Category Archives: US Senate

Patty Murray, WA senator, Extreme liberal, Murray debates Dino Rossi, October 14, 2010

Patty Murray, WA senator, Extreme liberal, Murray debates Dino Rossi, October 14, 2010

Patty Murray, the ultra liberal senator from WA state, debates Dino Rossi tonight. I recently heard Glenn Beck on his radio show describe how Murray is on the side of illegal aliens and takes extreme positions in support of their “rights” while not working to secure jobs for her home state.

The debate can be viewed here:

http://www.kxly.com/index.html

From the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.

““It was announced that Washington State lost another 9,300 jobs. Instead of fighting for Washington families, Patty Murray is focusing on providing amnesty for illegal aliens and the partisan DISCLOSE act, which Murray hopes will distract voters from focusing on her record of taxing, spending and growing government.”
“Wasting valuable time in the Senate that could be used to stimulate private sector job growth and real financial reform that helps American families, Senator Murray is asking the Senate to take up two partisan bills which will not create or save jobs here in Washington State. This is just another attempted diversion from the real issues by Senator Murray. It is clear she would prefer to focus on Washington, D.C. politics than put Washingtonians back to work.””

Read more:

http://kpbj.com/headlines/elections/2010-10-13/murray_avoids_the_most_important_issue

From the Seattle Times.

“Murray was one of only 19 members of the Senate to oppose a 2006 authorization to build a 700-mile fence along one-third of the southern U.S. border. Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell opposed it as well.
Murray also voted against declaring English the nation’s official tongue, which would have barred the government from issuing communications in other languages. She also opposed a Senate proposal to bar immigrants from collecting Social Security benefits they earned while working without legal status.
Rossi, by contrast, wants to deter illegal immigrants with both physical and legal barriers. He repeatedly has called for erecting the remaining planned fence along the Mexico border to reduce illegal crossings.
Rossi also opposes allowing any of the estimated 11 million people already in the United States illegally to apply for legal residency. However, he hasn’t called for deporting them. He has offered no options, saying he hasn’t “heard a good solution for the people that are already here that makes sense.””

“First introduced nine years ago in a different form, the DREAM Act covers certain illegal immigrants who are younger than 35. Immigrants who were 16 or younger when they entered the United States at least five years ago and who have completed high school or attained GED certificates could attain a six-year temporary residency.
The qualified immigrants then could become permanent U.S. residents by completing at least two years of college or serving two years in the military.
Murray said she supports it. Rossi, along with virtually all Republicans, opposes it as “nothing more than a backdoor amnesty bill.””

Read more:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2012952511_senateimmigration21m.html

Mr. Smith goes to Washington, 2010 elections, People not platitudes, Citizen Wells open thread, October 4, 2010

Mr. Smith goes to Washington, 2010 elections, People not platitudes

I had already generally decided what I was going to write this morning by late afternoon yesterday. Later I discovered that TCM was playing “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” starring Jimmy Stewart. Of course I had to watch it again. Perhaps the movie is a bit sentimental, a bit schmaltzy. Well, I like it and I like what the movie and Jimmy Stewart stand for. I am also reminded of another favorite of mine, “It’s a Wonderful Life” also starring Jimmy Stewart where Stewart speaks of all the everyday people who do the living and the dying.

We often speak in platitudes that involve patriotism, the flag, the US Constitution and lofty ideals, but what does this really mean? Jimmy Stewart, in the movie speaks of being free when his ancestors were not. We certainly should never take our freedom for granted. But it also means justice for all and a level playing field of opportunity. In simple terms it means working together for our common safety and prosperity.

When I began covering the issues surrounding Obama, the 2008 elections and the takeover of this country by un American elements, many people in my life questioned my zeal. I explained to them that I had never experienced or read about anything so radical, so drastic happening in this country before. And when  I say that, I include the American Civil War. Many people I talked to could not understand my motives. Of course, they were not really paying attention. They were lulled into a false sense of security. Many were fooled by a promise of change, a sense of a better world, a better life, not unlike the surreal world that played out for the German people in the early 1930’s.

I was concerned then as I am now that the world that I grew up in, where there were people like “Mr. Smith” who believed in what this country stood for and were willing to sacrifice all to defend it was disappearing. That we were entering a world more like that of “1984” by George Orwell where people are not free to live and think and speak out.

Over the past several years I have been watching the economy falter and our Justice system decline. I have watched the news of the housing market and jobs data go from bad to worse. This has been troubling on the macro level. The big picture. But what does all of this really mean?

Here is where this really hits home. This is why I and so many of you have been fighting to save this country. In my daily life I have watched as those around me have lost faith in the institutions of our country. As they have lost faith in obtaining jobs and in supporting their family and most importantly in the future of this country.

It really hits you in the face in the despair you see in the countenance of a friend, who is fighting depression from struggles on many fronts. The economy is not helping. In the checkout line yesterday at the grocery store, the lady who took my money seemed frazzled. She told me that she was working 3 jobs and about to divorce her husband. God bless her.

It really hits home when you hear of a real tragedy. A lady I know recently lost her son in law. He committed suicide. He was around 40, had 3 children and had been out of work for over a year and a half.

This is what the platitudes are all about. People. People with a common bond to live free, raise their families in a safe environment with hope for the future. This is why we must continue to fight to save this country. That is what it is all about.

The 2010 elections are less than a month away. We must do everything in our power to change Congress.

November 2, 2010, Buh bye congress, Vote jackasses out, Video, Citizen Wells open thread, September 18, 2010

November 2, 2010, Buh bye congress, Vote jackasses out

We can do it. We must do it.

From Citizen Wells March 23, 2010.

“We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”…Abraham Lincoln

Buh

Bye

Congress

 

Obama and the Democrat controlled congress have won a skirmish or battle. They will  not win the war. Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are liars and hypocrites. We now know that Bart Stupak and many other Democrats in Congress are also liars and hypocrites as well as being un American. They have made it easy to identify who to vote out in November.

Nancy Pelosi may not be voted out anytime soon, but her power as Speaker of the House is coming to an end.

It’s The People’s House, Not Pelosi’s House

“Republicans in Congress have listened to your concerns in the debate over health care.  They’ve fought hard to make the voices of the people who opposed this bill heard in the halls of Washington, D.C.  In fact, by any objective account, they won the debate.   Unfortunately, the only side of the debate that matters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is her own.
After all her wrong-headed policies and failed promises, we know she isn’t listening to the people’s voice and isn’t doing the People’s business.  It’s her business, her agenda that she fights for – and a radically flawed agenda it is.
Over the last year, Pelosi promised to preside over the most open and transparent government, yet even her own Democrats admit they simply “aren’t transparent;”she promised to create jobs, yet America has lost 3.3 million since the passage of her maligned stimulus bill; she promised to legislate with a spirit of bipartisanship, yet Democrats say “they have been explicitly told not to work with Republicans.”  Now, despite overwhelming opposition from the American people, she’s forced her health care bill through the House Chamber, after calling opponents of government-run health care “un-American.”
This is exactly why, in the few hours since Madam Speaker passed her government-run health care bill, Americans have donated more than $600,000 (far exceeding our original goal of $402010) to fire Speaker Pelosi and help Republicans regain the majority in 2010 to reverse the damage she has done.”

Read more:
http://www.gop.com/index.php/chairman_steele/comments/ita1

Rep. Jeff Flake, US Constitution Hall of Shame, Flake does not understand Constitution or does not care, Citizen Wells challenge to Rep. Flake

Rep. Jeff Flake, US Constitution Hall of Shame, Flake does not understand Constitution or does not care, Citizen Wells challenge to Rep. Flake

From now until the November elections, I will focus attention on 3 topics.

  • Keeping the Blagojevich and Obama corruption before the American people, despite the best efforts of the Justice Dept. and media to keep it hidden until after November.
  • Highlighting the Obama eligibility issues in support of LTC Terry Lakin.
  • November Elections – Emphasizing voter turnouts, minimizing voter fraud and highlighting congressmen who need attitude adjustments.

Before the 2008 elections a great effort was made on this blog and elsewhere to educate congress and other officials about Obama’s eligibility issues. The US Constitution Hall of Shame was initiated to highlight those with ignorance of and disregard for the Constitution. It is time for another inductee, Rep. Jeff Flake of Arizona.  Sharon Rondeau at the Post & Email has presented an article on Rep. Flake that is shocking on many levels. Hats off to  Sharon Rondeau and the Post & Email for another great effort.

“Another “Flake” in Congress refuses to address eligibility question
 
CONGRESSMAN TO CONSTITUENT:  ASK MY OPPONENT ABOUT OBAMA’S ELIGIBILITY”

“From:  Concerned Citizen
Subject: Re: campaign
To:  “Jeff Flake” <jflake@gmail.com>
Date:  Sunday, August 8, 2010, 8:41 PM
I want to know when your going to uphold and defend the constitution as you swore to? You cannot not just pick and choose which parts to uphold and defend,  either its all or get out.  I must say you did respond to me once about obamas eligibility to hold office and your answer was bogus, and for that matter laughable.  Why is a military hero ( Lt Col Terry Lakin) being court martial for asking?

You told me to look on snopes and factcheck to see his birth certificate. I say its a fake and it needs to be investigated.  There are so many questions left unanswered.  Admit it obama could not get a security clearance to work in the mail room at Capitol Hill yet he is president.  Obama could have been born in the Oval Office and delivered by the Supreme Court and still not be eligible.  Now when are you going to actually look at facts and call the usurper out?   I bet if you actually looked into it you will be amazed at the evidence against him plus all the other treasonous acts he has committed he should have been taken out of the white house in handcuffs days after being sworn in.  How can you sleep at night knowing there is a usurper in the White House?  You know he is ineligible, he knows it, the whole Congress knows it,  the Supreme Court knows it and most of America knows it, and yet it is being swept under the rug.  I consider it treason sir.  What will you do if the truth finally sees the light of day?  Here is a list of documents not released by obama which should be released by a President.

Passport records, Obama kindergarten records, Punahou School records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, University of Chicago scholarly articles, Illinois State Bar Association records, Illinois State Senate records/schedules(said to be lost), Medical records, Obama/Dunham marriage license, Obama/Dunham divorce documents, Soetoro/Dunham marriage license, Adoption records and of course the long-form Certificate of Live Birth. All financial aid records, any forgein citizenship records. I am positive I will not get a response to this.  I will not stop asking until the truth comes out either way.  I just want the truth.  What has been presented so far is not the truth.  When will you ask “The Question” on the floor?

And Rep. Flake’s reply was:

From: Jeff Flake <jflake@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: campaign
To:  Concerned Citizen
Date: Sunday, August 8, 2010, 8:58 PM

I don’t often agree with President Obama, but he is my President.  I don’t question his legitimacy.  I just hope we can elect a Republican in 2012.

Jeff”

“From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
“Jeff Flake”
Add sender to Contacts
To:
“Concerned Citizen”

Barak Obama is the President of the United States, legally elected and properly sworn in. That is my answer.

Best regards,

Jeff”

Read more:

http://www.thepostemail.com/2010/09/14/another-flake-in-congress-refuses-to-address-eligibility-question/

Citizen Wells challenge to Rep. Flake.

Jeff, you wrote: 

“Barak Obama is the President of the United States, legally elected and properly sworn in. That is my answer.”

You left out the mandate from the US Constitution about being a natural born citizen.

Rep. Jeff Flake, this is a direct challenge from Citizen Wells. Answer the following question:

“Why has Obama, for over 2 years, employed numerous private and government attorneys to avoid presenting a legitimate birth certificate and college records?”…Citizen Wells and millions of concerned Americans

November 2, 2010, Remove jackasses from Congress, Citizen Wells open thread, September 14, 2010

November 2, 2010, Remove jackasses from Congress

I first read the following many months ago. I received it again in an email last night. It is worthy of reprinting.

“The Mule

Curtis & Leroy saw an ad in the Starkville Daily News Newspaper
In Starkville, MS.
And bought a mule for $100.
The farmer agreed to deliver the mule the next day
The next morning the farmer drove up and said,
“Sorry, fellows, I have some bad news, the mule died
last night.
Curtis & Leroy replied, “Well, then just give us our money back.”
The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.”
They said, “OK then, just bring us the dead mule.”
The farmer asked, “What in the world ya’ll gonna do with a dead mule?”
Curtis said, “We gonna raffle him off.”
The farmer said, “You can’t raffle off a dead mule!”
Leroy said, “We shore can! Heck, we don’t hafta tell nobody he’s dead!”
A couple of weeks later, the farmer ran into Curtis & Leroy at the Piggly
Wiggly grocery store and asked “What’d you fellers ever do with that Dead mule?
They said,”We raffled him off like we said we wuz gonna do..
Leroy said,”Shucks, we sold 500 tickets fer two dollars apiece and made A
profit of $898.”
The farmer said,”My Lord, didn’t anyone complain?”
Curtis said, “Well, the feller who won got upset.
So we gave him his two Dollars back.”
Curtis and Leroy now work for the government.
They’re overseeing the Bailout Program.
Limit all US politicians to two terms.
One in office One in prison
Illinois already does this!
GOD BLESS AMERICA

“Democracy is two wolves and a
lamb deciding what to have for dinner. Liberty
is a well-armed lamb.” Benjamin Franklin”

Shirley Sherrod story, Rest of story, Media coverage, Pigford v Glickman, Obama, Citizen Wells open thread, August 27, 2010

Shirley Sherrod story, Rest of story, Media coverage, Pigford v Glickman, Obama

Has anyone out there heard Fox or any other major media player cover the complete Shirley Sherrod story and her connection to the controversy in the Pigford v Glickman payouts to black farmers? This story has been hovering in my mind for several weeks.

On February 23, 2010 Drill Down reported the following.

“Last Thursday, February 18th, 2010; the United States Department of Agriculture agreed to pay “Black Farmers” an additional 1.25 billion dollars to settle a previously “settled” class action discrimination suit.”

“Accordingly, in the 2008 “Farms Bill” House version known as “H.R.2419 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008” section “4012. DETERMINATION ON MERITS OF PIGFORD CLAIMS,” inserted 100 million dollars for money to be paid for those claimants denied due to untimely filing. A corresponding provision was inserted into the Senate version of the Bill by then Senator Barack Obama. In a public statement, NBFA President John Boyd Jr. explained that it would take “billions” to settle the claims, but that “he had to accept” the 100 million to keep the suit alive.

Last Thursday, Obama, Holder, and the USDA, proved Boyd correct by agreeing to pay an additional 1.15 billion dollars to honor the “late” filers under the original settlement. There are now more than 70,000 claims of discrimination pending adjudication. Yes, that’s 70,000 IN ADDITION TO the original 22,000 claims; making the total number of claims almost 100,000. Or, roughly 4 times more than the total number of black farms in existence at the time of the alleged discrimination. The allocated funds which now exceed 2 billion dollars, will clearly be insufficient to honor all of the pending claims.”

Read more:

http://drilldown.blogtownhall.com/2010/02/23/back_door_reparations___pigford_ii_-_usda_settlement.thtml

American Thinker reported the following on July 21, 2010.

“Shirley Sherrod’s quick dismissal from the Obama administration may have had less to do with her comments on race before the NAACP than her long involvement in the aptly named Pigford case, a class action against the US government on behalf of black farmers alleging that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) had discriminated against black farmers during the period from 1983 through 1997.”

“So where does Sherrod come into this picture?  In a special to the Washington Examiner, Tom Blumer explains  that Sherrod and the group she formed along with family members and others, New Communities. Inc. received the largest single settlement under Pigford.
 … New Communities is due to receive approximately $13 million ($8,247,560 for loss of land and $4,241,602 for loss of income; plus $150,000 each to Shirley and Charles for pain and suffering). There may also be an unspecified amount in forgiveness of debt. This is the largest award so far in the minority farmers law suit (Pigford vs Vilsack).
What makes this even more interesting to me is that Charles appears to be Charles Sherrod, who was a big player in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the early 1960s.  The SNCC was the political womb that nurtured the Black Power movement and the Black Panthers before it faded away.
Blumer has some questions about this settlement and about Sherrod’s rapid departure from the USDA
•Was Ms. Sherrod’s USDA appointment an unspoken condition of her organization’s settlement?
•How much “debt forgiveness” is involved in USDA’s settlement with New Communities?
•Why were the Sherrods so deserving of a combined $300,000 in “pain and suffering” payments — amounts that far exceed the average payout thus far to everyone else? ($1.15 billion divided by 16,000 is about $72,000)?
•Given that New Communities wound down its operations so long ago (it appears that this occurred sometime during the late 1980s), what is really being done with that $13 million in settlement money?
Here are a few bigger-picture questions:
•Did Shirley Sherrod resign so quickly because the circumstances of her hiring and the lawsuit settlement with her organization that preceded it might expose some unpleasant truths about her possible and possibly sanctioned conflicts of interest?
•Is USDA worried about the exposure of possible waste, fraud, and abuse in its handling of Pigford?
•Did USDA also dispatch Sherrod hastily because her continued presence, even for another day, might have gotten in the way of settling Pigford matters quickly?”

Read more:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/07/forty_acres_a_mule_sherrod_sty.html

From BigGovernment.com August 26, 2010.

““After all the friendly gestures between Secretary Vilsack and Mrs. Sherrod, there are still several questions unanswered. Why is Secretary Vilsack taking responsibility for the decision when Mrs. Sherrod has maintained she was contacted by the White House? Did the White House demand Secretary Vilsack fire Mrs. Sherrod? Is she still being paid by the federal government? Has Mrs. Sherrod agreed not to file another lawsuit against Secretary Vilsack or the federal government? Was Shirley Sherrod granted an additional settlement in exchange for her silence and an agreement not to sue Vilsack again? Why is Mrs. Sherrod filing suit against Andrew Breitbart, but hugging the man who fired her?””

Read more:

http://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/08/26/pigford-vilsack-sherrod-press-conference-raises-serious-questions/

Is this story being covered?

Unemployment facts, Bush tax cuts, Democrat Congress is problem, Socialist President and Congress bigger problem, Citizen Wells open thread, August 25, 2010

Unemployment facts, Bush tax cuts, Democrat Congress is problem, Socialist President and Congress bigger problem

The Bush Tax Cuts were enacted in 2003 with a Republican president and Congress. The Democrats took control of Congress in 2006. Many lies about the economy and unemployment rate have been told, including consistently by Obama. These numbers do not lie.

Historical unemployment rates
Dec-2002 6.0% 
Jan-2003 5.8%  
Feb-2003 5.9%  
Mar-2003 5.9%  
Apr-2003 6.0%  
May-2003 6.1%  
Jun-2003 6.3%  
Jul-2003 6.2%  
Aug-2003 6.1%  
Sep-2003 6.1%  
Oct-2003 6.0%  
Nov-2003 5.8%  
Dec-2003 5.7%  
Jan-2004 5.7%  
Feb-2004 5.6%  
Mar-2004 5.8%  
Apr-2004 5.6%  
May-2004 5.6%  
Jun-2004 5.6%  
Jul-2004 5.5%  
Aug-2004 5.4%  
Sep-2004 5.4%  
Oct-2004 5.5%  
Nov-2004 5.4%  
Dec-2004 5.4%  
Jan-2005 5.3%  
Feb-2005 5.4%  
Mar-2005 5.2%  
Apr-2005 5.2%  
May-2005 5.1%  
Jun-2005 5.0%  
Jul-2005 5.0%  
Aug-2005 4.9%  
Sep-2005 5.0%  
Oct-2005 5.0%  
Nov-2005 5.0%  
Dec-2005 4.9%  
Jan-2006 4.7%  
Feb-2006 4.8%  
Mar-2006 4.7%  
Apr-2006 4.7%  
May-2006 4.6%  
Jun-2006 4.6%  
Jul-2006 4.7%  
Aug-2006 4.7%  
Sep-2006 4.5%  
Oct-2006 4.4%  
Nov-2006 4.5%  
Dec-2006 4.4%  
Jan-2007 4.6%  
Feb-2007 4.5%  
Mar-2007 4.4%  
Apr-2007 4.5%  
May-2007 4.4%  
Jun-2007 4.6%  
Jul-2007 4.6%  
Aug-2007 4.6%  
Sep-2007 4.7%  
Oct-2007 4.7%  
Nov-2007 4.7%  
Dec-2007 5.0%  
Jan-2008 5.0%  
Feb-2008 4.8%  
Mar-2008 5.1%  
Apr-2008 5.0%  
May-2008 5.4%  
Jun-2008 5.5%  
Jul-2008 5.8%  
Aug-2008 6.1%  
Sep-2008 6.2%  
Oct-2008 6.6%  
Nov-2008 6.9%  
Dec-2008 7.4%

US Justice Department corruption, MN voter fraud, Al Franken stole election?, November 2008 Justice Dept letter

US Justice Department corruption, MN voter fraud, Al Franken stole election?

As I sit here writing this, Megyn Kelly on Fox America is about to cover voter fraud in the the MN election that allowed Al Franken to steal the election. I have been monitoring this for some time and have a collection of facts and information on this story.

“Chief Christopher Coates
United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
950 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20530

November 17, 2008

Dear Mr. Coates,
I represent Minnesota Majority, a non-profit public policy watchdog group. I am contacting you to request a
formal investigation into apparent voter registration irregularities in Minnesota. We believe that the
Minnesota Secretary of State may be in violation of requirements for voter registration practices as defined
by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). I will begin by providing some background on the situation, which
prompted this letter. I will then provide my specific complaint and our request of your office.
BACKGROUND
As part of Minnesota Majority’s issue advocacy activities, we make use of Minnesota’s voter file, as
provided under Minnesota law. It was in the course of utilizing this list that we began to notice a number of
unusual anomalies in the data, which prompted us to conduct additional research. Our cursory review of the
data revealed a number of potential issues, including:

• POTENTIAL DUPLICATE VOTER REGISTRATION RECORDS: We discovered thousands of voter
registration records that have an exact match on the criteria of first name, middle name, last name and
birth year.

• VACANT AND NON-DELIVERABLE ADDRESSES: The United States Postal Service has flagged
nearly 100,000 voter registration records as being either “vacant” or “undeliverable”. We visited
approximately two-dozen of these addresses to verify the USPS results and discovered approximately
50% of the addresses to be correctly flagged, in that the addresses did not exist. We have taken
photographs of empty lots and non-existent addresses where our investigation revealed invalid addresses.

• DEFICIENT VOTER REGISTRATIONS: Minnesota Statute 201.071 requires voter registrations
recorded after August 1, 1983 to include the voter’s name, address, date of birth and signature. We
discovered thousands of voter registrations that would be considered “deficient” under Minnesota law
due to missing or invalid information. Minnesota law requires these deficient registrations to be
corrected before an individual is allowed to vote.

• DECEASED VOTERS: Using a standard deceased matching service commonly utilized by mailing
houses, we discovered thousands of apparently deceased individuals who are still on the voter rolls.
• DOUBLE VOTING: We found nearly 100 cases in which voter registration and voter history records
suggest that a single voter may have voted more than once in a single election. There are thousands of
additional records that merit review.

• OTHER INCONSISTENCIES: We have discovered several thousand voters registered after August 1,
1983 that had birth years suggesting these individuals are 108 years of age or older. We also found
nearly 2,000 individuals who appear to have registered and voted before the age of 18.”

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Portals/0/documents/2008-11-17-DOJ-Letter.pdf

Citizen Wells October 14, 2008

“As I expected, the investigations into ACORN and voter fraud has arrived to our fair state. From KSTP:

The Hennepin County attorney announced Tuesday they’ve launched an investigation into an allegation that an individual with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, did not fully comply with Minnesota voter registration rules.

According to the allegation, a batch of registration forms were turned into the office of elections outside the ten-day period, but were turned in early enough to be registered to vote in the September primary.”

Read more

Fox News November 10, 2008.

“Minnesota is becoming to 2008 politics what Florida was in 2000 or Washington State in 2004 — a real mess. The outcome will determine whether Democrats get 58 members of the U.S. Senate, giving them an effective filibuster-proof vote on many issues.

When voters woke up on Wednesday morning after the election, Senator Norm Coleman led Al Franken by what seemed like a relatively comfortable 725 votes. By Wednesday night, that lead had shrunk to 477. By Thursday night, it was down to 336. By Friday, it was 239. Late Sunday night, the difference had gone down to just 221 — a total change over 4 days of 504 votes.

Amazingly, this all has occurred even though there hasn’t even yet been a recount. Just local election officials correcting claimed typos in how the numbers were reported. Counties will certify their results today, and their final results will be sent to the secretary of state by Friday. The actual recount won’t even start until November 19.

Correcting these typos was claimed to add 435 votes to Franken and take 69 votes from Coleman. Corrections were posted in other races, but they were only a fraction of those for the Senate. The Senate gains for Franken were 2.5 times the gain for Obama in the presidential race count, 2.9 times the total gain that Democrats got across all Minnesota congressional races, and 5 times the net loss that Democrats suffered for all state House races.

Virtually all of Franken’s new votes came from just three out of 4130 precincts, and almost half the gain (246 votes) occurred in one precinct — Two Harbors, a small town north of Duluth along Lake Superior — a heavily Democratic precinct where Obama received 64 percent of the vote. None of the other races had any changes in their vote totals in that precinct.”

Read more:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449334,00.html

Newsmax June 2, 2009

“A public watchdog group is calling for federal authorities to investigate allegations of widespread voter fraud in Minnesota, charging that state election officials have been unable to establish the eligibility of over 30,000 persons whose ballots were included in the November election.

A lawsuit filed by the nonprofit group Minnesota Majority alleges that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and 25 county election officials failed to reconcile registrations — matching votes cast with actual voter registrations of people who live at valid addresses — thereby casting a shadow over the legitimacy of thousands of ballots cast on Nov. 4.

The lawsuit transcends the issues being debated in the ongoing Senate election contest between Democrat Al Franken and former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman, which is now under review by the state’s supreme court.

“When you’re talking about a major U.S. Senate race that’s being decided by 312 votes, whether you’re for Coleman or Franken, it doesn’t give me a great deal of confidence in the election,” Minnesota Majority founder and CEO Jeff Davis tells Newsmax. “I would guess that both camps would be really interested in knowing what the heck is going on.”

Davis is calling for a federal investigation into what he sees as systemic voter fraud in Minnesota elections. Minnesota law allows people to show up at the polls on Election Day, fill out a voter registration card based on a pledge that they are eligible, and cast a ballot.”

Read more:

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/minnesota_fraud_lawsuit/2009/06/02/220818.html

Minnesota Majority July 24, 2009.

“Minnesota Supreme Court Passes the Buck

The release of a House oversight committee report alleging the systematic commission of numerous serious crimes by the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) yesterday deepened Minnesota Majority’s concerns about the integrity of Minnesota’s elections.

Meanwhile, the state’s Supreme Court issued a ruling asserting that it does not have original jurisdiction to Hear Minnesota Majority’s case that was focused on a discrepancy of vote totals. In April, it was found that at least 40,000 more ballots were counted than there were records of voters who cast them in the statewide voter registration system.
 
The facts aren’t in dispute. Secretary Ritchie admitted to the discrepancy and all of the factual evidence in the case was provided by the secretary of state’s office. The court’s order to dismiss the case was without prejudice, meaning the Supreme Court didn’t rule on the merits of the case, only jurisdiction. In fact, the order states Minnesota Majority’s intention is a “laudable goal,” and goes on to suggest submitting the petition to the office of Administrative Hearings, the venue the Supreme Court believes is the appropriate starting point for the complaint.”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/BlogDate/2009-07-31/Default.aspx

Minnesota Majority September 18, 2009.

“Yesterday the US House voted 345-75 to cut-off all federal funding for the scandal-plagued Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). This comes on the heels of the Senate’s vote earlier in the week to deny housing funds for ACORN 7 Senators voted to continue the funding, though.
 
All Congressional votes in favor of continuing ACORN funding were by Democrats, including Representatives Keith Ellison (Minneapolis/5th district) and Betty McCollum (St. Paul/4th district).”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/212/Default.aspx

Minnesota Majority September 30, 2009.

“In the wake of ACORN scandals erupting across the nation, several Minnesota gubernatorial candidates joined Minnesota Majority today in calling on Attorney General Lori Swanson to investigate the embattled organization’s Minnesota activities. 

Jeff Davis, president of Minnesota Majority cited numerous glaring discrepancies in election records, such as evidence suggesting dead people and convicted felons voted in the 2008 general election as well as voters registered with non-deliverable mailing addresses and a high volume of rejected voter registration postal verification post cards.”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/215/Default.aspx

Minnesota Majority July 8, 2010.

“Minnesota Majority has been calling for an investigation into violations of federal election law in Minnesota for nearly two years. That call has gone unanswered by the US Department of Justice. Now we are finding out why.

Former Justice Department attorney J. Christian Adams testified before the US Commission on Civil Rights that the current administration of the United States Department of Justice has a policy of not enforcing anti-fraud provisions of federal election law. Because Minnesota allows Election Day registration, we are exempt from certain provisions of the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA), but the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) contains similar provisions. Specifically, Section 303(a) of HAVA requires that the states perform voter registration list maintenance to remove deceased and ineligible voters (including felons and those who’ve moved out of state). This is an anti-voter-fraud measure that, according to Adams, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes refuses to enforce.

Adams quoted Ferndandes as saying, “We’re not interested in those kind of cases. What do they have to do with helping increase minority access and turnout? We want to increase access to the ballot, not limit it.”

She evidently doesn’t want to limit access to the ballot by ineligible felons, dead people and people who don’t live in the state they are voting in, because the law in question requires such names to be purged from the voter registration rolls to prevent needless errors and abuse.

Minnesota Majority has experienced the DOJ’s refusal to investigate these kind of cases first-hand. On November 17th of 2008 (immediately following the 2008 General Election and while the Coleman-Franken recount battle was getting underway), Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis sent a certified letter to then Voting Section chief of the Civil Rights Division at the DOJ, Christopher Coates, requesting an investigation into apparent failures to comply with HAVA by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. No response was forthcoming.
 
Since the DOJ in Washington DC failed to follow up on Davis’ complaint, Minnesota Majority contacted the local FBI office and lodged the same complaint. Special Agent Brian Kinney responded and visited the Minnesota Majority office to examine Minnesota Majority’s findings. At that time, he said, “based on what I see here there is more than enough evidence to initiate an internal complaint.” He gave his assurances that he would bring the matter to the attention of his supervisors. There was no further follow-up.”

Read more:

http://www.minnesotamajority.org/

I have just begun to write about US Justice Department corruption. I, and I hope you, will demand a congressional investigation.

November 2010 elections, Not the end, End of beginning, Winston Churchill, Change Congress, Clean up Justice Dept, Courts, State government

November 2010 elections, Not the end, End of beginning, Winston Churchill

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”…Winston Churchill

I greatly admire Winston Churchill. His words, his actions preceding and during World War II were the glue that saved England and the world. His words still ring true.

We must change congress this November 2010. That, as Churchill stated, is not the end, but perhaps the end of beginning. Once we change congress we must forever remain vigilant and clean up the US Justice Dept., courts and state and local government. This is an ongoing duty.

Here is an example from my home state of NC. I received the following in an email this morning.

“The following is a condensed timeline created by NCGOP staff from Exhibit 1 of the SBOE report on gubernatorial candidates released June 25. This version focuses on the Perdue Campaign Committee. It is not intended to be a verbatim recreation of the SBOE timeline. It includes excerpts from the BOE timeline, but also includes content that is wholly the work of the NCGOP, not the SBOE. However, it is accurate in its description of events included in the SBOE timeline.”

“Bev Perdue and the Perdue Campaign lied about reasons for non-disclosure of flights. On October 15, the NCGOP conducted a press conference outlining our suspicions that, like Mr. Easley, Gov. Perdue and her campaign had utilized private and corporate aircraft in violation of NC law by not disclosing properly or reimbursing properly the flights.
Subsequently, on two different dates, the Perdue campaign acknowledged a total of 41 flights it had failed to disclose. According to the Governor and her campaign staff, this long pattern of non compliance and non disclosure was the result of “computer software glitch.”
We now know this was a lie.
On page 6 of the Board of Elections report on campaign flights, there begins a lengthy discussion of $28,000 in corporate flights paid for by New Bern lawyer and good friend of the Governor, Buzzy Stubbs. This discussion consumes many paragraphs and several pages of the report.
John Wallace, the Perdue committee’s lawyer, who performed a similar function for Mike Easley, and therefore should have plenty of experience in these matters, initially explained “that flights were not disclosed and/or properly paid because the campaign was unaware that Mr. Stubbs was paying for flights.”
But according to what Mr. Stubbs told Kim Strach and Chairman Leake, he had on many occasions told the campaign that he was paying for the flights and inquired about how his payments for the flights had been handled, because he was aware that he had already given the maximum amount allowed by law to the Perdue campaign. Mr. Stubbs specifically identified Peter Reichard and John Wallace as individuals with whom he had discussed his concern about proper accounting for his payments. Mr. Stubbs stated that he had been told of a variety of ways the travel payments could be handled and he often was not comfortable with the information he was being provided.
Finally, on October 23, 2008, Mr. Stubbs sent a letter to the Perdue committee with copies to Wallace and Reichard.
In the letter, Mr. Stubbs states that he has personally reimbursed his law firm in the amount of $28,498.04 for “payment in kind in the form of airplane transportation for Bev Perdue.” He included a copy of his personal check to the law firm in that amount.
Despite this very tangible evidence from a donor of over $28,000 in flights, Gov. Perdue and her campaign failed to disclose the flights as required by law in their 48 hour reports. Nor did they disclose these flights in their 2008 year end report, filed over three months after they received Mr. Stubbs letter on October 23.
No, Gov. Perdue and her committee didn’t acknowledge the flights at all until their 2009 mid-year semi-annual report in July 2009. And only after the Easley investigation indicated to them they had better get busy.
It is pretty clear that, were it not for the ramifications of the Easley hearings, Gov. Perdue and her campaign would never have disclosed or paid for the flights. Keep in mind that the Stubbs flights represent only half of the flights that were ultimately disclosed.
In addition to the bogus excuse about the mysterious “computer software glitch” and Mr. Wallace laughably disingenuous claim that the campaign was unaware that Mr. Stubbs was paying for the flights, the Perdue committee has offered various other explanations as to why the flights were not disclosed.
My personal favorite, expressed by Mr. Reichard was that “the campaign had no process in place to track and disclose information regarding flights.” Not only does this fly in the face of Mr. Stubbs many conversations with Reichard and Wallace, it also does not align with documentation provided by the Perdue committee.
A quote from the report on page 5: “based on the documentation…completed.”
What we have here is the Gov. Perdue campaign first knowingly and willfully failing to disclose contributions as required by law, and then engaging in lies in an attempt to cover up.
Now might be an appropriate time to remind you of some public utterances from our Governor while all this was going on.
“In the 21st century we must conduct the business of government in ways that bring transparency and accountability to the people… I have set high expectations for myself and for everyone who works for North Carolina. We will be open, ethical, and put the public’s interest first.” March 9, 2009     State of the State Speech
“I’m the Governor who has thrown open the windows of the state government. I believe in hanging it out there to share. I don’t try to hide anything.” December 14, 2009
“I am really sick of all this, I’ve been very, very driven by the need for transparency and ethics in government…. I myself did an audit of my campaign. I paid people money to audit my campaign. I want to be sure every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed. I’ve been doing that relentlessly for a year.” February 18, 2010
“I’m the governor for 15 months who’s done anything possible to throw open the windows of state government, to have full transparency, to focus on ethics and how people set government straight,”    April 20, 2010
That brings me to the 2nd revelation and major conclusion.
That Gary Bartlett, Chairman Leake, and John Wallace colluded in an attempt to derail, distract, and obstruct the investigation by SBOE into the financial irregularities and illegalities of the Perdue for Gov. Campaign.
I now refer to the timeline that is an addendum to the SBOE report.
It documents that we first filed a complaint on October 15, 2009, asking the SBOE to investigate the Perdue Committee.
According to the timeline developed by SBOE staff, there is no mention of taking any action on the complaint until almost 3 months later, on January 12.
It is not until March 23, according to the timeline, before Bartlett authorizes Kim Strach to interview the first witness that same day, after waiting over 5 months to begin the investigation. Bartlett tells Strach that the board wants a resolution to the matter quickly so the interview needs to be wrapped up quickly.
By contrast, again according to the timeline, Mr. Bartlett received a letter from NC Democrat party Executive Director Andrew Whalen on February 15 requesting all correspondence between candidates Smith and Graham and SBOE office and any rules on advisory opinions on the subject.
The next day, Feb 16, Bartlett advises Strach to draft a letter for Whalen and compile all responsive documents. The letter is completed and the documents collected that same day.
The next day, two days after Whalen’s request, Bartlett directs Strach to hand-deliver letter and documents to Andrew Whalen at NCDP headquarters. It is delivered that day.
That same day, and only because I asked for a meeting with Bartlett, I received a one paragraph letter acknowledging an investigation of the Perdue campaign is underway, four months after we filed a complaint.
Later, on Feb 23, Whalen filed a complaint regarding Republican candidates. Bartlett and Strach meet the same day to discuss. It took three months before our complaint was even discussed at the SBOE.
As weeks go by, on repeated occasions, Chairman Leake and Mr. Bartlett direct Strach not to personally follow-up with campaign staff, but to restrict her contact to letter drafted by Mr. Bartlett.
Then, unbelievably, as detailed in several places in the timeline, Strach is told by both Bartlett and Leake that John Wallace and Zach Ambrose, Perdue COS as Lt. Governor, her campaign manager for Gov, and her COS as Governor, will determine who Strach will be allowed to interview.
It is unheard of for a law enforcement agency to allow attorneys with clients under investigation, or as in Mr. Ambrose’s case, targets of the investigation, to determine which witnesses will be allowed to testify. This is collusion and obstruction of justice.
Leake takes over the investigation on or about April 1, when Strach becomes aware of a notebook in John Wallace’s possession that has detailed information regarding flights that Perdue took.
Strach makes repeated attempts to obtain the notebook from Wallace. As before, with flight information at his disposal (see page 4 of the report, first two paragraphs) Wallace delays, and finally offers the assertion that the notebook is protected by “attorney-client privilege.”
Weeks go by and Strach has still not been granted access to the notebook and Bartlett is aware of this.
Then on April 27, Strach advises Bartlett that she will be in Wilmington the following day to deliver the Rusty Carter report to the New Hanover Assistant DA, Tom Old.
April 28 – Bartlett sends two SBOE staffers (McClean, Wright) who have had no involvement in the investigation henceforth to interview Wallace while Strach is out of town.
Strach finds out about this while she is in Wilmington and contacts Bartlett to make sure he tells McClean and Wright to copy the entire contents of the notebook. Bartlett tells Strach that Wallace will not allow that.
With the discovery of the notebook, Leake inserts himself into the investigation, apparently in collusion with John Wallace. Leake begins to schedule interviews, some of which Strach is excluded from. He and Bartlett prevent her from interview Wallace and Ambrose. Leake sits in on interviews with Strach and in some instances limited the length and breadth of the interviews.
This is highly inappropriate behavior and fraught with conflict. This is like a judge sitting in on witness depositions in a case he will be called on to judge impartially.
It is apparent that Bartlett, Leake and Wallace, acted, often consulting with each other on several occasions, to derail the investigation away from issues and witnesses they considered dangerous to Gov. Perdue and her committee.
And Mr. Bartletts’ conclusion in his memo the Board that there is no evidence that there is no intent of wrongdoing is an embarrassment to the people of North Carolina.
Accordingly, we call today for Executive Director Bartlett and Chairman Leake to resign their positions immediately. It would be the first honorable thing they’ve done in this matter. Failing that, Gov. Perdue should remove Chairman Leake, appoint a replacement, and ask the Board to immediately begin a search for a new Executive Director.
Because any of this is unlikely to happen, by letter today, we are asking Wake County District Attorney to launch an investigation into obstruction of justice at the NC BOE, particularly the actions of Mr. Bartlett and Chairman Leake.
Furthermore, we intend to press forward with our public records request. We want all documents, correspondence, email, records of phone conversations and drafts of reports leading up to the one released on Friday. We specifically want to see if Mr. Bartlett or Chairman Leake edited the request and the timeline submitted by the Kim Strach before releasing it on Friday.  We will press on until the people of North Carolina get the answers they deserve. “

Arlen Specter loses, Rand Paul wins big, Blanche Lincoln in runoff, Democrats Tim Holden Larry Kissell Heath Shuler voted against health care, Fared well

Arlen Specter loses, Rand Paul wins big, Blanche Lincoln in runoff

From the Washington Post May 19, 2010.

“How (and why) Arlen Specter lost”

“1. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s defeat at the hands of upstart Rep. Joe Sestak made him the second Senate incumbent to lose an intraparty battle in the 2010 elections — the largest number since four incumbents fell in 1980.

Specter’s loss will be endlessly examined (and then re-examined) in the days to come but, at its root, there were two main factors to blame for it: the perils of party switching and an anti-incumbent national environment.

Party switchers almost uniformly struggle the first time they are on the ballot after the switch. The party they abandoned detests them and will do anything to try to bring about their demise while the party they joined is distrustful of both their motives and loyalties.

Specter never seemed to adequately explain to Democrats why he switched parties — beyond the fact that it would allow him to be re-elected. Sestak, in what is the early frontrunner for ad of the year, brilliantly exploited Specter’s seeming lack of principle on the switch with a commercial that said the incumbent’s party switch was designed to “save one job…his…not yours.”

Specter’s inability to articulate why he had decided to go from “R” to “D” after spending nearly three decades on the GOP side was compounded by a strong sentiment among voters that the people they have been sending to Washington aren’t getting the job done and a course correction is required.

Specter, 80 years old and having spent five terms in the Senate, was a living and breathing embodiment of the traits that voters across the country seem fed up with these days. Sestak, again, brilliantly played to voters’ resentments about politics-as-usual — casting himself as a part of a “new generation” of leadership who could bring about real change.

While Specter’s defeat is somewhat unique due to his party switch, the loss will have considerable implications on how incumbents — in both parties — run their races moving forward this fall. Running with the establishment is clearly out; outsider messages are, ironically, in.”

3. Ophthalmologist Rand Paul’s (R) victory in Kentucky and Lt. Governor Bill Halter’s (D) pushing of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) to a June 8 “runoff didn’t come as big surprises. More telling than the head-to-head battles in each state, however, is what the ballots cast reveal about voter intensity this cycle.

Paul’s win wasn’t just big — it was massive. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Paul won with 59 percent of the vote, 24 points ahead of Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R). Over 350,000 voters took part in the GOP primary — all of them registered Republicans, given the state’s closed primary system. As Post pollster Jon Cohen notes, that’s the highest GOP primary turnout in at least twenty years with about one-third of registered Republicans casting ballots.”

“* Rep. Tim Holden, who voted against the party’s health care bill, won 66 percent to 34 percent against Sheila Dow Ford, an unknown and underfunded candidate. Holden joins Reps. Larry Kissell (D-N.C.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) as Members who voted against health care and experienced similar primary results.”

Read more:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/morning-fix/1-2-3-4.html