I have begun a political blog called "Understated Priorities"-- it's at www.understatedpriorities.blogspot.com
It is mostly entries from reference books on the topic of politics: quotes, aphorisms, poems and a lot more. I discuss each entry and am open for your comments, too. Current posts included:
Here is your opportunity to reflect on the major thoughts related to government, politics and people. Enjoy!
David Weller
Sphere: Related Content
Just $6 from Americans for Campaign Reform is asking us to sign an e-card, to thank former Senator Warren Rudman for his work for public financing of elections. Senator Rudman has tirelessly advocated for better elections and better government. He has written an Op-Ed on the subject. He has also testified to the Senate Rules Committee on behalf of the Fair Elections Now Act.
Please go to Just $6 and sign their card. Then, if you're in the Bedford, New Hampshire area on Tuesday, May 13th, you can attend a benefit dinner in his honor; all proceeds will go to Just $6's efforts to realize publicly funded elections. Thank you
Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has launched a new campaign website called Fix the FEC. Since early this year, the Federal Election Commission has been without a quorum of its commissioners (there are only two of the normal six commissioners), rendering many of it's regulatory responsibilities useless.
Fix the FEC is very well-designed and easy to use. First and foremost, it asks the public to send a letter to US Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to let the senate vote in new commissioners to return the FEC to quorum. You can send your letter right from the site's homepage. Then, you can send a letter to your family and friends about the campaign from another webpage. Background information about the current FEC crisis, its latest news and an FEC violation tipline are also easily located on Fix the FEC.
I highly recommend you participate with CREW using this great activist campaign website, Fix the FEC.
I'm excited to share a new place to communicate and read the latest political news headlines: All Things Reform Netvibes Universe page. It is free and open to the public to use 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. I've spent quite a bit of time adding/dropping modules, rearranging them, changing colors, module sizes, etc.; I consider our public page now out of "beta" stage.
The purpose of All Things Reform's Netvibes is to encourage free and easy ways to communicate online to share the government reform message, and to easily keep up with the latest news headlines from the best sources.
Communications features:
Political news features:
Of course, the internet is always evolving with the introduction of new technologies, so I reserve the need to update the page as required. However, it is now ready to use at your leisure to help you in your political reform activism. Enjoy!
Sphere: Related ContentPublic Campaign Action Fund is running a Voter Pledge drive for clean elections for federal candidates. Clean elections is another term for volunteer public financing of candidate campaigns. It can save the candidates from "dialing for dollars" every day in order to keep their campaign money flowing; this allows them to focus their time and energy on their important issues they want to share with the voters.
Please sign the 2008 Voters First Pledge right now, at Public Campaign-- you can help increase the pressure on lawmakers and candidates to back this needed reform. Thank you
Citizens Against Government Waste is returning to a fight in Congress they thought they had already won-- open and competitive bidding in the defense procurement process. Yet, despite a scandal, a massive federal fine, and even criminal penalties for some of those involved, Boeing Co. is once again trying to use its political connections in Congress to secure an Air Force refueling tanker contract.
While the $35 billion cost to taxpayers of the tanker contract is significant, more is at stake in this battle than dollars and cents. Letting Congress disrupt the competitive procurement process will set a dangerous precedent for all future federal contracts. Members of Congress will simply select their favored pet contractors, regardless of the cost to taxpayers or the impact on our Armed Forces.
Please tell your U.S. Representative and Senators today that you won’t stand for this blatant political manipulation, by sending a customizeable letter from CAGW's website. Or, call them directly through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Thank you
Public Citizen is asking us to call or write our US Senators in favor of having a US Representative for Washington, DC residents. Our more than half a million District of Columbia citizens have been paying federal income taxes, fighting in wars and all of the other things Americans have done over the years, but they don't have a vote in Congress!
Prominent constitutional scholars and former Congressmembers agree that they can legally have their own full-voting Congressmember. Why wait any longer? Please call both of your US Senators at the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121; or, use Public Citizen's webpage to send them a message. Then email action@citizen.org with your senators' responses. Thank you
Well, today is the big day, when All Things Reform's Facebook has determined the current lineup for our Congressional Reform team.
We have two "starting" levels: the All-Stars, and the practice squad. Here are the lineups:
Congress Reform All-Stars
Public Citizen is asking us to call our two US Senators, and ask them to support the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S.223). It would require all senate candidates, both challengers and incumbents if office, to file their campaign finance reports electronically (as opposed to paper). Just as important, they need to support the bill without the Ensign Amendment, which is unconstitutional.
In addition to bringing technology up-to-date, it would save the American taxpayer $250,000. per year! Call both of your senators right now; you can reach them at the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Then, if you can, please leave word with Public Citizen on whether they do already support the bill without the amendment. Thank you
A new bill has been introduced in both houses of Congress, called the Fair Share Act (US House bill: H.R.5602) (US Senate bill: S.2775). It would prevent government contractors from using offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes. We need to show Washington that, this tax season, Americans expect tax-dodging contractors to be held accountable for their tricks.
Call your two US Senators and US Representative; the Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121. They want to know what you think. Thanks
The Fair Elections Now Coalition, a group of six public interest groups, is organizing this year's Fair Elections Action Week, which is Monday, April 14th to Friday, April 18. It will promote the Fair Elections Now Act (FENA) (S.1285) now being legislated in the US Senate. FENA would bring full public financing of elections to the US Senate.
Again, the dedicated web site for Fair Elections Action Week is at www.fairelectionsnow.org. Learn what you can do now, by downloading their activist toolkit. Activists are encouraged to participate locally, across this great nation. Bookmark the site to keep up with the latest updates! Thank you
The 2008 Congressional Pig Book Summary is here!
This morning Citizens Against Government (CAGW) shared with the American people the names of those in Congress who are responsible for the 11,610 pork-barrel projects costing you $17.2 billion in the fiscal 2008 budget. They were joined by leading opponents of this congressionally earmarked spending, including Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Reps. John Campbell (R-Calif.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Tom Price (R-Ga.), and Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
Topping this year’s list of outrageous special-interest projects are:
* $4,840,870 for wood utilization research;
* $1,529,220 for the Appalachian Fruit Lab;
* $984,400 for Idaho's strategic plan for managing noxious weeds; and
* $98,000 for a walking tour of Boydton, Va. (population 474).
Earmark reform is a hot topic in Washington these days, yet Congress' taste for spending on personal projects stays. There has been a decrease in earmark spending in the last few years, but over $17B is still a lot of waste in a secretive budgeting process.
For a donation of $25 or more, Citizens Against Government waste can mail you a copy of their annual book. Your contributions also help the work of this non-profit in its fight for fiscal discipline in DC.
US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) replied to a letter I wrote to him as a constituent on the issue of spending earmarks. He agreed with me that we need more transparency and accountability in Congress, especially when it comes to spending the taxpayer's money. He co-sponsored the recent one-year earmark moratorium amendment that eventually failed to pass. He says the right words to me as a government reformer, and am honored to have him as one of my senators.
Here is a snippet of that letter of his:
Public Campaign Action Fund has written a letter to US Senator and Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and they'd like us to sign onto it. The letter emphasizes the importance of two bills currently being legislated that would introduce and strengthen public financing of congressional and presidential races, effective in 2009. They are the Fair Elections Now Act (S.1285) and the Presidential Funding Act (S.436).
It is a great opportunity for Sen. McCain to return to his long celebrated reform issues and support these public financing bills. Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have co-sponsored them already.
Sign onto Public Campaign's online letter now, then spread the word! The more signatures of Americans fed up with special interest big money in federal campaigns, the more influential the letter to McCain will be! Thanks!
Tax Freedom Day® will fall on April 23 in 2008, according to the Tax Foundation's annual calculation using the latest government data on income and taxes. That’s three days earlier than in 2007. Stimulus rebates and a projection of slow growth in 2008 are the principal reasons for the earlier celebration.
In addition to announcing the nation’s Tax Freedom Day®, the new study compares tax payments to other major consumer expenditures, traces the course of America’s tax burden since 1900, examines the composition of today’s tax burden by type of tax, and calculates a Tax Freedom Day® for each state.
The Center for Public Integrity has released a report titled "The Buying of the President 2008". They will release a new chapter every month in five parts over the course of a week. The first month's chapter is now coming online.
Every four years, the Center’s The Buying of the President investigates how money shapes presidential campaigns. The 2008 edition explores the roles that money and special interests play in presidential politics — a behind-the-scenes examination of everything from how the major candidates and their parties raise money to the ins and outs of opposition research and the spoils that go with a term in the Oval Office.
The web site, www.buyingofthepresident.org, is just one of many reports published and online at CPI. Check them out, for in-depth research on critical government reform issues.
The Claim Democracy Coalition will be hosting "Democracy Day" on Thursday, June 5, 2008, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It coincides with The National Conference for Media Reform, to be held Jun 6- 8 and hosted by Free Press.
As stated on the Democracy Day conference web site, its mission is:
Scheduled the day before the National Conference on Media Reform, Democracy Day is a major conference designed to build support among voting rights advocates, electoral reformers and movement organizations for a broader vision of democracy – one based on elections with universal and secure access to the polls, expanded ballot choices and public financing, on government with proportional representation and transparency and on local, state, and national institutions that engage and empower Americans between elections. Working closely with Liberty Tree, Public Campaign, Free Press and Common Cause, FairVote is organizing the conference.
Hundreds of pro-democracy activists and experts are anticipating information, action and involvement in this one-day event; you are invited to join! All of the details, including hotel accomodations, can be found via its dedicated web site.
Today, I submitted a letter to the editor to my local newspaper here in Abilene, Texas. This is a time-honored method of promoting an issue with the local community. Of course, national newspapers and magazines are also great opportunities to send your letters.
Having 10 years experience in third party politics, I have first-hand knowledge of the difficulties candidates such as Ralph Nader have in getting a foot-hold in our democratic system. I believe that third parties would be a much more serious and effective force in government if various fundamental electoral reforms, such as redistricting, ballot access requirements, public financing of elections and Instant Runoff Voting are instituted in the states and in Washington, DC.
Here is my letter; it may be edited at the newspaper's discretion when and if they publish it.
Dear Editor,
I am appalled that, after Ross Perot's popular run for president in 1992, the Texas legislature still has not eased ballot access requirements for third parties or independents. The ruling Republican and Democratic parties in this state think it is not in their interest to allow more competitors for their offices. But what about the people? Don't they deserve a more open political system that encourages a broad debate on the many issues that we face each election? This year, progressive Ralph Nader is offering solutions to positions not ever considered by today's three major candidates. Let's help Ralph gain ballot access in the coming days by signing his petition and allow him and his running mate advocation of better ballot access laws.
David Weller
Public Citizen, a Washington-based public safety advocate group, is running a grassroots internet campaign, to hold President Bush to follow the rules on trucking safety. He has time and again flaunted congressional actions and the popular will of the people by prematurely allowing Mexican freight trucks to travel across the US.
Please take a stand with Public Citizen and their supporters right now with Pres. Bush, and stop his relentless breaching of the law with his runaway Mexican trucking campaign. Take action with your US Representative and two US Senators here, or, reach their offices by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Thank you!
We have a new Political Calendar at the top of this blog in the left column. It is a reminder for the average citizen on what to look forward to in Washington DC over the next year or so. If you click on a link, you will be taken to more information about the particular special day(s).
It will of course be continuously updated and improved with political dates of use to the US citizen.
The IRS will be mailing approximately 130 million Economic Stimulus rebate checks. Estimate yours at their new online calculator (most will receive $600 for an individual, $1,200 for married, plus $300 per qualifying child).
When your stimulus check arrives depends on whether your 2007 tax return set up a direct deposit payment, and on the last two digits of your Social Security number. The Tax Foundation has a table showing when you can expect a rebate if you file by April 15th this year.
Lawrence Lessig, founder of Change Congress, has uploaded a nice slideshow video of his recent talk concerning his web site's launch. As discussed here three days ago, Change Congress aims to bring reform issues to candidates and congress and lobby them until the issues are enacted in legislation.
There has been a great display of enthusiasm already for this new grassroots campaign; Mr. Lessig is world reknown for his path-breaking work as founder and head of Creative Commons, a new method to keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work.
I have added a badge proclaiming my support and aid to Change Congress; you, too, can sign up and, if you have a web site or blog, display one as well! Join us today! Thanks.
Genetically-modified foods are digested by us every day... did you know that they are largely untested for safety? We don't know if there are any problems eating GMO (genetically modified organism) farmed foods as we speak. A video approximately 30 minutes long substantiates the lack of science behind human consumption of GM foods; it is on the Disinfo.com web site.
Included in the above video, is a case study of a school in Appleton, Wisconsin, that removed GM foods from their campus and instituted mostly healthy foods. In just three years a dramatic improvement in student behavior occurred. There is a web site supporting the reform of food safety and nutrition for schools across the USA-- it's called GM Free Schools. Please check it out and see if you would like to help institute their solutions in your schools.
The theme for World Water Day 2008 is "Sanitation Matters." This year's theme highlights the fact that "adequate sanitation to protect health is considered a fundamental human right." Unfortunately, for roughly half the developing world, safe and reliable water is not accessible. The result is the daily tragedy of waterborne disease, which claims thousands of lives each day.
"Safe water and sanitation are vital to human health and are critical for the stability of nations around the globe," said AWWA Executive Director Gary Zimmerman. "In North America, clean water is often taken for granted, but World Water Day creates an opportunity to think about the extraordinary value of our precious water supplies and advance water treatment and delivery systems.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are around 2.2 million per year worldwide who die from diarrheal diseases caused by poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water. Now that's a REAL water problem.
According to a British government minister, the world faces a future of "water wars", unless action is taken to prevent international water shortages and sanitation issues escalating into conflicts. The warning came as a coalition of 27 international charities marked World Water Day by writing to British prime minister Gordon Brown demanding action to give fresh water to 1.1 billion people with poor supplies.
“If we take up the challenge, the positive impact will reverberate far beyond better access to clean water,” Mr. Ban said in a message to mark World Water Day, which is celebrated today. This year's Day also coincides with the International Year of Sanitation.
“Every dollar invested in water and sanitation yields an estimate seven dollars worth of productive activity. And that comes on top of the immeasurable gains in cutting poverty, improving health and raising living standards.”
And of course, here in America, there are communities that struggle with water infrastructure issues (for instance, the colonias in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas). The issue of water in the western US is growing every year as population grows and the climate warms. Make this day one of reflection on the life-giving gift of water, and how much it is needed by our neighbors in this country and around the world.
World Public Opinion has released results of a poll, revealing that 94% of Americans believe their leaders should pay attention to the views of the people as they're making their decisions. This overwhelmingly asserts our view that "the will of the people should be the basis of the authority of government," the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
More results of the poll are here. Clearly, twice as many Americans (79.9%) believe that America should be governed by the will of the people than believe it is actually occurring (40%). This is reflected by the fact that 81% say when making "an important decision" government leaders "should pay attention to public opinion polls because this will help them get a sense of the public's views."
All Things Reform supports these assertions, and encourages citizens to stay informed of today's news stories from reputable sources and follow up with own opinions on major bills and other issues currently being debated in the legislatures.
