Open Request to Sen. John S. McCain

Dear Senator McCain:

We need this change in campaign finance laws:

Ban contributions made through anonymous pre-paid credit cards.

The reason for this? These cards are a vehicle through which enormously wealthy individuals and groups can make political contributions many times the size which they can openly make. You ought to be sensitive to this following the last election.

Please introduce a bill to make this needed change in the Federal campaign finance laws.

Sincerely,
Wesley G. Vaughn

____________________________________________________________________

Dear Reader,

If you agree with this, please let Sen. McCain know your views.
Go to http://mccain.senate.gov/public/, click on "Contact," select "Contact form."
On the Issues list pick "Not listed."
Say what you want in the message box.
Thank you.
-WGV

Birthplace Issues: John McCain and Barack Obama

An issue was made this year of the "Natural-born citizen" status of the two major party candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 and Obama's live birth location was questioned.

First, John McCain. This is the easiest to deal with. At the time of his birth, the Panama Canal Zone was a United States Territory. His parents were both US citizens and he was born on a US Navy base. So on all accounts, there should have beeen no question that John S. McCain III is a natural-born citizen of the United States of America.

Next, Barack H. Obama. Somehow, someway, several persons publicized doubt that Sen. Obama was born in Hawaii. There have even been lawsuits brought in federal court to delay the election or otherwise force Obama to produce his vault original certificate of live birth. The Obam campaign has released the image of a certified copy of the original certificate. It is available on the following website:
http://www.politifact.com/media/img/graphics/birthCertObama.jpg

Some people posting comments on this have questioned its authenticity on basically two counts: (1) no crease from folding and mailing, and (2) no embossure of the seal of the Hawaiian dept. of vital statistics. I downloaded this image and zoomed in on it. I saw the folding crease, which goes through the center of the state seal. Persons who have Hawaiian birth certificates say that they are signed and embossed on the back side. Near the bottom of the image, the date stamp of the copy is seen bleeding thorugh from the back. Just above it, under magnification, the embossing can be detected by distortions in the background pattern in a circular pattern. It is not as distinct as it would be on the side which was embossed. Just check out any embossed heavy paper document you have to see what I mean.

The birth certificate notwithstanding, his mother was a US citizen. And although at the time of Barack's birth she was only 18 (not yet five years past age 16), since she had been a citizen and resident of the US all her life, her citizenship still applies, since the five-year clause should apply only to those who are 21 years of age or older (which I believe to be the original intent of the law).

As one who supported and voted for John McCain, and as one who has serious questions about the direction Pres. Obama with Speaker Pelosi and Sen. Maj. Leader Reid will take this nation, it could be a relief to have BHO disqualified from being President. But also being a person of reason, I say (barring future discovey of evidence of fraud and forgery) that Barack Hussein Obama, Jr, is a natural-born citizen of the United States, thereby meeting that qualification for President of the United States of America.

The raising of this issue regarding both candidates in this year's election demonstrates the fact that in any campaign or controversy red herring issues will arise. (A "red herring" is a bogus or irrelevant issue brought up which detracts from the core issues.)

An Open Letter to Sen. Barack Obama

Senator Obama:

I have a couple of questions to ask you.

Considering that (1) your mentor when you were a teen, Frank Marshall Davis, was a Communist, (2) you worked on the Woods Foundation with William Ayers, a radical leftist, (3) you have written that you were attracted to Marxism, and (4) you have stated publicly at least twice that you would redistribute the wealth, doesn’t this mean that you and your policies are socialist?

Considering your remarks about Fox News, and the reaction to Joe the Plumber and Barbara West, would you as President try to “manage the press” in violation of the First Amendment?

Sincerely yours,

Wes the Press Operator

PS: I’ve been asked to list on applications all of my driving citations. I thought if I asked these questions, you would check it out.

PPS: Maybe you’ll also look into all my school grades.

Is Voter Registration Fraud a Threat to the Secret Ballot?

Is Voter Registration Fraud a Threat to the Secret Ballot?

At this time, we are in the midst of a massive voter registration scandal. Workers hired by ACORN to canvas people and register them to vote have ignored the law and common sense in several ways.

1. They have registered persons already registered. This has resulted in multiple registrations for the same person. One man in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, was registered as many as 73 times.

2. They have falsified the registration applications. This includes entering the names of fictitious persons, deceased persons, celebrities, etc.

3. They have registered persons ineligible to vote, although the persons told them they were not eligible.

4. They have used aggressive tactics in canvassing, in some cases offering incentives to people to register.

According to the testimony of several persons, the canvassers claimed they had to get enough registrations to get paid.

During this time, I have been hearing that the secret ballot, which we have enjoyed in this country, may come to an end. So how does this relate to the scandal?

First, with such a widespread voter registration scandal, in at least fourteen states, so close to the election, it threatens the integrity of the election itself. The result of a vote count controversy in so many states will raise an outcry, a call by the public for some way to prevent this, or at least to cull out the votes of voters who are found to either be ineligible or to have voted multiple times.

One method would be to tag each ballot cast with the voter who cast it. This is easy to do with electronic voting. It can also be done with other voting methods, too. Then after the election, as verification of voter registrations continues for those the officials did not have time to verify before the election, if a voter proves to be ineligible, his ballot can be located and cancelled.

This may sound like a good idea to many, especially with so many late registrations pouring in. But there is a danger. Who has access to the records, the links between the votes and the voters? How secure are they? The past few years, database after database has been penetrated, making sensitive information insecure.

What if those on one side of an issue or for one candidate were able to comb through the lists of votes and voters? Would every union member want the union officials to know how he or she voted? Would every employee want his employer to know how he or she voted? Some people live in neighborhoods where they certainly would not want the neighbors to know how they vote. Would you want your voting record made public?

We see stories in the news of the government and political parties in certain other countries harassing those who vote against them. Elections are won by 90% or more, because voters are afraid of losing their jobs or defending themselves from trumped up charges. Do we want to see that happen here?

"Rage" Out of Bounds

I had not heard of the rock group Rage Against the Machine (RATM) until the news of the riot following their concert in Minneapolis Wednesday night. So I googled them and found this MTV article about their plan to play in Minneapolis during the Republican national Convention in St. Paul (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1592142/20080805/rage_against_the_machine.jhtml). They also played in Denver during the DNC.

The MTV article said that "according to Minneapolis' Star Tribune, [RATM] will bring their incendiary politics and anthems of violent revolution to the Target Center September 3."

The article also went on to say:

De la Rocha recently called for President Bush to be "tried for being a war criminal," and during the band's Lolla set, he raged against the last eight years of Republican rule and even had a word of warning for "Brother Obama," referring to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama.
"Now, we know Brother Obama. ... But I tell you what, if he comes to power come November and he doesn't start pulling troops out of Afghanistan, I know a lot of people who are gonna stand up and burn down every office of every Senate [Senator?]."

What De la Rocha said comes perilously close to incitement to riot and violence. The last I checked, incitement to riot is not protected by the First Amendment.

It would appear that Rage Against the Machine is out of bounds.