independentsforkerry.org

INDEPENDENTVOTING.ORG NETWORKS

• Ruy the Day! A Review of Ruy Teixeira’s Review of The Swing Vote: The Untapped Power of Independents by Linda Killian (by Jacqueline Salit, Huffington Post) Wow! For a man (actually, make that a MAN) who has devoted his political career to resuscitating a Democratic Party governing majority (he co-wrote The Emerging Democratic Majority in 2002), you would think he’d be a little more cautious about denouncing independents. Otherwise, his hoped for majority may get another slam, as it did in 2010 when independents expressed their disappointment and frustration with President Obama’s inability to conquer the partisanship in Washington, including the partisanship of his own party. Ruy might rue the day he tried to tear down Killian and the volatile movement-in-the-making she writes about.
• LINDA KILLIAN OUTBREAK: The Uses of Polarization (By THOMAS B. EDSALL, NY Times/ The Opinion Pages/ Campaign Stops) At the same time, the percentage of the electorate that can accurately be described as independent — without partisan allegiance — has shrunk to about 7 percent, according to Ruy Teixeira of the Brookings Institution. While the importance of such voters has diminished, in a closely balanced contest these relatively uninvolved men and women have the power to determine the outcome: in the 12 presidential elections from 1964 to 2008, four – 1968, 1976, 2000 and 2004 – have been decided by 2.5 percentage points or less.
• Historic Bond Ties African-Americans and Independents Together (LETTER The Hankster, by Bob Friedman, PHOTOS online) Last week I joined Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network on the march from Selma to Montgomery. I am one of the 40% of Americans who are independent of both of the major parties. Back in the days of Ross Perot, the media called guys like me “angry white men.” Along the route, I spoke with many people and brought greetings from Dr. Lenora Fulani, the country’s leading African American independent with whom I’ve worked closely and from IndependentVoting.org, the country’s largest organization of independent voters of which I’m a part.
• YOUR VIEW: Independent voters disfranchised in many states because of parties (Bob Friedman, Letters from our readers By Letters from our readers, Alabama.com) I want to respond to and applaud the Your Views letter “Alabama’s closed primary infringes on voters’ rights” in the March 10 Birmingham News by sharing the following. I couldn’t agree more that since we pay for the primaries, they should be nonpartisan, more like “top two” as they have in California.
• The black vote: 5 states where Obama needs a big African-American turnout (By Perry Bacon Jr.,The Grio) President Obama’s campaign will likely need the kind of strong black turnout he received in 2008 to win re-election, particularly if some of the white independent voters who backed him four years ago opt for the Republican candidate because of frustration over the president’s tenure.

The Hankster

Posted on November 9, 2011 by WashingtonsBlog 

Yes, The Big Banks DO Care If We Move Our Money

 650,000 customers moved .5 billion dollars out of the big banks and into smaller banks and credit unions in the last month.
But there is a myth making the rounds that the big banks don’t really care if we move our money. For example, one line of reasoning is that no matter how many people move their money, the Fed and Treasury will just bail out the giants again.
But many anecdotes show that the too big to fails do, in fact, care.
Initially, of course, if the big banks really didn’t care, they wouldn’t have prevented protesters from closing their accounts.

NBC notes that – in response to inquiries regarding how many people have moved their money – Bank of America refused to provide figures, and instead sent the following defensive email:

“Bank of America continues to be a great place for customers to manage their everyday finances and achieve their savings goals,” [Colleen Haggerty, a spokeswoman for Bank of America's Southern California operations] said in an email. “We offer customers more choice and convenience, including industry-leading fraud protection, access to thousands of banking centers and ATMs, and the best online and mobile banking, which allow customers to bank on their terms 24/7.”

A writer noted at Daily Kos:

At Wells Fargo, my sister walked up to the teller and politely asked to close her account. The teller said, “No problem.” She pulled up her account and saw the balance and told her that due to the amount she had to speak with the branch manager. The branch manager came out. He was probably 30 years old and was very arrogant. He asked my sister why she wanted to close her account and my sister told him she thought Wells Fargo was part of the problem with the economy. He went thru some talking points about why she shouldn’t move her money, but my sister didn’t back down. When he asked her where she was going she told him that she would be banking at the North Carolina State Employees Credit Union. She isn’t a state employee, but anyone can join if you are related to a state employee. It turns out her husband is. Anyway, the bankster told her “You’ll be back. Credit unions can’t provide the services you need.” We’ll see about that. She withdrew over 0k from Wells Fargo.

Next we went to Bank of America. I closed my last account with hardly any questions asked. Of course, I had taken most of my money out so there wasn’t much left to take. My sister on the other hand had a large balance in multiple accounts. They actually refused to cut her a check for the full amounts. They only gave her 1/3 of her money and told her she’d have to come back to withdraw the rest. They claimed they were only allowed to make checks for a certain amount, and that they had no authority to cut additional checks on the same day. Stupid BofA. She had her check in hand and politely told off the branch manager when he told her she had to come back another day or two to withdraw the rest.

At BofA, we weren’t the only ones closing accounts. There was a line of people. Most had small accounts because they weren’t even being challenged, but she actually had to wait in line to speak with a branch manager.

At SunTrust, the branch manager went off his rocker. He just kept asking her “is there anything I can do or anything I can say to change your mind?” He asked probably twenty times. He even offered to have the market executive meet with her and hear out her concerns. She told him she wasn’t interested. He really looked nervous about it.

And a writer at Daily Bail pointed out:

I went in, asked to speak with a banker and was seated in an office. When the young associate came in and asked the purpose of my visit, I handed her my ATM card and requested that she tell me the balance. When she did, I then asked for a cashiers check in that amount. That’s when things got wonky. She froze, stumbled over her words and asked why I needed that amount (It was not a small sum). This gave me an opportunity to explain that although I personally would not be affected by their new fees I know plenty of friends and family that would feel the pain. In solidarity with them, I wished to close the account and move on.

She unwittingly suggested that if I just use my debit card once a month then there would be no fee. That was good for a belly laugh from me, then I again requested the balance to be issued to me in the form of a cashier’s check. She then told me that there would be a fee for this service. Another laugh. I guess it didn’t sink in when I told her that I was fee adverse. There was an easy work-around anyway – I requested the cash. That finished my time with this associate banker as the amount I was requesting was “well past” her daily limit for withdrawals. I asked if there would be an issue with securing the cash and she said “I honestly don’t know if we have that here” and walked out to get the branch manager.

The manager was pleasant enough and very direct. After introducing herself she flat out asked “What can we do to change your mind?” “We don’t want to see you go” she emphasized. This opened a door for me to further explain my decision to leave the bank and why I was doing it. Amazingly, it did not fall on deaf ears. She indicated that understood where I was coming from and actually showed genuine surprise at some of the facts I provided her about the less than consumer friendly policies and machinations of her employer. She did make some feeble counter-arguments and repeatedly asked me if I would change my mind (with a hint of desperation!).

I stood firm and by the end of our conversation she asked if I would be willing to put it all in writing so she could send it up the chain.

She shared that management is nervous, they are seeing money leaking out of the bank and realize that they have made mistakes…. They are also aware of the growing momentum behind the November 5th move your money movement.
***
Management is aware that people are angry (how could they not be!) and have put an ear to the ground.

Hundreds of similar stories are being told all over America.
Even though the government may keep throwing money at the dinosaurs, the Basel regulations do have some capital requirements, and so the big banks need to bring in some actual deposits to fund their casino gambling.
Moreover, if too many depositors leave, the illusion that the big banks are serving the American public will be burst, and a critical mass of consciousness will occur, so that the banks’ unquestioned control over the American political and financial systems will start to be questioned.
So moving our money is an effective step towards reclaiming America.

Tweet

The Democratic Republican

Here are America’s Ten Most Dangerous Cities and their Mayors:

1. Flint, Michigan
Dayne Walling, Democrat, term 2007- present.

2. Detroit, Michigan
Dave Bing, Democrat, term 2009 – present.

3. Saint Louis, Mo.
Francis G. Slay, Democrat, term 2001 – present.

4. New Haven, Ct.
John DeStefano, Democrat, term 1994- present.

5. Memphis, TN.
AC Wharton, Democrat, term 2009 – present.

6. Oakland, CA.
Jean Quan, Democrat term 2011- present.

7. Little Rock, Ark.
Mark Stodola, Democrat, term 2007 – present.

8. Baltimore, Md.
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Democrat,  term  2010 – present.

9. Rockford, Illinois
Lawrence Morrisey, Independent term 2005 – present.

10. Stockton, CA.
Ann Johnston, Democrat, term 2009 – present.

Anyone see a patteren here?

Democratic Party News – The News of the Democratic Party.

Many people are still seriously confused about what types of food to eat to lose weight, and it’s not really their fault. The conventional nutritional dogma of the last decade has been pushing a low-fat or fat-free diet on Americans, misleading them into thinking they’ve got to cut out fat to lose weight.

The Democratic Republican: Politically Social

Late in the regular 2011 82nd Texas legislative session, the Senate passed SB 100. The bill, originally submitted by Texas State Senator Van de Putte, brings Texas in compliance with the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. The MOVE Act, passed by Congress in 2009, requires that vote by mail ballots for federal elections and local elections held in conjunction with federal elections must be available to military and overseas voters at least 45 days before each election day and run-off election day.

Election dates specified in the Texas election code did not allow 45 days between the dates candidates were qualified to be listed on primary election ballots and the uniform primary election dates. SB 100 adjusts legally prescribed primary election dates such that Texas comes into compliance with the MOVE Act.

SB 100 retains the first Tuesday in March in even-numbered years as the uniform primary election date, but shifts the primary candidate filing deadline date back from the first January business day of even-numbered primary years to mid-December. SB 100 also shifts the primary run-off election day date out from the second Tuesday in April to the fourth Tuesday in May. Other dates, such as the date each political party’s County Executive Committee must meet to specify the order in which candidates will appear on party’s primary ballot, are also adjusted by SB 100.

The particular challenge with SB 100 is that the new fourth Tuesday in May primary run-off uniform election date conflicts with the second Saturday in May uniform election date that many Texas cities and school boards long ago adopted for their local elections. County election officials will be unable to lease voting equipment and trained election workers to cities and school districts for the second Saturday in May election date in even-numbered years because of the proximity to the new primary runoff election date.

Van Taylor (Texas House District 66, Plano) submitted HB 111 to resolve this conflict by eliminating the second Saturday in May uniform election date in even-numbered years from the Texas election code. The practical effect of eliminating the second Saturday in May uniform date would have been to move most city and school board elections to the November uniform election date. HB111 ultimately failed and SB 100 preserves the second Saturday in May uniform election date for both odd and even numbered years. But, SB 100 also provides that county election administrators are no longer required to enter into contracts with cities and school districts to furnish election services.

Cities and school boards across Texas, including most cities and school boards in Collin Co., that currently contract with the county election office to conduct their May elections will find it necessary to either move their elections to the November uniform election date, with the appropriate adjustments to their terms of office, or purchase their own voting equipment and train their own election staff to conduct their own elections. The third alternative may be for cities and school boards to hold their May elections only in odd-number years so that they can contract election services from the county election office; this too would likely require some considerable revisions to city and school board terms of office.

Democratic Blog of Collin County – News

A number of years ago, I was the victim of a brutal street crime. Although I was left with a broken nose and two black eyes, I learned soon thereafter that I wasn’t a “good victim.”

A progressive friend, Fran, clued me in. When I told her what happened, she said, “What you went through wasn’t half as bad as what he has suffered.” Fran was referring to the fact that I am white and the assailant was black. In other words, my suffering didn’t matter.

Fran’s reaction is not at all unique in these parts; here, there are good and bad victims. For instance, a couple of years ago, a middle school teacher was stoned and beaten in her classroom by a vicious mob of students. And yet, because of the racial makeup of the victim and the assailants, the media had little to say, except to imply that the teacher may have been a racist.

When I mentioned my horror about this heinous crime to yet another leftist friend, she responded in the prescribed, politically correct way. Without showing an ounce of compassion toward the battered teacher, my friend blamed “white privilege.”

With Obama and the hard left in charge, we see nationwide what I’ve witnessed up close and personal here in Berkeley. Thus, when a young white couple were beaten unconscious after leaving a GOP fundraiser, the mainstream media did not find their plight worthy of reportage. Similarly, when a conservative had his finger bitten off, or when a frail, diabetic conservative was beaten, the silence was deafening. Sarah Palin’s church being torched with children in it didn’t deserve even a blip on the evening news.

When thirteen U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood, including a pregnant woman, were mowed down (and thirty more wounded) in cold blood, President Obama didn’t interrupt a Native American shout-out to renounce the horror. When Obama finally did speak, he urged us not to jump to conclusions. Since then, next to nothing has been said about the slaughter. The fact that the murderer was a Muslim automatically disqualifies the soldiers from being “good victims.”

In contrast, during the recent, also horrific Tucson massacre, twenty people were injured and six killed by an apparently psychotic 22-year-old. Given that the Fort Hood murders involved an internal jihad, doesn’t this incident pose a greater safety risk to this country than a lunatic in Tucson? Consequently, shouldn’t Fort Hood have been dissected and analyzed for months on end?

However, since the politicos found a way to blame Tucson on conservatives, this latter atrocity has garnered much more publicity. In fact, Obama presided over a huge memorial service for the families and survivors of Tucson. No comparable event was held for the loved ones of Fort Hood.

The left divides the world into good and bad victims. People who are viewed as part of an aggrieved group are “good victims.” Those who suffer at the hands of these protected groups are not afforded this same status. In fact, “bad victims,” like the middle school teacher, as well as me, are made to feel responsible for being assaulted. Good victims are showered with attention because they reinforce the leftist party line.

The left needs to control popular opinion by censoring information that’s unflattering to its cause. If the populace were fully informed about leftist violence, there would be a mass stampede rightward. New Black Panther leader King Samir Shabazz railing about murdering “crackers” and their babies isn’t exactly the best PR for the progressives.

But there’s an even more disturbing reason why so many hardcore leftists divide the world into good and bad victims. It is because many of them don’t care about human beings.

Think I’m exaggerating? Then why haven’t progressives spoken out against the death threats received by Sarah Palin and her family? People on the left relish telling Palin rape jokes — or laughing at them. Several leftists fantasized publicly about conservatives dying painful deaths. Comedian Wanda Sykes thought it would be a hoot if Rush perished from a kidney disease.

And we’re not talking here solely about contempt towards conservatives. Many progressives don’t appear to be fans of the human race. Euthanasia for the dying and death panels for the old are discussed with cold, steely indifference.

Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich tells elderly people that with government-run health care, “We are going to let you die.” Editors at Newsweek Magazine think nothing of splashing a cover feature about “Killing Granny.”

Obama himself doesn’t seem to be a big people-lover. He’s buddies with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, who bombed living, breathing humans. Obama appointed John Holdren — a man who has advocated forced abortions and sterilizer in our drinking water — as science czar.

When Obama was an Illinois state senator, he refused to protect live babies who survived late-term abortion. While abortion is a hot-button topic, who among us would not agree that if the baby is born alive, he or she should be allowed to remain in that state?

Another disturbing example: progressives have had a field day blogging about how Palin should have aborted her Down Syndrome child, Trig. Part of the reason Palin resigned her governorship is because of the vicious things said about Trig. Isn’t it offensive in the extreme when people wish death by abortion on a fully formed child?

It makes me wonder: what has happened to these people to make their hearts grow so cold? Perhaps it’s all the violent TV shows and movies desensitizing people. Maybe it’s a result of the left’s Alinsky-like tactics that pit groups against each other for limited resources.

More profoundly, in our secular world, people are alienated from the life force, from the Source of all love in the universe. You can see it; the light has gone out of so many people’s eyes. And they reveal this darkness by sexually degrading Palin, wishing bodily harm on Rush, or promoting the early deaths of our old people.

For many progressives, their indifference, even hatred, springs from a deep sense of spiritual alienation. Because it is an alienated person, a lost soul, who has forgotten this essential truth: that every life matters, even that of a Down Syndrome baby or a political opponent.

Written by: Robin of Berkeley. Robin is a recovering liberal and a psychotherapist in Berkeley. Robin’s articles are intended to inform and entertain, not to offer treatment or diagnosis.

Source: Robin of Berkeley

Democratic Party News – The News of the Democratic Party.

From the Daily Camera:

Bonnie Ballantyne, a retired marketing professional from Longmont, said she went online to look for a local Green Party chapter after feeling disgusted with mainstream politics during the last election.

“I just wasn’t seeing anyone who seemed to be concerned with the people and the planet,” said Ballantyne, who has identified as a Libertarian, a Green and a Democrat, though mostly a Democrat, at various stages of her life. “I was just seeing selfish, thoughtless behavior on all sides.”

To her great surprise, she couldn’t find anything — at least, not anything that had been active in the last four years…

She’s frustrated, but not giving up. Third parties have a hard time getting candidates elected, but she sees the purpose of a local Green Party chapter as extending beyond electoral politics. She wants an organized way to lobby for policy changes and raise issues.

“I think we can be a catalyst for change,” she said…

Ballantyne is working with Kevin Alumbaugh, owner of the Evergreen School of Music, who used to be active in the Jefferson and Adams Counties Green Party chapter, which meets in Arvada. He recently moved to an area of Gilpin County near the top of Coal Creek Canyon and joined with Ballantyne to try to start a Boulder/Gilpin chapter.

Read more:Pair work to revive Boulder Green Party – Boulder Daily Camerahttp://www.dailycamera.com/news/ci_17045632#ixzz1AaUiTtWE
DailyCamera.com

Independent Political Report

Electoral losses come and go, but those eager to write an obituary for Democrats may want to put down their pens and look closer.

President Obama promised in 2008 to redefine Washington by working beyond politics as usual, and we saw evidence of that in the anything-but-lame “lame duck” session that just ended.

As days ticked away, Congress passed a tax cut compromise to protect the middle class and extend unemployment benefits, ratified the START nuclear treaty, approved aid for 9/11 first responders, passed food safety and child nutrition bills, and repealed the discriminatory military policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

These are victories for the American people. And with many of them having approval ratings above 70 percent, they’re also proof that Democratic values of responsible government, increased opportunity, and equality are alive and well, despite what Republicans would have you believe.

It’s no surprise then, that the President’s popularity has grown both nationally and among Democrats in recent days while that of Republicans, who tried to stall congressional action, has dropped. Approval for the lame-duck session itself reached 56 percent, as Americans were happy to see Congress working overtime to address serious issues.

This dramatic end to the year caps an impressive list of ways that Democrats have helped millions of Americans since the President took office two years ago.

On day one, the President signed the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to ensure equal pay for equal work. Then Wall Street reform ended the pattern of taxpayer bailouts for banks whose reckless practices put Main Street in peril. New protections from abusive credit card companies and aid for college students were also passed.

In Tennessee, the Recovery Act created or saved 63,000 jobs by June 2010 and gave 2.3 million middle-class families a tax cut. Other tax incentives created more than 197,000 new hires, and 70,000 loans spurred small business growth in our state.

One of the best recovery stories is that of Tennessee’s auto industry, which is back on track – and putting Tennesseans back to work – thanks to government investments that gave automakers on a new footing to compete globally in the years ahead.

General Motors’ recent public offering was the largest in history for a U.S. company, and it has put taxpayers on a faster pace for getting back their investment.

While the debate around health care reform was muddied by misinformation, the positive impact it will have on Tennessee families is clear. Roughly 417,000 residents will now have access to quality and affordable health care, including 104,400 with pre-existing conditions who will no longer be denied coverage.

Closing the Medicare “donut hole” is helps 85,000 seniors afford life-saving care, and 475,000 young Tennesseans can stay on their parents’ coverage until the age of 26, freeing them up to concentrate on education and new careers. Also, more than 113,000 small businesses and 1.6 million families will receive tax relief to help afford health care.

While other governors openly criticized federal aid, Gov. Bredesen’s leadership in using Recovery Act funding helped to stabilize our state’s economy and put us in a better position to create jobs in the future.

Attracting clean energy companies, repairing failing infrastructure, and keeping our fiscal house in order has made Tennessee the nation’s most competitive state for business, the second-best for business climate and the most improved state for development.

That comes on top of the billion in capital investment we’ve already seen in the last seven years with more than 50 corporate headquarters moving to Tennessee.

And while much of Tennessee suffered from a terrible flood this year, Democratic officeholders from local, state and national levels responded in this time of crisis by bringing much-needed public assistance to those who lost their homes, were without food and needed to begin the arduous process of rebuilding.

Working with the state legislature, Gov. Bredesen secured federal “Race to the Top” funding to complete much-needed reform of K-12 education, and there is now 7 million being invested in higher education over the next 10 years.

Our economy is moving in the right direction again, and Tennessee will continue to lead the way in the years ahead as a great place to live, start a business, and raise a family. Democrats can hold their heads high at getting us there and making the lives of millions of Tennessee families better.

TN Democratic Party News

The Jim Crow of Bipartisan Rule (Dr. Omar Ali, The Public Professor blog) “Voting for candidates who offer a challenge to the rules of the game is a way of dealing a blow to the Jim Crow of bipartisan rule. It is also a way of building today’s independent movement and helping the nation move toward non-partisan governance. So, please, keep the movement and the long-term in mind when you cast your ballot this Tuesday.”

Will Election Day be independents’ day? (By Susan Frick Carlman, Naperville IL Sun Times) “Four out of 10 voters would check “neither of the above” if asked to choose between Democratic and Republican loyalties, according to polls taken by CNN, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal and others. “It’s hovered around 40 percent since 2006, so it’s not spiked dramatically in the last year, but it hasn’t gone down,” said John Opdycke, an Evanston IL native and chief of staff at New York-based Independentvoting.org, the online presence of the Committee for a Unified Independent Party…“In general, independents are dissatisfied with partisan politics, and the way in which partisans have turned American civic and political life into a bloodsport,” he said. “And they express that dissatisfaction on Election Day, typically by voting against the party in power.”

Letter to the Editor/Staten Island Advance
By SARAH LYONS
ST. GEORGE

I applaud Borough President Jim Molinaro’s willingness to cross party lines and endorse Andrew Cuomo for governor.

Cuomo, of course, is not just running as a Democrat. He’s also on The Independence Party line. The more votes Cuomo receives on Column “C,” the more pressure he’ll feel to govern in a non-partisan fashion.

That’s important because we’ve all seen the negative effects of party politics. Indeed, both major parties derive much of their power from the fact that voters have no other place to go. That’s why the independent movement, with its focus on structural political reform and opening up the process, remains so important and so relevant.

There’s another good choice in the governor’s race this year. It’s helping the fledgling Freedom Party win ballot status with 50,000 votes.

Launched by City Councilman Charles Barron as a challenge to the Democratic Party’s monopoly of the black and Latino vote, it’s an independent effort with the potential to bring much needed political options to a growing segment of New York City’s population.

Staten Island has vibrant minor parties in Independence, Conservative and Working Families. A minor party highlighting the interests of the African-American and Latino communities would be a welcome addition to the mix.

[The writer is chair of the Independence Party of Richmond County.]
Published: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 12:00 PM Updated: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 12:48 PM

Women, Independent Voters Show Biggest Swing From 2008 (FoxNews.com) Independent voters supported Democrats 51 percent of the time compared to 43 percent of the time for Republicans in 2008. But in 2010, the Democrats garnered only 39 percent of the independent vote compared to 55 percent for the GOP.

The Hankster