October 2008

ACORN (The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), together with its partner Project Vote, has collected 1.3 million voter registration applications across 21 states for the upcoming election. ACORN has now turned its sights to fighting voter suppression and getting out the vote on November 4. The massive drive employed 13,000 workers and ACORN anticipates that nearly one million citizens will be able to vote on Election Day as a result. Many of the voter registration applications the groups collected were from low-income Blacks and Latinos and others who are traditionally disenfranchised. Full release

Missouri Victory today announced that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will lead a Victory rally in Maryland Heights, Missouri on Saturday, November 1. The Mayor will be joined by Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) and Republican candidate for Governor, U.S. Representative Kenny Hulshof (MO-09). Full release

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today launched a new Web video, titled "Stooges." The video highlights the antics we can expect in Washington from the unbalanced liberal trifecta of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and, if elected, Barack Obama. The Democrats' unbalanced government would lead to higher taxes and spreading the wealth around, and there's nothing funny about that. Full release

On November 4th, voters in seven states will be able to choose a president but not a bottle according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS). Seventy-five years after the Repeal of Prohibition, archaic Election Day alcohol sales bans continue to inconvenience consumers and hurt small businesses in a handful of states across the country. The only states that still cling to statewide Election Day sales bans of alcohol at restaurants, bars and package stores are Kentucky, Indiana and South Carolina. Utah and West Virginia still ban the sale of alcohol at package stores on Election Day. Alaska and Massachusetts also ban Election Day alcohol sales, except that local governments are authorized to provide an exemption from the ban. Full release.

The Heritage Foundation's attorney, Alan P. Dye, contacted TV stations to stop airing a false and misleading ad from the Obama Campaign. Earlier this week, The Heritage Foundation [1] formally requested that the Obama campaign stop misrepresenting its views in ads touting the candidate's tax plan. [2] The ad implies The Heritage Foundation supports Obama's tax plan even though [3] neither Heritage nor analyst Rea Hederman said what is quoted in the ad. Full release,

The following op-ed by Rich Lowry from National Review Online is being issued today by the Republican National Committee: "John McCain is keying off Barack Obama's comment to Joe the Plumber about "spreading the wealth around," and his 2001 rumination in a Chicago Public Radio interview about the Supreme Court "redistributing the wealth." Cautious even then, Obama didn't commit himself on whether the Court should force "redistributive change," but his use of the R-word was enough to make it his moniker at McCain events." Full release.

In an online survey conducted by ApartmentSmart.com, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama has an overwhelming lead over candidate John McCain among low-income renters. Seventy-two percent (72%) of low-income renters plan to vote for Barack Obama while eighteen percent (18%) intend to vote for John McCain. This group, who many would say the American Dream has left behind, is clearly responding to Obama's message of change. Full release.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today added a new friend update to its social networking Web site, http://www.BarackBook.com. The most recent friend update includes Barack Obama's notable associations with Minha Husaini, the current Muslim outreach coordinator for the Obama campaign who attended a meeting last month with two controversial Muslim leaders. Full release

The following is an excerpt from an article by David Espo and Ben Feller from The Associated Press, and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: From The Associated Press: Barack Obama's campaign has approached Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel about possibly serving as White House chief of staff, officials said Thursday as the marathon presidential race entered its final, frenzied stretch with a Democratic tilt. ... The Democrats who described the Obama campaign's approach to Emanuel spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to be quoted by name. ... Full release

The NO on Prop 8 campaign today announced that the secret $1 million donor to Prop 8 has been revealed: Alan Ashton, of Lindon, Utah. According to the Deseret News, Ashton is a Mormon and grandson of David O. McKay, President of the Mormon Church from 1951-1970. Ashton made his fortune in software. Full release.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today launched a new Web video, titled "Slippery Slope." The video exposes Barack Obama's plans to raise taxes on families and small businesses. Considering Obama and his running mate Joe Biden keep changing the eligibility threshold, it's a question hardworking Americans like Joe the Plumber deserve an answer to. Full release.

In 2008, Americans may once again be seeing law enforcement turned into a tool of voter suppression. Under the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) it is illegal for any person "whether acting under color of law or otherwise," to intimidate, threaten, or coerce voters. In the past few weeks, however, partisan forces have manufactured hysteria around the myth of "voter fraud" that they have used to help goad law-enforcement into intimidation and politically motivated investigations into eligible voters. Full release.

Demonstrating again that it is not the changed, responsible company it claims to be, Philip Morris is launching an aggressive new campaign to market cigarettes that appeal to women and girls. The campaign is built around a new look for its Virginia Slims brand - a sleek pink "purse pack" that is compact and rectangular, with square ends, and holds "super slim" cigarettes that are very small in diameter. According to a recent story in Brandweek, Philip Morris plans to launch the repackaged Virginia Slims with a major marketing campaign by the first quarter of 2009, and it includes "Super Slims Lights" and "Super Slims Ultra Lights" varieties. The new "purse packs" are already on sale in some markets. Full release.

Citing a need for clear and accurate information on where the candidates stand on education, The Center for Education Reform (CER) today released an internal analysis of the presidential candidates. This follows a complete analysis of the races for Governor, State Education Chief and U.S. Senate around the country. Full release.

Velvet Revolution ("VR"), a non-profit dedicated to fair, honest, accurate and transparent elections, today called for elections officials in all states to immediately impound any voting machine that has flipped votes from one candidate to another. It has been widely reported in the media over the past week of early voting that Direct Recording Election (DRE, usually touch-screen) voting machines made by ES&S, Diebold, Sequoia and Hart InterCivic have been flipping votes, predominantly from Democratic candidates to Republican candidates, but in some reported cases, just the opposite. Full release.

The following is from an Op-Ed article by Chris W. Cox that was published in The Washington Times and was released today by the Republican National Committee: "In speech after speech, Barack Obama has claimed he would "uphold the Second Amendment." Mr. Obama, of course, is a polished speaker who says "words matter." But records matter more. And while Mr. Obama is short on experience on most issues, he's long on anti-gun votes and even longer on rhetoric." Full release.

The following is from an article published in The Columbus Dispatch and was released today by the Republican National Committee: "Examples of possible voter fraud in Ohio stretch from the farmlands to
the West Coast. In Highland County, 95-year-old Mildred Meddock registered and voted for the first time in her life despite her advanced Alzheimer's disease. Her granddaughters learned of her newfound patriotism when they visited the nursing home where Meddock lives and saw an "I voted today" sticker on her clothing." Full release.

Statement by SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger on Barack Obama's prime-time special: "We're at a defining moment. In six days, voters will head to the polls to choose a president who will be responsible for rescuing our nation from the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression. Tonight, Barack Obama described the common sense solutions working families need right now--tax cuts for the middle class, affordable healthcare for all, a real solution to our housing crisis, and a secure retirement for all workers. With Barack Obama's middle class economic solution, Americans can stop worrying about how they're going to pay the bills and put food on the table each night and instead focus on raising their families." Full release

The fiscal imbalances within the government and a dramatically rising federal debt are key issues the next president will need to address. Even under the most optimistic economic growth assumptions, revenues will not keep up with spending increases resulting from health care and entitlement growth. Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama bring different approaches and tax philosophies to the table -- but are either proposing to make the hard choices and tradeoffs that will dig the U.S. out of its debt and deficit crisis? Full release.

The following is an excerpt from an article by the Associated Press, and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: "A former employee of an affiliate of the community-activist group ACORN testified in a Pennsylvania courtroom today that her group used Barack Obama's campaign donor list to solicit contributions." Full release.

This Friday CNN's Wolf Blitzer will interview Senator Barack Obama (D -IL). CNN is accepting questions from the public. In nearly two years of campaigning, Senator Obama has answered thousands of questions from the public and the media. It will be difficult for Wolf Blitzer to come up with questions Senator Obama has not answered before. However, there is one question Senator Obama has not answered and has apparently even tried to distance himself from. During this campaign, Barack Obama has successfully been able to avoid any questions on the subject of the diversion of government small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. Full release.

More than 295,000 Domino's Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) customers participated in the Pizza Tracker Poll launched Oct. 7 on http://www.dominos.com . And while more than 66,000 customers identified themselves as "independent" from either party, more than 20,000 of them have decided which of the two major party candidates they're voting for on Election Day. Full release.

With 61% of the of the voters indicating that they are actively following this year's Presidential election, sometimes it is impossible to leave politics at the workplace door. Full release.

By vote of the Board of Directors, Veterans and Military Families for Progress (http://www.vmfp.org) proudly endorses Senator Barack Obama in the upcoming United States presidential election. Founded in 2005, VMFP is dedicated to ensuring that the rights and needs of veterans, those currently serving (including national guard and reservists), and their families are understood by the American public, endorsed by our elected officials, and protected by legislation, regulation, and public policy initiatives. Full release

The following release was issued today by the Republican National Committee: Obama And Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) Have Both Called For Significant Cuts In Defense Spending: Obama Said He Would Cut Billions Of Dollars In Defense Spending. Obama: "[I] will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of future combat systems, and I will institute an independent defense priorities board to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending." (Sen. Barack Obama, Caucus For Priorities Response, 10/22/07)
Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today expressed concerns to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson about the level of compensation that top executives will continue to receive at financial institutions benefiting from taxpayer assistance under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid called on the Secretary to consider implementing stronger restrictions on the use of "golden parachutes" by financial institutions that receive taxpayer-funded capital infusions. Full release

The following is an excerpt from an article by Jerry Seper from The Washington Times and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: John W. Courtney's world collapsed at dinnertime on a Friday in July 2001. Seven years later, the Vietnam War veteran has yet to recoup $85,000 of his uninsured losses from Superior Bank's failure. And he watches in disbelief as one of the bank's former top officials, billionaire hotel heiress Penny Pritzker, leads the record-breaking fundraising machine of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. Full release

A recent Washington Post story found the Bush Administration has diverted over 40 percent of all federal small business contracts to Fortune 500 firms. (http://www.asbl.com/showmedia.php?id=1179) Based on the Washington Post's sampling of federal contracts, during the eight years of the Bush Administration, nearly $500 billion in federal small business contracts have been diverted to Fortune 500 firms, their subsidiaries, and hundreds of other clearly large businesses. Full release

If they're running, they shouldn't be hiding -- that's the philosophy behind the 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union's (NTU) Survey of Congressional Candidates, a detailed questionnaire of office-seekers on fiscal issues whose results are online at http://www.ntu.org. Full release

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today launched a new Web video, titled "Keep The Change." The video brings to light Barack Obama's misguided idea that the change Americans need comes in the form of a redistributive tax system. Full release

The unintentional shooting death of an 8-year-old boy, Christopher Bizilj, with a fully automatic Uzi machine gun at the Westfield Sportsman's Club Machine Gun Shoot, is further evidence as to why effective regulations must be enacted to protect young children from gun violence. At Sunday's event, Christopher was firing a 9-mm Micro Uzi machine gun when he lost control of the weapon and shot himself in the head. The event organizers boasted in an advertisement that the $5 entry fee was waived for children under age 16 and there was "no age limit or licenses required to shoot machine guns." Full release.

Senator Barack Obama will make his fourth appearance as a guest on the Emmy(R) and Peabody(R) Award-winning "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Wednesday, October 29 at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Obama's last appearance on "The Daily Show" was on April 21, the eve of the Pennsylvania Primary. The Democratic nominee for President of the United States also appeared on August 22, 2007 and November 7, 2005. Obama will appear via satellite from Florida where he continues his campaign with less than one week until Election Day. Full release.

The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers (AAP), and Google today announced a groundbreaking settlement agreement on behalf of a broad class of authors and publishers worldwide that would expand online access to millions of in-copyright books and other written materials in the U.S. from the collections of a number of major U.S. libraries participating in Google Book Search. The agreement, reached after two years of negotiations, would resolve a class-action lawsuit brought by book authors and the Authors Guild, as well as a separate lawsuit filed by five large publishers as representatives of the AAP's membership. The class action is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Full release.

The following is an excerpt from an article by Amanda Carpenter of Townhall.com, and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: October 27, 2008 - An intrepid researcher has discovered more than 200 tax liens totaling more than $3.7 million have been filed by the government against the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now for unpaid taxes since the late eighties. A tax lien is issued when a person or organization fails to pay taxes and that tax debt is considered seriously delinquent. A lien is only issued after the government makes several unsuccessful attempts to collect the debt. Full release

The Colombian government is painting a false picture of the state of human rights in Colombia, when in fact the situation is deteriorating, including increasing reports of forced internal displacement, attacks against social and human rights activists, and killings by security forces, said Amnesty International in a new report released today. Full release

The following is an excerpt from an article from the New York Post, and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: When Barack Obama talks about wealth redistribution, he really means it. He doesn't just want to spread it around himself, as he so famously told Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher. He yearns also to change the Constitution so that the courts can divvy the loot, too. No joke: He said as much in 2001. Full release

The following is from an article by Bret Stephens that was published in The Wall Street Journal and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: [W]hen it comes to defense, there are two Barack Obamas in this race. There is the candidate who insists, as he did last year in an article in Foreign Affairs, that "a strong military is, more than anything, necessary to sustain peace"; pledges to increase the size of our ground forces by 65,000 soldiers and 27,000 Marines while providing them with "first-rate equipment, armor, incentives and training"; and seems to be as gung-ho for a surge in Afghanistan as he was opposed to the one in Iraq. Full release

Velvet Revolution, a non-profit dedicated to clean and honest elections, has just issued a report called, "Thirteen Election Integrity Experts: E-Voting Problems and How to Stop Them." This important report is designed to wake up candidates of all parties about the dangers of electronic voting machine problems and manipulation. It details strategies and solutions that candidates should use to protect the vote -- and their political careers. Full release

Azteca America is proud to feature Republican Party Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator John McCain on the Monday, October 27 broadcast of "Issues: Caras y Voces," hosted by veteran Latino journalist Armando Guzman. John McCain graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958 and began his career as a naval aviator. In 1982, he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives representing the first congressional district in Arizona. After serving two terms in the House of Representatives, John McCain was elected to the United States Senate in 1986.
Full release

The following is an excerpt from an article from The Indianapolis Star and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: Secretary of State Todd Rokita said today that a preliminary investigation by his office has found evidence of "multiple criminal violations, including possible state and federal racketeering laws," in conjunction with hundreds of fraudulent voter registration applications filed in Lake County. Full release

Provisional ballots could play a significant role in the 2008 Election, frustrating voters and leading to possible post-election wrangling, according to a study published this week by the non-partisan public policy center Demos. "Provisional Ballots: Where to Watch in 2008" identifies eight states where there is significant concern over provisional ballot implementation and the high risk of many of those ballots going uncounted in this election. Full release

As the final week of the campaign begins, the United Steelworkers (USW) is proud to announce that it has enlisted more than 10,000 volunteer activists from among the union's ranks to help elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States. Full release

The following is being released by the Republican National Committee: MEGYN KELLY: Another day, another election fraud lawsuit. A major election lawsuit now in Pennsylvania, which is one of the crucial battleground states that could decide who will be the next president. Right now there are 140,000 new voter registrations in Pennsylvania, and many of them, now we learn, are reportedly questionable. The registrations were gathered, you won't be surprised to hear, by the group ACORN. Full release

Today, Demos, a national, non-partisan public policy and research organization, is making available for journalists a new resource on the challenges facing voters on Election Day. The "2008 Election Primer: Election Administration, Voting Rights & Legal Challenges," provides a comprehensive account of the latest research and litigation on key election issues - including voter registration challenges, voter access, fraud allegations, federal voting requirements, as well as voting rights for low-income citizens, veterans, and citizens with felony convictions. The "2008 Election Primer" will be updated at Demos.org through Election Day 2008. Full release

Members of Local 6434 to Demand Answers and Democracy From SEIU International President Andy Stern and other Leaders -- Workers Say Washington-based Officers and Lack of Oversight are Responsible for Corruption in Largest Calif. Local Union. Full release

The following is being issued by the Republican National Committee: In 2001, Obama Said The Supreme Court Failed To Pursue A "Redistribution Of Wealth" And Talked Positively Of "Redistributive Change": Obama Regrets That The Warren Court "Never Ventured Into The Issues Of Redistribution Of Wealth." Obama: "If you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movement and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to invest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples ... But the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. Full release

The following is an excerpt from The New York Post, and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: [R]ep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who has told a hometown newspaper House Democrats will seek a 25 percent reduction in defense spending upon Obama's ascension. Oh, and stand by for a big tax hike. ... He was one of the folks who pushed so hard to turn the federal housing lending corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into virtual social-services agencies; under pressure from Frank & Friends, Fannie and Freddie made innumerable improvident loans - in no small way precipitating the current financial crisis. Full release

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today announced that U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN-07), Kitty Martinez, wife of U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), and former National Rifle Association (NRA) President Sandy Froman will participate in the Florida "Women for Victory" bus tour on Monday, October 27 to rally supporters for John McCain, Sarah Palin, and Republican candidates across Florida. Full release

An Afghan drug trafficker charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics with intent to support a terrorist organization was arrested, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Michael J. Garcia and Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Michele M. Leonhart announced today. Haji Juma Khan, 54, a/k/a Abdullah or Haji Juma Khan Mohammadhasni, is among the first defendants to be prosecuted under the 2006 federal narco-terrorism statute. Full release.

With less than two weeks remaining in the 2008 campaign, the National Education Association is fully engaged in an unprecedented effort to mobilize its members and their families to elect friends of public education at the national, state and local levels. Full release.

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