Friday, February 27, 2004

Missouri Secretary of State, Matt Blunt will set rules for voting by touch screen


By Jo Mannies
Post-Dispatch Political Correspondent
02/26/2004


Any touch-screen voting machines used in Missouri elections must also churn out a paper ballot so voters can review them in the booth, says Secretary of State Matt Blunt in an announcement slated to go out today.

Blunt's edict is aimed at local election authorities who want to replace their punch-card ballots with the machines. But in St. Louis County, where authorities are considering a switch, the top election official says the mandate could prove costly.

However, Blunt says that's not the issue. "This requirement will enable voters to review their ballot before it is cast to ensure that it was marked as intended," he said in a statement made available Thursday to the Post-Dispatch.

The paper ballots also would serve as a backup if a machine fails or a recount is needed, he said.

condt ----------------------------

Now this is a positive development!

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Diebold, Electronic Voting and the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy

Published on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 by the Free Press, Columbus, Ohiio
by Bob Fitrakis

The Governor of Ohio, Bob Taft, and other prominent state officials, commute to their downtown Columbus offices on Broad Street. This is the so-called “Golden Finger,” the safe route through the majority black inner-city near east side. The Broad Street BP station, just east of downtown, is the place where affluent suburbanites from Bexley can stop, gas up, get their coffee and New York Times. Those in need of cash visit BP’s Diebold manufactured CashSource+ ATM machine which provides a paper receipt of the transaction to all customers upon request.

Many of Taft’s and President George W. Bush’s major donors, like Diebold’s current CEO Walden “Wally” O’Dell, reside in Columbus’ northwest suburb Upper Arlington. O’Dell is on record stating that he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President” this year. On September 26, 2003, he hosted an Ohio Republican Party fundraiser for Bush’s re-election at his Cotswold Manor mansion. Tickets to the fundraiser cost $1000 per couple, but O’Dell’s fundraising letter urged those attending to “Donate or raise $10,000 for the Ohio Republican Party.”

According to the Columbus Dispatch: “Last year, O’Dell and his wife Patricia, campaigned for passage of two liquor options that made their portion of Tremont Road wet.

On November 5, Upper Arlington residents narrowly passed measures that allowed fundraising parties to offer more than beer, even though his 10,800-square-foot home is a residence, a permit is required because alcohol is included in the price of fundraising tickets. O’Dell is also allowed to serve “beer, wine and mixed drinks” at Sunday fundraisers.

O’Dell’s fund-raising letter followed on the heels of a visit to President Bush’s Crawford Texas ranch by “Pioneers and Rangers,” the designation for people who had raised $100,000 or more for Bush’s re-election.

If Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has his way, Diebold will receive a contract to supply touch screen electronic voting machines for much of the state. None of these Diebold machines will provide a paper receipt of the vote.

Diebold, located in North Canton, Ohio, does its primary business in ATM and ticket-vending machines. Critics of Diebold point out that virtually every other machine the company makes provides a paper trail to verify the machine’s calculations. Oddly, only the voting machines lack this essential function.

State Senator Teresa Fedor of Toledo introduced Senate Bill 167 late last year mandating that every voting machine in Ohio generate a “voter verified paper audit trail.” Secretary of State Blackwell has denounced any attempt to require a paper trail as an effort to “derail” election reform. Blackwell’s political career is an interesting one: he emerged as a black activist in Cincinnati supporting municipal charter reform, became an elected Democrat, then an Independent, and now is a prominent Republican with his eyes on the Governor’s mansion.

Voter fraud

A joint study by the California and Massachusetts Institutes of Technology following the 2000 election determined that between 1.5 and 2 million votes were not counted due to confusing paper ballots or faulty equipment. The federal government’s solution to the problem was to pass the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.

One of the law’s stated goals was “Replacement of punch card and lever voting machines.” The new voting machines would be high-tech touch screen computers, but if there’s no paper trail, how do you know if there’s been a computer glitch? How can the results be trusted? And how do you recount to see if the actual votes match the computer’s tally?

Bev Harris, author of Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century, argues that without a paper trail, these machines are open to massive voter fraud. Diebold has already placed some 50,000 machines in 37 states and their track record is causing Harris, Johns Hopkins University professors and others great concern.

Johns Hopkins researchers at the Information Security Institute issued a report declaring that Diebold’s electronic voting software contained “stunning flaws.” The researchers concluded that vote totals could be altered at the voting machines and by remote access. Diebold vigorously refuted the Johns Hopkins report, claiming the researchers came to “a multitude of false conclusions.”

Perhaps to settle the issue, someone illegally hacked into the Diebold Election Systems website in March 2003 and stole internal documents from the company and posted them online. Diebold went to court to stop, according to court records, the “wholesale reproduction” of some 13,000 pages of company material.

The Associated Press reported in November 2003 that: “Computer programmers, ISPs and students at [at] least 20 universities, including the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology received cease and desist letters” from Diebold. A group of Swarthmore College students launched an “electronic civil disobedience” campaign to keep the hacked documents permanently posted on the Internet.

Harris writes that the hacked documents expose how the mainstream media reversed their call projecting Al Gore as winner of Florida after someone “subtracted 16,022 votes from Al Gore, and in still some undefined way, added 4000 erroneous votes to George W. Bush.” Hours later, the votes were returned. One memo from Lana Hires of Global Election Systems, now Diebold, reads: “I need some answers! Our department is being audited by the County. I have been waiting for someone to give me an explanation as to why Precinct 216 gave Al Gore a minus 16,022 [votes] when it was uploaded.” Another hacked internal memo, written by Talbot Iredale, Senior VP of Research and Development for Diebold Election Systems, documents “unauthorized” replacement votes in Volusia County.

Harris also uncovered a revealing 87-page CBS news report and noted, “According to CBS documents, the erroneous 20,000 votes in Volusia was directly responsible to calling the election for Bush.” The first person to call the election for Bush was Fox election analyst John Ellis, who had the advantage of conferring with his prominent cousins George W. Bush and Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Incestuous relationships

Increasingly, investigative writers seeking an explanation have looked to Diebold’s history for clues. The electronic voting industry is dominated by only a few corporations – Diebold, Election Systems & Software (ES&S) and Sequoia. Diebold and ES&S combined count an estimated 80% of U.S. black box electronic votes.

In the early 1980s, brothers Bob and Todd Urosevich founded ES&S’s originator, Data Mark. The brothers Urosevich obtained financing from the far-Right Ahmanson family in 1984, which purchased a 68% ownership stake, according to the Omaha World Herald. After brothers William and Robert Ahmanson infused Data Mark with new capital, the name was changed to American Information Systems (AIS). California newspapers have long documented the Ahmanson family’s ties to right-wing evangelical Christian and Republican circles.

In 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported, “. . . primarily funded by evangelical Christians – particularly the wealthy Ahmanson family of Irvine – the [Discovery] institute’s $1-million annual program has produced 25 books, a stream of conferences and more than 100 fellowships for doctoral and postdoctoral research.” The chief philanthropists of the Discovery Institute, that pushes creationist science and education in California, are Howard and Roberta Ahmanson.

According to Group Watch, in the 1980s Howard F. Ahmanson, Jr. was a member of the highly secretive far-Right Council for National Policy, an organization that included Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, Major General John K. Singlaub and other Iran-Contra scandal notables, as well as former Klan members like Richard Shoff. Ahmanson, heir to a savings and loan fortune, is little reported on in the mainstream U.S. press. But, English papers like The Independent are a bit more forthcoming on Ahmanson’s politics.

“On the right, figures such as Richard Mellon Scaife and Howard Ahmanson have given hundreds of millions of dollars over several decades to political projects both high (setting up the Heritage Foundation think-tank, the driving engine of the Reagan presidency) and low (bankrolling investigations into President Clinton’s sexual indiscretions and the suicide of the White House insider Vincent Foster),” wrote The Independent last November.

The Sunday Mail described an individual as, “. . . a fundamentalist Christian more in the mould of U.S. multi-millionaire Howard Ahmanson, Jr., who uses his fortune to promote so-called traditional family values . . . by waving fortunes under their noses, Ahmanson has the ability to cajole candidates into backing his right-wing Christian agenda.

Ahmanson is also a chief contributor to the Chalcedon Institute that supports the Christian reconstruction movement. The movement’s philosophy advocates, among other things, “mandating the death penalty for homosexuals and drunkards.”

The Ahmanson family sold their shares in American Information Systems to the McCarthy Group and the World Herald Company, Inc. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel disclosed in public documents that he was the Chairman of American Information Systems and claimed between a $1 to 5 million investment in the McCarthy Group. In 1997, American Information Systems purchased Business Records Corp. (BRC), formerly Texas-based election company Cronus Industries, to become ES&S. One of the BRC owners was Carolyn Hunt of the right-wing Hunt oil family, which supplied much of the original money for the Council on National Policy.

In 1996, Hagel became the first elected Republican Nebraska senator in 24 years when he did surprisingly well in an election where the votes were verified by the company he served as chairman and maintained a financial investment. In both the 1996 and 2002 elections, Hagel’s ES&S counted an estimated 80% of his winning votes. Due to the contracting out of services, confidentiality agreements between the State of Nebraska and the company kept this matter out of the public eye. Hagel’s first election victory was described as a “stunning upset” by one Nebraska newspaper.

Hagel’s official biography states, “Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Hagel worked in the private sector as the President of McCarthy and Company, an investment banking firm based in Omaha, Nebraska and served as Chairman of the Board of American Information Systems.” During the first Bush presidency, Hagel served as Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the 1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations (G-7 Summit).

Bob Urosevich was the Programmer and CEO at AIS, before being replaced by Hagel. Bob now heads Diebold Election Systems and his brother Todd is a top executive at ES&S. Bob created Diebold’s original electronic voting machine software. Thus, the brothers Urosevich, originally funded by the far Right, figure in the counting of approximately 80% of electronic voting in the United States.

Like Ohio, the State of Maryland was disturbed by the potential for massive electronic voter fraud. The voters of that state were reassured when the state hired SAIC to monitor Diebold’s system. SAIC’s former CEO is Admiral Bill Owens. Owens served as a military aide to both Vice President Dick Cheney and former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, who now works with George H.W. Bush at the controversial Carlyle Group. Robert Gates, former CIA Director and close friend of the Bush family, also served on the SAIC Board.

Diebold’s track record

Wherever Diebold and ES&S go, irregularities and historic Republican upsets follow. Alastair Thompson, writing for scoop.co of New Zealand, explored whether or not the 2002 U.S. mid-term elections were “fixed by electronic voting machines supplied by Republican-affiliated companies.” The scoop investigation concluded that: “The state where the biggest upset occurred, Georgia, is also the state that ran its election with the most electronic voting machines.” Those machines were supplied by Diebold.

Wired News reported that “. . . a former worker in Diebold’s Georgia warehouse says the company installed patches on its machine before the state’s 2002 gubernatorial election that were never certified by independent testing authorities or cleared with Georgia election officials.” Questions were raised in Texas when three Republican candidates in Comal County each received exactly the same number of votes – 18,181.

Following the 2003 California election, an audit of the company revealed that Diebold Election Systems voting machines installed uncertified software in all 17 counties using its equipment.

Former CIA Station Chief John Stockwell writes that one of the favorite tactics of the CIA during the Reagan-Bush administration in the 1980s was to control countries by manipulating the election process. “CIA apologists leap up and say, ‘Well, most of these things are not so bloody.’ And that’s true. You’re giving politicians some money so he’ll throw his party in this direction or that one, or make false speeches on your behalf, or something like that. It may be non-violent, but it’s still illegal intervention in other country’s affairs, raising the question of whether or not we’re going to have a world in which laws, rules of behavior are respected,” Stockwell wrote. Documents illustrate that the Reagan and Bush administration supported computer manipulation in both Noriega’s rise to power in Panama and in Marcos’ attempt to retain power in the Philippines. Many of the Reagan administration’s staunchest supporters were members of the Council on National Policy.

The perfect solution

Ohio Senator Fedor continues to fight valiantly for Senate Bill 167 and the Holy Grail of the “voter verified paper audit trail.” Proponents of a paper trail were emboldened when Athan Gibbs, President and CEO of TruVote International, demonstrated a voting machine at a vendor’s fair in Columbus that provides two separate voting receipts.

The first paper receipt displays the voter’s touch screen selection under plexiglass that falls into a lockbox after the voter approves. Also, the TruVote system provides the voter with a receipt that includes a unique voter ID and pin number which can be used to call in to a voter audit internet connection to make sure the vote cast was actually counted.

Brooks Thomas, Coordinator of Elections in Tennessee, stated, “I’ve not seen anything that compares to the Gibbs’ TruVote validation system. . . .” The Assistant Secretary of State of Georgia, Terrel L. Slayton, Jr., claimed Gibbs had come up with the “perfect solution.”

Still, there remains opposition from Ohio Secretary of State Blackwell. His spokesperson Carlo LoParo recently pointed out that federal mandates under HAVA do not require a paper trail: “. . . if Congress changes the federal law to require it [a paper trail], we’ll certainly make that a requirement of our efforts.” LoParo went on to accuse advocates of a paper trail of attempting to “derail” voting reform.

U.S. Representative Rush Holt introduced HR 2239, The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003, that would require electronic voting machines to produce a paper trail so that voters may verify that their screen touches match their actual vote. Election officials would also have a paper trail for recounts.

As Blackwell pressures the Ohio legislature to adopt electronic voting machines without a paper trail, Athan Gibbs wonders, “Why would you buy a voting machine from a company like Diebold which provides a paper trail for every single machine it makes except its voting machines? And then, when you ask it to verify its numbers, it hides behind ‘trade secrets.’”

Maybe the Diebold decision makes sense, if you believe, to paraphrase Henry Kissinger, that democracy is too important to leave up to the votes of the people.

Dr. Bob Fitrakis is Senior Editor of The Free Press , a political science professor, and author of numerous articles and books.

© 1970-2004 The Columbus Free Press

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THis shit is scarry folks.

BadGimp

Saturday, February 21, 2004

"I DEFINE A LIE--INTENT TO DECEIVE. YOU DECIDE."
by swinney - a regular poster over at DemocraticUnderground.com

----------------------- BUSH & STAFF LIES -----------------------

1. I passed a Patients Bill Of Rights as Governor.
2. I am a "Reformer with Results".
3. I am a "Compassionate Conservative".
4. Action Administration.
5. The claim that "Al Gore lied re: his role in creating the Internet".
6. The claim that "Al Gore lied re: his role in Love Canal".
7. The claim that "Al Gore lied re: The Love Story movie".
8. The claim that "Al Gore lied re: his role on Farm Work".
9. Open Administration.
10. I will protect the environment.
11. I will retain regulations on CO2.
12. Dad and I will be first two Environmental presidents.
13. I will increase funding for libraries.
14. I will Leave No Child behind. (Just the funding for their programs).
15. I will be the Education President.
16. I will restore Honor-Dignity-Integrity to the White House.
17. I will continue to balance the budget.
18. I will put Social Security in a Lock Box.
19. I will increase the Pell Grant Maximum Award.
20. My Tax Cuts will not create deficits even in a recession.
21. I will fully fund LIHEAP—low income energy program.
22. I will listen to sound science and “local” officials before deciding on Yucca Mountain.
23. I will make higher education more accessible by helping students with costs.
24. My administration will have transparency.
25. I am the type of person who will not change his mind once he makes it up.
26. I have been to WAR.
27. I will provide 20 Billion for World Trade center.
28. I gave the citizens a Tax Refund. Loan not a refund. Democrats program.
29. Iran and North Korea have been allies against us.
30. Hear me once and hear me clear. Promises made are promises kept.
My Waffle list takes care of this very childish remark.
31. Saddam kicked inspectors out of Iraq. (He ordered USA spies to leave but stated over and over that others could stay.).
32. I knew nothing about a possible WTC type attack. .
33. We warned the FAA, Airlines and Pilots. (Pilots interviewed said they were never warned.).
34. Ashcroft : "We captured a terrorist who was planning to plant dirty bombs".
35. Presidential Air Force 1 plane was under attack.
36. "I saw the first plane hit before I went into the classroom."
37. "I will fully fund Low Income Housing Assistance.
38. "I will provide affordable prescription benefits for ”all” seniors.
39. "I will pay down a record amount of the federal debt.
40. The largest percentage increase in my budget is for education.
41. Education will be my number one priority (—after millionaires).
42. "I do not take cues from anyone. (Except Karl, Karen and Dick).
43. Finding to Congress to slaughter Afghans. Lied by omission. No mention of removal of Taliban.
44. "I will not engage in "Nation Building".
45. "I do not need a Resolution from the UN."
46. Palm Beach County was a Pat Buchanan stronghold.
47. Clinton people did an estimated $200,000 damage to White House.
48. Clinton people robbed Air Force 1.
49. Middle East slaughter is Clinton fault for working too hard for peace.
50. North Korea restarting Nuke Program Clinton fault.
51. We have the strongest Military in history. (He campaigned on it being so weak.).
52. "I will be strict on federal spending." (Except for millionaires in weapons manufacturing).
53. Alabama Duty—I was there on a temporary assignment and fulfilled my weekends.
54. Dan Bartlett—Bush spokesman : "He pulled his drills in Alabama". (Since he wasn’t flying he was doing odds and ends under different supervisors whose names he cannot recall, which may well explain why they can’t remember him either).
55. "I was no longer flying F-102 jets because they were being replaced by a different fighter."
56. Aide : "He did not take a physical because his physician was in Houston and he was in Alabama." (Try again. Personal physicians cannot give the examination.).
57. "After I completed flight training in 1970 I kept flying with my unit for the next several years".
58. Cheney lied on Halliburton transactions with Iraq.
59. "Immediately upon taking office I will transfer the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem".
60. "I will Jawbone OPEC to open the wells."
61. "I will have a humble foreign policy. " (What would he consider an arrogant one?)
62. "I will have a bipartisan administration."
63. "Sharon is a Man of Peace."
64. "I looked into Putin’s soul. "
65. Paul O’Neill: "I sold no Alcoa stock when I was CEO". (Try 627,547 shares).
66. "Iraq has a fleet of unmanned planes which could be targeted at the United States".
( It will take 2,000 refuelings to get here, if the duct tape holds up!)
67. "We have proof Al Queda has been involved with Iraq." (But we won't show it to anyone.).
68. Elliott Abrams is a convicted liar. (Right at home with this crowd.)
69. John Poindexter is a convicted liar. (He just cannot remember.)
70. Karl Rove lied on Salvation Army deal.
71. "I will put an end to permanent campaigning." (I will do only six days each week.)
72. "I will not use polls. (Just weekly.)
73. Senator Baucus does not like free trade. He is an isolationist and protectionist.
74. The president did not try to intervene in the GE-Honeywell deal in England.
(Well, maybe a little bit.).
75. Mitch Daniels—biggie on Clinton night deposits.
76. "We will stop attacking Clinton". (when we die, maybe.).
77. U.S. air strikes in Iraq have been routine. (Pentagon disagrees.)
78. "Majority of my tax cuts goes to lower income".
79. "I am matching a trillion tax cut with a trillion cut in spending."
80. Harken Energy sale of sock—records show a deliberate lie.
81. Dropping top rate from 39.6% to 33% will serve as a stimulus to 9.4 million .
small business owners. (Less than 5% of businesses pay top rate now.).
84. "I will provide $100 million to preserve the Rain Forest." ( $ 87 million short. And he earned! a Business Degree form Harvard!).
85. School Choice—In state of Washington he said “I stand behind school choice”.
Next stop was Concord NC. “I want to avoid some of the so called school choice issues .
such as school vouchers, for it would prompt an extended debate in congress”.
86. Iraq is updating their nuclear program for we can tell by them having aluminum pipes.
Experts say you are wrong boy.
87. Cheney:: ”You never save ammunition to use before an election.” Rove and Card said Oh Yes we do.
88. He was inspired by reading the masters. (Well, Not exactly read them. We told him.).
89. "I read the EPA report.(Ari :“He did not”. When Ari contradicts you, it is trouble.).
90. Laura—“The federal records show divorce is down, weddings are up and families are coming together” (Sorry dear, you must have been looking at old records. Federal government no longer maintains such records.).
91. We did not support the Venezuelan coup.
92. Nunn-Lugar.
93. Anwar—only 2,000 acres will be disturbed.
94. Presidential records — hiding them will make them more accessible. (If you say so?!?).
95. Ashcroft - We are able to respond to bio-terrorism attacks. Call 911.
96. Military — Help is on the way.
97. My daughter did not wear kahki’s to meet the Queen. (Just a kahki jacket.).
98. We have definite proof Osama Bin Laden was responsible for 9-11.
99. "I was never arrested.
100. We have an agreement, which will be the largest disposal of nuclear war heads in history.
( Putting 2,200 into storage is not disposing of them in other people's dictionary.).
101.I believe in being held accountable. ( Why then, when we attacked Afghan, did you say “I’m not in charge. The Pentagon is running the war”) .
103. Plants must conform to same environmental standards of regulations as in Texas.
(Voluntary "compliance" isn’t regulations.).
104. My number one priority is Osama Bin Laden- dead or alive. (for the moment).
105. You coal miners will get help from me.
106. "I got affirmative action rules in Texas. (O=Nothing.).
107. Admiral Quidly spokesman for Central Command in Afghan : We hit our targets miles away from homes.” (Not according to eyewitnesses who saw friends homes take direct hits, Red Cross building, Vets hospital, wedding party, etc.).
108.
109. Ashcroft—550 prisoners—“It is against the law to release their names”. (Three days later assistant attorney general Chertoff said “there is no specific law barring disclosure of names”.).
110. Gonzales—Mary Francs Berry said he lied to her over seating a commissioner on her commission.
111. Mitch Daniels - Economic slow down is due to war on terror and not tax cut.
(When he made that statement very little spending was being done to fight terrorism.).
112. Justice Department—Lied on number of arrests and convictions for terrorism. (They loaded the report with garden variety crimes with no connection to terrorism).
113. Justice said man disrupting a flight was a “domestic terrorist”.
(The judge laughed at the charge and called it “ridiculous”. He said it was an obvious case of a man being very upset at his treatment by airlines.).
114. IAEA—Harpers Review—1-14-03—claimed the group had issued a report which did not exist. This boy brain scorched?.
115. We will not become the police of the world. OK! Just judge, jury and executioner.
116. Gale Norton—“Governor Davis had a hand in approving offshore drilling”.
( Governor Davis called him a “Liar”.).
117. Cheney said Tax Cut stimulated savings and investments.
118.AL Q is operating in Kashmir section of Pakistan. ( Strong denial by Pakistan so waffled away saying well we thought they were there. We had a gut feeling.).
119.We should not execute anyone who is mentally retarded. ( He executed two with IQ under 70.).
120.Cheney—In order to meet our future electrical needs we need to build one plant per week. ( A cutback.).
121. "I got the first major energy policy in history. ( Jimmy Carter earned that distinction 25 years ago.).
122. The sleepovers in the Texas State House were only family. (And they gave 2.1 million to your campaign.).
123. "I have been off alcohol since I met Billy Graham. (That video all over the internet showing you stoned at a wedding reception in 1992 was magic?) .
124. Mitch Daniels : "The 2003 budget was built on very conservative and cautious assumptions.".
125. OMB :"appropriations of domestic programs are, or will be, the cause of long term budget problems".
126. OMB : "deficits will drop significantly between 2002 and 2003.".
127. OMB : in it’s mid-year review it claimed that the Senate domestic budget plan would reduce the president’s defense request for the 2003 budget. (The Senate plan included the presidents full request and OMB knew it. ).
128. Padilla—Ashcroft had to reverse his claim of capturing a terrorist who was planning bio-chemical attack on us.
129. Bush claimed Al Q was planning to attack U.S. nuclear plants. (No proof yet. Just spreading fear).
130. Photo-op in Arizona during wildfires. ”We will help”. (Arizona is still waiting.) .
131.Wolfowitz : "We found a terrorist cell in Jacksonville, Florida." (When asked for proof by Jacksonville leaders, they were told it was just my gut feeling.).
132. Photo-op in Oregon at training center. “I will help”. (A week later his budget came out cutting such training programs by 45 million.).
133. Harken Energy---records show blatant lies by George W. Bush.
134. "I will veto bio-terrorism bill; it is too expensive. (Then signed it.).
135. Told state officials it was illegal to place limits on coverage of emergency services for the poor.
(Then, put out a new policy allowing HMO’s to do just that).
136. Said his application to a Prep School was not rejected. (It was. He admitted it later.).
137. Said his 2001 Tax Cut was originally designed (during the height of the Clinton boom) as a stimulus.
138. Dan Bartlett : "“Since he was not flying there was no need for him to take physical”. He was grounded because he refused to take a physical. Quite plain on his record. Snort snort.
139. Campaign official : "There was no special deal for him to get into the National Guard.!.
140. Most small business owners pay income tax at the 39.6% rate. Boy, 5% Is not most.
141. Al Q and Iraq are in cahoots.
142. Lie to democratic caucus.
143. Discovery of cannisters is proof Iraq is not cooperating with the inspectors.
144. "I am a Uniter not a Divider. Sho! Got the world united against us.
145. Ken Lay : "First met him in 1994. Very stupid lie.
146. Ken Lay supported my opponent. Yuk! You are sick to make such blatant misstatements .
147. Am Iraqi agent met with Al Q Mohamed Atta in Prague. Phantom meeting.
148. Condi Rice : "No one ever dreamed of such a thing as a plane being used as a bomb”.
149. Ari : "There will be no social security for young people. Well! I must have been wrong.
150. “I visited the Space Center in Houston while Governor”. No you did not . Why does this BOY say such things?.
151. The recession began before I took office.
152.“You can’t say one thing and do another”. “My tax cut will not cause deficits even in a recession.”.
153. Colin Powell before UN: “The tape clearly establishes a connection between Osama Bin Laden and Hussein, beyond all question.” (The tape when played in it’s entirety told a very different story.)
154. Colin showed a photo which he alleged was a plant producing chemical weapons. Baloney. Old buildings. Small bakery. Thirty reporters went to the site and said “Bunk”. It was on European TV but did you see it on American TV?.
155. Ari said the evidence by the UN inspectors of a missile site which could travel beyond UN limitations was a breach. Iraq said it varied in distance according to payload. Russian authority said it was reported to the UN. The extra distance was minimal. It could go 120 miles which will just about make it a Serious Security Risk for America?.
156. Newsday-2-23-03-Bush and Ari lied whey they said the Blue Chip Forecast showed the economy would grow at 3.3% this year if Bush tax cut is passed. Randall Moore editor of Blue Chip denied the claim. Why do these BOYS keep making such false claims? White House personnel became almost hysterical in trying to spin it.
157. “I support After-School Programs”. In 10-2-03 letter he sent to After School Alliance. Cut the funding by 40% per E.J. Dionne in Washington Post on 3-7-03. Rep. George Miller said “Not unexpected. It was a Clinton Program. There is obviously a search-and-destroy mission against anything that was Clinton”. Nice Christian group?.
158. Reuters-3-7-03-The U.S. and British lied about their proof Iraq imported Uranium. The IAEA concluded it was a false charge. Psychos? .
159. 2-28-03-Speech on Homelnd Secuirty-“I proposed 3.5B for first Responders. He proposed an increase of 1B not 3.5B as he claimed He vetoed 400 Million passed by Congress for First Responders and in 2002 he actually froze money for them.
160. Colin: ”They are hiding banned arms in mobile laboratories”. Outlook India. Com 3-6-03 “Hans Blix stated” No evidence of such activities has been found. He said his inspectors had followed U.S. leads and got nothing”.
161. January 3, 2003 : “My Jobs Program(for rich) will create 2.1 million jobs and the tax cut shave been front loaded to have as much effect in the first year as possible. January 8th-White House document released ahowed that job creation will be about 190,000 in 2003. NY Times Edmund L. Andrews 1-9-03.
162. Ameri-Corps : "Wash. Post Dana Milbank-2-27-03-“During SOUA Bush made it a central part of his “Compassionate Conservative” program and called for it to grow to 75,000 from 50,000. Instead, It is possible enrollment will be 26,000 this year. In December of 2002 Bush said it was “expanding mightily”. The funding will be 64 million short in 2003.”.
163. Salmon Fish Story-Seattle Post Intelligence 1-16-03-Bush said “the salmon runs can be restored without building dams. The man and fish can coexist. Bush is still holding up 4 million to help them coexist.
164. Paul Krugman-NY Times-2-25-03-Presdient Vincente Fox of Mexico felt betrayed by his good buddy Bushlite. Old Bushie (promises made-promises kept) promised to give amnesty to all illegal immigrants from Mexico. Next time Vicente watch who you trust. Be sure they are solid Christians! Remember this is White House overflowing with Dignity and Integrity. Plus convicted criminals.
165. Wash. Post 2-26-03-“I have not made up my mind on war (slaughtering ). John Bolton, Undersecretary of State said “We are going ahead UN or no UN. It is already final? I am a leader? I am in charge? I will make the decision?.
166. Ari said “We know they have it (WMD). A list of 25 sites were quietly provided.” Hans Blix challenged Bush and Powell to put up or shut up” . The info they provided has been junk junk junk said UN Inspectors.
167. Ari “Bush is willing to be patient”. The very next day Bush said “time is running out”. Who is in charge? Do these boys speak to each other?.
am willing to offer them food and energy assistance if they stop their nuke-uler program.” I say what I mean. When my mind is made up it stays made up. Do we have a scorched brain here?.
169. Colin tried to paste a link between Saddam and Al Queda by saying “a sinister nexus between Iraq and the Al Queda net work.” He used as proof a chemical weapons training center in an area controlled by Ansar al-Islam. Reporters visited he area and found no poof.
In fact, the group hates Saddam and Al Queda.
170. 2-3-03 White House Fact Sheet-“The budget would be in double digit deficit if there had never been a tax cut in 2001. The budget returned to deficit because of War, Recession and emergencies associated with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11”. Whoever wrote the Fact Sheet did not look at Historical tables volume of White house budget. Page 5 read: An economic slowdown began in 2001 and was exacerbated by the terrorists attack of September 11. The “deterioration” in the performance of the economy came together “with income tax relief” provided to help offset the economic slowdown and additional spending in response to the terrorist attacks produced a drop in the surplus to 127.1 billion and a return to deficits in 2002.
171. Bush said only North Korea was to blame for crisis. Colin Powell gave “great credit” to Clinton for freezing NK plutonium enrichment program in the 1994 Framework Then. Wash Post reported a senior Bush administration official suggested the nuclear crisis was the predictable result of a flawed 1994 agreement signed by Clinton with Pyongyang that “frontloaded all the benefits and left the difficult things to the end for the next president (Clinton). Honor,Dignity and Integrity. It got lost somehow.
A great source of Bush lies is Sam Parry article of 11-4-02 in www.consortiumnews.com headed “Bush’s Life of Deception”.
172. The Education as number one priority has slipped through the cracks. The 2004 Budget of Bush eliminated 45 educational programs. A total of 1.6 Billion. Major ones are Comprehensive School Reform ( $ 235 million). Rural Education ( $ 162.5 million). Smaller Learning Communities ( $ 142.2millon). Perkins Loans ( $ 100 million). Regional Educational Laboratories( $ 67.5 million). Leveraging Educational Asst. Partnerships( $ 67 million). Preparing teachers to use technology ( $ 62.5 million). Community Service of expelled students ( $ 50 million). Parental Asst. Info. Centers ( $ 40 million). Physical Education Programs ( $ 50 million). Community Technology Centers( $ 32.5 millon). Fund for the Improvement of Education was cut by( $ 361 million). Source is Report by House Budget Committee (Democratic Caucus-John Spratt Jr.) 2-4-03 : "this c- student a loose in land of learning! .

2. 173. NY Times-3-10-03—Elizsabeth Rumiller-“Antiwar Clerics wonder if Bush hears their call”. Cardinal Pio Laghi a peace emissary sent by the Pope John Paul II to meet with Bush said “he was told he could not talk to reporters in the White House driveway where microphones are routinely set up for visitors to the Oval Office. (Ari Fleischer said it was not true. Cardinal Laghi held a press conference anyway. Will you believe emissary from Pope or Ari?).
174.Harper’s magazine-Weekly Review-3-4-03 : "Bush administration officials hinted Russia might have a hard time collecting it’s Iraqi debts, if it fails to support Bush war plans. (Other security council members were being told they would pay a “heavy price” for refusing to support Bush. Ari said in effect that they were all lying).
175. Consortium News-11-4-02-In the October 11 debate Bush said the Clinton-Gore administration “took 40 million acres of land out of circulation without consulting local officials. He said “I just cited an example of the administration just unilaterally acting without any input.” (The Forest Service conducted 600 public meetings.) (Like Father like son “I will do (or say) anything to win”. GHW Bush in 1992.).
176. Bush said during the debate “Our water in Texas is cleaner now”. The Sierra Club said “The discharge of industrial toxic pollution into surface waters in Texas increased from 23.2 million pounds in 1995 to 25.2 million pounds in 1998 the last year of available data (Bush hiding it?).
177. Bush said: “I do not need polling to tell me what to think”. NBC News 10-6-00 reported Bush spent over one million dollars on polling during his campaign. It was widely reported that during first two years in the White House over one million per year was spent on polling as much as Clinton spent over first two years.
“Who cares what you think”. He must have meant it for all Americans.
Reporter-Writer Sam Parry writes “Bush’s growing record of lies, both big and small, suggest something perhaps more troubling. His personal history of heavy drinking, drug use, carousing, disappearances from military duty, repeated business failures and political hypocrisies -- combined with his ability to avoid ever paying a significant price for his deceptions - have given him a sense of his own infallibility”.
Paul Krugman-NY Times-(on wmnf-fm-tampa 2-26-03)-The Bush administration’s level of irresponsibility and dishonesty is unprecedented”. Amen! .
.
Washington Post Editorial on Bush Tax Cut: ”Mr. Bush must know how phony his “averages” are. Anytime a salesman has to resort to such deceptive tactics, the customer ought to be wary about what is being sold”.
Dennis Hans writes:”I review below 23 “techniques of deception” of Bush and his foreign-policy team.”.
178. Colin before UN: “My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we are giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.” (Powell presented now discredited presentations of bogus tales based on discredited defectors , tortured captives, photos and tape recordings that proved little or nothing. Wild speculation. A “fine British dossier built on plagiarized essays with 12 year old “revelations” and so on.).


conventional weapons. Instead of providing proof Powell produced photos of al-Taji ammunition storage facility. Powell claimed they are a ”signature item” for chemical bunkers. A picture of a truck and a shed by themselves reveal nothing about the content of the adjacent bunker. Swinney note: Reporters visited the site only a couple days later and found a small bakery and dilapidated buildings.
180. Powell used tapes of conversations. (The State Department’s transcript of the actual conversation makes it evident that Powell had embellished the quote to make it appear much more incriminating. Intent to deceive is LYING.).
181. Bush claimed the location of Samoud 2 Missiles was “the Tip of the Iceberg”. (He has produced nothing to back up such a claim. If he has information he is required to notify the inspectors under UN Resolution.) .
182 Powell stated there were labs in remote Kurdistan. (No proof.) .
183. Powell stated there were mobile labs with WMD. (No proof. Hans Blix’s inspectors followed all leads supplied by U.S. Intelligence and some inspectors called US Intelligence information “junk” and kept them on wild goose chases (found two mobile food kitchens). www.accuracy.org has several examples of deception.).
184. Bush said during his speech to UN Security Council on Sept 12 “Iraq has made several attempts to buy high-strength aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons." In his SOUA on Jan 28 he repeated it.
185. Bush made inference eight times to a tie between Iraq and Al Qaeda in his news conference. By citing 9/11 he tried to alchemize American anger at Al Qaeda into support for smashing Saddam. (No proof of Saddam-Al Qaeda connection.).
186. Bush said location of Samoud2 Missiles was “Tip of Iceberg”. No proof of any iceberg. If he has proof he is in violation of UN Resolution by withholding information from inspectors.
Noted Journalist Sy Hearst-“There is no real standard of integrity because the White House doesn’t have any”.
Paul Krugman-NY Times-America’s leadership has lost touch with reality. The eagerness to believe that an Iraq nuclear program does exist has led to a series of embarrassing debacles capped by the forged Niger papers. It is clear that deposing Saddam has become an obsession.”.
187. -03-13-03--AP-Niko Price-From Al-Taji, Iraq--IRAQ DRONE. Iraqi officials took journalists to the Ibn Firna State Company just north of Baghdad where the drone’s project director said Colin Powell and Bush lied. The Drone was made of Balsa wood with two small propellers attached to what looks like the engine of a weed whacker.
188. Bush II Shootout at OK Corral speech : "“Every measure was taken to avoid war”—words will live in infamy. One analyst revealed 21 lies Bush spoke in his “24 hour to leave Dodge” speech. 189. David Ensor-CNN Wash. Bureau-3-14-03-Powell referred to proof of Iraq attempting to buy uranium in his UN presentation.(Totally false. Fake documents.).
190. Wash Post-3-21-03-Glenn Kessler : "“It’s a bald face lie to claim the “coalition” is greater than the one on 1991” per Ivo H. Daalder of Brookings Institute.( The comparison is not even close.).



191. Ari said several times ”Iraq is a wealthy nation”. Los Angeles Times Warren Vieth artivcle 4-3-03-- (The Iraq balance sheet is a Basket case. Financial shambles. Debt load. Cash flow low. Shaky currency.High unemployment. Sounds like George Bush has been in charge for past ten years!).
192.The Strait Times(Singapore) listed by Common Dreams.org on 10-28-03— Malasian Prime Minister Mohamad said President Bush ”lied” when he said “I pulled him aside at the Bangkok Summit and rebuked him for his anti-Semitic remarks”. Now. Which would you believe
193.Condi Rice and others said the administration never said ”imminent threat.--”May 7th 2003—Ari Fleischer said “absolutely” when he was asked “didn’t we go to war because we said WMD were a direct and imminent threat?” www.The DailyMislead.org
194.Bush claimed UN Inspectors were not allowed into Iraq before his slaughter. The UN weapons Inspectors were forced to leave when Bush began his slaughter. This lie was unbelievable. Does he know anything?
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Send this to as many people as you can.

BadGimp

Friday, February 20, 2004

TOMPAINE.com - Crashing The Vote

Crashing The Vote
Ben Cohen is a co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and president of truemajority.org, whose 400,000 members are urging secretaries of state to protect voters from computer voting glitches. Barbara Simons holds a Ph.D. in computer science and is a past president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

No one wants a repeat of the Florida election fiasco in 2000.

That's why both Republicans and Democrats in Congress joined together and passed the Help America Vote Act, which requires states to upgrade their electoral systems.

That's great, but the technology many states are turning to is seriously flawed, potentially undermining the good intentions of the new law.

condt............................

Ben Cohen is a great American. Buy some of Ben's ice cream :p

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Newsday.com - Judge Denies Electronic Voting Challenge

By JIM WASSERMAN
Associated Press Writer
February 18, 2004, 10:09 PM EST

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Superior Court judge rejected a legal challenge Wednesday to California's March 2 primary over allegations that new electronic voting systems are vulnerable to hackers.

Judge Raymond Cadei denied a temporary restraining order sought against electronic voter machine maker Diebold Election Systems, Inc., saying there isn't enough evidence of security threats to justify interfering in an election just 13 days away.

A group of computer programmers and California voters alleged that new electronic touch-screen voting machines being used in at least 14 counties on March 2 are insecure and could be manipulated to disrupt election results. Legal challengers included Sacramento computer consultant Jim March and Washington state resident Bev Harris, who has written extensively on possible security glitches in new electronic voting systems.

But 40 minutes into Wednesday's hearing, Cadei said he remained unconvinced "that there is a serious actual threat to the election process" and quickly ended a legal threat looming over elections that will elect legislative candidates and decide ballot propositions and U.S. presidential candidates.

condt......................................

OK then...seems the honerable Judge knows more than the "group of computer programmers ".

This is bad folks...very, very, Bad.

CNN.com - California lawsuit challenges e-voting

Up to 18 counties asked to add safeguards
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Posted: 11:29 AM EST (1629 GMT)

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Two weeks before California's presidential primary, a group alleging widespread security holes in electronic voting machines has asked a judge to make counties install new safeguards.

Citizens from four counties requested a temporary restraining order Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

They asked that up to 18 counties using machines made by Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems add more safeguards to protect them against hackers.

Court officials scheduled a hearing for Wednesday on that issue and an accompanying lawsuit seeking to stop the state and Diebold from using "insecure" voting machines.

condt...............................

====================================

I have decided that this issue will be my focus up to the 04 Election since I feel strongly that the new touch screen machines are the single greatest threat to democracy which we CAN affect.

BadGimp


Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Election Reform Advocates Call for Paper Back-Up
WISHTV.com (Indiania) - LINK


By Rick Dawson and Loni Smith McKown
I-Team 8

An I-Team 8 investigation has uncovered concerns about the accuracy, reliability and security of new voting machines. Now there's new information that could affect the presidential election in the fall.

This spring, the federal government plans to hand out $2.3 billion to states for new voting equipment. I-Team 8 told you who's getting rich: a few companies with partisan ties. We showed you that voting machines don't always count correctly and many times there's no way to recount votes. Plus, we found there are no safeguards to protect against tampering. Wait until you hear the latest.

In a protest called "The Computer Ate My Vote," Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream is calling for change.

“It is an abomination that in this, the richest, most technologically advanced democracy in the world, we don't seem to be able to install voting machines which will guarantee the credibility of our presidential election in 2004,” said Cohen.

CONDT.............................



Even the most basic cash register creates an audit tape/log of each transaction and the date / time of same. So even if there is no receipt to compare against, the log establishes the transaction record.

These machines do not.

No audit trail means there can be no audit or recount

If you can fix an election, why would you not?

The GOP in congress has allowed the voting technology companies to own the software that count our votes. They have allowed the companies to claim trademark and business secrets rights over that code so it can not be subject to scrutiny. This effectively means that the very mechanism used to count our votes is held by a small group of GOP right wing radical business interests, funded and spurred on by the GOP mob in Congress. How convenient for them.

We're hosed here people.

No way this can be turned back by Nov 04. FLA set the tone by mandating just the other day, that there can not, and will not be any recounts for oprecincts using the touch screen machines. And the justification they use is simply brilliant.

Bush will win in Nov and there will be nothing we can to to change it then or now.

Read for yourself :

Wired News: The Computer Ate My Vote
http://http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,62294,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3