Hey guys. While all of you are waiting/refreshing your page every 15 seconds waiting for certain news, here is another easy activism you can take part in to restore honor and dignity in Washington. Ask for an investigation of Senator Bill Frist. Yes, so far we have written two letters to the Senate Ethics Committee requesting an investigation of Senator Bill Frist's sale of HCA, Inc. stock from his so-called "blind" trust. We haven't gotten any response from them yet. The Securities and Exchange Commission is already investigating whether Frist is guilty of insider trading because his family started HCA and his brother sits on the board of directors. So we need your help in convincing the leaders Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the sale of Senator Bill Frist's stock in his family's company.
Call their offices and demand that the Ethics Committee investigate Senator Frist's stock sales:
Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) Chairman, Senate Ethics Committee 202-224-3353
Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) Ranking Member, Senate Ethics Committee 202-224-5842
Based on this information we are asking for our activists from all over the country to take immediate action and put pressure on the Congress to make sure that our publicly owned airwaves are used for public safety and the public good. Congress is expected to take up legislation this week that would set a hard deadline for the broadcast industry to turn over a portion of our airwaves. Please join us in calling our Senators today to make sure that our publicly owned airwaves are used for public safety and the public good. More details after the jump. Thank you so much again for making us feel welcome at this wonderful community.
The model blind trust agreement available on the Ethics Committee's website states that there shall be no "direct or indirect communication" between senators and trustees unless the senator is directing the trustee "to sell all of an asset . . . [which] creates a conflict of interest or the appearance thereof due to the subsequent assumption of duties" by the senator.
Hi folks. Wanted to let you all know Common Cause is launching a major campaign for an independent commission modeled on the bipartisan 9-11 Commission to investigate government's response to the disaster caused by Hurricane Katrina. Everyone (except some politicians) knew Hurricane Katrina was coming. There was no proper evacuation plan. No back up communications system. No coordination between national and state government. As a result we lost hundreds (if not thousands) of lives and billions of dollars of property and witnessed unimaginable devastation to the Gulf states' infrastructure. We need to find out why.
It would be wonderful if you guys can keep up the awareness and outrage around this issue by signing this petition, and passing it on to you everyone you know. Thanks again for making us feel welcome to this wonderful community. More after the jump.
Everyone here is rooting for the Iraq war hero/combat veteran Paul Hackett in Cincy today, who is gunning for a seat in the United States Congress. But I wanted to come here today and ask you guys to join another campaign - which is to fight for voting rights for the residents of Washington D.C. Citizens of OH-02 are voting for a congressional representative, who will actually have a vote. Earlier this Jan. we saw the citizens of Baghdad braving deadly violence to vote and giving us those unforgettable images of their raised purple-inked fingers. But as heroes like Major Hackett gave it all their all so that citizens of Baghdad could vote, here in D.C. folks watched those images of puple inked fingers knowing they are still without any representation in Congress. In fact, expatriate Iraqi citizens living in DC voted in the Iraqi election, while their neighbors have gone more than 200 years without representation in Congress.
Hi folks. We have so many battles to fight right now - uncovering the strands of RoveGate, pealing the John Roberts onion. Our hands are full. But I submit to you another nomination by this administration, which is slipping under everyone's radar. We need your help in opposing the nomination of Congressman Chris Cox as the Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Here are our reasons , which I am going to post and and expand on below the follow. Our calling targets are the Senators of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs ("Senate Banking Committee"). PLEASE CALL ALL OF THEM today and tomorrow, urge them to stop/oppose the Chris Cox nomination. Details after the fold. Please make the calls today. Again thanks so much for all of your support for Common Cause here at this wonderful community.
Folks wanted to bring to your attention an important election reform related action we can all use your help with. I know rightly everyone is focused on Rove and latest culture of corruption related news of the day, but it really comes down to election reform. If we have had an election system that was not broken, we might have seen something different in Ohio and in Florida in 04 and in 00. So we are continuing to chip away, and we can use your help again, as we are targeting Kenneth Blackwell/Katherine Harrises of the world - Secretaries of States around the country in our latest action for paper trail. If you can kindly recommend this diary, and keep this action going all through the day it would be much appreciated. Thanks again so much for making us feel welcome to your community. If you have comments, suggestions, please post away, I will be answering as many questions or get the answers to you as possible. Thanks again. More after the flip.
We know ROVE IS THE TOPIC of the week, however thought we let you know about some important reforms taking on the WHOLE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION, starting in Ohio. Little more than two weeks ago we (Common Cause) sent out an email to our supporters about the "Coingate" political scandal, which has exposed how the GOP in OH have been exchanging political favors for campaign contributions. But the scandal goes much deeper, threatening democracy in Ohio in a culture of systematic political corruption. These threats include:
The Ohio General Assembly voting to increase the amount wealthy donors can give to their campaigns by 400percent, allowing candidates to accept contributions of $10,000,
Partisan gerrymandering of legislative and Congressional districts allowing self-interested politicians to chose their voters, while tens of thousands of voters are left disenfranchised,
Partisans administering elections in which they have a direct interest, while voters are left withour sufficient access to the polls casting doubts on election results.
We need to end this culture of political corruption today. More after the jump ...
Everyone here is rooting for the Iraq war hero/combat veteran Paul Hackett in Cincy today, who is gunning for a seat in the United States Congress. But I wanted to come here today and ask you guys to join another campaign - which is to fight for voting rights for the residents of Washington D.C. Citizens of OH-02 are voting for a congressional representative, who will actually have a vote. Earlier this Jan. we saw the citizens of Baghdad braving deadly violence to vote and giving us those unforgettable images of their raised purple-inked fingers. But as heroes like Major Hackett gave it all their all so that citizens of Baghdad could vote, here in D.C. folks watched those images of puple inked fingers knowing they are still without any representation in Congress. In fact, expatriate Iraqi citizens living in DC voted in the Iraqi election, while their neighbors have gone more than 200 years without representation in Congress.
