July 25, 2008

Marca Bristo, former Chair of the National Council on Disabilities, and Bob Kafka, National Organizer for ADAPT, held a conference call today in advance of John McCain's appearance via satellite at the National Forum on Disability Issues in Columbus, Ohio. There is speculation that Senator McCain will follow Senator Obama's lead and support the Community Choice Act, despite publicly opposing the legislation as recently as this month. To listen to the remarks from the conference call, click on the link. Full release

The following was issued today by the U.S. Department of Justice: "Since 1990, the Department has worked vigorously under the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect and create opportunities for persons with disabilities," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "Through a comprehensive program of law enforcement and technical assistance, the Department remains dedicated in its multifaceted and innovative approach to removing barriers to ensure that persons with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of American life." Full release

Recently, Frontiers of Freedom urged Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO John Danilovich and U.S. Ambassador to Mongolia Mark Minton to encourage the Mongolian government to support democracy, rule of law, and free markets. Full release

Laurie Magid, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Ali Amirnazmi, 64, of Berwyn, Pa., with numerous crimes relating to his participation in illegal business transactions with Iran between, in or about 1996 and in or about July 2008 and lying to federal officials about those transactions. Full release.

Imagine the environmental impact if all of California's school buses were able to double their fuel efficiency and eliminate up to 40 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions. That's not the premise for a futuristic Hollywood movie, it's reality for one California school district. IC Bus, LLC, the largest school bus manufacturer in North America and affiliate of Navistar, Inc. (NYSE: NAV), delivered a revolutionary new hybrid diesel electric school bus to Napa Valley Unified School District last August -- the only hybrid diesel electric school bus in California. Full release.

A new analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies of monthly data collected by the Census Bureau shows that the illegal immigrant population has declined significantly between last summer and May of this year. The study is the first to find quantitative evidence that illegal immigrants are leaving the country. It also examines the extent to which stepped-up enforcement and the downturn in the economy account for this trend. Full release

A mass rally outside Verizon Communications headquarters on Saturday, July 26 will bring thousands of Verizon workers and supporters to lower Manhattan, pressing Verizon to negotiate a fair contract. CWA President Larry Cohen, Vice Presidents Chris Shelton, District 1; Ron Collins, District 2 and Ed Mooney, District 13, among other speakers, will join the call for fairness for Verizon workers. Full release

GlobalGiving, the leading online marketplace for philanthropy, today launched GlobalGiving Green(TM), http://www.globalgiving.com/green, a one of a kind scoring system that measures the climate impact of social entrepreneurs and other development projects in communities around the world, from Nepal and Tanzania, to Honduras and the United States. Full release

The below memo was distributed to RNC Members this morning: Despite the most challenging environment for Republicans in years and an overwhelming advantage in attention paid by the media, Barack Obama remains unable to open the lead against John McCain that many pundits predicted. Full release

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today announced a new radio ad buy for "Obama Chooses Washington Over Our Military." As Barack Obama travels to London, England, the radio ad will remind voters in London, Ohio, and London, W.Va., that Obama's politically expedient record has consistently put politics before the needs of our military. Full release

Another week of bad news, bad reviews and campaign chaos for the McCain campaign. The only change: the campaign's increasingly desperate response. In what has become a recurring theme, McCain's week was dominated by foreign policy gaffes, misleading attacks, terrible reviews and new polls showing him lagging far behind among key groups of voters. Instead of addressing those challenges, the McCain campaign chose to lash out at the media and launch desperate new attacks. Despite starting his general election campaign by pledging "to conduct a respectful campaign" and run "the most positive kind of campaign," McCain has resorted to the kind of negative attacks that would make even Karl Rove blush -- capped off with McCain himself questioning Senator Obama's patriotism. Full release

Archive of Previous Posts