On voter registration, the Columbus Dispatch gets it right, almost
Is election reform brewing in the Buckeye State? In an extensive and well-argued editorial the Dispatch made the case for the integration of key state government databases into a statewide electronic voter registration system under the control of the Secretary of State’s office, as proposed in pending legislation.
Ohio’s voter registration databases are in disarray. In the 2008 presidential election, many voters found their right to vote challenged in Ohio because of discrepancies in state and federal databases. For example, under Social Security I am listed as Robert John Fitrakis, but on my driver’s license it’s Robert J. Fitrakis. On the voting rolls I’m Robert Fitrakis. If the states would integrate their databases and establish a single form for voter registration, bizarre challenges over middle initials and names may become a thing of the past.
Ohio’s voter registration databases are in disarray. In the 2008 presidential election, many voters found their right to vote challenged in Ohio because of discrepancies in state and federal databases. For example, under Social Security I am listed as Robert John Fitrakis, but on my driver’s license it’s Robert J. Fitrakis. On the voting rolls I’m Robert Fitrakis. If the states would integrate their databases and establish a single form for voter registration, bizarre challenges over middle initials and names may become a thing of the past.
Election Summit summary: What really happened in Ohio in 2008
Problems persist with Ohio’s election system and the Buckeye State is in desperate need of reform.
Mary Jo Kilroy squeaked out a 2,311 vote victory in Ohio’s U.S. 15th district, but only after a monumental struggle over counting provisional ballots.
A shocking 10% of all Ohio voters on Election Day 2008 were forced to vote provisionally. This was the most provocative statement made at Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s Ohio Elections Summit 2008 on December 2 at the Ohio Historical Society.
The location was telling. Lawrence Norden, legal counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, informed Ohio Elections Summit attendees that they were at a “first of its kind” historical summit.
Mary Jo Kilroy squeaked out a 2,311 vote victory in Ohio’s U.S. 15th district, but only after a monumental struggle over counting provisional ballots.
A shocking 10% of all Ohio voters on Election Day 2008 were forced to vote provisionally. This was the most provocative statement made at Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s Ohio Elections Summit 2008 on December 2 at the Ohio Historical Society.
The location was telling. Lawrence Norden, legal counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, informed Ohio Elections Summit attendees that they were at a “first of its kind” historical summit.
For Obama it's one (term) if by war, two if by peace
As the world awaits Barack Obama's decision on Afghanistan, a lethal myth has spread. It says that standing up to the military will doom him to be a single-term president.
The "one if by peace" myth comes most recently from Garry Wills in the New York Review of Books. Wills mourns that Obama would commit political suicide by pulling out of both Iraq and Afghanistan because "the charges from various quarters would be toxic---that he was weak, unpatriotic, sacrificing the sacrifices that have been made, betraying our dead, throwing away all former investments in lives and treasure."
Against all that, says Wills, "he could have little defense in the quarters where such charges would originate."
Coming from an astute observer like Wills, this is a stunning analysis---and dead wrong.
In fact, the only way Obama can begin to think about getting re-elected is to leave the Afghan quagmire and do the same from Iraq.
The key phrase here is "the quarters where such charges would originate."
The "one if by peace" myth comes most recently from Garry Wills in the New York Review of Books. Wills mourns that Obama would commit political suicide by pulling out of both Iraq and Afghanistan because "the charges from various quarters would be toxic---that he was weak, unpatriotic, sacrificing the sacrifices that have been made, betraying our dead, throwing away all former investments in lives and treasure."
Against all that, says Wills, "he could have little defense in the quarters where such charges would originate."
Coming from an astute observer like Wills, this is a stunning analysis---and dead wrong.
In fact, the only way Obama can begin to think about getting re-elected is to leave the Afghan quagmire and do the same from Iraq.
The key phrase here is "the quarters where such charges would originate."
Come together right now
If you have an interest in grassroots organizing, international alliance building, the peace movement, the labor movement, the conversion of the U.S. economy from weapons to human needs, the preservation of life on earth (come on, admit it), the weaponization of space, or the autobiographical insights of smart and determined people, then I cannot more strongly recommend that you get a copy of "Come Together Right Now: Organizing Stories from a Fading Empire," by my friend and ally Bruce Gagnon.
Isolated incident
Moving forward from the latest massacre, three narratives — well, one of them is no more than the familiar, all-purpose shrug of experts, puzzled over yet another “isolated incident” — are vying to explain what happened and set the direction of our future.
Is Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged killer of 13 people at Fort Hood last week, A) a Muslim terrorist; B) a solitary guy who snapped; or C) a broken healer and victim of the misbegotten war on terror?
While the reality may be more complex than we can imagine, and ultimately unknowable — and while national grief demands, at the very least, a refusal to jump to quick, convenient conclusions and politicize the tragedy — no healing at all can happen without a simultaneous groping for understanding. Let our explanations, I pray, go deeper than the suspect’s surname. And let them honor the facts of the matter.
Is Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged killer of 13 people at Fort Hood last week, A) a Muslim terrorist; B) a solitary guy who snapped; or C) a broken healer and victim of the misbegotten war on terror?
While the reality may be more complex than we can imagine, and ultimately unknowable — and while national grief demands, at the very least, a refusal to jump to quick, convenient conclusions and politicize the tragedy — no healing at all can happen without a simultaneous groping for understanding. Let our explanations, I pray, go deeper than the suspect’s surname. And let them honor the facts of the matter.
Over 2,200 veterans died in 2008 due to lack of health insurance
Harvard researchers say 1.46 million working-age vets lacked health coverage last year, increasing their death rate
A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.
The researchers, who released their analysis today, pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.
The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau's March 2009 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.
A research team at Harvard Medical School estimates 2,266 U.S. military veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they lacked health insurance and thus had reduced access to care. That figure is more than 14 times the number of deaths (155) suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2008, and more than twice as many as have died (911 as of Oct. 31) since the war began in 2001.
The researchers, who released their analysis today, pointedly say the health reform legislation pending in the House and Senate will not significantly affect this grim picture.
The Harvard group analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau's March 2009 Current Population Survey, which surveyed Americans about their insurance coverage and veteran status, and found that 1,461,615 veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008. Veterans were only classified as uninsured if they neither had health insurance nor received ongoing care at Veterans Health Administration (VA) hospitals or clinics.
Eight reasons the Democrats lost Virginia & New Jersey—and how to recover
Losing the Virginia and New Jersey governorships hurt. Local factors played a part, but these are major states. So it matters why the Democrats lost them. Here are eight reasons, with lessons on how to reclaim the momentum of just a year ago:
Bad candidates.
The consensus choice, but worth stating before moving on to reasons less obvious. Creigh Deeds ran an awful campaign, even saying he’d reject a healthcare public option. Jon Corzine’s ratings were disastrous from the beginning and his Wall Street background combined with the massive indictments of so many New Jersey Democrats to offer the worst possible symbolism. You have to give people something to fight for, and if our candidates are this unpopular, we’d better get better ones.
Blue Dogs.
Bad candidates.
The consensus choice, but worth stating before moving on to reasons less obvious. Creigh Deeds ran an awful campaign, even saying he’d reject a healthcare public option. Jon Corzine’s ratings were disastrous from the beginning and his Wall Street background combined with the massive indictments of so many New Jersey Democrats to offer the worst possible symbolism. You have to give people something to fight for, and if our candidates are this unpopular, we’d better get better ones.
Blue Dogs.
Pelosi arrested us for asking for healthcare
Around 3PM this afternoon I was one of 12 single payer activists who were
escorted from the reception area of Nancy Pelosi's office in the San
Francisco Federal Building and arrested by members of the Federal Protection Service of U.S. Homeland Security.
Just before noon we went to Pelosi's office to ask Dan Bernal, the district director, make a phone call either to Pelosi herself or Terri McCullough, Pelosi's chief of staff in Washington. We wanted to directly communicate two demands: that the Kucinich amendment be included in the health care bill that will soon be brought to a vote in the House and that the Weiner amendment be voted on by the House, as previously promised by Pelosi.
Just before noon we went to Pelosi's office to ask Dan Bernal, the district director, make a phone call either to Pelosi herself or Terri McCullough, Pelosi's chief of staff in Washington. We wanted to directly communicate two demands: that the Kucinich amendment be included in the health care bill that will soon be brought to a vote in the House and that the Weiner amendment be voted on by the House, as previously promised by Pelosi.