W. Bush administration in 2004.

FL is in a process of reorganisation that even sympathetic observers have termed "disarray." After the initial failure of the two separate FL slates to gain CEP approval, the factions came together agreeing upon a unified slate. The slate was signed by Emmanuel Cantave - keeper of the party's seals - who has approved FL slates for the past 13 years.

Still, the CEP rejected the list. Its stated objection was that the list lacked Aristide’s signature; giving just days notice, it requested a non-fascimilied signature from Aristide, exiled in Pretoria, South Africa.

U.N. officials initially urged the CEP to include all parties.

Praising the efforts of FL to be included within the electoral process, the U.N. representative for a Security Council delegation, Jorge Urbina, stated that they "were glad to hear from (Lavalas) that they are using every legal instrument in their power to reverse this decision."

In a press release, the secretary general of the Organisation of American States, José Miguel Insulza, stated, "I cannot help but express my concern about the possibility that an important group of Haitian citizens might feel that they are not being represented in this process."

By early March, Haitian Judge Jean-Claude Douyon had ruled that the CEP could not disqualify the FL candidates. Concluding that "[t]he political rights of the Lavalas have been violated," he ordered the "reintegration of candidates of that party, if they each individually meet the legal standards."

However, not long after, Judge Douyon was mysteriously removed from his post, and the CEP disregarded his ruling.

In recent weeks, following a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a consensus cemented among government elites to go forward with elections without FL. Criticism of the exclusion ceased.

In late March, U.N. press agencies reported that 100 tonnes of election equipment had arrived in the country, divided into 12,000 voting kits.

CEP and U.N. officials now lay blame at the feet of ousted President Aristide. The U.N.'s Urbina says that FL's exclusion was due to Aristide’s unwillingness to sign.

Some proponents say Aristide, who has been kept from returning to the country, does not wish to give his support to elections under which holdovers from the U.N.-backed dictatorship of 2004-2006 remain and the potential for fraud and vote rigging are high.

Top leaders of his movement have been systematically targeted, in part explaining FL’s internal dissension. The highest former office holder of FL, Yvon Neptune, spent two years in jail, and has a case hanging over his head despite it being ordered dismissed two years ago by a Haitian appeals court, and almost a year since the Inter-American Court of Human Rights told Haiti to halt the case. Another FL leader, Father Gérard Jean-Juste, who spent seven months in jail with untreated cancer, is sick in a hospital in Florida.

At the same time, FL political prisoners, such as Ronald Daulphin, remain in jail after five years without being tried. A justice process for thousands imprisoned and killed under the interim government remains out of sight.

Even so, since Aristide's ouster, a few senators have, without Aristide's endorsement, run in elections claiming to represent FL without any objection made by the CEP. Only in recent months, with violence decreased, has FL come together nationally to participate in elections.

François of the HPP, discussing the U.N. and Haitian government's actions, explains, "They just do not learn. They can’t exclude a major party in Haiti from an election, that's total exclusion. It will undermine the entire process. In addition, the CEP has no business going into the internal affairs of Lavalas."

The tenuous political alliance between Haiti’s President René Préval and FL has collapsed.

Elected in 2006, Préval had the support of the impoverished majority who hoped, through his candidacy, for a return to normality and an end to post-coup repression that left thousands dead.

Once elected, critics say, Préval's administration imposed the priorities of foreign donors and elites. The emphasis today is on garment exportation.

Thousands of Lavalas activists have mobilised against the disqualification, more demonstrations are planned for the weekend.

With the credibility of the upcoming elections badly damaged, foreign donors have attempted to smooth things over with a hastily organised conference pledging aid disbursement.

Speaking to donors and NGOs, whose influence in Haiti is colossal, U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon explained, "Haiti is at a turning moment...by acting now, we will protect the considerable investment and progress we have made so far."

Meanwhile, grassroots Haitian activists, such as a Ronique, a member of a women’s collective in Cité Soleil, condemn what they claim has been a thwarting of democracy led by Préval, the CEP and the U.N.

"In the matter of elections, basically what you have is a decision to explode Fanmi Lavalas, that is the way we in Haiti see it, that this was a decision by the international community with the complicity of President René Préval to get rid of and exclude Lavalas from the election because everyone knows FL is the majority party in the country," she said in a radio interview.

She added, "People are not enthused, it is a complete silence around this election. You don't see candidates going through the neighbourhoods where the people are suffering. Nobody is interested because they don't see themselves participating in this process."

With sadness in her voice she mentions Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, one of the most internationally recognised FL leaders. He was abducted in late 2007, just after announcing his intention to run in senatorial elections, and remains missing. A leading human rights activist, he worked tirelessly to bring former death squad leaders to justice.

IPS has found that one death squad leader has been living in a luxurious hotel overlooking Port-au-Prince. Louis Jodel Chamblain, a founder of the infamous FRAPH death squad that murdered and raped thousands during the early 1990s, was interviewed by IPS a year ago at the Ibo Lele Hotel. Within earshot, U.N. officials and NGO dignitaries dined and slept.

*Wadner Pierre in Miami contributed to this story.

Parallel Universes

Dianne Perea — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:38:22 EDT

Hello, President Obama.

The events of my life over the past six months have shown me the incredible parallels between my personal world and that of your journey to the White House and the path the United States is on today. I have moved through a personal crisis where life as I once knew it was utterly destroyed and I have had to rebuild my life from the ground up. There were days when I didn't see how I would be able to cope and didn't see how my life could possibly recover from such a devastating loss and blow. But day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute I have picked myself and my children up out of this mud and we've moved on, inch by inch toward the light of a new dawn. Today I can see the hope of better and brighter future. But getting to this moment has taken an inner strength and faith that I truly didn't know existed within me.

Over the past year, I have had to relearn everything I thought I knew about life and people, most importantly myself. When days became more frightening than I could bear, I thought about you, your campaign, and the work my children and I did with this great community to see the day when you would become our President. Working on your campaign during the summer of 2008 kept me alive while a part of my personal life was collapsing. The energy and hope that you brought into my world kept the embers of who I am going long enough to see me through the darkest moments of my life. And for this, I am eternally grateful to you.

God bless you, President Obama and your family. Thank you for the work and sacrifices you have made and continue to make on behalf of this country and people like me. You have changed my life in more ways than you will ever know.

Dianne Perea
Colorado Springs, Colorado

President Obama Please!!!

Randy — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:28:47 EST

Please raise all taxes and tariffs on all imported cars, planes, and trains everything this is the only thing that will give our Country a chance. Think about it the Japanees live on an island and there running our auto industry (if it smells like fish it must be fish). Other countries treat there people like s----- and we reward then by buying there products. Just the taxes that we would get would get us out of this recession. I BELIEVE that other countries would pay and pay to be able to sell over here but we better do something before we lose all of our buying power.

Merry Christmas

Randy

Barack Obama's Birth Certificate!!!!

Randy — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:51:42 EST

Does anyone know why the Supreme Court is looking at Barack Obama's Birth Certificate. I heard that there is a group of people out there, it might even be the Bilderbergers that are BEHIND THE HOLE THING. They are trying to proove that Obama wasn't born in the U.S.A. AND THAT WOULD MEAN THAT HE COULDN'T BE PRESIDENT. Because the law states you have to be born in the U.S. to be president. Does anyone have any info?

And just for your own info look-up the words bilderberger, trilateral comission and the commitee for foriegn relations and see what you think.

Were not done yet Randy

How Tall is the Grass?

** Maria Isabel ** — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:13:51 EST

Hey You ~ How about a Grassroots Inaugural Party?

"Party": groups acting together, leaning more towards the effort of staying active and organized for Barack as volunteers, than to have an extravagant celebration Ball. A scaled back approach to the gathering, being that our country is at war and our economy is the pits.

Here is where we are ~ We have a local Maryland kick-off committee, submitted a formal request to the official Inauguration Committee to include our gathering as an official event, have a local event organizer already doing research, found location options including the Convention Center, and have a list of several entertainers to choose from.

The "Party" theme is a promise to continue our community involvement, tickets will be $200 per person, dress code is relaxed.

The Maryland kick-off committee is looking for volunteers to spearhead the event, and you do not have to reside in Washington DC.

If you are interested in attending and purchasing a ticket, or would like to offer your event coordinating talent as a volunteer in one of the committees please send an email to: obamatallgrass@gmail.com.

Obama Love,

Maria Isabel

America Awakened

Dianne Perea — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:08:59 EST

As Barack Obama began the first words of his acceptance speech on November 4th, I was clapping my hands, jumping up and down for joy, and cheering for this man for whom I've been campaigning for so many months with all my heart and soul. But as he spoke, my wide smile began to fade and my thoughts wandered inward. The room was filled with cheering, celebrating supporters, but their faces and the sounds of their voices soon took on a dream-like state. What remained clear was the image of Barack Obama on the screen and his words, along now with my own inner dialogue.

The words Barack Obama chose, "brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand" echoed in my soul, and made me fully understand the significance of what I was witnessing. The "history" that was being made this night was not so much about the first African-American president, but rather the courageous step our country took to let this man of vision lead our nation down the road to recovery. I thought about the young and the old, my grandmother and my young daughters. My eyes welled up with tears, tears of joy, disbelief, amazement, and the realization that what was happening was the citizens were reclaiming their country and its fate, and the rebuilding that will soon be done will happen by one and all.

As the tears streamed down my cheeks, I began to more fully understand that the full sense of ownership our country will now finally be restored, and as a result, give us a sense of pride that will be felt across the country by everyone. The hard work and sacrifices we are about to all make will make, and have already made, will remind us how strong we are when we clasp hands and work toward a common goal.

This new great chapter in American history, "America Awakened" will begin recounting of Barack Obama handing over his "Olympic Gold" win to the people of this country, by saying "You are the reason for my victory." This gesture, an act so bold and noble, has already ignited the flames of non-partisan partnership, pride and a hope for a better future. Obama is clear that hard work is ahead for us all, but like an eager child wanting to help their parents with a project, we're genuinely looking forward being part of a team again.

Our children will know this to be the norm as they grow up in this new social environment, and I will tell stories to my grandchildren about the time when we had simply forgotten about the original vision, unity and strength of this great nation. I will also tell them about the day a man named Barack Obama had the courage to wake us all up from a very bad dream so we could begin living in a wakened and clear-minded union once again.

Dianne Perea
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Polls close in 30 minutes

Jenn Prosser — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:30:30 EST

There are thirty minutes left until polls close.

You can vote until 7:00 p.m. As long as you are in line at 7:00 p.m. you are allowed to vote. If you have any problems, call 1-877-CO-08-VOTE (1-877-260-8868). Stay in line. Every vote counts. Let's deliver Colorado for Barack!

Polls have opened in Colorado

Jenn Prosser — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:00:06 EST

Polls have open in Colorado.

Have you voted yet? Find your polling location here. If you have already voted, help get others out to vote and volunteer at a staging location near you.

Thank you Barack Obama

mtclymer — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:15:03 EST

I have to write this tonight, because tomorrow is a long day and at the end, I'll be crying - either with joy or despair. And if the former, I may revel in the glory of the moment and feel it unnecessary to express these thoughts. And the later, well, I'll have a hard time finding the energy and optimism to put these thoughts to words, despite my belief in them.

On the eve of the most important election day of my time, one in which I vote primarily for my daughter and a bright future for her country, but also for myself, I must thank Barack Obama.

Before the results assign an inevitable tone to that appreciation; Thank you Barack Obama. Thank you for bringing me hope, inspiration and a vital mission for the past 20 months. Thank you for staying true to your ideals, values and message.

Earlier this evening, I watched, again the speech you gave in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention and was amazed at the consistency of your message. You had the same dream for America that you have today. And no wonder you lead one of the largest, if not the largest grassroots efforts in American history - you clearly and eloquently outlined the hopes and dreams that so many of us have for America.

Any Obama event, whether a rally with you or one of your many dedicated and outspoken supporters, I have found the dearest of friends, the most treasured of allies - fellow Americans who see America and America's promise the way I do. The way you do. I have made more friends in the last 20 months than I can count. I have become involved in politics and my community and become aware of all the tenets of activism which support a better community, a better America and a better world. It started with volunteering for the primaries; it turned into service to my Precinct and organizing my neighborhood. I have lived in my neighborhood for almost five years now and never, until this year have I felt like I was a part of it. I had not met most of my neighbors until I started working for Obama's campaign. Now about anywhere I go, I recognize faces and more than that, they are friendly. We ask about each other's families and comment on the current events. I have taken your tone and belief to heart, while difficult when I hear those disparaging you and your ideas, that I do not need to make those that disagree with me an enemy, I need to accept them as a friend with a difference of opinion. That they are someone that deserves my respect and understanding even if they don't grant the same to me.

I suspect I am not alone. The massive grassroots effort you have inspired, cultivated and supported is blooming. And it won't wither with the results election night. Should you win, dare I say when you win, I know you will be asking us to continue our activism and service in our community. Should you lose, God forbid, we will need each other for support, to heal and then continue the fight for a better America. We will be paying a lot closer attention to our government and the actions of our elected officials you can be sure. We are strong, we are awake and we are committed. We didn't spend hours, days, weeks and months supporting just you and your campaign, we spent hours, days, weeks and months supporting our shared vision and hope for America, a vision for the future and that is stronger than any fear or hate that may wound us with an election loss.

Thank you Barack Obama for giving me the gift of being a part of something great. Something inspiring. Something brimming full of hope and full of love. As you often tell us, "we are the change we've been waiting for." I thank you for believing in us, maybe even more so than we have believed in you.

May God keep you safe and strong.

Melissa Titus Clymer

Senator Tom Daschle Gets out the Vote

Greg Hauenstein — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:28:41 EST

Our work today and tomorrow will decide the outcome of this election.

Knowing this, the Campaign for Change RV made one final swing through the state to fire up the troops and sign up new ones to hit the streets, dial the phones, crunch the data, drive the vans, and check the polls. Along this trip through Fort Collins, Loveland, Berthoud, Longmont, Louisville, and Lafayette were Former Governor Roy Romer and Senator Ken Salazar were joined today by Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

The crowds everywhere were stunning. As Former Governor Romer addressed the crowds in Loveland and Longmont he noted that things were much different from when he was in office. There were so many more volunteers in the offices and staging locations than he had ever seen volunteer in these areas of the state.

Senator Daschle is one of the longest supporters of Barack's bid for the Presidency. He told the crowds that what he saw in an up-and-coming US Senator four years ago has spread to millions across the country, and that with hard work, this can be spread even further:

"As you make these connections, I know you understand the historic nature of this election. I would argue that this election ranks up there with 1860 and 1932 as two of the most transformational elections of our time. I don't care if you live to be 100. We're going to look back on the year 2008 and we are going to say we were part of that effort. That was the year we changed America. That was the year we gave America new hope."

Here is a video of our stop in Loveland:

This is it. This is our last chance to change this country. Sign up to help us out now.

Early Vote comes to an end

Greg Hauenstein — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:14:36 EDT

Yesterday saw the end of early voting in Colorado. Over a million people have cast their ballot, and all over the country, turnout records are shattering.

Just down the street from our state headquarters was a polling place with a line of voters out the door and supporters waving people in down the street.

Michelle voted the day early vote locations opened, but as of this morning her son hadn't. She told us about their conversation:

"This is the last day! He's 30 so I can't punish him, but he said 'Mom, I promise I will.'"

Maggie was with Michelle. Both are long time volunteers, Maggie canvassing over 1,000 doors and hosting several house parties. She, like Michelle, voted as early as possible and devoted her free time to getting others to the polls.

"God forbid something should happen on the fourth, machines break down, you forget your ID, it would be horrible.

Less than three days left. It's time. We need you and it's the most important thing in the world right now."

Robert Redford Comes to Aurora

Greg Hauenstein — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:29:30 EDT

Robert Redford is no stranger to West, attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, working at Estes Park, and founding the Sundance Film Festival in central Utah.

Today he came to Aurora to speak to people about the importance of early voting and why Barack Obama and Mark Udall should be elected.

"We need somebody who is intelligent, compassionate and has moral fiber. This is a man who, when other people play partisanship like a sport, he doesn't think like that, he doesn't work like that, and he doesn't live like that.

Look what we've lost. We can get it back with the team we have."

He introduced Mark Udall, a longtime fan of Robert's movies, including "The Candidate."

"McKay is standing there and says 'What do we do now?' Well what we're going to do is work on the green energy economy, we're going to help our veterans, we're going to help working people, we're going to pass the children's health insurance program, and we're going to end the war in Iraq honorably and responsibly. We're going to end it."

At 81, Ruth Ellen has been a lifelong Republican, but this year is supporting the Democratic ticket.

"I'm so ashamed of my party, especially the last four years. So I drive my little green Prius and drive all the old folks to the polls to early vote."

The Campaign for Change RV comes to Commerce City

Greg Hauenstein — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:52:38 EDT

On Wednesday, the Campaign for Change RV headed to Commerce City. On board were Lt. Governor Barbara O'Brien, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, and Texas State Representative Rafael Anchia.

It was retail politics at its finest as they made stops and spoke to voters at grocery stores, restaurants, and community centers. They made sure to tell everyone they spoke to where their early vote location is located.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Michelle draws big crowd in Colorado Springs

Jenn Prosser — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:07:58 EDT

On Tuesday, Michelle returned to Colorado for her second visit in October, this time traveling south to Colorado Springs, where she spoke to around 2,500 people about the election and the importance of early voting.

Before the event started, Michelle shook hands with the 300 people who listened to the event outside after the auditorium filled up. During her speech, Michelle expressed her delight at retuning to Colorado at the end of the campaign. She said:

It has been 21 months and I can probably count down the hours. We have seven more days and once we get through this day, we'll be almost done, it will be six! This journey has been wonderful for the Obama family -- we have seen so much. And I have been traveling around even more this week, because we're in the final days. But it is good to come back to the states that have given us so much. Colorado is really one of those states -- you guys have been amazing.

Michelle talked about the incredible sacrifice of the military members and families in the Springs. She said:

Our hearts go out as I think about all of our troops our men and women who are away today and fighting and taking care of this nation across the seas. But it also reminds me that we cannot forget the loved ones left at home. Whether you are a parent or a child or a grand parent, we have to remember that when our troops go to war our families go with them, which means that we have to make sure that they come home to families that have been cared for.

That is one of the reasons that the conversations that I have been having with military families all across this country has meant so much to me -- it has opened my eyes to the challenges that you uniquely face. And I know that once this nation understands more about those challenges we will be unified around solutions around answers around discussions to make your sacrifice not so hard.

Here is a video of the event:

Today is the last day to vote early in Colorado. You can find your early vote location here.

Whirlwind last couple of days

art_f2001 — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:51:24 EDT

Well Saturdan I got to meet Bill Richardson, Sunday I was in Denver and saw Barack Obama who motivated an already excited crowd. I spoke with alot of people from around our state who were wowed by (I Pray) our Next President of these United States. The crowd of people were amazing. Then Monday I saw Keven Costner at the New Weodman Obama office and I have some great photos from that event. Then Yesterday I was able to attend the rally downtown to see Michelle Obama. The exictment out there is real, the message is Honest, we all have to give a little bit of our time to Volunteer tomorrow through the Election. I will be at the Limit Obama office for the Veterans phone bank, and I will be walking this Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 and Sunday as well. Even going out on Academy with Obama signs this weekend with American Flags will let Colorado Springs know of Obama's Support. Have fun and Vote Early, last day to early vote is Friday. Video your Vote, watch out for Republican shenanigans at all voting locations, lawyers should be present.

Barack Makes Phone Calls in Brighton

Greg Hauenstein — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:24:45 EDT

After Sunday's record shattering crowds in Denver cleared out and the cheers in Ft. Collins died down, Barack decided he was not yet done with our state for the day. He went to our field office in Brighton and thanked the volunteers and staff for the work they are doing and pressed them to keep working hard through election day.

Robert was one of the volunteers there.

He said:

"I'm a native of Brighton. I've been around here for seventy-one years now. I've been a life long Democrat... Obama, to me, is the all-American person. He started at the bottom and rose all the way to the top."

Dozens of volunteers joined Barack as he made phone calls to voters letting them know they can vote early through Friday and that their help is needed all weekend and on Election Day.

Here's a video of the stop:

With just 6 days left until Election Day, we need your help. Sign up for a GOTV shift and help change the world.

I spoke last night at the Early Vote Rally featuring Michelle Obama

Delia — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:07:51 EDT

It was so amazing last night when I got to speak. I have never spoken if front of that many people at one time. There was about 2500 people there and they were so warm. They made it easy. I gave the field pitch. People were coming up to me afterwards and telling me how good I did.

I got to shake Michelle's hand. It was a really good experience. If we do not win this election, I'm going to go into a deep dark depression. Okay, my son is up and awake so let me go and do the mommy thing.

Charles Meets Barack

Greg Hauenstein — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 22:39:06 EDT

After Charles met Senator Obama on Sunday before the historic rally in Denver, he said it was one of the most memorable experiences of his life.

That's saying something, as Charles was born in 1922.

He's seen the Great Depression, a world war, served in the Korean War, and has volunteered for campaigns since Franklin D. Roosevelt, but it's the energy of this campaign that has excited this lifelong Democrat more than any others.

He sees similarities between Barack and the last candidate he volunteered for: Bill Clinton.

"I like anyone who's come from a hard life because they understand people that are having a hard life. Barack Obama, like President Clinton, they really understand the people and lives we're going through with."

Charles volunteers in our Boulder office almost every day, greeting people at the door making sure they sign in, and always has a story to tell folks with an open ear.

We caught up with Charles yesterday:

www.teamsarah.org

Darlene — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:59:50 EDT

I just heard about this group while watching Larry King live. I went immediately and signed up and wrote my first blog AGAINST Sarah Palin. Let's overwhelm this site with the real truth about Sarah!

OBAMA ~ Leadership for the 21st Century Now Available as a Free Download

Victoria DePaul, Author — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 00:12:05 EDT

Obama ~ Leadership for the 21st Century, written by best-selling author Victoria C. DePaul, is now available for a limited time as an Ebook download at no charge. This book will be available as a pdf download or readers can view it online via Scribd. The book is available at www.ebookobama.com .

Note: The book will be available in hard copy in 2009. The author is still looking for quotes from citizens for inclusion in this project. If you have a statement that you would like to be added to this work please enter your thoughts in the Comments section found on the Contact Us Page at www.ebookobama.com.

Michelle Obama to hold Early Vote For Change Rally in Colorado Springs

Greg Hauenstein — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 16:25:01 EDT

DENVER, CO – Michelle Obama, wife of Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama, will return to Colorado on Tuesday, October 28, to host an Early Vote for Change Rally in Colorado Springs. Early voting in Colorado started Monday and runs through October 31.

Mrs. Obama’s most recent visit to Colorado was earlier this month for a voter registration rally at Farrand Field in Boulder, which drew a reported record crowd for that venue of 9,700 people.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28

Colorado Springs City Auditorium

221 E Kiowa St.

Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Doors Open: 4:30 pm

The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. To RSVP please visit www.co.barackobama.com

Media outlets should RSVP by visiting http://co.barackobama.com/page/s/mediarsvp

***For security reasons do not bring bags or umbrellas and please limit personal items. No signs or banners allowed.***

People had enough?

Darlene — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:14:02 EDT

Anyone get the feeling that people really just don't want to talk about the election? I'm pretty amazed by this. I have been calling women voters in Florida who are undecided, and I think out of 57 calls, I had 2 that were actually pleasant to talk to. So, why is this? Are they inundated with calls and sick of being targeted?

I live in AZ and since this state is currently RED, I feel like my vote for Barack doesnt' count. Instead all these voters in swing states get all the visits from the candidates, all the attention from the media, and the power to make or break the election. Personally, the electoral college needs to go. I think every vote should count and matter. Then, maybe some of these callers wouldn't be so fed up with being targeted. I just hope it's doing more good than harm.

Pictures from Campaign for Change Above the Clouds

Greg — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:52:19 EDT

Over the past two weeks we have had some notable visitors at our Campaign for Change office in Woodland Park "City Above the Clouds".

The first visit brought congressional candidate Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack (ret.) and former cabinet secretary Frederico Peña .

The following week brought Governor Roy Romer and Senator Ken Salazar

These very busy individuals took time not just "speechify", but to talk with us as citizens and individuals: to praise the team for work well done, to ask for continued efforts through November 4th and to listen to what each of us had on our minds.

Wow.

All the pictures can be seen in the Election 2008 photo gallery

Greg

Why I'm Voting For Barack Obama

Chris Campbell — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:32:37 EDT

Dear Fellow Voters, I'm voting for Barack Obama because he has the judgement and temperament to lead, and he will bring about the change we so desperately need. I like his decision making process. He surrounds himself with people who will challenge him (both democrats and republicans), carefully listens to their viewpoints, and weighs all sides before making a decision. As President, Barack Obama will reach across party lines and bring sound solutions to the problems of the economy, the war, health care and education reform. He will restore America's standing in the world community. I have watched Senator Obama for many months now. I am impressed by his honesty, intellect, integrity and calm yet strong demeanor. That is the kind of person I want as my President. Whatever your party affiliation, I hope you will join me in voting for Barack Obama. A vote for Obama is a vote for change! Sincerely, Chris Campbell San Diego, CA

Disability and Voting is Natural

Deb Stover — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:29:31 EDT

Message

Kathie Snow is a dear friend of mine. We were both actively involved with advocacy issues for students with disabilities in Colorado in the early to mid-90s, and carpooled together to Denver many times. Her son, Benjamin and my Bonnie are almost the same age. They both have disabilities, but that is only one small part of who they are. Benjamin is articulate and witty. Bonnie is artistic and charming. They are both contributing, loving members of their families and communities.

Kathie owns this wonderful website, and publishes a newsletter, to which I subscribe <http://www.disabilityisnatural.com/email/2008-10.htm>. This month's issue includes an article about her son voting for the first time with her assistance, just as my Bonnie voted for the first time this year with mine. Bonnie and I used mail-in ballots, while they went to their polling place for early voting.

A "friend" recently accused me of using my beloved daughter in order to vote twice. That accusation hurt deeply, as my children are the most precious people in my life since I lost my husband to cancer in 2005. This former friend is so wrong. My Bonnie, like other American citizens over age 18, has the legal right to vote and she exercised it this year. It is in her best interest to do so. We filled out her ballot together, and she signed it herself. She has an Obama bumper sticker on her lunch bag, and was very proud of her "I Voted" sticker.

Please feel free to share this post (in its entirety) with interested parties, and include the links to www.disabilityisnatural.com if you do. Thank you.

~Deb Stover
AKA Bonnie's Mom

Northern Colorado greets the Early Vote Tour

Greg Hauenstein — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 23:04:42 EDT

The Early Vote Tour wrapped up this evening after visiting Steamboat Springs, Walden, Hot Sulphur Springs, and Granby.

People that have never seen a Democratic Presidential campaign came out in droves, packing diners and sidewalks to greet Senator Ken Salazar, Governor Roy Romer, and Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak as they spread the word that they can vote for Barack Obama right now.

In Granby, we spoke to Felicia about what this campaign means to her:

"I have three children. One is a Wall Streeter, one is a teacher, and one is a fast food manager. White, pink, and blue collar workers. They are all for Obama and as much as anything I'm doing this for them. Obama speaks to all of them.

I've never been so inspired by a candidate and I haven't been this involved with a campaign since Bobby Kennedy in 1968."

At the end of every speech, the local field organizer told everyone how important it was that they volunteer. With just 10 days left until Election Day, and a beautiful weekend ahead of us, we need you to volunteer. Find your local field office and join your neighbors as you knock on some doors and call members of your community.

A Blessing for Obama Voters

Kentucky Woman — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:35:16 EDT

May all absentee ballots find their voter and be counted. May all early voters have fun in line waiting to cast their vote for Obama. May all of us who must wait to vote on Nov.4 have short lines and easy times.

God bless Obama supporters to have an easy time at the polls. Increase our numbers and give us not just a historic win but a landslide.

When Pizza Meets Politics

Greg Hauenstein — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:17:08 EDT

Our last stop on the Early Vote Tour Thursday was Idaho Springs. Taking a walk down Miner Street, Governor Romer, Commissioner Stulp, and Senator Salazar visited two Idaho Springs establishments: Tommyknocker's Brewery and BeauJo's Pizza.

The Democrats of Clear Creek County came out in droves to BeauJo's Pizza to hear from the surrogates, eat some unbeatable pizza, as well as make phone calls to voters and let them know they can vote now, either through early voting or voting by mail.

Joe was making phone calls when we arrived. He talked to us about the great turnout at the restaurant.

It's very heartening. It's indicative of how things are going. We have dozens of unpaid volunteers taking time to make calls to total strangers! I'm fifty years old and my first election was Ford versus Carter. I'm a student of history and this election is as important as Hoover versus Franklin Roosevelt. People here clearly believe that Barack is the answer.

Here are some pictures from the stop:

Early Vote Tour comes to Golden

Greg Hauenstein — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 21:03:34 EDT

The Campaign for Change RV is back out on the trail! The RV is coming to towns all over Colorado letting people know they can vote NOW.

As we headed up into the mountains we stopped at our Jefferson County Headquarters in Golden. Volunteers were there making phone calls and preparing for canvasses this coming weekend. The weather is supposed to be great and they are hoping for a great crowd.

We talked with Arica, one of the volunteers in the office. She came all the way from Orange County, California and has taken a month off of her job to help get Barack elected.

He represents the America I was taught America was supposed to be. I was raised that way but I never saw it. I never got to be a part of something big.

I told my husband that if he gets the nomination I would go work for his campaign. He said, "sure sure," but I told him, "I need to know that you're hearing me. If he gets the nomination, I'm going to work for him."

Senator Salazar was quick to lead by example and made some phone calls to voters in Jefferson County.

Keep an eye on http://co.barackobama.com for further updates from the road!

Joe McCain calls 911 about a traffic jam

Withfeeling — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:05:27 EDT

Can you believe it??

See the YouTube video here

About that $150,000 wardrobe...

Withfeeling — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:45:50 EDT

Clearly an elitist celebrity.

See the rest here and definitely worth seeing the rest of the photos

Beyond Yard Sign Wars...

mtclymer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:39:33 EDT

My neighbor told me that the Obama poster on her front door was ripped off and shred to pieces. Yard signs are bad enough. When someone feels angry and bold enough to walk up to a person’s front door, we’re looking at a crisis in our community.

I realize there are also reports from the local GOP that McCain yard signs are being stolen. I volunteer on the local Obama campaign as many do, and I can attest that we don’t condone those sorts of activities. We prefer to promote our candidate over tearing down another. So, while I can’t guarantee that there’s no Obama supporter participating in the yard sign wars, based on the tenor of the Obama campaign it is unlikely widespread and certainly without the malice with which we’ve seen our Obama signs destroyed. I condemn anyone destroying or removing political signs, period.

Our Obama campaign is about hope, change and the future of our country. I have been to four different Obama rallies and have never experienced the kind of hatred, anger and fear being generated through incendiary comments like I’ve seen at the McCain-Palin rallies. In fact, just yesterday on the news, a Palin supporter was quoted that the reason she was looking forward to the Palin rally was because of the bad things she (Palin) says about Obama. It’s a hate fest and breeding ground for intolerance which has resulted in racial epithets and threats of violence against Barack Obama, with little or no repudiation from the Republican candidates. Once you’ve stoked the fire, you can’t control the burn.

The bold destruction of personal property, particularly on someone’s front door is clear act of intimidation; in fact it is an act of American Terrorism, designed to threaten those who are exercising freedom of speech and wish to participate in the American Political process. Fundamentally, those perpetrating these acts want to deny the political and constitutional rights of many of our citizens and their acts shockingly contradict the Pro-America principles the McCain-Palin campaign champions. They seem to forget that we are ALL Americans first; Republicans, Democrats, Independents, second. Let us not forget that.

It’s time to come together to solve the issues we’re facing, even if we disagree on how to solve them. The fact is that you can’t get two sides to the table when one has branded the other an enemy instead of a friend with a different opinion. Perhaps that's why we needed a Campaign for Change in the first place.

Michelle's focus group: Military families

Connie from Memphis, TN — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:49:47 EDT

“The commander in chief doesn’t just need to know how to lead the military, he needs to understand what war does to military families.” --Michelle Obama

Michelle's focus group: Military families

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14733.html

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Once portrayed as unpatriotic, Michelle Obama has quietly carved a niche on the campaign trail as a sounding board for military families, taking up a cause that could define her agenda as first lady.

Every few weeks, Obama meets with military spouses in swing states, where she presents herself as a kindred spirit and Barack Obama as the best choice for their families. She attended the two debates with military family members. And at the Democratic National Convention, she led a day of service on behalf of Blue Star Families for Obama, a two-month old group with the tagline: “Pro-Military, Pro-Obama.”

Obama aides say her work with military families has nothing to do with the controversy created by her February comment suggesting that the presidential campaign made her proud of the United States for the first time. But the effort could be viewed as an exercise in counterprogramming, serving as a rebuttal to criticism from Cindy McCain and others for a comment that Michelle Obama insists was misinterpreted – and the notion that her husband, a Democrat with no military service, cannot peel off voters from John McCain, an ex-Navy pilot and war hero. “Barack and I know that too often it feels like you are alone, on your own,” Obama told military spouses last month in Santa Fe, N.M. “I know you become everything. In a small way, I have experienced that over the course of this campaign, but in no way does it compare to what you are going through.”

Michelle Obama's focus on military families puts her at the leading edge of the Democratic nominee's campaign to reclaim some of the military vote from Republicans – an effort that brought Barack Obama here Sunday for a rally near Fort Bragg, where a military wife introduced him and he touted his endorsement from Colin Powell, the retired four-star general and President George W. Bush's first Secretary of State.

Since the start of the campaign, Michelle Obama says she has focused on three things: keeping life normal for her young daughters, electing her husband, and discussing the work-life balance with women around the country. The spouses of service members captured her attention during a roundtable with working mothers, and she later hosted her first military-focused event in Fayetteville in May, a day before the North Carolina primary.She will hold her seventh military spouses meeting Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla., following similar events in recent months in states heavily impacted by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, including Virginia, New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

At each roundtable, she sits on stage with several spouses, delivers prepared remarks and opens a discussion. The roundtables draws local media coverage, and she answers questions about her involvement when asked by national reporters, as she did during an interview with CNN at the Democratic convention.

“Mostly I am here to listen and to do a lot of learning and then to transfer that information into the heart and mind of my husband as he moves forth,” Michelle Obama said in Norfolk, Va., in August. “The commander in chief doesn’t just need to know how to lead the military, he needs to understand what war does to military families.”

Her work in this area offers a hint at what could dominate her time in the White House.

“If she becomes first lady, this will be her cause,” said Amanda McBreen, 47, a Marine wife who participated in the Norfolk roundtable and helps coordinate 24 state chapters of Blue Star Families for Obama.Michelle Obama pledged to do so in the Oct. 27 issue of U.S. News and World Report, when she explained what she would do if her husband became president: “I would work daily on the issues closest to my heart: helping working women and families, particularly military families. … I'd continue these conversations with working women and military spouses, and I'd take their stories back to Washington to make sure that the people who run our country know how their policies touch their constituents' lives.”

But Kathy Roth-Douquet, a founder of Blue Star Families and a Marine spouse who supported Hillary Rodham Clinton in the primary, said she wishes more voters knew about Michelle Obama’s work.

“She is probably the most motivating figure in the military family community,” Roth-Douquet, 44, said. “We like Obama, but we love her. She gets what we are getting.”

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Military Trifecta‏

"Blue Star Familes for Obama" video- http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/harperlee/gGgKG3
McCain's Votng Record On Vets and Troops- http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/harperlee/gGgKGh
"Soldiers Donate 6 times MORE to Obama"- http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/harperlee/gGgKMY

Early voting begins in battleground of Colorado!

Bill the Butcher — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:15:37 EDT

October 20, 2008 was a big day for alot of eager voters all across Colorado. Here in Colorado Springs the booths were packed a majority of voters going early in the morning. I personally, put it off until later in the afternoon, but Colorado Springs still had a good turnout of voting throughout this opening day of early voting. I urge all the voters to brush up on the local amendments and elections before heading into the stressful and somewhat intimidating voting booths. Alot had changed, touch screen ballots and a more automated voting does indeed make it easier and faster. But as I stated...KNOW what you are voting for, we are all here for a change, no doubt. But as we push to change the white house do not forget about what locally will affect us all. But please go and vote early, most mall voting outlets are open as late as 7p.m. And it took all of 20 minutes of my time to cast my vote in one of the most important elections of all time. Now don't fret, the touch screen voting is very easy, and you can even change the size of font and contrast for better visibilty. It moves at your pace and speeds up booth time considerably. I know this is my first blog, I hope it does not let you down, here in Colorado Springs we have 3 locations to vote ealry, Citadel mall (3rd floor jcpennys wing) Downtown clerks office and up north in the Chapel Hills mall. Open late for your convenience, get it done and over with, you dont want the polls to close on you November 4th without casting your crucial vote in this battleground state of Colorado. Vote for change today, you do not have to wait until November to cast that vote! I dont have to tell you how I voted....

So you want to vote for Barack

Jenn Prosser — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:34:50 EDT

There are still eight days left to request a mail-in ballot by mail, and you can pick up a mail-in ballot from your county clerk's office through October 31st.

Watch this video and learn more about voting by mail:

If you have questions, visit our Mail-in Ballot page.

Seniors Roundtable in Fort Collins

Greg Hauenstein — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:30:54 EDT

With all the turmoil in the economy over the last month, there is no clearer time to highlight the need to protect Social Security and not leave it to the whims of Wall Street. This was a major topic of conversation at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Friday morning.

State Senator Bob Bacon joined a packed room of seniors to discuss Senator Obama's plan to protect Social Security, reform our health care system to make insurance affordable, and reform our tax policy so people on fixed income aren't overburdened by taxes.

"There are enormous problems every four to eight years. Some are of our own making, some we have no control over. We need someone who will tell us the truth because fixing these problems won't be easy."

Betty lives in The Worthington Independent Living in Fort Collins and volunteers at the Campaign for Change office every week. She laughed as she talked about her volunteer experience.

"I've been working every Tuesday from 1:00 to 4:00. I've been so pleased with the number of young people coming in. It's so important that they take an interest. They need to save their country."

Senator Bacon took questions from the audience afterwards. Topics discussed ranged from Social Security and Medicare to Iraq and college affordability. You can find where Barack stands on all these issues by visiting our issues page.

Obama and the Second Amendment

Greg — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 12:05:42 EDT

Many of the people I talk to express concerns about Barack's position on the Second Amendment and the right to keep and bear firearms.

I have found these links on barackobama.com that help to explain Barack's position in his own words. In short:

Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn't have them. - Barack Obama Urban Policy Statement

Sportsmen for Obama

Response to deceptive NRA flyer

Greg

Mail in Ballots - a heavy responsibility

Greg — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:13:40 EDT

Wendy and I dropped off our mail-in ballots at the Teller County Clerk's office in Cripple Creek on Tuesday. One reason is we wanted to be sure they got there. Another reason was to save $1.18 in postage.

That's right - each mail-in ballot requires 59 cents postage. I had the people at the post office weigh my ballot before I took it in - 1.1 oz, just over the limit for one stamp.

Tell all your friends, tell all phone bankers and canvassers to be sure to tell our voters that the ballots require 59 cents postage. Two stamps required!

Other counties with longer ballots may require three stamps - be sure to check.

Be sure your vote gets there to be counted - use two stamps

Verizon and AT&T Provided Cell Towers for McCain Ranch

Withfeeling — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:05:32 EDT

Early in 2007, just as her husband launched his presidential bid, Cindy McCain decided to resolve an old problem -- the lack of cellular telephone coverage on her remote 15-acre ranch near Sedona, nestled deep in a tree-lined canyon called Hidden Valley.

By the time Sen. John McCain's presidential bid was in full swing this summer, the ranch had wireless coverage from the two cellular companies most often used by campaign staff -- Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

[...]

Ethics lawyers said Cindy McCain's dealings with the wireless companies stand out because Sen. John McCain is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. He has been a leading advocate for industry-backed legislation, fighting regulations and taxes on telecommunications services.

McCain and his campaign have close ties to Verizon and AT&T. Five campaign officials, including campaign manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for Verizon. Former McCain staffer Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than $1.3 million for McCain's presidential campaign and Verizon employees are among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving more than $155,000 to his campaigns.

McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, senior strategist Charles R. Black Jr., and several other campaign staffers have registered as AT&T lobbyists in the past. AT&T Executive Vice President Timothy McKone and AT&T lobbyists have raised more than $2.3 million for McCain. AT&T employees have donated more than $325,000 to McCain campaigns, putting the company in the No. 3 spot for career donations to McCain, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

[...]

Three telecommunications specialists consulted by The Post said the proposed site covers so few users that it is unlikely to generate enough traffic to justify the investment. Robb Alarcon, an industry specialist who helps plan tower placement, said the proposed location appeared to be a "strategic build," free-of-charge coverage to high-priority customers. A former Verizon executive vice president, who asked not to be named because he worked for the company, agreed with Alarcon, saying, "It was a VIP kind of thing."

Read the rest here

McCain Misleading the American Public Again!!!

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:31:22 EDT

October 7, 2008Fact Check: Did Obama vote 94 times for higher taxes?Posted: 11:30 PM ET Sen. McCain said Obama 'has voted 94 times' for higher taxes.

The Statement:
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain said at the Oct. 7 presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee, that Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama "has voted 94 times to either increase your taxes or against tax cuts. That's his record."

Get the facts!

The Facts:
The effort to convince voters that Sen. Barack Obama would support higher taxes is a central part of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign. McCain and the Republican National Committee have repeatedly cited 94 alleged votes by Obama to bolster their argument.

Factcheck.org, a non-partisan project of the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center, pieced through records to determine just what these 94 votes were.

Key findings:
–53 were votes on budget resolutions or amendments that "could not have resulted by themselves in raising taxes," though many "were clear statements of approval for increased taxes"
–23 were against proposed tax cuts
–11 were to increase taxes on people making more than $1 million a year, to help fund programs such as Head Start, school nutrition, or veterans' health care
–Seven were "for measures that would have lowered taxes for many, while raising them on a relative few, either corporations or affluent individuals."
– The total includes multiple votes on the same measures.

Annenberg says a close look at the record reveals that Obama has "voted consistently to restore higher tax rates on upper-income taxpayers but not on middle- or low-income workers."

Verdict:
Misleading. McCain's summary ignores the fact that some of the votes were for measures to lower taxes for many Americans, while increasing them for a much smaller number of taxpayers. A nonpartisan examination also finds that the 94 total includes multiple votes on the same measures and budget votes that would not directly lead to higher taxes.

Video: Colorado Rural Tour

Greg Hauenstein — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:42:46 EDT

After over a dozen stops and hundreds of supporters came to show their support, the first Colorado Rural Tour came to a close late Friday night.

Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp, former Governor Roy Romer, Governor Bill Ritter, Senator Ken Salazar, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as local elected officials and candidates came out to share their support for Senator Obama with the people of their communities. From issues of support for the Farm Bill, to energy independence, to the economic crunch that Main St. has been dealing with for years, they let their fellow Coloradans know that Senator Obama is the only candidate that will be fighting for them in the White House.

Here's the video from the tour:

We'll be launching a second Rural Tour this weekend in Southwest Colorado. Keep an eye on http://co.barackobama.com to see if the RV is coming to your town!

Let's Blow the RNC out of the water

Kentucky Woman — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:58:22 EDT

Give money to the campaign and allow the campaign to buy advertisement in every state, not just the swing states. Help me, help the campaign by giving to my personal fundraising page.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/outreach/view/main/VoteForYou

More Pets Please

Let the world know that a vote for Obama is a vote for you. Supporting Obama does not mean you're deluded, it means you are protecting your own interest. We must define what we want our country and world to be, and I feel that Barack Obama is a big part of that definition. The USA is a country of tolerance, intelligence, imagination, and immense possibilities. We are not a people who talk down to each other, belittling one another, because we are a country that respects all its citizens, no matter the age, sex or social background of the person. This is my dream, my Hope. It starts here and it ends never.

I titled this page to connect money raised to a theme I hope you will support. Donating here in this fundraiser not only allows you to support your candidate but attaches your money to a message. A message with money behind it.

Barack Obama and I are committed to changing the political process by building a campaign built on a broad base of support from ordinary Americans.

I've set my own personal fundraising goal for the campaign, which you can see in the thermometer to the right.

Will you make a donation to help me reach my goal?

Contribute Now

Graphic updated every 5 minutes
Create your own page now!

Finally a more mainstream allusion to McCain & G. Gordon Liddy

Withfeeling — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:48:38 EDT

On Huffington Post by Carl Bernstein:

Ayers and the McCain-G. Gordon Liddy Symbiosis

Colorado Rural Tour Day Three: Photos

Greg Hauenstein — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:09:08 EDT

Friday wrapped up the Campaign for Change Rural Tour. The RV worked (and sometimes strained) its way up the Western Slope back towards Denver.

The towns of Olathe, Hotchkiss, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Edwards, and finally Dillon all got to see the Campaign for Change RV roll through and hear its passengers, Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp, Former Governor Roy Romer, and US Senator Ken Salazar tell them why Senator Obama is the best choice for rural America

Here are some pictures from the final day:

Saddened by the Behavior on the Right

Kentucky Woman — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:09:09 EDT

This week has been depressing, negative, angry, hateful and full of racially tinged fear and it is all do to the crowds of Palin followers. Palin was right, we don't see the America they see. They think hate and distrust is the way to win and control the citizen of the U.S.A . I say they have forgotten what U.S.A means. U stands for United. United. We are the United States of America. We are not the Ugly states of America! So people stop acting ugly! It will take all of us united to change the direction of this country.

"Blue Star Familes for Obama" new video

Connie from Memphis, TN — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:33:15 EDT

Share this new video on behalf of our Blue Star Families. "Blue Star Families" are those with active duty members deployed in active war zones.

Press Release Angie Morgan ~ Communications Director, Blue Star Families for Obama
571-235-4956
amorgan@leadstar.us
www.bsf4o.com
Blue Star Families Launch Video: Why We are Pro-Military, Pro-Obama
Blue Star Families for Obama launched a video today that articulates why Senator Barack Obama can count on military families for their votes on November 4th.
The video features eight military spouses who share their reasons for voting for Sen. Obama over Sen. McCain.
One Blue Star family member shares: McCain claims to work for us. His actions don't always agree. He campaigned against the new GI Bill, Voted against troop safety equipment, against vets health care, has a 20 percent rating from the Disabled American Vets.
Another Blue Star adds: Barack Obama shows he understands today's military. Obama will help reservists and military families, and he's frontlined mental health care, co-sponsored the GI Bill.
As Cindy McCain and Governor Sarah Palin leverage their Blue Star status to parlay votes for Senator John McCain,
BSF4O has been actively educating and informing the military community on why Sen. Obama is the right presidential candidate and would make the best Commander in Chief for our country.
BSF4O is a grassroots organization created by Army and Marine spouses who have a Pro-Military, Pro-Obama message. As a membership organization, BSF4O communicates with thousands of military family members through outreach programs and is active in 24 states.
Never before has the military family community shown their overwhelming support for the Democratic candidate. BSF4O are inspired and impressed by Sen. Obama's voting record and support of Veterans and the military family community. They also believe that Sen. Obama projects the most attractive American values across our country and our globe.
For more information on BSF4O, visit www.bsf4o.com.

http://www.motleymoose.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=385

"Soldiers Donate 6 times MORE to Obama"

Connie from Memphis, TN — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:34:56 EDT

Military donations favor Obama over McCain

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous campaigns in which military donations tended to favor GOP White House hopefuls, a nonpartisan group reported Thursday.

Troops serving abroad have given nearly six times as much money to Obama's presidential campaign as they have to McCain's, the Center for Responsive Politics said.

The results also are striking because they favored Obama, who never has served in the military. McCain meanwhile, is a decorated war veteran who spent nearly five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The Arizona senator graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and had a 22-year career as a naval aviator.

Obama has opposed the war in Iraq and says he would withdraw combat troops within 16 months. McCain has been a steadfast supporter of the war, saying he would withdraw the troops only when conditions on the ground warrant it.

"Obama will work tirelessly to uphold this nation's sacred trust with its veterans, to ensure they are not forgotten after they return home and he will provide our troops with the leadership they deserve, as well as the support they and their families need," Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

McCain's campaign played down the significance of the donations.

"John McCain has been endorsed by more retired admirals and generals than Barack Obama has military donors," McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb said in a statement.

"We feel confident that many U.S. troops stationed overseas will support John McCain in the election this fall, but we suspect most are too busy doing the important work of defending this country than to make political contributions," Goldfarb said.

Among soldiers serving overseas at the time of their donations, 134 gave a total of $60,642 to Obama while 26 gave a total of $10,665 to McCain.

The report tracked donations of $200 or more. It found that 859 members of the military donated a total of $335,536 to Obama. McCain received $280,513 from 558 military donors.

My Own Private Focus Group

Poway for Obama — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:49:43 EDT

So come on Colorado Springs and Pueblo folk -- get us to 40 per cent!

http://egan.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/my-own-private-focus-group/?ref=opinion

My Own Private Focus Group

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — I didn’t hook up people to electronic monitoring devices, nothing to measure leg trickles and blood-sugar spikes in response to off-key talking points.

I had no magic maps, no demographic weighting formulas. I simply went to the heart of one of the fastest-growing, most Republican counties in the land — as red as rib-eye steak on the e-coli side of raw — and wandered aimlessly, like John McCain in Tuesday’s debate.

Here in Colorado Springs — the Vatican of evangelical political power, home to the Air Force Academy and a community where optimism usually matches the sunrise glow at the base of Pikes Peak – you can see what will happen in less than a month.

My friends: it’s not good for Senator McCain.

“As a small business owner, it’s very hard to watch a lifetime of hard work and savings just wither away in the last two weeks,” said Jan Martin, a native of this more-than-mile-high city, and a lifelong Republican. “The debate on Tuesday night has, if anything, bolstered my opinion.”

So Jan Martin, who also serves on the city council, will cross party lines in less than a month and vote Barack Obama for president, she said. She’s not leaving the Republican party – she’s deserting the nominee.

But…but…what about Bill Ayers? That radical! Obama served on some charity boards with him – he must be a terrorist sympathizer! And what about Sarah Palin’s claim, with a knowing wink, that Obama “is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.”

The sludge of insinuation is loose, but has no more staying power than the Chicago Cubs in a playoff series. (And I like the Cubbies.) All the desperate demagogues of talk radio and Fox News, summoning the kooks and fringe lunatics for one last blast of scary Barack Hussein Obama talk, are melting in 2008’s bonfire of economic vanities.

You want scary? How about this: two trillion dollars. That’s the amount that Americans have lost over the last 15 months in their retirement accounts.

“The financial crisis is point number one,” said Pastor Brady Boyd, head of New Life Church, 250,000 square feet of concentrated Christianity. “These attacks against the candidates are just irrelevant right now. Why are you all attacking one another when we’re dying out here?”

The pastor oversees a mega-church with 10,000 members. When I was here four years ago, Pastor Ted Haggard, the onetime head of the National Association of Evangelicals, boasted of his conference calls with Karl Rove and his deep affection for George Bush.

But then, Pastor Ted was a very bad boy, caught up in a meth and male prostitute scandal. He left New Life and went off to get rehabbed at some place that was supposed to make him right in the head.

Pastor Brady Boyd is a different breed of evangelical. His political suggestions this year, delivered in a sermon on Sunday and repeated in our interview, were simple.

“The only advice I give is pray, fast and vote, and that can be for any political party,” he said.

This year, the church hasn’t even heard from the McCain campaign. “What’s happening to us is less allegiance to the Republican party, and more to our core principles,” he said.

Which gets us to the second message to come from Colorado Springs: on election day, there will be no repeat of 2004, when people woke up to the surprise that “moral values” was the leading issue of the campaign, according to exit polls.

Down the road, Focus on the Family is still in a bit a of dither over what to do about John McCain. James Dobson, the founder of what is essentially a political action committee for evangelicals, had said earlier this year he would never vote for McCain. Never. Not under any circumstances.

Now he’s changed his mind. Sort of.

“While I said I will not endorse either candidate this year, I can say I’m now supporting John McCain,” he said in his October newsletter. However, “the senator continues to embrace issues that concern me.”

Dobson’s Web site contains outdated-looking scare alerts with headlines like “American Airlines extends special benefits to homosexuals.”

Dobson is yesterday. Boyd is tomorrow, saying that the environment, the poor, and helping those in his church who’ve lost a job or a house are things that matter to his congregation.

Abortion? Homosexuals? Bill Ayers?

“To be focused on those things at a time when people are hurting would really be to the detriment of families,” said Boyd.

Obama will not win Colorado Springs. John Kerry got just 32 percent of the vote in this county in 2004. But if Obama gets 40 percent – which is what Democrats expect based on the surge of newly registered voters and independents who are following Jan Martin’s path – he will win this state, and the election.

That leaves the circus of Sarah Palin and the sad specter of a snarling John McCain fading as they embrace the slippery bonds of the last century.

Colorado Rural Tour Day Two: Photos

Greg Hauenstein — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 02:09:13 EDT

On Thursday the Campaign for Change Rural Tour continued across Southern Colorado. Joining the tour for the day was US Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. As a member of the Agriculture Committee with Senator Salazar as well as being from a state with a large agriculture community, she was right at home on Highway 50 visiting Pueblo, Cañon City, Salida, Gunnison, and Montrose.

Many of these communities have never seen a Democratic Presidential campaign, but it's a testiment to Senator Obama and the organization he and the citizens of Colorado have built together that they are reaching into every county in the state.

Here are some pictures from the day:

McCain's rage make him unfit to be President...Watch!

LuAnn in Indiana — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:45:45 EDT

Watch this and think if this man could talk to foreign leaders or make rational cool headed decisions. This is so scary. He could blow up and not work with anyone he did not like. OMG he even shoved a woman in the hallway and has called his wife the c word in public!

You have watched how hateful and condescending he has been towards Barack and even the media now. He is out and out lying and will do anything to win.We need this out there viral and let people see the REAL McCain.......not the kind of PRESIDENT we need in this time of crisis!

Watch the video and send it to friends: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyK-enrF1g

LuAnn

Tell everyone including the media!

Colorado Rural Tour Day One: Photos

Greg Hauenstein — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:56:56 EDT

The Campaign for Change RV began its tour across rural Colorado early Wednesday morning. Colorado Agriculture Commissioner John Stulp, Former Governor Roy Romer, Governor Bill Ritter, and US Senator Ken Salazar all came along for the ride and told their fellow Coloradans why Senator Obama is the best choice for rural America.

Day One brought the tour to Sterling, Fort Morgan, Windsor, and Greeley. Here are some pictures from the day:

Bush 2004 States Are Tipping to Obama: John Nichols in The Nation

Stephen Fox, Contributing Editor New Mexico Sun News — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:10:26 EDT

>>>>>>>>>10/08/2008>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The national polls are instructive early in the fall presidential campaign season. They tell us whether a candidate has strength, momentum, a chance.

But as the campaign enters its final stage -- with election day less than a month away -- the numbers from the states start to matter. That's where the electoral votes start to pile up. So what of the battleground states? Forget about states, competitive or otherwise, that backed Democrat John Kerry in 2004.

The latest polls from all of them favor Democrat Barack Obama this year. (Indeed, the analysts at Real Clear Politics have in recent days moved four 2004 states Kerry states that were supposed to be battlegrounds this year -- Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- from "Leans Obama" status to "Solid Obama.")

What of the states that backed Republican George Bush in 2004? Where are they trending. Here's something to ponder:

In 2004, Bush secured the presidency with the electoral votes of: Colorado Florida Iowa Missouri Nevada New Mexico North Carolina Ohio Florida

As of today, the Real Clear Politics poll of polls for each state -- which averages all the recent surveys of voters -- has Obama winning every one of these battlegrounds. If the election were held today, and if the polls proved correct, Obama would win the Electoral College by a margin of 364 votes to 174 -- a split roughly parallel to that in the 1996 race between Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican Bob Dole.

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power" - Benito Mussolini

Gen. Petraeus agrees with Obama again

Withfeeling — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:59:51 EDT

Petraeus yesterday gave a talk at the Heritage Foundation in which he more or less echoed Barack Obama's views on negotiating with hostile foreign leaders:

QUESTION: One question, it came up in the debate last night, I know it has to do--
Petraeus: Oh, I'm not walking into minefields now [laughter from crowd). I try to go around --

QUESTION: It was a British general who said we must learn how to talk to our enemy. A british general -- not a U.S. Can you comment?

Petraeus: Well, all I would say -- I didn't actually see that, we were doing some other stuff last night -- look, I'm trying to go around minefields these days, not blunder into them. But I do think you have to talk to enemies.

I mean again, you've got to set things up, you've got to know who you're talking to, you've got to have your objectives straight, all the rest of this stuff. I mean, so I'm not trying to get into the middle of domestic politics. But I mean what we did do in Iraq ultimately was sit down with some of those that were shooting at us. What we tried to do was identify those who might be reconcilable.

source

See the video

Guilt by association

Withfeeling — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:50:49 EDT

McCain's associations continue to be increasingly interesting as well. We've known for a while that McCain has befriended a convicted felon who advised his supporters on how best to shoot federal officials, used the money of a convicted criminal to help buy a house, befriended a radical anti-Catholic televangelist, befriended a radical anti-American televangelist, was a long-time associate of Charles Keating, and hired for his campaign the publisher of a Confederate nostalgia magazine who has described Nelson Mandela as a "terrorist." This week, we also learned about McCain serving on the board of the extremist U.S. Council for World Freedom, where he worked alongside Iran-Contra figures, and a eugenics researcher studying "white superiority."

source

Enough of the hate and smears! Palin has skeletons of her own!

LuAnn in Indiana — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:14:01 EDT

McCain, Palin and the GOP want to talk about Bill Ayers and terrorists.......well it looks like they a Major problem. Please get this out there.

If Palin gets VP talk about anti American! She is stirring up hate wherever she goes. We have to say Enough!

This is not acceptable!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/index.html

We don't not need hate and partisanship stirred up. Palin is stirring it and McCain is letting her run free with whatever she wants to say. This country needs to work together to get us out of this mess we are in. Barack is the only one who has the intelligence, knowledge, temperament and vision for that great future.Let's all help Barack and make sure all the slurs and hate stops!

Enough!

LuAnn

Colorado ballot measures -- from Ken Gordon

Poway for Obama — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:05:14 EDT

from

Ken Gordon
Colorado Senate
Majority Leader

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

I know you're not actually dummies. That's why I'm sending this to you. This e-mail contains a brief discussion of the statewide ballot measures. I try to give enough information so that you can decide how to vote for yourself, although I will tell you where I stand so you can take my recommendation if you’d like. My recommendation is at the beginning of each section, right after the Amendment or Referenda number. Where possible, my recommendation is a link to a website with more information about each measure.

Don't skip the ballot measures and just vote for candidates. These ballot measures affect the schools your children attend, the roads you drive on, the air you breathe, the water you drink, your civil rights, and the welfare of Colorado's disabled citizens. When ordinary citizens don't participate, they create a vacuum that is filled by special interests who try to make a profit at your expense or advance an ideological interest that does not reflect your values.

On the inside cover of your Blue Book, there is a page that you can use to note your votes. You can take this with you to the polls. I urge all of you to vote early, or by mail. The ballot is long, and the turnout is expected to be huge. By voting early, or by mail, you take some of the pressure off of Election Day, and you may save yourself from having to wait in a long line.

Initiatives and referenda are two of the tools of direct democracy put into the Colorado Constitution during the Progressive Era at the turn of the last century. The people of Colorado felt, with reason, that their legislature at that time was controlled by the railroads and eastern trusts, and they wanted a way to create laws on their own. They did not want to have to rely on what they felt was a corrupt legislature.

This ballot contains fourteen initiatives, numbered 46 through 59, and four referenda, L through O. Referenda are referred by the legislature. That is how you can remember, referenda are referred. Initiatives arrive on the ballot without any legislative action, by petition. You have seen people collecting signatures at supermarkets. That is for initiatives.

Amendment 46: No This is a proposed Constitutional Amendment which will prevent Colorado government from using affirmative action programs. Its intent is to prevent universities or other government programs from considering race or gender when granting admission, a contract, or other benefit. Conservatives generally support this amendment, and those on the left side of the spectrum will generally vote "No." Since affirmative action programs in Colorado are narrowly tailored to correct the effects of past discrimination I will be voting no.

Amendment 47: No This is a proposed Constitutional Amendment that will prevent unions from bargaining for something called a "union shop." This proposal is called "Right to Work," and if it passes, it will make it very difficult to organize a union because every employee will get the benefit of the unions' collective barganing whether or not they support the union. There is no incentive to pay union dues. "Right to Work" has been proposed numerous times in the legislature and has never passed. Employees tend to earn less money and have fewer benefits in "Right to Work" states. The unions call it the "Right to Work for Less."
On October 2nd labor and the mainstream business community announced an agreement that labor would withdraw Amendments 53, 55, 56 and 57, and most of the business community has agreed to oppose 47, 49 and 54. I feel that labor and the mainstream business community acted as adults, ending a game of "chicken" that would have been bad for Colorado, so I am supportive of the agreement. The Governor and the mainstream business community asked the proponents of 47 to withdraw it when labor withdrew the amendments that the business community opposed. They refused. I believe they were excessively ideological and rigid, not caring sufficiently about the welfare of Colorado. Most of the business community does not feel that the balance between labor and business in Colorado is problematic, and they did not feel that 47 was necessary.
Amendment 48: No This is the proposed "Personhood" Constitutional Amendment. It says that as soon as an egg is fertilized by a sperm it becomes a "Person." The intent of the proponents is to create a test case in Colorado to challenge the US Supreme Court case "Roe v. Wade," which allows a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy. The proponents want this to be considered murder. I think the proponents have gone too far for their own good because under the provisions of this amendment, there could be no allowance for a pregnancy caused by rape or incest. Additionally, many kinds of birth control prevent a fertilized egg from implanting on the uterine wall, so this birth control would also cause the death of a "person." What is a woman who has an ectopic pregnancy supposed to do, and what is the doctor supposed to do with excess fertilized eggs after an in vitro procedure has been successful? The Amendment is extreme and will not make for a sympathetic case to take to the Supreme Court. If you take the position that a woman should never have the right to terminate her pregnancy, no matter what the reason, you should vote for this.

Amendment 49: No This Amendment is part of the package that the business and labor community agreed to oppose on October 2nd. The Amendment would prohibit public employee paycheck deductions for any purpose other than those listed in law. The purpose is to prevent union members from choosing to have their union dues automatically taken as deductions. This measure has consistently failed in the legislature.

Amendment 50: No recommendation This measure allows gaming communities to vote to raise their hours, stakes, and to add additional games. Increased tax revenue will go to community colleges. I'm torn. Community colleges certainly need the money, but I generally don't like to fund state services through gambling. I'm leaving you on your own on this one.

Amendment 51: Yes Colorado does a very poor job of funding services for people with disabilities (46th among the states). This statutory amendment raises state sales tax from 2.9% to 3.1% in order to provide these services. That is two cents on a ten dollar purchase. In terms of reducing human suffering, this is the best value you can get for your money, and it makes sense as an investment as well. Additional services provided at an early age to people with conditions like cerebral palsy, autism and Down's syndrome will significantly reduce the number of tax dollars that will be needed for long term care. These services can vastly improve the lives of our disabled population. Anyone with a heart should vote "yes" on this measure. The Rocky Mountain News editorialized in favor of this measure.

Amendment 52: No This amendment will take some of the current stream of severance taxes (taxes paid for the privilege of severing-or extracting-minerals, oil, and gas from the earth and selling them for private gain) and divert them to highway construction. Some of the losers, if this passes, are water projects, wildlife conservation, and low income energy assistance. We do need more money for highway construction, but this does not provide enough and takes away from other worthwhile projects.

Amendment 53: This measure has been withdrawn. It will appear on your ballot, but the votes will not be counted.

Amendment 54: No This measure will prevent labor unions and other contractors from making campaign contributions to political candidates under certain circumstances. I actually feel that money in politics does have a distorting effect and is one of the reasons that our governmental institutions tend to arrive at results that too often favor wealthy special interests. This Amendment, though, seems to take a disproportionate shot at labor unions and has very little effect on businesses. If we are going to try to reduce the influence of money, it should be done across the board and not be an attempt by one group to reduce the contributions of another while maintaining their own.

Amendment 55, 56 and 57: These measures have been withdrawn. They will appear on your ballot, but the votes will not be counted.

Amendment 58: Yes Currently Colorado has one of the lowest tax rates on the production of minerals and oil and gas of any of the eight large producing western states. Wyoming, for instance, has a tax rate twice that of Colorado and uses the money from this tax to send all of its graduating high school seniors with good grades to college. If Amendment 58 passes, it will raise about $300,000,000 for need-based college scholarships, development of renewable energy resources, wildlife habitat, transportation, and clean water projects. You need to know that the oil industry is spending millions of dollars on misleading advertising opposing this measure. The Amendment does not raise any tax that any ordinary Colorado citizen has to pay. The only contributors to the "No" campaign are oil and gas companies, and they are writing million-dollar checks. It is only fair that Colorado's citizens receive some of the benefit of this natural resource. Before too long it will be gone. It is appropriate for us to put some of the current proceeds into human capital by educating our young people, and to also support the next generation of energy. Governor Ritter is one of the proponents of this measure, and he has been taking quite a few shots for his position. We should support him and this measure because it is in all of our interests... unless you own a big oil and gas company (the small ones are exempted.).

Amendment 59: Yes This ballot measure is referred to as SAFE (Savings Account for Education). If SAFE passes it will put the money from future TABOR rebates into the State Education Fund. Colorado does a poor job funding education, and SAFE will help with this funding in future years. TABOR rebates only occur when the economy is in boom times, and the state collects more taxes than it spends, so there are no rebates expected in the next few years. However, in my view, the passage of SAFE is very important to Colorado's future. TABOR preserves the right of voters to vote on tax increases. If you believe that skimping on education is not a good strategy as we try to compete in a global market, then you will vote "Yes" on Amendment 59, SAFE.

Referendum L: Yes This measure reduces the age requirement for serving in the state legislature from 25 to 21. Many states do this, and the only people of this age who will end up serving are people who can convince a majority, first of their party that they deserve the nomination, and then of the general electorate that they are the best candidate. It might inspire young people to pay more attention to politics.

Referenda M and N: Yes These measures remove obsolete portions of the State Constitution. They are not controversial.

Referendum O: Yes This measure will decrease the number of signatures needed to put a statutory initiative on the ballot and increase the number of signatures needed to put a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot. It also increases the number of votes necessary to change a statutory initiative by subsequent legislative action. The idea is to channel more of the initiatives into statutes rather than the Constitution. Since a Constitution is supposed to be a document that expresses big, general principles rather than detail, I think this is a step in the right direction.

As always do not hesitate to write back with comments or questions. Please forward this email to your list and feel free to republish it in whole or in part in any format. If you know people who you think would like to receive these emails, send us their email addresses and we will add them to our list.

Sincerely,

Ken Gordon
Colorado Senate
Majority Leader

Rape victims were charged for "Rape Kits" while Palin was Mayor of Wasilla

Withfeeling — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:22:14 EDT

I hadn't before seen direct evidence that there actually were victims who where billed, but the Alaska Violent Crimes Compensation Board was getting appeals for payment from victims.

Watch the video

Keating-5 member thinks McCain more guilty

Withfeeling — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:25:46 EDT

Former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini told PolitickerAZ.com Monday that he thinks Sen. John McCain's involvement in the Keating Five scandal of the late '80s and early '90s is fair game as an issue in the presidential contest between the senator from Arizona and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

[...]

DeConcini was officially sanctioned as having acted inappropriately by calling two meetings between federal investigators and the Keating Five, in what was seen as an exercise in pressuring the feds to drop their investigation of Keating's activities.

[...]

"The question that should be raised is that McCain's big issue here is that he shouldn't have been at that meeting with the regulators that first time because he had a conflict. He took these three trips that he didn't report and his wife invested $350,000 with Keating," DeConcini said.

"You can criticize rest of us," he said, "but none of us had traveled with or invested with [Keating]."

To DeConcini, McCain was let off the hook too easily, due to the fact that McCain was a member of the U.S. House at the time of the meetings and the Senate concluded it didn't have jurisdiction to look into his unreported trips with Keating.

[...]

McCain's involvement should have been more scrutinized, especially the business relationship that existed between Cindy McCain, the senator's wife, and Keating.

Read the rest here

Facts about John McCain we need to share ASAP!

LuAnn in Indiana — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:58:17 EDT

These are facts about McCain, his family, his life and all the mistruths that he likes to brag about. Please take the time to watch these and you may be shocked.People everywhere have the right to know these things about John McCain.He is no maverick. He would be a disaster as President. He is strictly out for John McCain and has proven he will say or do anything to get elected.Please help Barack and share these facts. McCain’s campaign is getting nastier.

Thanks, LuAnn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06zsn5BuL3Y

http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/jnail/blog/&blogId=4588

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain/page/1

"The REAL Maverick"

Connie from Memphis, TN — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:46:58 EDT

Direct link to make copies- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v254/giveupdefunk/Barack-Hat2-Colorado.jpg

Hasn't this gone far enough!?

Withfeeling — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:57:28 EDT

Monday, October 06, 2008
"Kill him!", Palin supporter says of Obama in her presence. She says nothing.
John Aravosis (DC) · 10/06/2008 07:17:00 PM ET

On the heels of a McCain supporter yelling that Obama was a "terrorist" today - and McCain said nothing in response to admonish the supporter - the Washington Post reports (via ThinkProgress) that a Palin supporter at one of her rallies today yelled for Obama to be assassinated after Palin, again, told the lie that some of Obama's best friends are terrorists:

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said.

"Boooo!" said the crowd.

"And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

Palin went on to say that "Obama held one of the first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayers's living room, and they've worked together on various projects in Chicago."

Palin went on?

Just like she did when speakers at her church said that terrorist attacks against Israelis were "God's judgment" for Jews having the audacity not to embrace Christianity. Just like she did when a visiting witch doctor at her church lamented the fact that, as he claimed, Jews control the banking industry and that's why Wall Street is so corrupt. Not a word from Sarah Palin when her supporters talk of killing Barack Obama. Not a word from Sarah Palin when her own church talks of the propriety of launching terrorist attacks against Jews in Israel.

In one day, McCain's supporters are so enraged by McCain's new rhetoric, calling Obama an un-American terrorist sympathizer, that McCain's supporters are now labeling Obama himself a "terrorist" and calling for him to be killed.

And McCain has no problem with this. Nor does Sarah Palin.

source

VP Debate Watch Parties from all over Colorado

Greg Hauenstein — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:28:54 EDT

Thursday night, millions of people all over the country gathered around their TV sets to watch the Vice Presidential debate. What they saw in Joe Biden was what Barack saw in him when he made his decision to add Joe to the ticket: a man with deep understanding of the struggles of working families, a Senator with decades of experience dealing with crises all over the world, and a committed public servant who loves his country and wants to give everyone the same opportunities he and Barack had.

House parties were held all over Colorado and neighbors gathered together to watch and discuss what they saw. Amber was in downtown Denver. Her partner is currently serving in Iraq and she heard a clear difference between the two campaigns tonight:

"I agreed with Senator Biden. I feel he had a better articulated plan. His plan was clear about how we're going to get out and the importance of being transparent with the people about what our expectations are. "

Thursday night's debate shattered TV ratings and Americans saw a clear choice.

John McCain and Sarah Palin want four more years of a war that is draining the country of lives, money, and respect, four more years of a broken health care system, and four more years of economic policies that have left our communities and our financial markets in shambles.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden will end this war and bring our troops home to the care they deserve, Barack and Joe will create a health care system in this country that all can take part in, and Barack and Joe will get the economy back on its feet by giving tax cuts to the middle class famlies who need it and who are, as Joe said, "The economic engine of America..."

McCain should look in the mirror

Withfeeling — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 11:53:29 EDT

Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, defended his campaign's strategy.

"Americans need to ask themselves if they've ever befriended an unrepentant terrorist or had a convicted felon help them buy their house, because those aren't smears."

Check out McCain's relationship with G. Gordon Liddy or David Ifshin.

Check out McCain's relationship with Charles Keating.

Just in case you know someone who still respects John McCain ...

Withfeeling — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:58:57 EDT

Have them read this article in the current issue of Rolling Stone:

Make-Believe Maverick

A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty

and another from The New Republic:

Made Man by Noam Scheiber

How Cindy Hensley invented John McCain.

If you haven't seen this....

Withfeeling — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:00:33 EDT

Saturday, October 4, 2008
Not that it matters ...
Or does it?

This is a story from the Norwegian newspaper VG, the biggest newspaper in the country, from today's edition. Not that these things matter in today's dog-eat-dog world, but I found it quite touching, and I want to share.

Clarification for the literally minded: I do think these things matter, but I'm sure many will say that they don't. Anecdotal evidence, just a sappy human interest story, bla bla. Whatever. I think that this is a story that some may be interested in hearing. If you're not interested, cork it. I've translated the story into English and am posting it here. The original, in Norwegian, is here.

I'll be cross-posting this to the BookCrossing forum, since I'm sure there are some members there who will appreciate reading it.

I'm sorry about the annoyingly sappy language - this is a speculative tabloid so that's just how all their articles are.

Mary lacked money to fly home to Norway – he saved her love

ÅSGÅRDSTRAND (VG): Mary was a newlywed and ready to move to Norway, but was stopped at the airport because she didn’t have enough money for the trip. Then a stranger turned up and paid for her.

Mary Menth Andersen was 31 years old at the time and had just married Norwegian Dag Andersen. She was looking forward to starting a new life in Åsgårdstrand in Vestfold with him. But first she had to get all of her belongings across to Norway. The date was November 2nd, 1988.
At the airport in Miami things were hectic as usual, with long lines at the check-in counters. When it was finally Mary’s turn and she had placed her luggage on the baggage line, she got the message that would crush her bubbling feeling of happiness.
-You’ll have to pay a 103 dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway, the man behind the counter said.
Mary had no money. Her new husband had travelled ahead of her to Norway, and she had no one else to call.
-I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions, says Mary.

Although she explained the situation to the man behind the counter, he showed no signs of mercy.
-I started to cry, tears were pouring down my face and I had no idea what to do. Then I heard a gentle and friendly voice behind me saying, That’s OK, I’ll pay for her.
Mary turned around to see a tall man whom she had never seen before.
-He had a gentle and kind voice that was still firm and decisive. The first thing I thought was, Who is this man?
Although this happened 20 years ago, Mary still remembers the authority that radiated from the man.
-He was nicely dressed, fashionably dressed with brown leather shoes, a cotton shirt open at the throat and khaki pants, says Mary.
She was thrilled to be able to bring both her suitcases to Norway and assured the stranger that he would get his money back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper that he gave to Mary. She thanked him repeatedly. When she finally walked off towards the security checkpoint, he waved goodbye to her.

The piece of paper said ‘Barack Obama’ and his address in Kansas, which is the state where his mother comes from. Mary carried the slip of paper around in her wallet for years, before it was thrown out.
-He was my knight in shining armor, says Mary, smiling.
She paid the 103 dollars back to Obama the day after she arrived in Norway. At that time he had just finished his job as a poorly paid community worker* in Chicago, and had started his law studies at prestigious Harvard university.
In the spring of 2006 Mary’s parents had heard that Obama was considering a run for president, but that he had still not decided. They chose to write a letter in which they told him that he would receive their votes. At the same time, they thanked Obama for helping their daughter 18 years earlier.
In a letter to Mary’s parents dated May 4th, 2006 and stamped ‘United States Senate, Washington DC’, Barack Obama writes**:
‘I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I’m happy I could help back then, and I’m delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States senator’.
The parents sent the letter on to Mary.

This week VG met her and her husband in the café that she runs with her friend Lisbeth Tollefsrud in Åsgårdstrand.
-It’s amazing to think that the man who helped me 20 years ago may now become the next US president, says Mary delightedly.
She has already voted for Obama. She recently donated 100 dollars to his campaign.
She often tells the story from Miami airport, both when race issues are raised and when the conversation turns to the presidential elections.
-I sincerely hope the Americans will see reason and understand that Obama means change, says Mary.

*Not at all sure about this part of the translation. The Norwegian word used is 'miljøarbeider', I don't know what the exact English word for that is or even if there is one, and I don't know enough about Obama to say what job of his they're talking about.
**This is my translation of the reporter's translation of the letter. From English to Norwegian and back to English. So obviously it is not correct word for word.

source

The source has a picture of Mary with the letter.

The "old" John McCain and his 60's Radical Pal

Withfeeling — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:14:39 EDT

From Huffingtonpost.com

Marc Cooper
Posted October 5, 2008 | 01:46 PM (EST)
McCain's Own 60's Radical Pal
... until just a few years ago, McCain openly boasted not only about his passing friendship but also his deep collaboration with one of the most prominent of Vietnam-era student radicals, David Ifshin. The same David Ifshin who denounced America on Radio Hanoi as McCain sat locked up as a POW.

[...]

As the years passed, Ifshin - just like Ayers-- eventually moved into the American political mainstream. Ayers came out of the underground, took up education as a profession and staked himself out on the non-violent political left. Ifshin moved more quickly to the center and eventually became General Counsel to the Bill Clinton campaign as well as a prominent leader in pro-Israeli causes. But until the day he died, at age 47 in 1996, Ifshin never renounced nor apologized for his youthful, radical past.

In the meantime, and much to his credit, Senator John McCain forged a close personal friendship with Ifshin, as well as a working political alliance. Together they worked to establish the Institute for Democracy in Vietnam and partnered up on the issue of normalization of relations with Vietnam.

As recently as two years ago, speaking at Columbia College, McCain affectionately and warmly recalled his relationship with Ifshin saying:

"We worked together in an organization dedicated to promoting human rights in the country where he and I had once come for different reasons. I came to admire him for his generosity, his passion for his ideals, for the largeness of his heart, and I realized he had not been my enemy, but my countryman . . . my countryman ...and later my friend. His friendship honored me. We disagreed over much. Our politics were often opposed, and we argued those disagreements. But we worked together for our shared ideals."

[...]

The old John McCain was able to overcome his own repulsion against a young man who went on the radio station of the enemy who was holding and torturing him and built a warm friendship with him. If Obama were to run commercials today criticizing McCain for hanging out with the Tokyo Rose of the Vietnam era, it would be nearly as execrable as the McCain campaign's current smears around Bill Ayres.

source

Mail Ballot Hand In, Monday 7:45 AM

Mike Maday — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 18:50:33 EDT

El Paso County Obama Supporters,

Join us Monday morning, 7:45 AM at the El Paso County Election Department, Centennial Hall, Cascade and Vermijo, Downtown for a mail ballot drop off!

Nancy and I just voted for Barack Obama. Not for the first time: we voted for Barack at our precinct caucus, county convention, the CD 5 convention, state convention and I was honored to cast my vote for him at the DNC in August. You have all also supported this wonderful movement in a million ways, through the nomination and now in the general election. It has been a long, and many thought impossible, journey. But as we filled out our mail-in ballot this morning I realized this was the most important action we can take. This is the vote we can all finally cast that will make Senator Obama president and give our country the change we need. Mail-in ballots are easy (although the entire ballot took 45 minutes to complete as we researched the list of ballot initiatives).

Just after we received our mail ballot this weekend Bob Nemanich called with the same idea we were mulling: Let's be the first to actually register our vote for Senator Obama. So we're heading down to the El Paso County Election Department first thing tomorrow to drop off our ballots. If you have received your mail-in ballot, fill it out and join us!

What: Mail Ballot Drop-Off for Obama

Where: El Paso County Election Dept. Centennial Hall Cascade and Vermijo, Downtown Colorado Springs

When: 7:45 AM, Monday October 6 (Doors open at 8:00 AM)

Please spread the word about this event!

Yes We Can!

Mike Maday, Obama HD 21 Team 3 Coordinator 719.650.1782 resresco@att.net

Last Chance Workout OCT. 6 Tomorrow

Kentucky Woman — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 15:24:42 EDT

Tomorrow is your last chance to get friends, family members, Obama supporters, and yourself to register to vote. Call people you suspect may have forgotten the deadline. Make arrangements to get them to the office to vote. In KY you can register at the DMV or you can register at voter registration. Many states have early voting including Kentucky so You may be allowed to register to vote and vote the same day. Get it out of the way what ever state you are in, so that Nov. 4th you will be free to help out the campaign, through an "I voted party" or just celebrate with family and friends.

It is time for a change. We need all to Register to vote!!!

P.S. Don't just depend on mailing it! Go in person if you can!!

If they talk of William Ayers, will we talk about G. Gordon Liddy

Withfeeling — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:16:38 EDT

G. Gordon Liddy has much stronger ties with John McCain than William Ayers' to Barack.

As Media Matters for America has noted, Liddy served four and a half years in prison in connection with his conviction for his role in the Watergate break-in and the break-in at the office of the psychiatrist of Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Liddy has acknowledged preparing to kill someone during the Ellsberg break-in "if necessary"; plotting to murder journalist Jack Anderson; plotting with a "gangland figure" to murder Howard Hunt to stop him from cooperating with investigators; plotting to firebomb the Brookings Institution; and plotting to kidnap "leftist guerillas" at the 1972 Republican National Convention -- a plan he outlined to the Nixon administration using terminology borrowed from the Nazis. (The murder, firebombing, and kidnapping plots were never carried out; the break-ins were.) During the 1990s, Liddy reportedly instructed his radio audience on multiple occasions on how to shoot Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents and also reportedly said he had named his shooting targets after Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Liddy has donated $5,000 to McCain's campaigns since 1998, including $1,000 in February 2008. In addition, McCain has appeared on Liddy's radio show during the presidential campaign, including as recently as May. An online video labeled "John McCain On The G. Gordon Liddy Show 11/8/07" includes a discussion between Liddy and McCain, whom Liddy described as an "old friend." During the segment, McCain praised Liddy's "adherence to the principles and philosophies that keep our nation great," said he was "proud" of Liddy, and said that "it's always a pleasure for me to come on your program."
Additionally, in 1998, Liddy reportedly held a fundraiser at his home for McCain. Liddy was reportedly scheduled to speak at another fundraiser for McCain in 2000. The Charlotte Observer reported on January 23, 2000, that McCain's campaign vouched for Liddy's "character":

Read the rest here

Why is Liberty Legal Institute involved in Troopergate investigation?

Withfeeling — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:33:19 EDT

It strikes me as very odd that Liberty Legal Institute filed the suit to stop the Alaska Legislature's investigation of "Troopergate". Liberty Legal Institute is a religious free speech legal organization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This is their mission statement:

Mission Statement

To achieve expanded religious freedom and family autonomy through litigation and education designed to limit the government's power, increase the religious rights of citizens and promote parental rights.

They also say:

About Liberty Legal Institute
Liberty Legal Institute (LLI) is a 501(c)(3) organization that was founded in 1997 to protect religious freedoms and First Amendment rights for individuals, groups and churches. LLI offers its assistance pro bono to ensure all individuals and groups can thrive without the fear of governments restricting their freedoms.
Liberty Legal consists of staff attorneys and a network of over 120 dedicated litigators committed to successfully battling in the courts for:

    * Religious freedoms
    * Student's rights
    * Parental rights
    * The definition of family

These litigators donate their professional expertise and time to fight for these sacred freedoms. Liberty Legal Institute is headquartered in Plano, Texas with affiliate offices located in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Fort Worth, Midland and Lubbock.

What does this have to do with Troopergate? This case stands out like a sore thumb in the list of cases they have been involved in. Just wondering....

One percent

Mike from Lansing, MI — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:58:11 EDT

1%, or 1 vote out of 100

There have been 12 Presidential elections that were decided by less than a 1% margin; meaning if less than 1% of the voters in certain states had changed their mind to the other candidate the outcome of the entire election would have been different. More than half were decided by less than a 2% margin.

In 2004,    57,787 votes would have given us President Kerry.
In 2000,    269 votes would have given us President Gore
In 1996,    575,515 votes would have given us President Dole.

From ABC News:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html

==========
"Squeakers"
Ned Potter
ABC News
September 29, 2008

How close have Presidential elections been? Closer, perhaps, than we ever guessed. Mike Sheppard, a grad student in statistics at Michigan State, has done a mathematical exercise that shows it.

He ran a computer program to answer this question: "What is the smallest number of total votes that need to be switched from one candidate to another, and from which states, to affect the outcome of the election?"

The answer: in some years, very, very few. Take a look at his analysis HERE. It shows the powerful interaction between the popular vote and the electoral college.

[...]
==========

Full article here:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2008/09/squeakers.html

Detailed analysis here, including colored maps:
https://www.msu.edu/~sheppa28/elections.html

-Mike Sheppard

McCain says everyone thinks Palin is "Ready"

Withfeeling — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:57:05 EDT

McCain says everyone thinks Palin is "Ready" .

McCain got particularly testy when asked about his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and whether she has the experience to be president. Told that there are people who think she's not ready, McCain turned sarcastic.
"Really," he said with mock surprise. "I haven't detected that.... Now, if there's a Georgetown cocktail party person who, quote, calls himself a conservative, and doesn't like her, good luck, good luck, fine."
source

Maybe he has been reading the same newspapers that Palin has been reading.

In an interview aired Tuesday on "The CBS Evening News," anchor Katie Couric asked Palin what publications she had read to stay informed and to understand the world.
"I've read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media," Palin replied. Asked for examples, she said, "Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years."
Asked again for an example, Palin told Couric: "I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news, too. Alaska isn't a foreign country, where it's kind of suggested, 'Wow, how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, D.C., may be thinking when you live up there in Alaska?' Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America."
source

DONATE! DONATE! DONATE!

NinaE Loving Obama in Jeffco, Colorado! — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:18:02 EDT

DONATE DONATE DONATE ... doesn't matter the amount, just donate what you can. If you think things are in a horrible shape now, let the "Palin/McCain", ticket (in that order)make it to Washington. We're going to be in even deeper "stuff". Please it's very important. Try to meet the midnight deadline. Donate!!!!!! I can't say it enough. I'm writing and sending emails all over. Show your support. It really matters! Loving the Obama family! Go guys! great work!

McCain in the Membrane

Steve B — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:50:14 EDT

Apologies to Keith O. for stealing the title. John McCain pissed me off last night. I know, in my mind that he used the word "intermarry" intentionally; despite the protests of concern trolls and wingnuts. It was so blatently "Lee Atwater-ish" it wasn't even funny. And what is with calling Senator Obama a "chairperson" instead of chairman? What was that code for? And the way McCain intoned "tribes," it was to me anyway, a subliminal wink to the sheet-wearing crowd. Republican strategists are masters of framing and word-smithing and of course working the refs. One just wishes they were half as good at governing during things like, I don't know, before 9/11 to start with... everyone should know the rest... a veritable tome of disaster after disaster. Perhaps Naomi is on to something with that book, "Disaster Capitalism."

~ Steve

OBAMA: THE LEADER WE NEED, WE ALL SAW IT TONIGHT!!

Unknown user — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:34:59 EDT

Obama was strong and composed.....while McCain was all over the board and I found rude and disrespectful many a times.....ABC is giving the node to Obama......CNN is praising Obama for standing firm against McCain.....McCain looked awfully old and too sarcastic.....too much into the past, meanwhile Obama always looked to the future.....we vote for presidents who will shape our future.....not a repeat of our past.....by the way, McCain seemed to be always in the past....going back to Reagan.....is my memory correct that Reagan committed a huge mistake with Iran?.....Like maybe The Iran Contra affair????......Let us all be proud....so very proud of our man of vision.....he stood tall tonight in a debate which coming in was not his greatest strength but you know what.......he was not only great......he was composed.....while McCain looked like a wild cowboy from those movies from way back....no offense to any cowboys out there....THE POLLS FROM CNN HAS GIVEN OBAMA THE WIN.....THE GAME HAS BEGUN AND OUR MAN SHOWED HE IS MORE THAN READY.......NOW WE SHOW EVERYONE.......OUR FELLOW AMERICANS AND PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD JUST HOW STRONG AND UNITED WE ARE BEHIND OUR CANDIDATE.....WILL WORK EVEN HARDER....DONATE....AND DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO ELECT AN ASTOUNDING INDIVIDUAL AS OUR NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA....."BARACK OBAMA"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IN HIS OWN WORDS...THERE IS NO RED AMERICA...THERE IS NO BLUE AMERICA....WE WITH OBAMA WILL BECOME THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!

GOD BLESS YOU ALL........OBAMA/BIDEN.....AND YES HILLARY 08

CREATIVE IDEA FOR MAKING THE CHANGE A REALITY

Cara — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:42:35 EDT

Thanks to my friend Karen Nicholson, I have discovered a book that I feel is a MUST-READ for anyone who is concerned about our curent economic crisis, the environment, and the legacy we are leaving our children: Capitalism 3.0 by Peter Barnes. I have never before felt so motivated to share a book with others!!This book offers an astounding new notion for transforming our current version of capitalism that is rapidly self-destructing. Barnes outlines a plan for revising our capitalist operating system through the introduction a third component, a "commons trust," to the private enterprise/government duality we have today. Our current system gives too much power to corporations who maximize profits while devouring the "commons"--the basic air, land, water and other resources that belong to us all. Barnes' revised version of capitalism offers protection for the commons through a commons trust that defends and protects the commons by limiting the use of scarce commons, charges rent, and pays dividends to everyone (somewhat like Alaska manages its oil resources.) This practical alternative to our current flawed economic system points a way to realize Obama's vision for the future in a way that retains the virtues of capitalism while mitigates its negatives.This is a small, easy-to-read-and-understand book that in my opinion warrants a national dialogue through book clubs and discussion groups formed for the purpose of introducing this potential solution to the current crisis of our democratic, capitalistic society. I invite each of you to: 1) contact your local library to ask them to purchase it if they do not have it 2) read the book yourself 3) recommend it to friends and family 4) suggest the title for your book club or investment club to discuss (if you belong to one) or 5) start a discussion group to read the book 6) Contact your national, state and local political leaders to recommend the bookCara KochChange will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change we seek. B. Obama

Now isn't this interesting! Part II

Withfeeling — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:44:19 EDT

September 24, 2008 McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac By JACKIE CALMES and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

The disclosure undercuts a statement by Mr. McCain on Sunday night that the campaign manager, Rick Davis, had had no involvement with the company for the last several years.

Mr. Davis’s firm received the payments from the company, Freddie Mac, until it was taken over by the government this month along with Fannie Mae, the other big mortgage lender whose deteriorating finances helped precipitate the cascading problems on Wall Street, the people said.

They said they did not recall Mr. Davis’s doing much substantive work for the company in return for the money, other than speak to a political action committee of high-ranking employees in October 2006 on the approaching midterm Congressional elections. They said Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis & Manafort, had been kept on the payroll because of Mr. Davis’s close ties to Mr. McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, who by 2006 was widely expected to run again for the White House.

Mr. Davis took a leave from Davis & Manafortfor the presidential campaign, but as a partner and equity-holder continues to benefit from its income. No one at Davis & Manafort other than Mr. Davis was involved in efforts on Freddie Mac’s behalf, the people familiar with the arrangement said.

[...]

Freddie Mac’s roughly $500,000 in payments to Davis & Manafort began immediately after Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in late 2005 disbanded an advocacy coalition that they had set up and hired Mr. Davis to run, the people familiar with the arrangement said.

From 2000 to the end of 2005, Mr. Davis had received nearly $2 million as president of the coalition, the Homeownership Alliance, which the companies created to help them oppose new regulations and protect their status as federally chartered companies with implicit government backing. That status let them borrow cheaply, helping to fuel rapid growth but also their increased purchases of the risky mortgage securities that were their downfall.

[...]

At least two other people associated with Mr. McCain have ties to either Freddie Mac. The lobbying firm of the Republican that Mr. McCain has enlisted to plan his transition to the White House should he be elected, William Timmons Sr., earned nearly $3 million from Freddie Mac between 2000 and its seizure, federal lobbying records show. Mr. Timmons is founder of Timmons & Co., one of Washington’s best-known lobbying shops. The payments were first reported by Bloomberg News.

Mark Buse, Mr. McCain’s chief of staff for his Senate office, also is a Freddie Mac alumnus. He and his former lobbying employer, ML Strategies, registered to lobby for the company in July 2003, and received $460,000 before the association ended after 2004.

source

Humane Society Fund endorses Obama/Biden

Jeanne — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:26:37 EDT

For the first time ever, the Humane Society Fund endorses a candidate for President! Please send this along to your friends who love animals. Below is most of the text of the endorsement. You can view their entire statement at the Fund’s blog : http://hslf.typepad.com/political_animal/

*********************************
Humane Society Legislative Fund Endorses Obama-Biden

One of the guiding principles of the Humane Society Legislative Fund is that we evaluate candidates based on a single criterion: where they stand on animal protection policies. We don’t make decisions based on party affiliation, or any other social issue, or even how many pets they have. We care about their views and actions on the major policy debates relating to animal welfare.

I’m proud to announce today that the HSLF board of directors—which is comprised of both Democrats and Republicans—has voted unanimously to endorse Barack Obama for President. The Obama-Biden ticket is the better choice on animal protection, and we urge all voters who care about the humane treatment of animals, no matter what their party affiliation, to vote for them.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has been a solid supporter of animal protection at both the state and federal levels. As an Illinois state senator, he backed at least a dozen animal protection laws, including those to strengthen the penalties for animal cruelty, to help animal shelters, to promote spaying and neutering, and to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. In the U.S. Senate, he has consistently co-sponsored multiple bills to combat animal fighting and horse slaughter, and has supported efforts to increase funding for adequate enforcement of the Animal Welfare Act, Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, and federal laws to combat animal fighting and puppy mills.

In his response to the HSLF questionnaire, he pledged support for nearly every animal protection bill currently pending in Congress, and said he will work with executive agencies such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to make their policies more humane. He wrote of the important role animals play in our lives, as companions in our homes, as wildlife in their own environments, and as service animals working with law enforcement and assisting persons with disabilities.

Importantly, Obama’s running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) has been a stalwart friend of animal welfare advocates in the Senate, and has received high marks year after year on the Humane Scorecard. Biden has not only supported animal protection legislation during his career, but has also led the fight on important issues. He was the co-author with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in the 108th Congress on legislation to ban the netting of dolphins by commercial tuna fishermen. He was the lead author of a bill in the 107th Congress to prohibit trophy hunting of captive exotic mammals in fenced enclosures, and he successfully passed the bill through the Senate Judiciary Committee.

On the Republican ticket, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has also supported some animal protection bills in Congress, but has been inattentive or opposed to others. He has voted for and co-sponsored legislation to stop horse slaughter, and voted to eliminate a $2 million subsidy for the luxury fur coat industry. But he has largely been absent on other issues, and has failed to co-sponsor a large number of priority bills or sign onto animal protection letters that have had broad support in the Senate.

The McCain campaign did not fill out the HSLF presidential questionnaire, and has also not issued any public statements on animal welfare issues. He was silent during the downed animal scandal and beef recall, which played out during a high-point in the primary fight. Yet he did speak at the NRA convention earlier this year, and is the keynote speaker this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, at the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance rally—an extremist organization that defends the trophy hunting of threatened polar bears and captive shooting of tame animals inside fenced pens.

While McCain’s positions on animal protection have been lukewarm, his choice of running mate cemented our decision to oppose his ticket. Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R-Alaska) retrograde policies on animal welfare and conservation have led to an all-out war on Alaska’s wolves and other creatures. Her record is so extreme that she has perhaps done more harm to animals than any other current governor in the United States.

Palin engineered a campaign of shooting predators from airplanes and helicopters, in order to artificially boost the populations of moose and caribou for trophy hunters. She offered a $150 bounty for the left foreleg of each dead wolf as an economic incentive for pilots and aerial gunners to kill more of the animals, even though Alaska voters had twice approved a ban on the practice. This year, the issue was up again for a vote of the people, and Palin led the fight against it—in fact, she helped to spend $400,000 of public funds to defeat the initiative.

What’s more, when the Bush Administration announced its decision to list the polar bear as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, Palin filed a lawsuit to reverse that decision. She said it’s the “wrong move” to protect polar bears, even though their habitat is shrinking and ice floes are vanishing due to global warming.

The choice for animals is especially clear now that Palin is in the mix. If Palin is put in a position to succeed McCain, it could mean rolling back decades of progress on animal issues.

Voters who care about protecting wildlife from inhumane and unsporting abuses, enforcing the laws that combat large-scale cruelties like dogfighting and puppy mills, providing humane treatment of animals in agriculture, and addressing other challenges that face animals in our nation, must become active over the next six weeks to elect a president and vice president who share our values. Please spread the word, and tell friends and family members that an honest assessment of the records of the two presidential tickets leads to the inescapable conclusion that Obama-Biden is the choice for humane-minded voters.

Crash course for Palin on Foreign Policy!!!

Unknown user — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:04:24 EDT

This is both a big joke and sad in a way, a V.P. candidate needing to be coached on foreign policy because she knows next to nothing???.......and the McCain camp trying to dictate the rules to the V.P. debate?.....does she know anything?.......Read this article below!!!!!!!!!

Here is a CNN article! I guess, while Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, they were charging women up to $1,000 for rape exams. This is just sick and needs to get out. Of course she says she didn't know it was going on, but that is irrelevant. The fact is that if she did know, it ruins her credibility on womens issues. But the other fact we can take from this is that if she really didn't know it was happening, that shows poor leadership. If doesn't know that something so significant, in a town of 7,000 people is going on, how is she going to know what is going on in a country of millions. Anyways, here's the article, pass it on: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.rape.exams/index.html

Oink, Squeal - Unspeakably Greedy

Withfeeling — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:39:06 EDT

Last Year's Big Five Wall Street Bonuses

September 22, 2008 7:12 AM

As the Bush Administration asks for close to a trillion dollars to prevent a worldwide financial cataclysm, here are some numbers you might find interesting -- courtesy of the ABC News Research Center and ABC News' Barbara Paulson.

In 2007, Wall Street's five biggest firms-- Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley - paid a record $39 billion in bonuses to themselves.

That's $10 billion more than the $29 billion loan taxpayers are making to J.P. Morgan to save Bear Stearns.

Those 2007 bonuses were paid even though the shareholders in those firms last year collectively lost about $74 billion in stock declines --their worst year since 2002.

If split equally among the approximately 186,000 workers at the former Big Five Houses, that bonus money means an average of $201,500 per person -- more than four times the $48,201 median household income in the U.S. last year.

-- jpt

source

Now isn't this interesting!

Withfeeling — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:21:31 EDT

The New York Times
September 22, 2008
Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and CHARLES DUHIGG

Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say.

...

several current and former executives of the companies came forward to discuss the role that Rick Davis, Mr. McCain’s campaign manager and longtime adviser, played in helping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac beat back regulatory challenges when he served as president of their advocacy group, the Homeownership Alliance, formed in the summer of 2000. Some who came forward were Democrats, but Republicans, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed their descriptions.

“The value that he brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again,” said Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae, who said that while he worked there from 2000 to 2002, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together paid Mr. Davis’s firm $35,000 a month. Mr. Davis “didn’t really do anything,” Mr. McCarson, a Democrat, said.

Mr. Davis’s role with the group has bubbled up as an issue in the campaign, but the extent of his compensation and the details of his role have not been reported previously.

...

At the time that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recruited Mr. Davis to run the Homeownership Alliance in 2000, they were under new pressure from private industry rivals and deregulation-minded Republicans who argued that the two companies’ federal sponsorship gave them an unfair advantage and put taxpayers at risk. Critics of the companies had formed their own Washington-based advocacy group, FM Watch. They were pushing for regulations that would deter the companies from expanding into new areas, including riskier and more profitable mortgages.

source