October 21, 2008

In an effort to avoid voter suppression tactics and confusion at the polls, award winning actress, Angela Bassett; Tonight Show bandleader, Kevin Eubanks; actress, LisaRaye; and singer/actress, Brandy; are among the list of celebrities voicing public service announcements urging people to vote early or be first in line on Election Day. The joint initiative between American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) and the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation (NCBCP) marks the second phase of their nonpartisan radio campaign aimed at ensuring African Americans cast a ballot that counts on Election Day. Full release

ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) released a video today, produced by Brave New Films. This video calls attention to both the concocted Republican issues of voter fraud and the Republican coordinated attempts at voter suppression. This video, which will be widely distributed via the web, is part of an ongoing campaign by ACORN to set the record straight. The United States has the lowest rate of voter participation of any western nation. Over the last 18 months, ACORN has waged a voter registration campaign, which successfully helped enfranchise 1.3 million new voters. Full release

The following is being released by the Center for Community Change: WHO: Community leaders from around the country WHAT: An informative discussion of community organizers' plans to create power in low income and minority communities that builds on recent successes of registering voters and turning them out to vote. Full release

Seven years after Sept. 11, and in the wake of many major natural disasters such as forest fires, hurricanes and flooding, nearly half of U.S. states either have no state-level emergency plan or do not provide it readily to the public, reveals a new study by George Mason University Communication Professor Carl Botan. Full release

The U.S. Supreme Court's Second Amendment decision in D.C. v. Heller may have the "unintended consequence" of helping to enact stronger gun laws, according to a report issued today by the Legal Action Project of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Full release

Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's decision on Monday, October 20 to block the release of the 17 Uighur detainees from the U.S.-controlled detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. Their release had been ordered by the lower District Court on October 7. Full release

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) today released a "Blueprint for a Healthier America: Modernizing the Federal Public Health System to Focus on Prevention and Preparedness" with recommendations for the next Administration and Congress on ways to improve the health of Americans. More than 150 experts and organizations helped identify gaps and fixes for federal public health agencies and programs through a year-long consensus-building process. Full release

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and Rutledge Capital today announced the release of version 2.0 of the "2008 Election 401(k) Tax Calculator." This change reflects a new tax cut introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): cutting the capital gains and dividends tax rates in half. Full release

The following was published in The Orlando Sentinel and is being released today by the Republican National Committee: The community organizing group known as ACORN has been getting kicked around quite a bit on the presidential campaign trail lately. The group has no one but itself to blame. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now says it has registered 1.3 million people for the Nov. 4 election. But its pattern of turning in some applications with false names and made-up addresses has spurred investigations in at least a half-dozen states. Full release

Ninety-eight percent of all companies in the United States have less than 100 employees. Twenty-seven million firms fall into the category of small business, and small businesses employ 56 percent of our nation's population. These companies are responsible for over 90 percent of the new jobs, over 90 percent of U.S. exports and over 90 percent of innovation in American business. Congress realized America's small businesses were the heart and soul of our nation's economy when they passed the Small Business Act in 1953. Full release

The Republican National Committee (RNC) today launched a new Web site, "RNCDonors.com." Through a searchable database, un-itemized RNC donors -- those who contributed less than $200 to the RNC from the time Sen. John McCain became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee -- will be made public. Full release

Speaker Nancy Pelosi today issued this statement following remarks by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson who called on financial institutions about to receive $250 billion in capital infusions from the federal government to use part of such capital to free up the flow of credit in financial markets. Paulson also urged financial institutions to work with homeowners to avoid foreclosures.
Full release

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