Government Events

DC & Nationwide via Webcast: Chairman Kucinich Holds Policy Hearing on Subprime Lending

Chip — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:53:53 -0400

Start: 05/21/2008 - 2:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

Chairman Dennis Kucinich to hold Domestic Policy Subcommittee Hearing

Oversight and Government Reform Committee

“Neighborhoods: the blameless victims of the subprime mortgage crisis.”

This hearing will be WEBCAST: http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov

These hearings will serve to focus attention on the consequences to neighborhoods when foreclosed properties fail to sell, and when owners abandon them.

The collapse of the subprime mortgage market has caused millions of homeowners to lose their homes and ruin their credit, and many lenders and investors to lose significant amounts of money. Some of those foreclosed properties have been sold to new owners. But many have not. This hearing concerns the consequences to neighborhoods caused by concentrations of vacant and abandoned houses. It will examine differences between strong housing markets and weaker ones, as well as local strategies to mitigate the effects of and prevent vacancies, estimates of the size of the national problem, and new federal legislation aimed at addressing the problem: HR 5818.

Witnesses for the hearing include:

Panel 1.

Mr. Daniel T. Kildee, Treasurer, Genesee County, Michigan
TBA: Local elected official(s) testifying on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, National Community Development Association, Council of State Community Development Agencies, National Association for County, Community & Economic Development; National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies
Panel 2.
Mr. John Talmage, President and CEO, Social Compact
Ms. Vicki Been, Elihu Root Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy; Co-Director, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University School of Law
Ms. Phyllis G. Betts, Director, Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Memphis
Panel 3.
Mr. Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow, National Housing Institute
Mr. Doug Leeper, Code Enforcement Manager, City of Chula Vista, California
Mr. Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic Policy Research

DC & Nationwide via Webcast: Chairman Kucinich Holds Policy Hearing on Subprime Lending

Chip — Tue, 20 May 2008 07:49:38 -0400

Start: 05/21/2008 - 2:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

Chairman Dennis Kucinich to hold Domestic Policy Subcommittee Hearing

Oversight and Government Reform Committee

“Neighborhoods: the blameless victims of the subprime mortgage crisis.”

This hearing will be WEBCAST: http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov

These hearings will serve to focus attention on the consequences to neighborhoods when foreclosed properties fail to sell, and when owners abandon them.

Witnesses for the hearing include:

Panel 1.

Mr. Daniel T. Kildee, Treasurer, Genesee County, Michigan
TBA: Local elected official(s) testifying on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, National Community Development Association, Council of State Community Development Agencies, National Association for County, Community & Economic Development; National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies
Panel 2.
Mr. John Talmage, President and CEO, Social Compact
Ms. Vicki Been, Elihu Root Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy; Co-Director, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University School of Law
Ms. Phyllis G. Betts, Director, Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Memphis
Panel 3.
Mr. Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow, National Housing Institute
Mr. Doug Leeper, Code Enforcement Manager, City of Chula Vista, California
Mr. Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic Policy Research

DC: Protecting the Constitutional Right to Vote for All Americans

Chip — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:34:05 -0400

Start: 05/20/2008 - 2:30pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

"Protecting the Constitutional Right to Vote for All Americans" will be held May 20, at 2:30 p.m. in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has scheduled a hearing to examine the constitutional underpinnings of voting rights and to investigate obstacles that impede access to the ballot box for all Americans.

Several states are currently considering policies that could erect barriers between eligible voters and their constitutional right to vote. Recent reports from the May 6 primary in Indiana, including reports that a nun who volunteered as a poll worker had to turn away her fellow sisters from the polls for lack of state-approved photo identification, have raised concerns on Capitol Hill and elsewhere that unnecessary obstacles will keep Americans from the voting booth in the November election. Twenty states are also considering new laws to require proof of citizenship before granting voters access to the ballot box.

"Open and fair elections are fundamental to our democracy," said Leahy. "Every American citizen deserves to have their voice heard in their government. It is the government's responsibility to protect eligible voters from those partisans who seek to obstruct the path to ballot box for political gain."

Last month, a fractured Supreme Court denied a facial challenge to a restrictive Indiana law requiring specific types of photo identification before eligible voters are allowed to cast their ballot. In reaction to the Court's decision failing to protect voters in Indiana, Leahy said, "the impact of the Court's divided holding could embolden those partisans determined to use restrictive voter identification laws to elevate politics over fairness and inclusion."

On May 2, Leahy and other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey urging the Department of Justice to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and to ensure that photo identification requirements in Indiana and elsewhere complied with the Act. Two years ago, Leahy and others worked to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act, which paved the way for thousands of Americans to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

Despite reauthorizing the Justice Department's broad powers to prevent and punish voter disenfranchisement, there have been continued reports of race-based disparities in voter access, voter intimidation, and confusion. The upcoming election will be a test of whether the constitutional right to vote is ensured for all Americans.

Among other witnesses, the following voting rights experts are expected to testify: John Payton, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.; Pam S. Karlan, Professor, Stanford Law School; and Jonah H. Goldman, Director of the National Campaign for Fair Elections at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights.

DC: Protecting the Constitutional Right to Vote for All Americans

Chip — Sun, 18 May 2008 18:32:29 -0400

Start: 05/20/2008 - 2:30pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

"Protecting the Constitutional Right to Vote for All Americans" will be held May 20, at 2:30 p.m. in room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

DC: Hearing: Have Bush Admin Reconstruction and Anti-Corruption Failures Undermined the US Mission in Iraq?

Chip — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:21:08 -0400

Start: 05/12/2008 - 2:00pm

End: 05/12/2008 - 4:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

MD, Andrews AFB: 2008 Joint Services Open House

Chip — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:05:02 -0400

Start: 05/17/2008 - 12:00am

End: 05/17/2008 - 11:59pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

Saturday, May 17, Witness at Andrews AFB - Weapons of War Nothing to Celebrate

Our presence, our messages of peace on our shirts, our prayer is our witness.

Anniversary of Catonsville 9

Meet at 10 am to get bus to Andrews Air Force Base
More information at 2008 Joint Services Open House about Andrews Air Force Base.

Call 410-233-6238 to reserve a seat on the bus

Please contact me with any further questions... I believe there will be carpooling from DC, as the above I think will be from Baltimore.
202-669-8419
--
Pete Perry
http://beltwaybeast.blogspot.com/

MD, Andrews AFB: 2008 Joint Services Open House

Chip — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:03:48 -0400

Start: 05/17/2008 - 12:00am

End: 05/17/2008 - 11:59pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

Saturday, May 17, Witness at Andrews AFB - Weapons of War Nothing to Celebrate

Our presence, our messages of peace on our shirts, our prayer is our witness.

Anniversary of Catonsville 9

Meet at 10 am to get bus to Andrews Air Force Base
More information at 2008 Joint Services Open House about Andrews Air Force Base.

Call 410-233-6238 to reserve a seat on the bus

Please contact me with any further questions... I believe there will be carpooling from DC, as the above I think will be from Baltimore.
202-669-8419
--
Pete Perry
http://beltwaybeast.blogspot.com/

IL, Bloomingdale: HELP TO GET A TROOP WITHDRAWAL QUESTION ON THE BALLOT

Chip — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 08:21:33 -0400

Start: 04/08/2008 - 6:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

HELP TO GET A TROOP WITHDRAWAL QUESTION ON THE BALLOT

Bloomingdale or Downers Grove Townships, where several of our people are going to attempt- FOR THE THIRD TIME-in 3 years, to get a Troop withdrawal question on the ballot in November.

As in previous years, this will be a non-binding referendum question:

"Shall the United States government immediately begin an orderly and rapid withdrawal of all of its military personnel from Iraq, beginning with the National Guard and Reserves?"

We would like to have as many of our peace-minded friends in place that night, whether or not you live in the township!!

Here's the agenda, and what to expect:

NOTICE BLOOMINGDALE TOWNSHIP ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to the legal voters, residents of the Town of Bloomingdale in the County of DuPage and the State of Illinois, that the Annual Town Meeting of said Town will take place on:

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 being the second Tuesday of said month at the hour of 7 o'clock PM

at the Senior Center, 6N050 Rosedale Road, Bloomingdale, Illinois for the transaction of the miscellaneous business of the township; and after a Moderator has been elected, will proceed to hear and consider reports of officers, and decide on such measures as may, in pursuance of law, come before the meeting, in accordance with the following agenda:

Call to order
Pledge of Allegiance
Read call of Meeting
Elect Moderator to Conduct Meeting
Amend Agenda ( Say AYE to add question- BE AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!! )
Approve Minutes - Annual Town Meeting, April 10, 2007
Supervisor's Annual Statement for Fiscal Year 2007/08
Establish date for 2009 Annual Town Meeting
Disposition of Surplus Property Comments from the Electors Adjourn

Dated March 18, 2008
Sylvia Chris Harris Town Clerk
March 28, 2008 Suburban Life Publications 7299 BL 3/27/08

Wear your BRING TROOPS HOME button if you have one.

WE WANT TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY AND TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR THIS EFFORT.

SINCE LAST APRIL, ANOTHER 733 SOLDIERS HAVE DIED, and ANOTHER 5,297 WOUNDED.

source: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_casualties.htm

Here's the background:

All Illinois Townships hold their annual meetings on April 8, 2008 at 6:01 pm or later (check your Township for exact time).

Any resident registered voter may participate in this democratic process and submit advisory referendum questions that will appear on the Illinois general election ballot November 4.

The electors present first vote to place it on the agenda and then vote to accept the question.

Advisory referendum questions create a public record of the voters' growing desires to end the war. They serve as reminders to our elected official that they must work to serve those desires. DAWN urges all Illinois township residents to take part.

In November 2006, a dozen Illinois Townships passed referendum questions supporting "immediate withdrawal" of all US forces from Iraq including Downers Grove.

BLOOMINGDALE TOWNSHIP ANNUAL MEETING
TIME to be announced - plan on 6PM!
Web: www.bloomingdaletownship.com

REGISTERED VOTERS IN THOSE TOWNSHIPS CAN AND SHOULD VOTE " AYE " THAT NIGHT TO ADDING AN AGENDA ITEM IF NEED BE AND " AYE " IN GETTING THE QUESTION ON THE BALLOT.

Do not vote "aye" to table the discussion or get tricked in some other parliamentary move to postpone or delay voting on this April 8.

BE AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!!!!!

DC: SENATE HEARING: IRAQ AMBASSADOR CROCKER & GEN. PETRAEUS - AFTER THE SURGE: WHAT NEXT?

Chip — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:32:04 -0400

Start: 04/08/2008 - 2:30pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) will chair a Senate Foreign Relations Hearing with General Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Crocker on the topic: Iraq: After the Surge - What?

DC: The State Secrets Privilege: Time for Reform?

Chip — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:56:56 -0400

Start: 04/04/2008 - 12:00pm

End: 04/04/2008 - 2:00pm

Timezone: Etc/GMT-5

The State Secrets Privilege: Time for Reform?

WHAT: American Constitution Society (ACS) is hosting a panel of distinguished experts to discuss the state secrets privilege in light of recent presidential assertions of the privilege and congressional consideration of legislation to statutorily define it.

WHO:

Justin Florence, Fellow, Georgetown Center for National Security and Law
Aziz Huq, Director of the Liberty and National Security Project, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law
Richard Samp, Chief Counsel, Washington Legal Foundation
Michael Vatis, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP; formerly Director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI and Special Counsel at the Department of Defense
Ben Wizner, Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union
Moderator, Jonathan Turley, Professor of Law, The George Washington University School of Law

WHY: This panel will highlight issues currently before Congress, including whether the state secrets privilege is being properly invoked and the appropriate balance of national security concerns with meaningful access to justice. The common law privilege allows the government to prevent the disclosure of information in legal proceedings that may damage national security (regardless of whether a federal agency or employee is a party to those proceedings). Some observers have maintained that valid lawsuits have been unnecessarily dismissed through abusive application of the privilege.

REGISTRATION: RSVP to press@acslaw.org by noon on Wednesday, April 2. There is no charge to attend. Lunch will be served.

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations. Founded in 2001, ACS is a rapidly growing network of lawyers, law students, scholars, judges, policymakers and other concerned individuals. Our mission is to ensure that fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice enjoy their rightful, central place in American law. The views of speakers are their own and should not be attributed to ACS. For more information about the organization, which has established student chapters at over 160 law schools around the country and lawyer chapters in more than 25 cities, please visit www.acslaw.org.

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