Fighting for Democracy

With the President's central theme of Fighting for Democracy why is it so hard to do it in this county.

From the New York Times Editorial Page-

"One of the lessons of the election mess in Florida in 2000 was that a secretary of state can deprive a large number of people of the right to vote by small manipulations of the rules. ...Just weeks before the deadline to register, Kenneth Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state, instructed the state's county boards of election to reject registrations on paper of less than 80-pound stock - the sort used for paperback-book covers and postcards, compared with the 20-to-24-pound stock in everyday use."

This would throw out all the voter registration that has been going on, and for all the people to registered recently, they have no idea if they are registered or not. New voter registration trends Democratic.

More SD Pension...

Sometimes I just can't beleave the stuff they do at city Hall.

From the Union Tribune -

"San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy yesterday asked the city's four labor unions to help reduce a $1.17 billion deficit in the employee pension fund by agreeing to a two-year wage freeze beginning July 1.

Without the freeze, Murphy said, "The alternative could very well be layoffs." ...

Bill Farrar, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, said Murphy should have told him about the plan before announcing it to the news media.

"This is not about contract negotiations. It's about grandstanding five weeks before the election," Farrar said. "

The Laugh is on Bill O'Reilly

from the AP -

"NEW YORK - The folks at Comedy Central were annoyed when Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly kept referring to "The Daily Show" audience as "stoned slackers." So they did a little research. And guess whose audience is more educated?

Viewers of Jon Stewart's show are more likely to have completed four years of college than people who watch "The O'Reilly Factor," according to Nielsen Media Research. ...

Comedy Central also touted a recent study by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey, which said young viewers of "The Daily Show" were more likely to answer questions about politics correctly than those who don't. "

Young Voters

I think they get this exactly right.

This is from The New Republic -

"Too often in these kinds of campaigns, voting comes across as just another one of those things that young people really should do, pathetically gussied up as fun and cool by well-meaning adults. Hey kids, they seem to say, voting can be just as much fun as not having sex and not taking drugs! Barrymore more or less follows this script; she talks about voting like a civic virtue that one should practice along with all the other virtues--and to fight the man, or whatever. That message may indeed motivate some voters. But there are also significant issues facing young voters in this election: a war they will fight, a deficit they will pay for, and a country whose shattered reputation it will be up to them to fix. At a time like this, might a plain appeal to self-interest be less patronizing and, ultimately, more effective? "

Amazing

The President of CSU San Marcos is crazy... Universities are one of the most important places in our communities for voicing differing political views.

From the Union Tribune -

"SAN MARCOS – CSU San Marcos President Karen Haynes said yesterday that it would be illegal to have Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore on campus before the presidential election.

Civil liberties lawyers disagreed, however, saying partisan figures have for years have spoken at universities, and that sitting presidents including George Bush often speak at college commencements, with funding by public universities during an election year.

Nancy Sasaki of the American Civil Liberties Union San Diego chapter concurred with Haynes that the university itself cannot endorse Bush or challenger John Kerry or other political views, and it cannot donate public money to them.

But she said the law does not limit the free speech on a university campus or prevent colleges from having speakers with political views, even if universities pay their honorariums.

"It's ludicrous to say you can't invite any speaker with a political viewpoint," said Sasaki.

Power to the People

It is nice to know who is running your government...

From the Washington Post -

"For the third time, environmental advocates have discovered passages in the Bush administration's proposal for regulating mercury pollution from power plants that mirror almost word for word portions of memos written by a law firm representing coal-fired power plants.

The passages state that the Environmental Protection Agency is not required to regulate other hazardous toxins emitted by power plants, such as lead and arsenic. Several attorneys general, as well as some environmental groups, have argued that the Clean Air Act compels the EPA to regulate these emissions as well as mercury. "

District 4 Elections

From the Union Tribune -

"San Diego City Clerk Charles Abdelnour has included former City Councilman George Stevens on the Nov. 16 special-election ballot to replace the late Charles Lewis – a decision that defies the opinion of the San Diego city attorney and will be opposed in court.

Abdelnour said yesterday that the city's statute on term limits is "ambiguous," and that he would include Stevens on the ballot unless ordered by a court to remove the name. "

What is funny, is that from what I heard the whole reason for the random Date of the election was so that he Couldn't make it on the ballot... Maybe that wasn't true.

Assembly-Gate

I just hope that they leak, any good stuff they found...just kidding, I am sure they will be caught.

From the Union Tribune -

"LA MESA – Two computers were stolen from state Assemblyman Jay LaSuer's local office, prompting him to wonder if the crime was "political in nature."

A receptionist found the front door of LaSuer's Jackson Drive office standing open when she arrived for work about 9 a.m. Friday. Later in the morning, his staff realized that a lock on the door had been broken off and two computers – one in LaSuer's office and another used by interns, were missing.

Nothing else was taken, and the thieves left behind the computer keyboards and monitors and other computers in the office, said Barry Jantz, the Republican assemblyman's district chief of staff.

"It's interesting how things like this seem to happen at election time," LaSuer said in a statement issued yesterday. "It makes one wonder whether this crime is political in nature. It will be interesting if any information on the computers finds its way into any political mailers."

LaSuer is running for a second term in the 77th Assembly District. His opponents are Democrat Chris Larking and Libertarian Virgil "Randy" Hall II.
"

Not a Good Sign

From the Union Tribune -

"Signaling it can no longer vouch for the fiscal health of America's seventh-largest city, a major Wall Street credit-rating agency yesterday suspended its ratings for San Diego because officials have yet to release an audit of the 2003 books.

The move by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services was made four days after the release of a report by a law firm hired by the city that revealed, among other things, that municipal officials withheld information about the pension system from rating agencies in the summer of 2003. "

Good thing that is an election coming... too bad nobody is paying any attention. Oh and just incase you need someone to blame for all this...

"Murphy voted with a council majority in November 2002 to continue a policy of underfunding the pension system while boosting worker benefits. Earlier that year, Murphy's Blue Ribbon Committee on City Finances warned of the dangers of underfunding, benefit boosts and unfunded health care costs. Pension trustee Diann Shipione also warned against the new underfunding deal in council testimony Nov. 18, 2002. "

Voting

I like to vote. I have lived in California all my life, but under the rules the County supervision have laid out, it would be very hard for me to vote. I have a driver’s license, but have never gotten around to getting a Passport. I would not be able to register. I guess I could go get a passport but that takes about 3 months. I guess I understand the point, to vote you should have to prove you are legally here. But the problem isn't that to many people vote the problem is not enough people vote. By making it harder for everyone, less people will vote.

From the Union Tribune -

"Californians would have to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote and photo identification when voting under a proposal San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn is pushing.

Horn, who said the requirements would help prevent voter fraud, will ask the Board of Supervisors tomorrow to sign a letter to the secretary of state endorsing his proposal and advocating a change in state law. "

Mr. Moore at Cal State San Marcos

Just in case you didn't realized how blatantly partisan the north county is here is a little taste. An Oscar-winning film director is UN-invite by the president of the University, after the student council invited him.

From the Union Tribune -

Mr. Kerry

from Peter Mork -

"and then concludes with:

On Nov. 2 we will have a national shareholders meeting. On the ballot will be the choice to continue with President Bush's policies or return to the fiscal sanity and pro-growth polices that proved so successful in the 1990s. You will choose.
Thanks Senator for putting that in terms us Wall Street guys could understand.

Too funny."

I think it is funny too, but more that most politicians are like that, not just Kerry. What seems to bug Mr. Mork is that Kerry is talking down (or maybe just slowly so they understand...) to the Mighty Shock Brokers, as for Bush he likes to talk down to the rest of us working people.

See my post

"You see, if you can't raise enough by taxing the rich, guess who gets to pay next?" Bush asked. "Yes, the not-rich. That's all of us."

So it turns out that Bush, unlike your typical grandsons of senators, sons of presidents and graduates of fancy prep schools, Yale and Harvard business school, is just another "not rich" guy, a regular working stiff. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the average annual wage for the Cedar Rapids area is $34,600. So that crowd was clearly "not rich."

But who else are the "not rich"? Well, Bush last year reported an income of only $822,000, and his assets were worth as much as $19 million. That includes his 1,583-acre ranch in Crawford, Tex. "

USA Patriot Act

Are you worried about the USA Patriot Act?

From the Washington Post -

"A Brigade of Tinfoil Hats

The Justice Department's inspector general reported Monday to Congress on the number of complaints that the IG received from December to June about civil rights or civil liberties abuses by officials in the name of the controversial USA Patriot Act.

The report also listed the "number of 'unrelated' complaints."

Now what might this be? A footnote explains that the "complaints in this category do not cite an improper act by a DOJ employee or contractor or a discernible nexus between the alleged conduct of the DOJ employee/contractor and a . . . civil rights or civil liberties violation."

"Examples in this category include complaints that the government has implanted devices in complainants' heads to control or interfere with their thoughts or actions, or that the government is pumping poisonous gas into their homes."

So does this mean the IG is not going to investigate these complaints? Ahh, the coverup begins. "

Holy Bat Sh*t batman

form Reuters -

"MIAMI (Reuters) - Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader's name can appear on Florida ballots for the election, despite a court order to the contrary, Florida's elections chief told officials on Monday in a move that could help President Bush in the key swing state.

The Florida Democratic Party reacted with outrage, calling the move "blatant partisan maneuvering" by Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's younger brother, and vowed to fight it.

In a memo to Florida's 67 county supervisors of elections, Division of Elections director Dawn Roberts said the uncertainty of Hurricane Ivan, which could hit parts of the state by week's end, forced her to act. "

Wow...

Mistaken Identity

From the Washington Post -

"Mistaken Identity

Program here! Get your program here! The tight coordination between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden was so close that administration officials have trouble keeping the two apart.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said last week that Ahmed Shah Massoud, the former Northern Alliance leader in Afghanistan, "lay dead, his murder ordered by Saddam Hussein, by Osama bin Laden, Taliban's co-conspirator." Actually, Hussein had nothing to do with that hit.

Later, Rumsfeld said: "Saddam Hussein, if he's alive, is spending a whale of a lot of time trying not to get caught. And we've not seen him on a video since 2001." He meant bin Laden.

Yup. Tighter than ticks, those two."

Patty Davis

From the Union Tribune -

"State Assemblywoman Shirley Horton is starting her re-election campaign with an advantage over opponent Patty Davis that goes beyond money and name recognition.

The Republican incumbent has a substantial number of local Democrats on her side, willing to walk precincts and hold barbecues on her behalf, many of them in the primarily African-American neighborhoods of urban San Diego."

This is an interesting article about the 78th district...

War

From the New York Times Editorial Page -

"President Bush was absolutely right when he said it was impossible to win a war against terrorism - it's like announcing we can win a war against violence. Terrorism can only be minimized and controlled, and that can be done only with a worldwide strategy, joined by all of the world's sensible and peaceful nations. We hope that when Mr. Bush accepts his party's nomination for re-election tonight, he makes that argument.

The chances of a serious dialogue about terror took a blow, of course, when Mr. Bush retracted his completely sensible statement about terrorism after the Kerry-Edwards campaign attacked it. So far, this has been an election season of monumental simple-mindedness, in which the candidates start each day by telling us this is the most important election in the history of the planet, then devote the rest of their waking hours to meaningless sniping. But it's certainly not too late to elevate the conversation."

Exactly....