Out with free trade; in with full employment

Members of the Economic and Social Justice IOT have been very busy lately, lobbying members of Congress to oppose the US free trade agreements with Korea, Panama, and Colombia that will be coming before Congress soon.

Lobbying continues, too, to recruit Congressional co-sponsors for Rep John Conyers' HR 870, the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act. Our activists have been so busy that it's time to stop for a moment and find out what others are doing.

On this Wednesday call we'll hear a report on the status of free trade agreements and organized activities in opposition. We'll also hear a roundup of reports and actions from our activist chapters around the country. Contact Randy Shannon to get on this agenda with your report from your chapter.

You'll hear about what's working, what didn't work so well, and how you can be active in your area. RSVP for this call here.

In solidarity,

Alice Chan and Randy Shannon
PDA Economic and Social Justice IOT co-leaders

Did you know Haley loves Black Eyed Peas?

Apparently, Democratic lawmakers didn't know either.

Some Democrats, including state Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Bamburg, said they also were insulted that Haley played a song by the Black Eyed Peas, a multiracial hip-hop group, during her press conference.

“That’s what she plays when she’s trying to suppress us and our vote,” said Sellers, whose father, Cleveland Sellers, was a civil rights leader. “They (bill supporters) don’t know what it feels like to fight for the right to vote.”

“This is not a victory,” added state Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington. “This sets us back. Flying on an airplane is not a constitutional right.”

I wonder whether they got permission to use the music this time, knowing they got busted when using it during their dictator for S.C. campaign. Funny, you don't hear it on the video below.



Integrity? You have none, Nikki. What would you know about the word much less the action. 

Republiscare Tactics Produce 'Voter ID' in South Carolina

Why is it when Republicans in the state of South Carolina - and other states - see a mass influx of voter participation, they produce "republiscare" tactics to suppress voters, mainly blacks.

Corey Hutchins of Columbia's Free Times wrote about the "solution in search of a problem" in February 2010:

Last year, when it appeared likely that the S.C. House was about to pass a bill that would require showing a state-issued photo ID at the polls, members of the Legislative Black Caucus and others stood up and walked out of the House chamber to show their collective disgust. This year, the state Senate put the bill on the fast track and used an obscure loophole and eventual compromise in order to shepherd it forward and get it passed.

Despite objection from Democrats — who at one point rolled in several boxes filled with nearly 1,000 amendments to try and slow it down — the bill now finds itself on a meteoric trajectory toward House passage and then the governor’s desk.

To hear Republicans talk about it, one would think South Carolina must surely be host to some dark, lurking plot of massive Glenn Beckian, ACORN-style voter fraud — an epidemic so threatening to our democracy that a million-dollar spending bill in the heart of a recession is immediately necessary to wipe the whole rotten thing out.

But, according to the South Carolina Election Commission, there have been no recent examples, anywhere, of a person trying to vote as someone else in the entire state.

But who cares about facts, right? Republicans in this state sure don't. They want to stop people from voting.

The Republican agenda is to keep this state stupid, suppressed and make sure the Democratic turnout of 2008, especially in the primary, never happens again.

You know it's a fix when only the GOP - the ones in charge in South Carolina - say it's because of fraud, etc.

Voting rights advocates pointed out that around 700,000 of South Carolina's registered voters do not have a state-issued photo ID. Most of these voters are poor or elderly, and many are African American. Voting rights advocates and Democratic lawmakers in South Carolina have charged that the law will create a burden that will discourage voter turnout. And like Texas, voting rights advocates point out, there were no official reports of voter fraud during the 2008 general election. 

What was reported, however, during the 2008 primary and general election was the huge African-American turnout.

Blacks accounted for a majority of voters in South Carolina, 55 percent -- the highest turnout among African-Americans in any Democratic presidential primary for which data are available.

And that is what this REPUBLISCARE Voter ID bullshit is about.

With music pumping, Gov. Nikki Haley signed into law Wednesday a bill requiring S.C. voters to show a photo ID, such as a driver’s license, to cast a ballot. (Wed., May 18, 2011)

Republicans In South Carolina Are So Afraid of Obama, Voters

Yes. They are. If not, then why spend taxpayer dollars to create a solution where's there not a problem.

The initiative can't fix what's inside their heads: fear of a mass influx of voters. Here's the truth about fraud...

Allegations of widespread fraud by malevolent voters are easy to make, but often prove to be inflated or inaccurate. Crying “wolf” when the claims are unsubstantiated distracts attention from real problems that need real solutions. Moreover, these claims are frequently used to justify policies – including restrictive photo identification rules – that could not solve the alleged wrongs, but that could well disenfranchise legitimate voters.

An analysis of more than 250 claims of fraud in the Supreme Court's photo ID case       

• Finding not one proven case of a fraudulent vote that the challenged law could prevent

• Exposing false assertions that photo ID is required for common activities

Want more?

Photo ID

Much of the hue and cry about voter fraud is accompanied by calls for restrictive ID requirements, like laws requiring voters to show particular photo ID documents at the polls. Some of this may be a sincere, if mistaken, belief in the need for restrictive ID measures. But this clip from a May 17, 2007, Houston Chronicle article suggests another rationale:

Among Republicans it is an 'article of religious faith that voter fraud is causing us to lose elections,' [Royal] Masset[, former political director of the Republican Party of Texas,] said. He doesn't agree with that, but does believe that requiring photo IDs could cause enough of a dropoff in legitimate Democratic voting to add 3 percent to the Republican vote.

We have analyzed more than 250 claims of fraud submitted by those supporting the respondents in the Supreme Court's photo ID case, Crawford v. Marion County Election Board. We find absolutely no proven cases of fraudulent votes that could be prevented by the restrictive ID law being challenged.

Other case studies collected here by issue and by state also analyze the limited degree to which restrictive ID requirements could possibly remedy the fraud alleged in each instance.

We also collect commentary discussing the purported link between voter fraud and calls for restrictive ID requirements.

Visit here for a vast amount of informational truth.

June Calendar for Georgetown County Democratic Party

JUNE 3, 2011

GEORGETOWN OBAMA FOR AMERICA GROUP

Organization meeting Georgetown Library 6PM

For additional information contact Carrie Dennison 485-4064

POLL WORKERS TRAINING SESSION FOR 

GEORGETOWN CITY COUNCIL PRIMARY ELECTION

Those of you who are volunteering to work the polls for the

Georgetown City Council Primary Election need to attend a short review

of procedures.

Voter Registration Office 303 N. Hazard at 10AM or 2:30PM

Donna Mann, Director to instruct

Please plan to attend one of these short instruction classes.  If you are

unable to attend please call Nancy at 240-3396.  Thanks.

JUNE 7, 2011

GEORGETOWN CITY COUNCIL PRIMARY ELECTION

Polls open from 7AM to 7PM in all city precincts

Precinct 4 will vote at the Library for the primary and run-off

elections

We are still in need of volunteers to work the polls, deliver lunches

and drive voters to their polling location.  Contact Nancy at 240-3396

JUNE 11, 2011

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM 

Future for a Working Democracy Roundtable

Steelworkers Union Hall at 1PM

Brandon Upson,  Regional Youth Coordinator

If you are a young democrat from the ages of 16-35 please attend and

meet with Brandon and the youth of Georgetown County and see how

you can make a difference. 

If you don't fall into that age category, please contact all the young 

people that you know and encourage them to attend this meeting.

For more information contact 240-3396

JUNE 18, 2011

GRASSROOTS PLANNING SESSION

Steelworkers Union Hall at 1PM

Robert Fludd, Regional Director from Organizing for America

Let's meet with Robert and get the ball rolling for 2012!  We have much

to do to prepare for this election.

Additional information contact 240-3396

JUNE 27, 2011

GEORGETOWN COUNTY DEMOCRATIC WOMEN'S COUNCIL

Georgetown Library at noon

Speaker to be announced

Come join the democratic women and make a difference in our county and state.

For additional information contact Sara Hudson, President at 546-5786

Obama Scares South Carolina Republicans Into Punishing Voters with Voter ID

I can rest assured with the fact the South Carolina Republican-dominated legislature was afraid of what they saw during the 2008 presidential election process.

So afraid, they totally ignored this gem of a study. My Facebook friend Cindy Wynn Jaffe found it.

Five years after the Bush administration began a crackdown on voter fraud, the Justice Department has turned up virtually no evidence of any organized effort to skew federal elections, according to court records and interviews.

Although Republican activists have repeatedly said fraud is so widespread that it has corrupted the political process and, possibly, cost the party election victories, about 120 people have been charged and 86 convicted as of last year.

Most of those charged have been Democrats, voting records show. Many of those charged by the Justice Department appear to have mistakenly filled out registration forms or misunderstood eligibility rules, a review of court records and interviews with prosecutors and defense lawyers show.(April 2007)

If you want more truth, visit the Brennen Center for Justice's website, The Truth About Fraud.


Crawford Allegations

Cowardly Republicans realize job must be done

The Republican majority in the U.S. House act as cowards in public in regards to earmarks, but privately have millions to dispose of - doing their job because that's what the people sent them there to do.

The defense bill that just passed the House of Representatives includes a back-door fund that lets individual members of Congress funnel millions of dollars into projects of their choosing.


This is happening despite a congressional ban on earmarks -- special, discretionary spending that has funded Congress' pet projects back home in years past, but now has fallen out of favor among budget-conscious deficit hawks.

Under the cloak of a mysteriously-named "Mission Force Enhancement Transfer Fund," Congress has been squirreling away money -- like $9 million for "future undersea capabilities development," $19 million for "Navy ship preliminary design and feasibility studies," and more than $30 million for a "corrosion prevention program."

So, Timmy... Georgetown's port. Help is on the way? 

JD's Steakhouse and Pasta