Michigan Republicans have indicated that they plan to challenge Michigan voters at the polls using lists of homes that are in foreclosure. While we should not be surprised at any tactic after Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004, this is a singular example of how low they will go. It is done in the name of electing John McCain and John McCain should answer for it. Today, I am calling on McCain to immediately denounce this activity and tell his supporters to stop it. I hope some of our friends in the media will get him on the record about whether he intends to be elected President on the backs of those who have suffered the worst impacts of this economy.
The Republican Party has had a long record of blocking eligible voters from voting. In the past two Presidential elections, the country witnessed appalling efforts to limit voter participation in Ohio, Florida and throughout the country. It is beyond disgraceful that the Republican Party now seems to be targeting those who are suffering the most. It appears that individuals who can’t recall how many houses they own don’t understand how awful it is to lose your home to foreclosure, and don’t know that you don’t need to own property to vote in the United States of America.
It should surprise no one that the people who gave us the worst economy since the Great Depression would now want to prevent those victimized by this economy from voting in the coming elections. Senator McCain needs to step forward now and halt the Republican Party’s efforts to profit politically from the economic misery of others.
I wrote Senator McCain the attached letter and have asked the Justice Department to investigate.
September 18, 2008
The Honorable John McCain
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215
Dear Senator McCain:
As Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee (HJC), I am extremely concerned by recent media reports that the Chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County, James Carabelli, is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes as a basis to challenge voters and block them from participating in the November 2008 election. I am writing to request that you denounce any efforts by the Republican Party, most notably in Michigan and Ohio, to engage in voter suppression, including challenges based on a voter’s home foreclosure status, and that you direct your supporters to refrain from engaging in such behavior. At a time when Americans are losing their homes at record numbers, it is difficult to imagine that anyone would attempt to capitalize on such misfortune for political gain. Furthermore, a rejection of this strategy would be consistent with your recent commitment to "a fair and transparent election."
The subprime mortgage crisis has affected a significant number of Americans, and as such, a significant number of voters could be disenfranchised with this Republican strategy to challenge voters based on home foreclosure status. More than 700,000, or one in every 171, of our nation’s households received at least one foreclosure-related notice from April to June of this year. It is estimated that 2.5 million homes will face foreclosure this year, an increase from 1.5 million in 2007. A Center for Responsible Lending report estimates that the highest default rates are expected to be in cities in California, Nevada, Michigan, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.
A disproportionate number of those homeowners affected by the subprime mortgage crisis are minorities. The Center for Responsible Lending projects that 10 percent of African-American borrowers and 8 percent of Hispanic borrowers will be affected by foreclosure. In contrast, only 4 percent of white borrowers are expected to be affected.
The Macomb County party’s plan to challenge voters who have defaulted on their home loans would disproportionately affect African Americans who are overwhelmingly Democratic voters. The plan could be a violation of the Voting Rights Act.
With the 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, Democrats and Republicans alike agreed that discriminatory voter suppression tactics had not been completely eradicated and protections against such tactics were still necessary. Members of Congress, like you, voted in support of reauthorizing this Act because they recognized that fair and equal access to the ballot box has not yet been achieved for all Americans. Certainly there must be no denying the kind of negative impact that challenges based on home foreclosure status can have on historically disenfranchised voting populations who have traditionally been targeted by predatory practices. A person’s ability to exercise his or her right to vote should not be contingent upon financial circumstances.
Notably, in 1981 a federal court condemned the Republican National Committee (RNC) for using vote caging tactics similar to the foreclosure list plan. Since the federal court’s decision in 1981 in New Jersey, the RNC has been under a federal consent decree to refrain from engaging in this practice. It is important to note that the Department, under President George H.W. Bush filed suit in 1990 to stop a vote caging effort by those associated with Senator Jesse Helms’s re-election campaign.
As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, I ask that you repudiate any efforts by the Republican Party and any of its state affiliates to engage in voter suppression and intimidation tactics, and that you direct your supporters across the country to refrain from engaging in such behavior. I would appreciate hearing from you directly on whatever actions you take in response to this request.
Responses should be directed to the Judiciary Committee office, 2138 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515 (tel: 202-225-3951; fax: 202-225-7680). Thank you in advance for your cooperation in this important matter.
Sincerely,
John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman
1 | 2
Representative John Conyers, Jr., a Detroit Democrat, was re-elected to the 14th Congressional District in November 2004, to his 20 term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
| 14 comments |
|
|
Note to Conyers Bugliosi has called on you to issue a murder indictment against Bush, Rep Dennis Kucinich has put 39 Articles of Impeachment in your Judiciary Committee, but you have abandoned your constitutional duties and failed to hold even one impeachment hearing as called for by the Constitution. Your letters NOW HAVE NO MEANING because your words are forked and meaningless. No, Rep Kucinich is not "a novelty" as you recently said on your INN World Report Interview today. Rep Kucinich took action to restore accountability, the truth, and the rule of law for the American people. Sadly, you do not measure up to the job or the office you hold. by
Gene Cappa (36 articles, 0 quicklinks, 62 diaries, 264 comments)
on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 7:54:27 PM
|
|
Brett Paatsch is an Australian born secular humanist with degrees in management and science and an interest in politics. He is a former pro-American that wishes to be pro-American again and thinks the impeachment and repudiation of President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is necessary to reestablish trust in American signatures on international treaties and confidence in the global rule of law. |
Do you trust that Conyers really submitted this to Opednews? And if so do you trust that he will read the comments? I've lost that trust in both Conyers and in Opednews. When I tried the link at the bottom to John Conyers, Jnr. This one - "http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_biography.htm" is behind the link. I got the following message from the house website. " The requested page could not be found by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 1042 comments)
on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 11:13:57 PM
|
|
Brett Paatsch is an Australian born secular humanist with degrees in management and science and an interest in politics. He is a former pro-American that wishes to be pro-American again and thinks the impeachment and repudiation of President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is necessary to reestablish trust in American signatures on international treaties and confidence in the global rule of law. |
What is wrong is that CONYERS did not say it here Whoever presumed to say it here in his name has quite possibly done John Conyers a disservice by associating his name with something he may not wish his name associated with. Whoever presumed to say it here has presumed to intersperse themselves between John Conyers and people who may want to communicate with John Conyers. People who may desperately wish that John Conyers was actually as approachable as Opednews is pretending that he is. by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 1042 comments)
on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 7:14:50 PM
|
|
Brett Paatsch is an Australian born secular humanist with degrees in management and science and an interest in politics. He is a former pro-American that wishes to be pro-American again and thinks the impeachment and repudiation of President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is necessary to reestablish trust in American signatures on international treaties and confidence in the global rule of law. |
John Conyers if you are reading this I want you to know I tried to get in touch with the House Judiciary Committee to express my concern as a human being to other human beings about torture and aggressive invasion being carried out by your President. I requested confirmation of email receipt (I went through the right channels) and was told I would get confirmation of receipt when I frequently rang. I never got confirmation all I got was attitude - "we're very busy here", "you aren't even American". I wanted there to be a possible line of communication between people who give a damn and between people (the House Judiciary Committee) who are supposed to give a damn. When Bush is not impeached I want you know John Conyers that next time there is a 9-11 attack I will sympathise with the terrorists because Americans like you have left 95 percent of humanity will no lawful recourse and all we get when we attempt to talk with you is scorn and contempt. I think accountability is a good thing but accountability should be mutual. I hold the United States of America in contempt John Conyers and I want you to know that you have earned your part in that. by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 1042 comments)
on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 11:25:05 PM
|
|
Brett Paatsch is an Australian born secular humanist with degrees in management and science and an interest in politics. He is a former pro-American that wishes to be pro-American again and thinks the impeachment and repudiation of President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is necessary to reestablish trust in American signatures on international treaties and confidence in the global rule of law. |
And where is the damn report on the non-impeachment hearing? . by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 1042 comments)
on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 11:28:06 PM
|
|
|
What I want to know is, what is your opinion on what he said here with regards to the topic that was posted by the original poster. If you want to discuss the things you wrote, why wont you write your own article or diary? by
Steven Leser (228 articles, 49 quicklinks, 34 diaries, 1647 comments)
on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 11:32:03 AM
|
|
Brett Paatsch is an Australian born secular humanist with degrees in management and science and an interest in politics. He is a former pro-American that wishes to be pro-American again and thinks the impeachment and repudiation of President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is necessary to reestablish trust in American signatures on international treaties and confidence in the global rule of law. |
What I want to know is how this article got posted under John Conyers name without some editor thinking it was okay to pretend that John Conyers was posting here directly. What I want to know is is this exceptable behavior now at Opednews because if it is Opednews has the standards of those printed newspapers which were fit only for wrapping smelly fish and lining birdcages. What I want to know is how presumed to be John Conyers to the Opednews "community" and what editor or editors were complicit in the "deception". by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 1042 comments)
on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 7:11:14 PM
|
|
|
Ooooh ... be careful, or Conyers might get mad ... and write a letter with noble sounding phrases warning that if he gets mad he'll ... he'll ... write another letter! I thought about calling his office today just to find out why Rove is still walking around appearing on TV, writing columns and in every manner rubbing Conyers, congress, and the American people's face in the fact that he's basically said a big F Y to us all. But than I thought of how this would lead me to ask about Rice's snubbing her subpoena and how I would started going down the list of all the others and before I could dial his number knew I wouldn't be able to contain myself and be hung-up on before I could get to calling him a traitor to his oath of office. To hell with this man and his God-damn indignation as to how low Republicans can go! If you're so damn disgusted do f*cking something meaningful about it, or just STFU! God! If there ever is a monument to insignificant sell-out wind-bags Conyers has to be the one they honor. by
Mr M (4 articles, 0 quicklinks, 20 diaries, 1782 comments)
on Friday, September 19, 2008 at 11:40:05 PM
|
|
|
Commenters have thrown the voters being discussed in Conyers article under the bus by hijacking the discussion thread to fit their own agenda. I realize we all have our own agendas here folks and everyone wants to talk about the things they want to talk about. The point is, whoever posted Conyer's article here did so because they believed that the points raised were worth discussing. It really doesnt matter if it was John Conyers, or a generic John Smith talking about them. Those who have commented here have no respect at all for the person who spent the time and effort to post this here and have taken over the discussion and steered it away from those voters in this situation who are being disenfranchised. People should think about things like that. There are no restrictions on composing your own articles or diaries to talk about these things. I'll bet that if we do a search, there are tons of them on the Conyers lack of impeachment topic. I am not talking about something that is obscure or controlling. This is recognized throughout the net as basic netiquette. If you are hearing this for the first time, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread_hijacking for starting points. by
Steven Leser (228 articles, 49 quicklinks, 34 diaries, 1647 comments)
on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 11:45:15 AM
|
|
I'm a lifelong resident of Tennessee. I love my state; I love its people; I do not understand its politics. I've worn many hats ("Tennessee Titans", "Chicago Cubs", "2008, The End of an Error") in my 52 years, the most important of which proclaims, "World's Best Mom." |
Well said, Steven Though I find that those with an axe to grind are rarely concerned about netiquette, nor are they usually concerned about issues which do not directly affect themselves. I may provoke those who see impeachment as the only issue, but I am of the mind that impeachment isn't going to happen, and I must ask "what is the point?" at this late date. I don't live in Michigan, nor Wisconsin, nor Ohio, nor any of the other states (at least not yet!) where the Republicans are attempting to disenfranchise voters, but I believe it is paramount to the future of this nation that these tactics be stopped. Preventing citizens from being deprived of their most fundamental constitutional right is far more important to me than proving George W. Bush a criminal. I believe when the history of Bush II's reign is written there will be no doubt. Now, to the comment I initially intended to make concerning this article: I appreciate Congressman Conyer's concern and effort on behalf of the voters, and his demand that McCain take responsibility for it. However, I would caution the congressman to not hold his breath while awaiting a reply from Senator McCain. John McCain, no longer a straight talker, no longer a hero, no longer a maverick, has abandoned principle, honesty and integrity in his final attempt to grasp the brass ring which he has coveted for so long and to which he somehow feels entitled. Just as he has chosen to "approve" lie upon lie in his campaign ads, McCain's absence of character and blind ambition will not allow him to call upon his party to "do the right thing." by
TennMom (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 21 comments)
on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 2:32:15 PM
|
|
Brett Paatsch is an Australian born secular humanist with degrees in management and science and an interest in politics. He is a former pro-American that wishes to be pro-American again and thinks the impeachment and repudiation of President George W Bush for the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 is necessary to reestablish trust in American signatures on international treaties and confidence in the global rule of law. |
You are absolutely right about this To post an article pretending to be the author is an act of vandalism against real communication and exactly the sort of deceit that makes Opednews unreliable. The person who posted this could have included that they were forwarding and made clear that it wasn't John Conveys. Either the person who posted this is an editor or has post with out edit privilege or has the complicity of an editor. Shame on those lesser beings. by
Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 22 diaries, 1042 comments)
on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 6:57:30 PM
|
|
Retired. Male. Western Minnesota. Social Science/Spanish undergrad majors. Master's in Counseling. Socialist. |
You don;t have to own a house to vote Well, in order to respond to this you just have to pretend that Conyers wrote it. Hmmmm..... It is kind of retro when you think of it. When this country began you had to be a white, male property owner to vote. So maybe getting rid of two out of three ain't bad. by
Bryan Emmel (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 226 comments)
on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 3:09:33 AM
|
|
|
Brothers, Sisters, Come Together... ...some say ghost-posters are "idiots," some say that they are, "annoying," some say they are, "dishonest"...why can't we all agree that ghost posters are "dishonest, annoying idiots?" Ahem. I notice that Conyers (or one of his staffers) posts fairly regularly on Kos, and this article posted that link back to Kos. So, referentially, we've covered our butts. Net-wise, we are using Kos'es ratings to up our own ratings in Google and other search engines. I appreciate any and all efforts to improve the search engine ratings of OpEdNews. Is it ethical to cross-post an author's work on more than one site? Are we trying too hard to make the web like the print world? Is this wise? And, yes, this ought to be a separate topic since it is substantial in its own right. As for using foreclosure listings to disenfranchise voters...I can't believe that we call this place, "America." We torture people now -- in violation of every tradition for which this country has ever stood for -- from as far back as George Washington himself. Disenfranchising voters in violation of everything we stand for as a nation? Sure. Hardly surprising. People get the government they deserve until they rise up and take responsibility for their own society and culture. Then they'll get the government they deserve then, too. by
Richard Volaar (24 articles, 0 quicklinks, 117 diaries, 369 comments)
on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 7:10:44 PM
|
| 14 comments |
|
||||
|
||||||||||||||
Must Read (
Well Said (
News (
Touching (
Funny (
Supported (
Interesting (
Inspiring (
Valuable (
