Gov. Dean Statement on Resignation of Chairman of Voting Reform Panel

[paineinthearse]

DNC: Chair of Voting reform resigns

Received by email from DNC member. READ ON. THIS IS T HE REASON WE ARE DEMOCRATS. PRESS RELEASE BY THE DNC.

For Immediate Release
April 25, 2005

Contact: Laura Gross, 202-863-8148

Gov. Dean Statement on Resignation of Chairman of Voting Reform Panel

Washington, DC - Gov. Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), issued the following statement in response to the resignation of Republican DeForest Soaries, the first Chairman of the Election Assistance Commission, the federal voting agency created after the 2000 election debacle.

"The resignation of Chairman Soaries underscores the need for true electoral reform in our country. The election disaster in 2000 should never have happened. But it did, and the solemn responsibility of our government was to do everything in its power to make sure it never happened again, and to safeguard the right of every single American to cast their vote.

Every American should be concerned about Chairman Soaries' assertions that the commission was underfunded and neglected, and that its four members had to work without staff, without offices and without resources. More disturbing, perhaps, is the arrogance with which the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have pursued agendas of the far right while ignoring true electoral reform.

Bill Frist's Nuclear Option and Tom DeLay's gutting of the ethics committee are coming at the expense of our democracy. Republicans should put the same effort into electoral reform as they have into seeking absolute power. To do anything less would be un-American."

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Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, www.democrats.org. This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee-------------------------------------------

For Immediate Release
April 25, 2005

Contact: Laura Gross, 202-863-8148


BANNED IN THE USA
by ther republicans



WASHINGTON-President Bush and the Republican Party continue to abuse their power by silencing people that don't agree with them. When will the President of the United States actually start listening to all Americans, not just an elite few?

Tomorrow in Galveston, Tex., the White House has banned people from the Social Security roundtable that don't agree with their plan. And, this week, a group of top telecommunications leaders are meeting to discuss industry standards, but only Bush supporters are allowed to attend the meeting.

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No Public Access for Galveston Event. "The Media Affairs office said the president would take no questions from the press and local residents had to be invited to attend. It was unclear Friday how the invitations were being made and to whom. 'I'm not at liberty to even say how people can get a ticket,' said Chris Stevens, chairman of the Galveston County Republican Party. 'It's very tight, very limited access.'"

Republicans Won't Cross the Line. "The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for this week's meeting in Guatemala City, politics has barged onto the agenda. At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House because they supported John Kerry's 2004 campaign.
The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally given a slot, say past participants. Only after the start of Bush's second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.
The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would represent the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent Duffy. Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and Nokia, two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well as Ibiquity, a digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md. One nixed participant, who has been to many of these telecom meetings and who wants to remain anonymous, gave just $250 to the Democratic Party. Says Nokia vice president Bill Plummer: "We do not view sending experts to international meetings on telecom issues to be a partisan matter. We would welcome clarification from the White House."

[NYCGirl]

1. Thank you for posting this. NT

[Toots]

2. People need to wake up and realize that EVERY SINGLE THING is partisan

to these people. They are Paranoid and Vindictive and absolutely WRONG and America needs to Wake Up and realize this if they wish for America to stay in existance.

[paineinthearse]

3. Dean has backbone!!!!!!

"Bill Frist's Nuclear Option and Tom DeLay's gutting of the ethics committee are coming at the expense of our democracy. Republicans should put the same effort into electoral reform as they have into seeking absolute power. To do anything less would be un-American."

:yourock:

[NYCGirl]

4. Thought I'd give this one another kick...

since it's only a matter of time before some DUer starts to complain, "Why isn't Dean speaking out about (fill in the blank here)!"