BlogCall

What Is Going On In Wyoming County, NY

Miri — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:19:57 -0400

Wyoming County, NY is a rural county approximately halfway between Buffalo, NY, and Rochester, NY.

We have 600 square miles of land in Wyoming County with an estimated population of 43,000 people-our average per capita personal income is less than 23,000 dollars. In Wyoming County itself-we have an estimated 6400 paid employees. This means the people that work within the county-there are many self employed individuals as well, and this number does not reflect our educational employees. It also does not reflect our agricultural market as that is the main source of income in Wyoming County. In fact our YTD employment growth is -1.1%.

Of the 63 counties in the state of New York-we are number 58-for employment growth. Wyoming County supports 31 small rural communities.

There are approximately 16,00 owned homes here-34 of which are being foreclosed upon as I write this.

Wyoming County has always been a bit more repressed that our surrounding counties. Since the economy as a whole has become very sluggish-we are suffering terribly. Though our median household income has remained flat-our prices like every one else's in NY as well as the country have risen at an unprecedented rate.

My own family of six also survives on approximately 25,000 dollars per year. My spouse has a Bachelors Degree in Business Managment. As there is little to no businesses to mangage in Wyoming County he works locally as a stock person.

If gasoline was affordable-perhaps he could work in Rochester or Buffalo-each about an hour from where we live. It is not-not affordable enough to travel 90 miles round trip each day. Our mortgage did not lower in accordance to our struggling economy. Our electric rates have risen, our taxes have risen as well, we will not be able to afford to fill our fuel tank this winter-as we were not last year.

I have been unemployed for a year myself-that is not to indicate that I have not been searchig.

I have written to our governor,our congress, our senate, even at least one presidential candidate to ask them to give western NY a bit of research.

Today our present President is asking for us to "allow" a 700 billion dollar bailout to help restablish credit to the American people. We have no credit. This country is living paycheck to paycheck as it stands. We are trying to hold onto our homes, keep our utilities, feed our children. We are as "credited" as possible. If this bill is passed-as I am confident it will be-Wall Street is a very powerful entity in this country-aren't we simply putting off the inevitable?

Sooner or later that credit will come due as well. This package is not offering to address our present situation-it is asking that we lay it on our next president to work through.

I feel that if that kind of money is being passed through the government-perhaps it should be used to create and keep employment-incentives to keep manufacturers from leaving our country; educational opportunities for today's unskilled, and unemployed. Better medical benefit availability for the working poor. It could be used to research and enact "green" policies, thus creating more jobs.

Bush says that the passing of this bill will prevent economic damage to your community. Does he mean-more economic damage that an employment growth rate of -1.1% ? Or less than 2% of each counties' homes will be foreclosed on? Does it mean in a community where the average individual income does not exceeed 23,00 dollars will not have to pay increased land taxes, school taxes, county, and village taxes? Our taxes alone are approximately 10% or better of our annual gross salary. Our mortgage is about forty percent of our monthly gross, our grocery bill is another 25% or better....I have not even touched upon utility cost. What possible extended credit could I begin to afford to pay off? When would I be able to begin?

I think we need a major economic policy overhaul-that does not include extending more unaffordable credit to the citizens or to Wall Street. Where is the insurance that this could even begin to be paid back? And, when? Are my kids going to be paying it back?

What is going on across this country that we could even begin to contemplate an extension of credit to a badly finacially challenged group of people.

Doesn't Bush, and like minded individuals claim that extending credit to people who could not prove that they would be able to pay it off-is what began our present mortgage crisis?

3 House Judiciary Members Call for Impeachment of Cheney NOW

dlindorff — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:52:24 -0500

Faced with an obstructionist leadership in the House, and a mainstream media that have forsaken their role as a Fourth Estate monitor of government abuse, three Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee are calling on the public to demand that the Congress initiate impeachment hearings immediately against Vice President Dick Cheney.

Speaking at a telephone press conference Friday organized by Democrats.com, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) said that following a bi-partisan vote Nov. 7 by the full House to send Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s Cheney impeachment bill (H Res 799, formerly H Res 333)opinion article penned by himself and two Judiciary Committee colleagues, Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), which was sent to a number of leading newspapers, including the Miami Herald, the Washington Post and the New York Times, was rejected for publication—an astonishing act of censorship for a document authored by three members of congress on an issue of such significance as impeachment of the vice president.

In that article, Wexler, Gutierrez and Baldwin write:

The issues at hand are too serious to ignore, including credible allegations of abuse of power that if proven may well constitute high crimes and misdemeanors under our constitution. The charges against Vice President Cheney relate to his deceptive actions leading up to the Iraq war, the revelation of the identity of a covert agent for political retaliation, and the illegal wiretapping of American citizens.

Now that former White House press secretary Scott McClellan has indicated that the Vice President and his staff purposefully gave him false information about the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson as a covert agent to report to the American people, it is even more important for Congress to investigate what may have been an intentional obstruction of justice. Congress should call Mr. McClellan to testify about what he described as being asked to “unknowingly [pass] along false information.” In addition, recent revelations have shown that the Administration including Vice President Cheney may have again manipulated and exaggerated evidence about weapons of mass destruction -- this time about Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Asked why he thought leading publications had refused to publish the op-ed piece calling for an immediate start to impeachment hearings, Wexler says, “I think the mainstream media, at least thus far, have bought the notion that impeachment hearings are outside the bounds of what Congress ought to be doing.”

He adds that there may be a fear, on the part of corporate media executives and editors, and on the part of Democratic Party congressional leaders, of having been “complicit” in many of the administration’s constitutional crimes. “There may be some significant conflicts of interest,” he says, that could make them feel uncomfortable about the idea of impeachment hearings.

To push back against this unseemly resistance Rep. Wexler and his two House colleagues have decided to go public with their message. Wexler has set up a website, called WexlerWantsHearings. He is urging Americans from across the country to go to the sign and sign on to his call for an immediate start to hearings. “I want to be able to go to my colleagues in the house and say I have 55,000 people calling for hearings,” he says.

People should also be contacting their local and national media outlets—and especially the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald—demanding that they report openly and honestly on the growing impeachment movement, and that they publish the Wexler, Gutierrez Baldwin op-ed.

While he does not say where he thinks House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) stands at this point on the subject of starting hearings on the long-stalled Kucinich impeachment bill, which has languished in a subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee for over half a year, Rep. Wexler said he has spoken with Conyers about the matter. “I have a lot of confidence in John,” he says.

Wexler’s, Gutierrez’s and Baldwin’s new push on impeachment comes just as Kucinich, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, has announced that he is preparing to file a major bill of impeachment against President Bush. Kucinich is reportedly working on a sweeping 50-page impeachment bill containing over 20 counts of high crimes and misdemeanors against the president.

Asked about this, and whether it would alter his push for early hearings on Cheney’s impeachable crimes, Wexler says no. While pointedly agreeing that the president is likely guilty of the same abuses of power that are being alleged against Cheney, “and probably others in addition,” he says it makes sense to focus first on the vice president. “Strategically, I think we are on stronger ground pursuing the vice president.”
________________

DAVE LINDORFF is a Philadelphia-based investigative journalist and columnist. His latest book, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky, is "The Case for Impeachment" (St. Martin's Press, 2006, and available now in paperback edition). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net

Blogcall 11 on Impeachment Hearings for Vice President Cheney

Bob Fertik — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:35:49 -0500

Date: Friday December 14, 2007 at 10:30 a.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.com/blogcall11
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org

Three veteran Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote an op-ed calling for immediate impeachment hearings for Vice President Dick Cheney.

Incredibly, none of the nation's leading newspapers were willing to publish the op-ed!

Why are these three Democrats defying Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chairman John Conyers, who adamantly insist impeachment is "off the table"?

And why won't the nation's leading newspapers cover the story?

Join a senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee for Blogcall #11.

BlogMarch

Bob Fertik — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 15:42:01 -0400

BlogMarch Route

~~CBS~~ ~~Early Show~~ ~~General Motors Building (5th Ave / 59th St) David Price, Weather~~

NBC Today Show 30 Rockefeller Plaza (5.5th Ave / 49th St / SE Corner ) Feedback History

CNN American Morning Time-Life Building 1271 6th Ave. (51st St) Feedback

Fox Fox & Friends 1211 6th Ave. (48th St / SW Corner ) Feedback

ABC Good Morning America (Broadway / 44th St) Tickets Feedback

New York Times 229 W 43rd St. (7th Ave) Feedback

BlogCall9 with Cindy Sheehan

Bob Fertik — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 13:07:47 -0400

With Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleeza Rice on their way to Crawford to meet with President Bush on Thursday, Cindy Sheehan was the guest of BlogCall9 hosted by Joe Trippi of JoeTrippi.com, Bob Fertik of Democrats.com, and Jodie Evans of CodePink4Peace.org.

Cindy Sheehan has captured the attention of the world with her protest outside George Bush's "ranch" in Crawford, Texas. Cindy is the mother of Army Pfc. Casey Sheehan, who died in combat in Iraq on April 4th, 2004. She is camping out on Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, until he agrees to meet with her. Cindy simply wants to ask Bush "Why did my son die?" and "What was the noble cause that he died for?"

Date: Wednesday August 10, 2005 at 2 p.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.com/blogcall9
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact

Update: Cindy was amazing, and so was the turnout by bloggers for this call. Here's the report from Joe Trippi:

The blog conference call with Cindy Sheehan just ended, and it was a HUGE success. Cindy gave a great talk and was incredible in answering questions from the bloggers. She really is an amazing woman.

Now we need everyone to help Cindy's cause by blogging about Cindy and telling her story. It seems like the MSM is starting to drop this story - even as they still cover the disappearance of Natalee Holloway - so it is up to us to keep Cindy and the issue of troops in Iraq in the public's consciousness.

For those of you who were not able to make the call, we will have an audio download available in about one hour (around 4PM EST). This call was an incredible experience for me personally, and I think that it really touched everyone who participated. There was even a congresswoman from Illinois who got on the call just to offer heartfelt words of encouragement to Cindy. When it's available, listen to the call audio and see for yourself how authentic, courageous, loving, and strong Cindy is.

In the meantime, you can still ask Cindy how you can help and send her your stories and words of support. The email address is meetwithcindy@gmail.com

You can also sign the petition here and visit MeetWithCindy.org for more information.

I want to thank everybody for what they have done so far but also remind everyone that this is not over yet.

Thanks,

Joe

I'll post more links as I find them :)

BlogCall8 with Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com

Bob Fertik — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 13:47:29 -0400

On March 17th, the American Center for Voting Rights (ACVR) appeared from nowhere - just like Jeff Gannon and Talon News in 2003. Four days later, on March 21st, they were the ONLY "Voting Rights" group to testify in a U.S. House Committee hearing on Election 2004, and the problems that occurred specifically in OH.

As The BRAD BLOG (http://www.BradBlog.com) discovered shortly thereafter, the ACVR is a phony "non-partisan" group created by Jim Dyke, the Communications Director for the RNC and Mark F. (Thor) Hearne, the lead National Counsel for Bush/Cheney '04 Inc.

Aside from abusing the 501(c)3 tax-exempt corporate status which requires "non-partisan" activity, this group never mentioned their affiliation with Bush/Cheney/RNC in their congressional testimony.

Further, they were instrumental in the secret creation of the Baker/Carter Election Reform Commission which was announced on March 24th at 2pm, only to be lauded 24 minutes later by the ACVR. True voting rights and election reform groups had no idea about the creation of this commission, and were not invited to participate!

The ACVR was invited to participate, along with voting machine company representatives, and others, like Co-Chair James A. Baker III, the Bush Family loyalist who led the federal court fight to throw out 175,000 Florida votes that were never counted - resulting in a partisan 5-4 Supreme Court decision that appointed George Bush as President in 2000.

The fix is clearly in with ACVR, the phony GOP Front Group and the whitewash is underway with the Baker/Cart Commission.

Special BRAD BLOG Coverage of ACVR is at: http://www.BradBlog.com/ACVR.htm

Date: Tuesday April 19, 2005 at 1 p.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.com/blogcall8
BlogCall Broadcast: RadioLeft.com
BlogCall Archive: WhiteRoseSociety.org
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact

BlogCall7 with Andy Stephenson of VoteTrustUSA.org

Bob Fertik — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 15:30:52 -0400

Blogcall7 will feature Andy Stephenson, Education Director of Vote Trust USA (VoteTrustUSA.org). In the aftermath of the most recent stolen election in 2004, Andy was on the ground in Florida and Ohio securing hard evidence of fraud and manipulation. He will be discussing the current status of this evidence and other related subjects.

Date: Tuesday April 12, 2005 at 1 p.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.com/blogcall7
BlogCall Broadcast: RadioLeft.com
BlogCall Archive: WhiteRoseSociety.org
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact

BlogCall6 with David Swanson of DebtSlavery.org

Bob Fertik — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 13:33:59 -0500

Blogcall6 will feature David Swanson of DebtSlavery.org exposing the credit card industry's corrupt campaign to push its atrocious Bankruptcy Bill through the House of Representatives this week - and the grassroots campaign by bloggers and activists to stop it.

Date: Tuesday April 5, 2005 at 1 p.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.com/blogcall6
Invite the Media: IndependentMediaSource.com
BlogCall Broadcast: RadioLeft.com
BlogCall Archive: WhiteRoseSociety.org
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact

BlogCall5 with David Donnelly of WithoutDeLay.org

Bob Fertik — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 12:39:05 -0500

Blogcall5 will feature David Donnelly of WithoutDeLay.org exposing the backlash against Tom DeLay arising from his exploitation of Terri Schiavo.

Date: Tuesday March 29, 2005 at 1 p.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.comblogcall5
Invite the Media: IndependentMediaSource.com
BlogCall Broadcast: RadioLeft.com
BlogCall Archive: WhiteRoseSociety.org
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact

The Backlash Against Tom DeLay

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's long career of political crime is catching up with him. In his home state of Texas, prosecutor Ronnie Earle is moving towards indicting DeLay for using illegal corporate money to seize control of the Texas legislature. In Washington DC, DeLay's gifts from corrupt lobbyists like Jack Abramoff - which we discussed in BlogCall3 - are making headlines and calling attention to DeLay's destruction of the House Ethics Committee to avoid punishment.

On March 15th, Public Campaign Action Fund launched a multi-faceted campaign to demand DeLay's resignation. DeLay's pay-to-play politics, abuse of power, attitude that the rules don't apply to him, and his exploitation of Terri Schiavo all speak to why he is unfit to be a leader of Congress. 16,000 citizens have signed their on-line petition at withoutdelay.org to demand DeLay's resignation, and these messages are going directly to Congress.

Public Campaign Action Fund is now going into targeted districts to make key Representatives choose between standing with their constituents against corruption, or standing with Tom DeLay. The campaign will rely on the power of on-line organizing to help drive the message that it's time to "clean up Congress... without DeLay." In the coming days they will issue reports cataloguing DeLay's statements and the money he's raised from special interests with legislation before Congress. They are blogging at the Daily DeLay (http://dailydelay.blogspot.com) to highlight anti-DeLay organizing efforts, news stories, editorials, and commentary.

Polls show 82% of Americans think Congress and the President should stay out of Terri Schiavo's life; 65% said it was all about politics, not values; 54% said they would be less likely to vote for a Congressperson who forced the case into Federal courts. Republicans are feeling the heat from conservatives as well as liberals, and some are quietly blaming DeLay for getting them into this mess.

Will the backlash against Tom DeLay finally bring him down?

Links:

3/28/05 Wall St. Journal Editorial: Smells Like Beltway

BlogCall4 with Greg Palast: Was It All About Oil?

Bob Fertik — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 17:05:22 -0500

Blogcall4 will feature Greg Palast of GregPalast.com exposing the battle between neoconservatives and the oil giants over Iraq's oil - a battle that began "within weeks" of Bush's seizure of the White House in 2001.

Palast's expose, which will appear on BBC Newsnight and in Harper's Magazine, is available here: http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=417&row=0

After the deaths of over 1,500 U.S. soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians, BlogCall4 will ask: "Was it all about oil?"

Date: Tuesday March 22, 2005 at 1 p.m. ET
Permanent BlogCall link: http://democrats.com/blogcall4
Invite the Media: IndependentMediaSource.com
BlogCall Broadcast: RadioLeft.com
BlogCall Archive: WhiteRoseSociety.org
About BlogCall: http://blogcall.org
To request credentials: http://democrats.com/contact
BlogCall5:

Updates:

3/18: Juan Cole explains why Wolfowitz's plot to destroy OPEC was always ridiculous