Topic: Congress

Odom: Goins Needs to Do His Job

August 8, 2009 |

Elections Coordinator says he doesn’t have to enact law

Rep. Gary Odom, D-Davidson County

Nashville – State Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins has again refused to comply with state law, said House Democratic Leader Gary Odom on Friday.

“Goins and Secretary of State Tre Hargett have continuously failed to enact Tennessee’s Voter Confidence Act of 2008, which mandates the purchase of optical-scan voting machines that use paper ballots,” said Odom (D-Nashville). “The use of paper ballots ensures that Tennesseans’ votes are counted correctly.”

In a letter dated July 31st, Goins, in response to several requests from Odom’s office, said that he had the sole authority to “interpret” the law and was not going to implement the Act. «Read the rest of this article»

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Congressman Kucinich Asks ‘Is the Fed Paying Banks NOT to Loan Money?’

July 23, 2009 |

Domestic Policy Subcommittee Chair Announces New Probe of TARP

The Federal Reserve

Washington D.C. – Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has led the effort challenging the use of TARP funds through two administrations, Tuesday questioned whether or not “banks are parking a historic amount of taxpayers’ money in the Federal Reserve while the businesses and consumers across America are starved for credit” and whether the Federal Reserve is “paying banks not to make loans.”

Kucinich raised the question in a hearing this morning before the Government and Oversight Committee at which the Special Inspector General for TARP, Neil Barofsky, testified.

Kucinich cited Tuesday’s Fed news report on Bloomberg.com:

Meanwhile, banks’ excess reserves at the Fed rose to a record $877.1 billion daily average in the two weeks ended May 20, from $2 billion a year earlier. Excess reserves — money available for lending that banks choose to leave with the Fed instead — averaged $743.9 billion in the first two weeks of this month. – Bloomberg.com

«Read the rest of this article»

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Jesse Jackson Jr: United States electoral system is “fragile”

By Christine Anne Piesyk | August 6, 2008 |

Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. cites “UnCounted” in warnings about the fragile state of our electoral system; documentary singled out as important illustration of the problem

NASHVILLE, TN (8.6.08) – In a statement about the fragile state of our electoral system, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., singled out Nashville-based filmmaker David Earnhardt’s election integrity documentary, UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections, saying that it offered “warnings about the fragile state of our electoral system” and “evidence of how voting machines themselves can create problems.”

UnCounted made its premiere in November, 2007, to a standing room only crowd at Nashville’s Belcourt Theater, where Clarksville Online was the only media present to cover the event. Clarksville Online and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in December, 2007, teamed up with Uncounted producers David and Patricia Earnhardt to co-sponsor an equally packed screening of this film in Clarksville. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Opinion, Politics | No Comments

Chris Lugo: Time to re-examine gun control

By Chris Lugo | July 29, 2008 |

The shooting spree at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church has resulted in murder charges being filed against Jim D. Adkisson, 58, an out-of-work truck driver charged with the killing of two people and the wounding of six others during a children’s musical at the church Sunday morning. Chris Lugo responds to that news and the issue of crime and gun control.

Many Tennesseans were stunned to hear the news that yesterday morning at 10:18 a.m. a lone gunman walked into a welcoming congregation in Knoxville and opened fire on the congregants who were gathered in anticipation of watching their children perform a scene from the musical “Annie” as part of the morning services, killing two people and shooting several more in the head before being tackled to the ground. That church, the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, is a beacon of joy and hope in East Tennessee. Its congregation is made up of some of the most loving, kind and gentle people in the fine city of Knoxville, and the horrific tragedy which was visited upon that church is a wakeup call to good people throughout Tennessee to re-examine our approach to gun control in Tennessee and throughout this nation. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News, Opinion | 5 Comments

“Just say no” to domestic spying

By Chris Lugo | June 28, 2008 |

Big brother is watching you and his name is AT&T. Sometimes he goes by the name of BellSouth and at other times he is known as AOL-Time-Warner. Big brother goes by a lot of names. He is listening to you while you talk and watching you while you type and everything you say could be recorded so he can look at it somewhere down the line.

Now everyone knows that it is not polite to intrude on people in their private moments. The problem is that big brother doesn’t seem to know that peeking into people’s private communication is wrong and it should be illegal. Unfortunately President Bush wants to continue to grant immunity to telecommunications companies in the name of the so called ‘war on terror’ which in actuality is a war on the American people and the telecommunications infrastructure is the front line in the gradual diminishment of civil rights that Congress has permitted in recent years. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Business, Events, Opinion, Politics, Spirituality, Technology | No Comments

Tax Rebates: A windfall spending spree, or saving for a rainy day

By Christine Anne Piesyk | January 25, 2008 |

Congress is opting to put more money in the pockets of taxpayers via tax rebates of $600 to $1,000, a move made in the hopes that taxpayers will quickly funnel that money back into the economy. A worthy goal, I suppose.

I’m sure that electronics showrooms and a host of other retailers are hoping for a spending surge in a few months, but will it happen, and will it be enough to jump start the economy? The jury will be out for a while on that one.

I do know that for me any refund or other form of “windfall” will not quickly refuel the economy. My TV works just fine. I won’t buy a cell phone. My closet is full of clothes. I borrow more DVDs from the library than I will ever buy. A trip to Barnes and Noble could constitute a “weak moment” but since B&N is in Nashville, I’d have to say “not likely.” I’ll just pocket the cash for a rainy day. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion | No Comments

Omnibus Spending: Senate missed the mark

By Chris Lugo | December 26, 2007 |

Last week the United States Senate passed the Omnibus Spending Bill, which included an appropriation of $70 billion for Iraq, showing that the Senate is once again out of touch with the basic values of the American people. According to a December 13th Gallup survey, Americans say that the war in Iraq is their number one concern, yet this past week the US Senate voted to “stay the course” and handed the President everything he wanted with respect to the war in Iraq.

American’s are highly skeptical about the notion of progress in Iraq, with only 11% polling responding that they are “pleased” with the results of the war. Yet Americans seem resigned to the fact that US troops are going to remain in Iraq. The simple fact is that the United States cannot afford to continue this war. In addition to the complete lack of international support for Bush’s folly, the middle class can no longer afford to pay for the war. The national debt is at an all time high of $9.1 trillion dollars and Congress has appropriated another $580 billion dollars in military spending, far in excess of the actual amount of appropriations needed to defend the national security . «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion | 1 Comment »

Since 2000, more issues than answers arise in e-voting’s short history

By Bernie Ellis | December 13, 2007 |

In the wake of 2000 election issues, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002. HAVA was intended to address the problems of accuracy and functionality such as “hanging chads”– of the voting systems then in use. HAVA’s mandate also included ensuring that all voters with disabilities have access to voting systems that would provide private and independent voting.

These changes were required in every state for the 2006 federal election. Millions of tax dollars were allocated and dispersed to the states to upgrade and buy new equipment that would incorporate these requirements. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: News | No Comments

Cut oil companies corporate welfare

By Beth Robinson | December 12, 2007 |

The House has passed H.R. 6, a bill containing moderate energy reforms. The best part of this action is a repeal of $13.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies. Haven’t they been reporting record profits? Some Republicans objected to the repeal, and hope that it can be taken out when the bill goes to the Senate. Aren’t we looking for a way to reduce the federal deficit? Democrats are ’supposedly’ guilty of tax-and-spend. The current administration is just ’spend’.

The bill raises fuel efficiency standards, requiring that cars average 35 miles per gallon by the year 2020. Although this is quite modest compared to other countries standards, it represents the first US increase in efficiency standards in over 30 years.

The bill also mandates that some of the electricity produced by utilities come from renewable sources. Contact your legislators to support this minimal change to US energy policy. Support H.R. 6

Sections: Opinion, Politics | 1 Comment »

Matthew Shepard bill is a casualty of war

By Christine Anne Piesyk | December 6, 2007 |

How many perfectly good pieces of legislation have faded to oblivion by virtue of being “attached” to an unpopular bill doomed for failure.

Such is the case with the hate crimes bill, familiar to many as the Matthew Shepard bill, a meticulously drafted act that would have categorized crimes based on gender identity or sexual orientation as hate crimes. Matthew Shepard was a young, gay university student in Wyoming who was beaten into a coma and subsequently died.

The Matthew Shepard Bill was a bill whose time had not only come but was terribly overdue, but being incorporated into a package of military spending (i.e. Iraq War funding) resulted in a kill on the battlefield of equal rights and civil liberties. Matthew Shepard and gays across America have become casualties of war. «Read the rest of this article»

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