The federal probe into an embattled Massachusetts state senator who was clandestinely videotaped stuffing alleged bribe money into her bra by the FBI has expanded to include three Boston City Council members, the state senate president and several state liquor board officials, ABC News has learned.
On Tuesday, Democratic state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson -- an eight-term incumbent -- was arrested at her Roxbury home and charged with accepting $23,500 in bribes, including 10 $100 bills that she was videotaped secreting into her brassiere during a meeting at a tony Boston restaurant last June.
Hours after her arrest, Boston City Hall was hit with a flurry of subpoenas and FBI agents assigned to the public corruption unit interviewed City Council President Maureen Feeney and Councilor Chuck Turner. Feeney's spokesman, Justin Holmes, denied she had done anything wrong.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Justin Holmes, denied she had done anything wrong.
Yeah right. I carry my money in my underwear and in my experience nobody says anything when I pull a $100 bill out of my shorts and pay for groceries or whatever with it.
So Justin, just for the record and for use later on, do you think bribery is wrong? Is it OK to accept a bribe? Does it make sense that if one person gives someone $1000 it's just because it makes their wallet too fat to sit on comfortably? Where do most women carry their money? Do congress-critters always go places and do things without their posse along for the ride? Or just when they go someplace where they end up stuffing money into their underwear? Why would someone keep $100k in their freezer instead of the bank?
#2
It was the eeevil whiteys made her do it. Just check the link; she'll tell you.
If Diogenese went out with his lamp looking for an honest Mass pol, much less an honest black Mass poll, he'd be like Charlie on the MTA--the man who never returned.
Gee, another community organizer. On Tuesday (2004), Turner and black activist Sadiki Kambon held a press conference to reveal photos purportedly showing US soldiers raping Iraqi women. The pictures were eventually identified as fakes, but only after four of the alleged rape shots appeared in a Boston Globe
TURNERS FAKE-rape-photo allegations are the latest in a growing list of inflammatory accusations and statements by the councilor. In April, the Boston Herald quoted Turner saying that Condoleezza Rice working for George W. Bush was "similar in my mind to a Jewish person working for Hitler in the 1930s." In February, Turner irate that Flaherty had removed him as chairman of the councils Education Committee likened the South Boston resident to Louise Day Hicks, one of the most polarizing figures in the Boston busing crisis of the 1970s. And last September, during an ongoing debate about whether the council should focus on local concerns or grapple with national and global issues, Turner linked Flahertys use of Rule 19, which allows the council president to limit debate, to "institutional racism"
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2008 9:23 Comments ||
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#4
She's just continuing the tradition of her predecessors in the district. The first went away for a coupla years for assault with a tire iron, the second for income tax evasion. And she's been around the block more then a few times herself...
1997
After a federal income tax investigation, Wilkerson pleaded guilty to failing to file federal income tax returns from 1991 to 1994. She was sentenced to six months in home detention, and received a $2,000 fine.
I believe her excuse for this was she needed the money for security due to "death threats from Southie"
1998
Wilkerson was charged by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance for illegally using campaign funds for personal expenses. The office settled on $11,500 in penalties. She was charged with spending $500 on a skirt suit, which she said she bought to wear to campaign events.
She served 30 days in a halfway house for violating the terms of a six-month home confinement sentence for failing to pay $50,000 in federal income taxes from the previous year's case.
2001
The State Ethics Commission fined Wilkerson $1,000 for failing to properly report that she was receiving more than $20,000 a year as a consultant by the then Boston Bank of Commerce, a bank that she lobbied for as state senator.
2001
Wilkerson was sued by her condominium association for $4,671 in back condo fees. A year earlier, she faced foreclosure on the condo after falling several months behind on her mortgage. She said she hadn't made payments because an envelope slipped behind her dresser.
2005
Former Attorney General Tom Reilly charged Wilkerson with having questionable donations and expenses, which involved more than $70,000. Earlier this year in August, she agreed to pay a $10,000 fine as part of a settlement with the attorney general's office. She had admitted to violating campaign finance laws. This was a continuation of the allegations she faced in 1998.
2008
In 2005, Wilkerson gave testimony in a case in which her nephew was convicted of manslaughter. Recently, she was accused of giving a false testimony in the case. The state Office of the Bar Counsel accused her of violating the rules of professional conduct.
And this could get really good...
Hit with howitzer-powered allegations of corruption and greed, state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson is at the center of a maze of malfeasance and an ever-widening public corruption investigation - and former feds agree she could be the rat who leads prosecutors to an even bigger cheese.
With Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Senate President Therese Murray, City Council President Maureen Feeney and others touched by the tentacles of an 18-month probe into Wilkersons alleged abuse of power, its a very distinct possibility U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan may try and flip her to name alleged co-conspirators with a plea deal as bait.
#7
It seems like "community organizer" has become synonymous with thieving scoundrel. It also seems like many of these jerks are immune from any criticism or much prosecution. If I had a history of bribes, thefts, and corruption such as Wilkerson, I would be labeled a habitual criminal and put in prison for life.
The cocky, prematurely-celebrating Obama doing a face plant just short of the finish, done in by his overconfidence. A beautiful vision. Let's make it come true.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/30/2008 11:26 ||
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The manager at my local campaign office was showing this to volunteers as a morale-booster last week.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/30/2008 12:58 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON, DC - In a shocking reversal, the Alien has switched his endorsement from Barack Obama to John McCain.
With major implications for the U.S. presidential election, political kingmaker the Alien has changed his endorsement amid furor. Both political camps are buzzing about the implications, as the Alien has correctly predicted the winning president in every election for the past 28 years.
Ongoing investigation points to Cindy McCain as being the cause for this historic shift in allegiances. . . .
. . . yet the question remains: who is Bat Boy voting for?
Posted by: Mike ||
10/30/2008 11:01 ||
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Barry better call Kucinich. See if he can straighten this all out. Maybe make a phone call. Or telepathy...
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez personally lobbied Mayor Richard Daley to back a controversial multimillion-dollar development for a campaign contributor who had just lent the congressman $200,000 in a real estate deal, a Tribune investigation has found.
Now the congressman's unusual gesture of support is under federal scrutiny as authorities investigate how developers overcame city planners' objections to convert the West Side industrial site into a more profitable residential and commercial development.
Authorities have obtained Gutierrez's July 7, 2004, letter to Daley--written on U.S. House stationery--as part of their grand jury investigation into how zoning works inside City Hall, sources told the Tribune.
Gutierrez said there is no connection between the loan and his letter of support for the Galewood Yards project, which is not in his district. In a written statement, the congressman said his involvement was "extremely minimal" and "entirely appropriate."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Another exciting episode of Name That Party, paragraph 8: Gutierrez, an eight-term Democrat
The suspense was killing me.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2008 9:31 Comments ||
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Little Luis has been Mayor Daley's pit-chihuahua for a long time.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2008 10:27 Comments ||
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Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career however humble;
Apparently he was too interested in lining his pockets and not his career. Did I say Senator Stevens.
Posted by: Art ||
10/30/2008 10:59 Comments ||
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#4
Stevens is every bit as bad, and we're already on record about that. Thanks Art.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2008 11:52 Comments ||
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. . . The final straw came the other week when Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (a.k.a Joe the Plumber) asked a question about higher taxes for small businesses. Instead of celebrating his aspirations, they were mocked. He wasnt a real plumber, and Theyre fighting for Joe the Hedge-Fund manager, and the patronizing, Ive got nothing but love for Joe the Plumber.
Having worked in politics, I know that absolutely none of this is on the level. . . . Perhaps this is why I found the initial mocking of Joe so offensive and I realized an old line applied: I didnt leave the Democratic Party; the Democratic Party left me.
The party I believed in wouldnt look down on working people under any circumstance. And Joe the Plumber is right. This is the absolutely worst time to raise taxes on anyone: the rich, the middle class, the poor, small businesses and corporations.
Our economy is in the tank for many complicated reasons, especially because people dont have enough money. So let them keep it. Let businesses keep it so they can create jobs and stay here and weather this storm. And yet, the Democratic ideology remains the same. Our approach to problemsbig government solutions paid for by taxing the rich and big and smaller companiesis just as tired and out of date as trickle down economics. How about a novel approach that simply finds a sane way to stop the bleeding?
Thats not exactly the philosophy of a Democrat. Not only has this party belittled working people in this campaign from Joe the Plumber to the bitter comments, it has also been part of tearing down two female candidates. At first, certain Democrats and the press called Senator Clinton dishonest. They went after her cleavage. They said her experience as First Lady consisted of having tea parties. There was no outrage over Bros before Hoes or Iron My Shirt. Did Senator Clinton make mistakes? Of course. Shes human.
But here we are about a week out and its déjà vu all over again. Really, front-page news is how the Republican National Committee paid for Governor Sarah Palins wardrobe? Wheres the op-ed about how Obama tucks in his shirt when he plays basketball or how Senator Biden buttons the top button on his golf shirt? . . .
Governor Palin and I dont agree on a lot of things, mostly social issues. But I have grown to appreciate the Governor. I was one of those initial skeptics and would laugh at the pictures. Not anymore. When someone takes on a corrupt political machine and a sitting governor, that is not done by someone with a low I.Q. or a moral core made of tissue paper. When someone fights her way to get scholarships and work her way through college even in a jagged line, that shows determination and humility you cant learn from reading Reinhold Niebuhr. When a mother brings her son with special needs onto the national stage with love, honesty, and pride, that gives hope to families like mine as my older brother lives with a mental disability. And when someone can sit on a stage during the Sarah Palin rap on Saturday Night Live, put her hands in the air and watch someone in a moose costume get shotthats a sign of both humor and humanity. . . .
I can no longer justify what this party has done and cant dismiss the treatment of women and working people as just part of the new kind of politics. Its wrong and someone has to say that. And also say that the Democratic Partys talking pointsthat Senator John McCain is just four more years of the same and that hes President Bushare now just hooker lines that fit a very effective and perhaps wave-winning political argument doesnt mean theyre true. After all, he is the only one whos worked in a bipartisan way on big challenges.
Before I cast my vote, I will correct my party affiliation and change it to No Party or Independent. Then, in the spirit of election 2008, Ill get a manicure, pedicure, and my hair done. Might as well look pretty when I am unemployed in a city swimming with Ds.
Whatever inspiration I had in Chapel Hill two years ago is gone. When people say how excited they are about this election, I can now say, Maybe for you. But I lost my home.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/30/2008 14:37 ||
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So Wendy the Speech Writer sees the light. When are the other Donks going to wake up to what the Party is really about; class warfare, everything coming from central government, political correctness, focus on the government rather than the individual, suspension of the Constitution, redistribution of wealth, increased taxes, giveaway programs, ...
#4
Maybe it was Newsweek tu3031--I don't know for certain. I recently got Time because I had to use up airline miles or I would lose them. The selection of magazines was poor. From the first issue I received, Time was a big disappointment. I seldom read it because it is so far to the left and so opinionated. Frankly, the magazine is booring because it is so predictable.
This should counteract The Alien's flip flop...
LIMA, Peru Barack Obama apparently can count on the support of a majority of Peruvian faith healers. Peruvian Faith Healers for Obama. Wonder if they got any credit cards?
Each of the 11 shamans in a Peruvian faith-healing organization said they have foreseen victory in the U.S. presidential race: nine for Democrat Obama and two for his Republican rival John McCain. Blowing incense over a sacred llama fetus perched on a bed of coca leaves next to posters of the leading candidates, the shamans shook rattles, chanted "up, Obama, up!" and threw flowers at their images. Sounds like the convention...
"Obama is growing stronger, I've seen that he has the spiritual support of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy to protect him," Juan Osco, president of the Apus-Inka healers association, told The Associated Press. Man, if Barry knows his history, I'll bet that makes him feel...creepy.
Mary Gomez, a healer from the city of Chiclayo, said she has seen that Obama "will win and he will change history ... he is going to help all the Latinos living in the United States."
The shamans whistled, chanted and rubbed both posters with Andean spirit-totems, crucifixes, a statue of a dark-skinned Jesus and other idols to scare away bad spirits and negative energies they said might prevent a fair and democratic election. Again, sounds like the convention...
"We are cleansing both of them so that on Nov. 4 the person that the U.S. really deserves wins," Osco said. "We have seen that if the election is not fair, there will be another global economic crisis, war and despair."
VERY INTERESTING....will the same happen to the entire country if they get control of both houses and the exec post ? Only redeeming factor is the part where they won't have conservatives to blame and perhaps later we can still clean up the mess.
?Pull out of Iraq ?!?!?
Perhaps the U.S. should pull out of Chicago?
When Comparing Body count?? In the last six months:
292 killed (murdered) in Chicago
221 killed in Iraq
Chicago.... Who Runs it??.
Senators: Barack Obama & Dick Durbin
Rep: Jesse Jackson Jr.,
Illinois Gov: Rod Blogojevich,
Illinois House leader Mike Madigan,
Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan (daughter of Mike),
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley (son of Mayor Richard J. Daley)
.....the leadership in Illinois .....all DEMOCRATS.
Thank you Democrats for the combat zone in Chicago.
Of course, they're all blaming each other!
Can't blame Republicans; there aren't any!
State pension fund: $44 Billion in debt? the WORST in the country.
Cook County ( Chicago ) sales tax:
10.25%... the HIGHEST in the country.
Look 'em up if you want).
Chicago school system rated one of the WORST in the country.
This is the political culture that Obama comes from in Illinois . And he's gonna 'fix' Washington politics for us?
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office.
Obama's assertion that "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond" the expense of his promises is accepted only by his partisans. His vow to save money by "eliminating programs that don't work" masks his failure throughout the campaign to specify what those programs are--beyond the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
A sampling of what voters heard in the ad, and what he didn't tell them:
THE SPIN: "That's why my health care plan includes improving information technology, requires coverage for preventive care and pre-existing conditions and lowers health care costs for the typical family by $2,500 a year."
THE FACTS: His plan does not lower premiums by $2,500, or any set amount. Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs, among other steps, consumers will end up saving money. He uses an optimistic analysis to suggest cost reductions in national health care spending could amount to the equivalent of $2,500 for a family of four. Many economists are skeptical those savings can be achieved, but even if they are, it's not a certainty that every dollar would be passed on to consumers in the form of lower premiums.
THE SPIN: "I've offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost."
THE FACTS: Independent analysts say both Obama and Republican John McCain would deepen the deficit. The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates Obama's policy proposals would add a net $428 billion to the deficit over four years--and that analysis accepts the savings he claims from spending cuts. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, whose other findings have been quoted approvingly by the Obama campaign, says: "Both John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed tax plans that would substantially increase the national debt over the next 10 years." The analysis goes on to say: "Neither candidate's plan would significantly increase economic growth unless offset by spending cuts or tax increases that the campaigns have not specified."
THE SPIN: "Here's what I'll do. Cut taxes for every working family making less than $200,000 a year. Give businesses a tax credit for every new employee that they hire right here in the U.S. over the next two years and eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas. Help homeowners who are making a good faith effort to pay their mortgages, by freezing foreclosures for 90 days. And just like after 9-11, we'll provide low-cost loans to help small businesses pay their workers and keep their doors open. "
THE FACTS: His proposals--the tax cuts, the low-cost loans, the $15 billion a year he promises for alternative energy, and more--cost money, and the country could be facing a record $1 trillion deficit next year. Indeed, Obama recently acknowledged--although not in his commercial--that: "The next president will have to scale back his agenda and some of his proposals."
THE SPIN: "I also believe every American has a right to affordable health care."
THE FACTS: That belief should not be confused with a guarantee of health coverage for all. He makes no such promise. Obama hinted as much in the ad when he said about the problem of the uninsured: "I want to start doing something about it." He would mandate coverage for children but not adults. His program is aimed at making insurance more affordable by offering the choice of government-subsidized coverage similar to that in a plan for federal employees and other steps, including requiring larger employers to share costs of insuring workers.
THE SPIN: "We are currently spending $10 billion a month in Iraq, when they have a $79 billion surplus. It seems to me that if we're going to be strong at home as well as strong abroad that we've got to look at bringing that war to a close." These lines in the ad were taken from a debate with McCain.
THE FACTS: Obama was once and very often definitive about getting combat troops out in 16 months (At times during the primaries, he promised to do so within a year). More recently, without backing away explicitly from the 16-month withdrawal pledge, he has talked of the need for flexibility. In the primaries, it would have been a jarring departure for him to have said merely that "we've got to look at" ending the war. As for Iraq's surplus, it's true that Iraq could end up with a surplus that large, but that hasn't happened yet.
#1
You know your gambit stinks when your own minions in the press start mocking you.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/30/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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Obama also said "Americans" (i.e. individuals) earning less than $250K a yr would get a tax break - now, as of last night he said "American Families" (i.e. dual incomes) earning less than $200K a yr. It's all in the semantics....figures can lie but liars always figure.
#4
That's his out. "Woah. Damn. Sorry folks I can't do all that good shit I told yas about. And, yes, I will be blaming Bush. Probably for about four years."
#5
Obama hopes that by spending $50 billion over five years on electronic medical records and by improving access to proven disease management programs
The major hospitals in our city already use electronic medical records. My doctor uses electronic medical records. So does this mean that Washington will have access to all medical records under BO? Does this mean another agency will be created to handle this?
Another empty promise. Seems that Obama skips over a lot of realities. I guess he figures the "devil is in the details so forget about it. Don't worry about it. Er, er, we're busy measuring the Whitehouse for new drapes. I'll get back to you after I'm elected."
#7
We're trying to implement an electronic medical record right now (Epic) and let me tell you, it isn't easy. Some organizations, like the VA and Kaiser, have done it well, and some have done it poorly.
My major concern over the EMR is privacy. I can handle the inefficiency part, the clunky interface, the additional time it's going to take for me to find stuff, and the nattering IT people who are going to tell me how to practice.
But the first time an Obama administration federal health care administrator decides to help herself to Joe the Plumber's EMR just to see if she can find some dirt on him, I'm going to get pretty mad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2008 10:20 Comments ||
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Always been in the semantics, he's a GD lawyer; just like he has never clarified whether 250000 200000 or 150000? net or gross so people assume its net when really it would be gross.
Why would the government spend that amount of money except for access to and control of medical records?
Iraq's surplus, based on the price of oil, is needed to rebuild infastructure and train police/troops with new equipment.
#9
For a good (or bad) example of an national EMR implementation look at the NIS in England or the VA system in the United States.
Will a 'Healthcare Czar' (like Michelle Obama - working in a Hospital qualifies her right?) dictate national practices for orders, prescriptions, procedures? Will they be based on 'best practice' or 'least expensive'? Will the Doctors and Practitioners now be Unionized like the teachers union - where innovation and excellence is discouraged?
I don't think having your local Hospital run like your school district would be a very good idea.
Thanks for identifying me as a "nattering IT people". My company installs EHR aka EMR. Since the Bush veto override in July our hottest product has been e-prescriptions. The docs got a 2% incentive instead of a 10% cut in Medicare reimbursement.
My wife, Kilo Hotel and I also have Kaiser. We enjoy the online convenience.
Aides to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) scheduled pricey luncheons, roundtables, readings, VIP receptions and policy dinners with campaign officials and advisers, offering donors a taste of his potential administration.
Supporters could eat dinner in Los Angeles with Warren Buffett, an Obama adviser and one of history's shrewdest investors, for $28,500, the federal limit for donations by an individual to a national party committee. Or they could attend a "VIP reception" with the sage of Omaha for $10,000, or an "economic roundtable" for just $1,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Eh. What, this surprises anyone? That's what campaign donations are *for*. For those people who haven't confused a political campaign for a lottery, like Obama's poor confused aunt, that is. Or a moral statement, like all the nutroot loons who keep pestering conservatives who criticize Obama campaign corruption by going "ha! I just donated another $50 just to prove you wrong!".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/30/2008 8:40 Comments ||
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#2
No change here.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
10/30/2008 10:50 Comments ||
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#3
Ya know, outside of Buffet and maybe Theo Epstein, I wouldn't spend a dime to have dinner with any of these people.
A former staffer for an affiliate of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now testified today that the organization was provided a "donor list" from the presidential campaign of Barack Obama in late 2007 for fundraising efforts.
Anita Moncrief, a former Washington, D.C. staffer for Project Vote, which she described as a sister organization of ACORN, said her supervisor told her the list of campaign contributors came from the Obama campaign. Moncrief said she has a copy of a "development plan" that outlines how Obama contributors who had "maxed out" under federal contribution limits would be targeted to give to Project Vote, and that it was her job to identify such contributors.
Project Vote national spokesman Michael McDunnah denied that the list came from Obama's campaign, according to The Associated Press. Donor lists for candidates are public information and can be downloaded from the Federal Election Commission's Web site. The lists include how much individuals have given. ACORN officials have said Moncrief was fired from Project Vote and that she is not a credible witness. Moncrief testified that ACORN and Project Vote were virtually identical.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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More than a dozen Missouri counties have more registered voters on their rolls than they do voting age adults, a scenario that triggered a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit following the last presidential election.
Topping that list is St. Louis County -- Missouri's most heavily populated area and a pivotal battleground in next week's presidential election between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.
And heavily, heavily Democratic. What a surprise ...
A statistical analysis by The Associated Press compared county voter rolls with U.S. Census Bureau estimates for the number of adults age 18 and older in each county. Fourteen of the state's 114 counties had more registered voters than voting-age adults. Several others had registration rolls almost equal to their adult populations.
Having more registered voters than voting-age residents raises the question of whether some people could vote twice in different jurisdictions.
State and local election authorities, however, say they are not concerned about the potential for fraud as the result of the inflated rolls. They say voter rolls appear unusually high because they include thousands of "inactive voters" -- generally people who have moved but, under federal law, cannot yet be deleted from the rolls.
"Missourians should have confidence in their election system," said Laura Egerdal, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. "Local election authorities across the state have taken great care in maintaining the rolls and ensuring any voter added to the rolls is eligible to vote, and that any person who is removed from the rolls is done so under the guidelines of federal law," she said.
Based on a similar comparison of census and voter rolls, the AP first reported in October 2004 that there were more registered voters than eligible adults in 36 of Missouri's 114 counties, as well as in the stand-alone city of St. Louis. The next year, the U.S Justice Department sued, claiming Missouri election officials had failed to keep voter rolls up to date. That lawsuit remains pending in U.S. District Court.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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no one appears to be in charge. Thanks GW. Way to lead.
#2
One you add in all the headstones, the voter registration list looks reasonable.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2008 10:10 Comments ||
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#3
Within a confidence interval of 98% on the estimate of the parameter, there are more dead people in Missouri than alive people (and there is a whole of lot of corruption at the polls going on).
#4
Well, by that logic, wouldn't ALL counties have inflated rolls due to inactive voters?
Posted by: Boss Cravilet8390 ||
10/30/2008 11:18 Comments ||
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#5
You'll notice in the last paragraph of the article that following the 2004 election the U.S. Justice Department sued Missouri for failing to keep voter rolls up to date. They've done this in other states as well, which is why there's such a fuss this election about ineligible voters old and new. It's not President Bush who did nothing, but Democratic party hacks fighting tooth and nail to keep their Imaginary-Americans on the rolls.
#6
Sounds familiar (wiki): Rumors had spread through the South that 30,000 Northerners were descending on Kansas, and in November 1854, thousands of armed Southerners known as "Border Ruffians," mostly from Missouri, poured over the line in an attempt to steal the election to Congress of a single territorial delegate. Less than half the ballots were cast by registered voters, and at one location, only 20 of over 600 voters were legal residents. The proslavery forces won the election. While Kansas had approximately 2,900 registered voters at the time, not all of whom actually voted, over 6,000 votes were cast. More significantly, the Border Ruffians repeated their actions on March 30, 1855 when the first territorial legislature was elected, swaying the vote again in favor of slavery. The proslavery territorial legislature convened in Pawnee on July 2, 1855, but after one week it adjourned to the Shawnee Mission on the Missouri border, where it began passing laws to institutionalize slavery in Kansas Territory. This was the trigger for the commencement of open violence.
Wanna play Guess that Party? Bonus points for knowledge of Preston Brooks vs. Charles Sumner.
#7
I'll play - it's "Bleeding Kansas" and the pre-Civil War southern Democrats, packing the ballot boxes since Kansas had been given the choice of letting the residents vote to have Kansas admitted as a 'slave' state or a 'free state'.
And Preston Brooks (fire-eating Southern and pro-slave) beat Charles Sumner (abolitionist Northerner) to insensibility with a wooden cane on the floor of the Senate.
True story - and afterwards Brooks was presented with all sorts of ornamental canes by Southern anti-abolitionists to commemorate that brave deed.
#8
Well, by that logic, wouldn't ALL counties have inflated rolls due to inactive voters?
Not necessarily. If Acorn were working overtime in the metropolitan areas and not the rural areas, only certain counties would have inflated rolls of inactive voters.
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio) accused the White House Tuesday of orchestrating a raid on Syria to help the political fortunes of Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
On Sunday American forces based in Iraq conducted a raid designed to strike a suspected senior Al Qaeda leader. Several civilians were killed, prompting the Syrian government to denounce the move as "brutal."
In an interview on CNN, Kucinich questioned whether the raid was worth the price.
"It's like saying, well, it's OK that we killed a million people in Iraq as long as we got Saddam Hussein," he said. "You have to have a sense of proportion about this stuff. And when innocent peoples' lives are on the line, you've got to make a judgment. Somebody needs to say why they did it."
"I think that we should be concerned that our nation doesn't stand for international law," the Democrat added. "The fact that we're on the eve of an election, we're violating international law, creating an attack inside another nation, this can create the kind of crisis that helps to change the emotional climate of an election."
After suggesting that the attacks had political motivations, Kucinich was asked directly if the Bush administration would conduct an "unnecessary raid" to help McCain. "Yes, I am saying that," Kucinich said. "I'm saying that they could do that. That's right."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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"I'm saying that they could do that. That's right."
That might be a very definitive statement there, Dennis.
#5
Several civilians were killed, prompting the Syrian government to denounce the move as "brutal."
Funny how this news agency takes Syrian government claims for granted, while prefacing what Uncle Sam says in the following format: "The US government claims".
#8
Every time Dennis opens his mouth, I have to wonder a) what on God's grey earth possessed the citizens of his district to vote for this lunatic and b) will the space aliens who dropped him off here ever come back to pick him up?
It's been an unusual alliance from the beginning and now Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), in trouble in his race to keep his seat, is appealing to his old friends at MoveOn to come to his rescue.
The relatively conservative Murtha became a hero to MoveOn members when he came out early against the war. His military background and previous support of the war made his opposition significant.
The letter asking for campaign cash doesn't mention what, exactly, got him into the trouble he's in, but refers instead to "swiftboating" and "the right-wing attack machine."
"This is a real emergency--with just 6 days left," he writes. "People like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are correctly calling me a traitor and worse." This letter went out to MoveOn members today.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You are a traitor, and worse. Asshat. There is a special place in Hell for people like you.
#7
Well, he pretended to be conservative back when his district was more conservative. He made a killing on defense contract corruption for himself and his cronies. Then they went and redistricted him, and suddenly he's the representative of a bunch of deep-blue Mon Valley brownfield unionist hardasses. Now he's looking for leftist-liberal union cred, because that's what gets you elected in areas like Johnstown and the Mon Valley.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/30/2008 8:44 Comments ||
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#8
Woah. Even Newsweek sez he's in trouble...
One piece of potentially bad news for Democrats: word around the state is that Rep. John Murtha, a veteran member of the U.S. House delegation and ally of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, could lose his seat west of here in Johnstown.
I know that district---I covered Bobby Casey at a campaign picnic there a couple of years ago---and know why Murtha is in trouble. It is not because he came out against the war in Iraq in a forthright way; it is because he seemed to be trashing the Marines when he did it. He was wrong on at least some of his facts, as it turned out, and was probably wrong in the way he went about airing them.
Murtha seemed to be shooting off his mouth, and they tend not to like that kind of thing in the hills and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains.
The Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now is launching a major ad campaign to accuse the GOP of vote suppression because of the concerns they've raised over ACORN's rampant voter registration fraud.
A new ACORN television ad shows an image of a young black man while a narrator says "John McCain and the Republicans are trying to keep him an untold others from voting. Tell John McCain not this time." The spot will debut nationally on Wednesday.
ACORN is also blaming Fox News for potentially depriving Americans of the right to vote. "And then there's Fox News, accusing ACORN of all kinds of criminal activities hundreds-HUNDREDS-of times during the past few days," said a recent email from ACORN asking for support from their members.
The Republican National Committee has denounced ACORN's charges. "ACORN's most recent charges of voter suppression seem to be yet another attempt by this questionable organization to waste valuable taxpayer money and cloud their own record of voter registration fraud," said the RNC's Chief Counsel Sean Cairncross. " Just as a losing Kerry campaign election manual in 2004 urged activists to lodge a 'pre-emptive strike' claiming voter intimidation regardless of validity, ACORN is taking a page straight from the Democrats' playbook. The only voter suppression taking place is that which prevented the false registration of 'voters' like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the Dallas Cowboys starting lineup from poisoning the American electoral system with fraudulent ballots."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Ok, Ok, it's late, so I'm a bit slow on picking this thing apart [Obama's 30 minute advertisement] -- BUT THIS ONE JUMPED OUT AT ME . . . because it goes above and beyond all the other BS that has become so common place for BO!
At about 9 minute and 12 seconds into this ADVERTISEMENT we are hearing the truly sad tale of Larry and his wife (and I do mean it with real sympathy, it is a sad story), BUT as proof positive that Larry and his wife are just being used as props by the BO cinema department -- we see Larry in the mirror getting dressed for work AND WE CAN READ A DIRECT IMAGE - not a mirror image - OF HIS NAME TAG AND SEE THAT HE WORK'S FOR WAL-MART! Now, I don't know about you alls mirror, but mine would reverse my name tag. That's one might special mirror that Larry and his wife own, and Larry should sell the thing and use the money, OR HOLLYWOOD HAS JUST DONE ANOTHER CHEAP MIRROR TRICK TO HELP BOOST OBAMA'S IMAGE.
You know, it's not so much that Obama is an empty suit -- it's that he is a LIE and a LIAR. See, e.g., one summary of all his lies here at this link.
#2
Somehow, I missed this 30 minute infomercial last night. Er, ah, er, there was a baseball game last night. Sounds like the delivery of the proclamations from on high was a "I feel your pain moment or 30 moments."
I wonder how many people paid much attention to BOs TV ads for his presidency? Did he have the columns or was it some other similar setting?
Within the last hour, the first exit poll of 817 Americans in Israel, who attended U.S. election voting events in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening to vote by absentee ballot, has been released.
A startling 76 percent of those polled said that they had voted for John McCain. This contrasts sharply with pre-election polls of American Jews in the U.S., which indicate a strong preference for Obama.
The exit poll findings of American voters in Israel are all the more surprising because less than one in four were registered Republicans, and 46% of registered Democrats living in Israel said they had crossed party lines to vote McCain. By contrast, the Republican crossover to Obama was minimal just 2%.
The votes are significant as almost half of the 42,000 registered U.S. voters living in Israel come from key swing states including Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
In the 2000 and 2004 elections, Israel had the third-largest group of American voters abroad, after Canada and Britain.
The exit poll was commissioned by Votefromisrael.org, an independent, non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting voter registration and participation amongst American citizens living in Israel.
Statistical outlier, or leading indicator? We'll know in a few days.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/30/2008 10:36 ||
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Alan Dershowitz supports Obama, but got a very cool reception when he spoke to Orthodox Jews in NY. They neither trust nor like him.
#3
OK, American Jews /= Israeli-Americans. They're rather closer to reality in the once-and-future Palestinian homeland aka The Coming Glass-Lined Crater Next To The Dead Sea. American Jews as a demographic tend to vote with the reality-based, and often have less than a close relationship with the real. They *love* fictional creations like The Narrative That Walks Like A Man.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/30/2008 11:37 Comments ||
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The posted article did not say whether or not the Americans living in Israel were Jews or Christians, etc.. How do you explain that American Jews in the U.S. are going for Obama 70% and 25% for McCain (latest IBD/TIFF poll)? Israel tended to do well under the policies of Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2. They would do well under McCain (probably much better than under Obama). All can figure is that there are not many conservative Jewish people; they mostly are liberal.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WASHINGTON, DC - In a shocking reversal, the Alien has switched his endorsement from Barack Obama to John McCain.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was less than upfront in his half-hour commercial Wednesday night about the costs of his programs and the crushing budget pressures he would face in office. 
Aides to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) scheduled pricey luncheons, roundtables, readings, VIP receptions and policy dinners with campaign officials and advisers, offering donors a taste of his potential administration.
More than a dozen Missouri counties have more registered voters on their rolls than they do voting age adults, a scenario that triggered a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit following the last presidential election.
It's been an unusual alliance from the beginning and now Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), in trouble in his race to keep his seat, is appealing to his old friends at MoveOn to come to his rescue. 
Ok, Ok, it's late, so I'm a bit slow on picking this thing apart [Obama's 30 minute advertisement] -- BUT THIS ONE JUMPED OUT AT ME . . . because it goes above and beyond all the other BS that has become so common place for BO!
