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September 30, 2006
The Many Follies of the House Republicans
The latest scandal to emerge from the House of Rep. Republicans, is quite a scandal. I have been debating posting about it, because it seems a bit too sensational, scandalous, and seedy. However, as I was reading the National Journal's write-up on the "Foley Follies" as they call it, something jumped out at me:
Is it really the regular practice of the House GOP leadership staff to keep the Speaker out of the loop when it comes to questionable conduct by Members?Hastert is notoriously slow when encouraging a wounded member of his party to get going. From Tom DeLay to Bob Ney, Hastert never seems willing to push members into what needs to be done. Now, in all three recent cases (DeLay, Ney and Foley), the member eventually did the right thing -- but at a politically painful pace.
This is a pretty good point. With all three cases, all three men did eventually resign, but not until there seemed little else to do. Unfortunately for them, these situations all happened during an election cycle, after primaries. Which has made three congressional races quite interesting. In Foley's case, his name cannot be removed from the ballot. His seat up until Thursday was a safe seat. Now especially, it seems that it will be a needless loss of a seat for the Republicans. While I don't see this particular incident carrying over into other races nation-wide, the overall sense of internal republican congressional problems won't be diminishing anytime soon. In all honesty, I hope this is the last of these scandals or investigations for a while. It would be nice for Congress to focus on legislation instead of continually having to put out these fires.
If you are interested in understanding exactly what happened to Foley, read about it at ABC News, the news group to break the story. If you want a less sensationalist article read the Time's article. It's interesting to see the amount of evidence that has surfaced since the story first broke out. This evidence is most likely why Foley resigned so quickly, since the initial charge was only that Foley was "overly friendly". That will be the most that will state about that situation.
Posted by ear14 at 09:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 29, 2006
Observer Article regarding the Case Dems Cancelled Event
The Observer had a really well written article regarding the cancellation of our event. Since there have been so many rumors and different versions of the story, I feel like this is the most straightforward way for you to understand what has been happening with our efforts to bring candidates to Case. You may also be aware that we are now trying to bring Sherrod Brown, and still have heard nothing in regards to potential changes in Case's policy. So we shall see.
http://observer.case.edu/Archives/Volume_39/Issue_5/Story_1025/
Posted by ear14 at 05:54 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 24, 2006
Bill Clinton on Fox News
As you may or may not know, Bill Clinton had his first-ever interview. Here are the first 20 minutes of the interview. I think he ends up having a little bit of fun sticking it to Fox News.
Watch it at Crooks and Liars
They also have the rest of the interview's transcript.
Posted by ear14 at 06:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 14, 2006
Who wants to be a Poll Worker?
Dear Colleagues:
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, as some of you may have noticed
from the results of the primary vote, needs help. It also pays pretty
well: $15/hr for pollworkers. Attached is information about application
and training. Please consider it, if your instructors will accept an
absence for an excellent cause.
Best regards,
Joe White
Training Schedule and Application
Posted by ear14 at 09:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 12, 2006
Tom Noe Sentanced to Prison
For those of you who don't know about Tom Noe, get briefed on Wikipedia (hint: check under Coingate). For the rest of you, here's the latest update: Tom Noe has been sentanced to 27 months in Jail. This is just in regards to his illegal fundraising tactics. While I'm sure many of you aren't easily excited by Campaign Finance (woo hoo!), it actually is a bit of a big deal.
read the full details at The Plain Dealer
In regards to Coingate, Noe's rackateering and stealing from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Comp. (BWC). The sentancing for that fun fiasco will come in a month or so. So stay tuned.
Posted by ear14 at 08:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 10, 2006
Voter Registration Reminder
Hey everyone,
You're receiving this e-mail if you signed up to register people during this week's massive Voter Registration Drive! I'm getting really excited for this week, and I hope you are, too. I'm attaching the schedule (two pages, not one, so if you don't see your name, scroll down) that the Case Democrats filled in this week, just so you can all see who you are working with, and remind yourself of the days, times, and locations. If you wrote down a specific time slot you could fill, I assigned it to you; if you did not write one down, I assumed you could work the whole time. I tried to stagger the Tuesday time slots and Leutner and Fribley, just so nobody would have to work the full 3 hours, and so that some of the shifts would overlap a bit, letting people get comfortable. Those time slots on Friday will be shorter, so I didn't divide them up. If you have any problems with the schedule, please let me know ASAP. Also, if you can work any extra days/times (notice that some of the days are a bit empty), let me know. Finally, I may be shifting some of you to table at Nord or the Quad on Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, as we do not need that many people at the Oval. I will send you reminders the night before your shift.
And if you can...we will be having a very very very brief meeting TODAY, Sunday, September 10, at 8:30 PM, in Thwing Atrium , just to explain the procedures of how to set up each station where we will be having a table. It is very important that you come if you have never worked with the staff at Thwing or Leutner/Fribley to set up a table (that pretty much means all the freshmen), especially if you are sheduled to volunteer during the early part of the week.
Any questions or concerns, let me know. If you need to contact me, I'm available by e-mail (arene@case.edu) of you can just call my phone. You can also call Steve or Sasha. if you need clarifications, especially while you're doing the actual voter registration.
Thanks for everything! You guys are AMAZING; if all goes well, we may be able to start changing the reputation of the youth vote!
Peace,
Arene
Posted by ear14 at 02:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 04, 2006
Judge Rules Against New Voter Registration Law
The New York Times has reported on the ruling against the recent voter registration changes. The article. It seems that the Federal Judge viewed the new laws as violating the first amendment, among other things.
Posted by ear14 at 02:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 02, 2006
Labor Day Picnic and Thank Yous
Hey everyone,
First, I would like to thank everyone who attended the first meeting for their enthusiasm for the upcoming semester. I can already tell this year will be the best yet for our organization!
For those of you who weren't able to attend, I will have meeting minutes on the website within the next day or so. I will be sure to notify everyone once this is done.
Finally, I have the announcement of the Labor Day Picnic that Marquez told everyone about on Thursday. Everyone is certainly encouraged to go!
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to e-mail me and have a great, long weekend!
Stephen
What: 11th Congressional District Caucus Parade & Picnic
When: Monday, Sept. 4, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Where: Luke Easter Park
Why: Celebrating "Ballot Power"
It's that time of year again - the 11th Congressional District Caucus' Annual Labor Day Parade and Picnic will be held Monday, September 4, 2006! The festivities will commence at Noon with our time-honored parade starting at E. 147th Street and Kinsman Road and culminating at Luke Easter Park with great food and music. Join us to meet and greet our friends from throughout the 11th Congressional District, including Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. This year's theme celebrates "BALLOT POWER," the significance of exercising the right to vote and the critical importanceof protecting the integrity of every vote cast.
Posted by ear14 at 11:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack