community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
On November 3 We Demonstrate or Celebrate
by united front solidarity network
Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 at 3:08 PM
the day after the election we should all gather on the local level and demonstrate or celebrate the results
Call to Action!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 3 2004
Take it to the Streets
Nation-wide Solidarity by organizing and acting Locally
regardless the result of the election would should be making plans and organizing to either demonstrate or celebrate on Nov.3
by organizing and demoenstrating on nov 3 we will show how we feel about the results. it will bring solidarity to our voice.
This is an open call to action for dialogue to begin on local organizing and planning for N3.
Please share ideas, plans ect. by commenting.
lets take it to the streets on N3.
Event for Nov 3rd
by Ken
Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 at 8:29 PM
there is already a rally and march organized by POG for November 3rd regardless of who wins, since neither will be a victory for the citizens of this country. 5:30pm on Nov 3rd at 4500 Fifth Ave in Oakland (SEI Building). Be there and spread the word!!
Denounce John Kerry's Politics of Fear and Division -- Don't Vote Kerry
by Al Tunci
Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2004 at 2:50 AM
Commentators are scratching their heads, but it should not be a mystery why Kerry made a comment about Vice-President Cheney’s daughter in the recent debate. With nothing substantive to talk about, Kerry and his camp intend to divide America - to pit us against one another based on race, gender, and anything else they can think of. Kerry’s comment about Cheney’s daughter is part of this calculated strategy.
Indeed, we have recently seen blatant examples of this tactic. For example, Kerry has threatened that President Bush will institute a draft. He has also argued that Bush will take away social security from the elderly. He has even alleged that the GOP is conspiring to keep minorities out of the voting booth.
Playing politics with fear and division is wrong. Sadly, though, this is where we find ourselves, thanks to the radical and depressing rhetoric of the far-left and John Kerry. I can only hope that after this election, we will all find a way to pull together and put the past few months of venom behind us.
Rise above the scare tactics of John Kerry and consider the real issues. This November, I encourage everyone to vote, and not to vote for the John Kerry the candidate of fear and division. John Kerry offers nothing tangible to resolve the issues facing this country and the world. He is a meresalesman with nothing more than a plan to get a plan.
1. The Economy. Even though a president has only limited ability to influence our economy, we pulled out of the recent recession in record time. The fact that our economy did not immediately desecend into the pits of a depression after 9-11 is nothing short of miraculous. Kerry – with little else to campaign on – hopes to scare citizens into believing we are immersed in the Great Depression of the 1920’s. Ignore the spin. Here are the facts:
-- More Than 1.9 Million Jobs Have Been Created Since August 2003.
=> “The economy has posted steady job gains for each of the last thirteen months. 96,000 new jobs were created in September. In addition, the Bureau of Labor (BLS) [recently] announced that they had underreported the number of jobs created between April 2003 and March 2004 by 236,000. This preliminary ‘benchmark’ revision is an annual adjustment done by BLS to ensure a more accurate count of job creation. As a result of [the] announcements, the payroll survey indicates that over 1.9 million jobs have been created since August 2003.”
=> Since January 2004, 70,000 new manufacturing jobs have been created.
-- Kerry’s repeated insistence that only poor-quality jobs have been created is flat out wrong.
=> “Now that the economy is growing and creating new jobs, John Kerry has been saying that the quality of those jobs is ‘much lower’ than the quality of jobs that have been lost.” In stark contrast to Kerry’s bleak rhetoric, reality is brighter. Factcheck.org explains, “A new set of numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics actually shows solid growth in employment in relatively higher-paying occupations, including construction workers, health-care professionals, business managers, and teachers, and virtually no growth at all in relatively lower-paying occupations including office clerks and assembly-line workers. It’s the most detailed breakdown yet – looking at 154 different job and industry groupings.”
=> “Since Bush took office in January 2001, average weekly earnings of private-sector production workers have gone up nearly 8 percent – and that’s despite the eight-month economic recession that began in March 2001 and the long job slump that continued until August 2003.”
-- Contrary to the partisan spin, loss of manufacturing jobs began under Clinton.
=> “Critics like [Hillary] Clinton and Kerry should have started complaining about manufacturing job losses five years ago. Massachusetts and New York were among 22 states that recorded losses during William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency.”
=> “In the final month of the Clinton Administration, manufacturing employment dropped by 76,000.”
-- By his own admission, Kerry “Understands” and “Supports” outsourcing.
=> Kerry conceded, “Benedict Arnold does not refer to somebody who in the normal course of business is going to go overseas and take jobs overseas. That happens. I support that. I understand that.”
-- According to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Kerry’s economic ideas would work only in a “fairy-tale world.”
=> “One irony of Kerry's jobs plan is that Kerry himself would further undermine its already minimal potential, by proposing to raise taxes on households in America making over $200,000. In his fairy-tale world, this income bracket is populated by robber barons and madcap heiresses, but statistics tell a different story. According to Congress's own Joint Economic Committee, over two-thirds of all personal income tax returns in the top bracket (which is actually higher than Kerry's proposed income threshold) report at least some earnings from a sole proprietorship, partnership, or "S" corporation.
Kerry supporters counter that most full-time small businesses report incomes much lower than $200,000, but putting up a tax barrier to their upward mobility certainly won't help them raise the capital to get to the next level. Starving businesses who've already reached this plateau isn't any smarter, since by their nature, they are home-grown enterprises that provide U.S.-based jobs.”
=> Commentators have also observed that Kerry’s economic team has presented no analysis that his ideas would create “1 million jobs, much less 10 million” as he has promised.
2. Taxes and big government. Kerry, on the left bank of the liberal camp, will expand government bureaucracy and raise taxes to pay for it. Do not be fooled by the slick talk of Kerry and Edwards. There is no way to pay for all of their liberal ideas without taking more money from the wallets of middle-class, hard-working Americans. Indeed, Kerry’s 20 year Washington D.C. record proves he is not shy about raising taxes.
-- Contrary to Kerry’s spin, the Bush tax cuts indeed put more money in everybody’s pockets and helped mitigate the severity of the economic depression, which began under Clinton and was exacerbated by 9-11. Here are the facts:
=> “As a result of the 2001 and the 2003 tax cuts, 109 million taxpayers will receive an average tax cut of $1,544. A family of four earning $40,000 will receive tax relief averaging $1,933. 42 million families with children will receive tax relief averaging $2,067.”
=> John Kerry voted against the Senate’s passage of the 2001 tax cut. Then, he missed the final passage of the 2001 tax cut to instead deliver a commencement address.
=> John Kerry voted against the final passage of the 2003 tax cut.
=> Kerry has voted against marriage penalty relief at least 22 times.
=> Kerry voted against expanding child tax credit at least 18 times.
=> Kerry voted for higher taxes on social security benefits at least eight times.
=> Kerry voted for higher gasoline taxes 10 times.
=> Kerry has voiced his support for increasing the tax on a gallon of gasoline by a half-dollar.
3. Health Care. Kerry calls for limitless government bureaucracy to take over health care. In contrast, the Bush plan keeps government out of health care and allows citizens to make their own health care decisions - not some government bureaucrat.
-- As part of his plan, President Bush will give low-income families tax credits to purchase health insurance.
=> “President Bush will propose a tax credit for low-income families and individuals to purchase health insurance, or to purchase a low-premium, high-deductible health plan and an HSA [Health Savings Account]. Families will receive up to $2,000 for their premiums and $1,000 cash to put in their HSAs to help meet the deductible. Individuals will receive up to $700 for their premiums and $300 for their HSAs.”
-- President Bush will allow small businesses to band together to create Association Health Plans. This is a novel plan, and it makes sense for the small and family businesses of America.
=> “While large businesses can use their purchasing power to get better deals from insurance companies, smaller firms often find that coverage is priced beyond their reach. To give small employers and their workers more purchasing power, the President has proposed allowing small businesses to band together and negotiate on behalf of their employers and their families.”
4. Abortion. Kerry is on the wrong side of important social issues.
-- Rejecting a culture of life, Kerry supports partial birth abortion and opposes parental notification for an abortion.
=> Kerry has voted at least six times against banning partial-birth abortion. Moreover, while campaigning in 2003, he skipped the vote that passed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.
=> Kerry has voted at least three times against requiring parental consent or notification for a minor to obtain an abortion. In a nation where kids now need a note from a parent to get a Tylenol from a school nurse, Kerry’s position says a lot about his values and motivations.
5. Illegal aliens. Kerry wants to play politics with immigration issues.
-- President Bush supports a temporary guest worker program to match individuals with employers that need workers. In contrast to Bush’s plan, Kerry supports a radical agenda of amnesty for illegal aliens.
=> Central to Kerry's immigration policy is his support of citizenship for illegal aliens who have "obeyed the law." According to Kerry, "I am in favor of 'earned legalization' for those people who are here now, who have obeyed the law, are working, have paid their taxes, stayed out of trouble. Under the circumstances, we should be converting people to citizenship." Kerry must not understand that people who are here "illegally," have already broken the law.
=> Kerry was the co-sponsor of S. 1645, which would offer amnesty to illegal aliens who have clocked a particular number of hours as farm workers, forestry workers, landscapers, processing plant workers, or mechanics.
=> Granting citizenship to illegal aliens rewards criminal behavior and creates incentive for more people to illegally cross the border. In 1986, the U.S. experimented with a similar amnesty program, with leaders promising that it would never happen again. Quite the contrary, the 1986 amnesty coupled with liberal immigration policies and essentially no enforcement of existing laws have only encouraged more illegal crossings.
-- Kerry’s radical amnesty plan would create a security risk.
=> Kerry's plan would also mean that the millions who slipped in since 9/11, including those who made it here by each paying $15,000 to $30,000 to a Pakistani smuggling ring that was busted in 2003, will be free to wander around without fear of capture, planning whatever they came here to do. Plainly, somebody who has $30,000 to spend on sneaking into the country is not interested in flipping burgers.
-- Kerry supports giving visas to foreign workers to fill high-technology jobs.
=> Other John Kerry votes on immigration-related issues belie his stated interest in creating jobs for Americans. In 2000, Kerry voted for the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (S. 2045) to increase the number of H1-B visas. H1-B visas are offered to foreign workers for technology jobs. In 2001, foreign workers using the H1-B program filled nine out of every 10 new jobs in the information technology field.
-- Kerry is out of touch with mainstream America on immigration issues.
=> The verdict is in. Kerry's record shows that he supports unfair visa programs and mass immigration. Most Americans agree with immigration as a component of the melting pot, but most also want the immigration rate lowered. Almost no one, except maybe Kerry, would support immigration beyond reasonable and sustainable levels, i.e. mass immigration.
6. Medical Liability Reform. President Bush supports medical liability reform, but Kerry and Edwards prefer to ignore the crisis of runaway litigation.
=> Edwards made his fortune trying medical malpractice lawsuits, making millions from doctors and insurance companies. At the Association of Trial Lawyers of America's conference in 2003, Edwards gave the opening speech and talked about how he fought "for ordinary people." After his speech, one of his fellow trial lawyers recited, "You created us, Lord, not to accumulate treasure for ourselves, but to do your work." As for "accumulated treasure," Edwards's net worth earned from malpractice and personal injury lawsuits is estimated to be as high as $60 million, including three homes worth more than one million dollars apiece.
=> There are now more than one million attorneys in our nation. By the most conservative estimates, law has become a $200 billion per year industry. Given the confidentiality of most lawsuit settlements, it is impossible to gauge how much money really changes hands as a result of litigation.
=> In many major cities, nearly every doctor has been sued at least once. Many doctors around the nation are having trouble affording insurance to keep their practices afloat.
=> The American Medical Association has designated Pennsylvania and eleven other states as litigation crisis states, based on the proliferation of litigation and the skyrocketing cost of medical liability insurance.
=> Over 76% of physicians are concerned that malpractice litigation has hurt their ability to provide quality care to patients.
=> Kerry insists that the cost of litigation makes up only a tiny fraction of rising insurance costs. But this defies common sense. It ignores the price of practicing defensive medicine in this culture of runaway litigation. Also, there is no way to ascertain just how expensive litigation really is, because most cases settle in confidential settlements before they ever reach a jury.
7. Kerry’s Global Test. Kerry’s radical foreign policy ideas would endanger our troops and imperil the integrity of the Constitution.
-- John Kerry believes in passing an international “Global Test” before using force to defeat terrorism.
=> When it comes to defending our nation and defeating terrorism, Kerry insists that U.S. foreign policy must pass a so-called “global test.” He repeated this at the first presidential debate, and this is consistent with what he has said throughout his entire political career. For example, in 1970, Kerry explained, “I’m an internationalist. I’d like to see our troops dispersed through the world only at the
directive of the United Nations.”
-- Kerry supports the Rome Treaty International Criminal Court (the “ICC”), which would allow foreign judges to put our troops on trial (the treaty is often called the “Rome Treaty”).
=> That Kerry supports this politicized tribunal simply to convince the world’s dictators, tyrants, and despots to like us is stunning and revealing. That Kerry would sign a treaty that would permit an U.S. citizen to be tried by a tribunal of judges from foreign nations is shocking.
=> If adopted, the Rome Treaty would allow the ICC to prosecute our soldiers, civilian personnel who provide support and logistics to soldiers, as well as military commanders. The ICC could also put the President and Congress on trial.
=> The definitions of crimes in the Rome Treaty can be easily amended to politicized forms. Already, efforts to politicize the ICC crimes are in full swing. For example, Cuba has proposed that the ICC prosecute economic tariffs as international crimes.
=> The ICC does not allow for a jury of one’s peers, a right guaranteed in the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution. Instead, in an ICC trial, a tribunal of three judges will always decide a defendant’s fate.
=> The judges who will preside over ICC trials will be citizens of nations who have adopted the treaty. These nations include Cambodia, Jordan, and Liberia.
=> An American tried before the ICC could be denied the right to a speedy and public trial, reasonable bail, and protection from cruel and unusual punishment. These due process rights and protections are found in Amendments VI and VIII of the Constitution.
=> In contrast to our system of justice, ICC prosecutors can appeal unfavorable verdicts on the basis of fact in addition to questions of law. This cedes tremendous power to ICC prosecutors and erodes finality of rulings by allowing the possibility for open-ended trials. Unlike our legal system, if an ICC prosecutor does not nail a guilty verdict the first time around, he can simply try, try and try again, forevermore until the prosecution reaches the desired result.
=> An ICC tribunal would likely permit hearsay evidence and anonymous witness testimony into the courtroom. This would be inconsistent with protections secured by the Constitution. Specifically, the Sixth Amendment protects an individual’s right to be “confronted with the witnesses against him.” Unlike our Constitution, however, the Rome Treaty lacks a specific prohibition against hearsay evidence. Furthermore, there exists international precedent that would permit the admission of hearsay evidence where there is no rule against such evidence. For example, in one of the international trials related to the tragedies in the former Yugoslavia, where there was no such prohibition in the rules, the judges permitted the admission of hearsay evidence over the defendant’s objections.
=> As a newly created court, the ICC will set its own precedent and, thereby, render over two hundred years of case law in the United States meaningless.
=> Armchair bureaucrats from around the world can use the definitions of crimes in the Rome Treaty to second-guess U.S. military tactics. As an example, since the U.S. has laser-guided bombs in its arsenal, the U.S. could be prosecuted for using regular bombs if those bombs inadvertently injure civilians unintended as targets. We are already seeing the groundwork for this type of lawsuit – the ICC is currently investigating and considering whether to prosecute Britain, which ratified the Rome Treaty, for using cluster bombs in the Iraq War.
=> The ICC can prosecute for the same conduct that a defendant was already convicted or acquitted of in a U.S. court if the ICC believes that the former trial was conducted unfairly. How is fairness decided? The answer is that fairness can be whatever the ICC wants it to be.
=> The ICC does not answer to the United Nations Security Council; it does not answer to any nation; ICC judges will not be elected by or answer to the American electorate.
8. The War on Terror. Kerry sends mixed messages in the War on Terror. From making disparaging comments about the prime minister of Iraq to voting against body armor for our troops, Kerry’s position on Iraq changes every day.
=> An uncertain commitment to defeating terrorists and punishing nations who harbor and support terrorists is a mistake. Clearly, when it comes to selecting our commander-in-chief in November, Kerry is the wrong man, with the wrong ideas, who applied for the wrong job.
![[masthead]](/images/masthead_140.png)