Can felons vote in your state You got a problem
with that

post from Occasional Planet on 26 October 2012 12:00:19 PM. © Occasional Planet

One of the core beliefs of our country is that everyone has a right to vote. But what about the people who break our nation?s laws? Does committing a crime nullify their right to vote? Well that depends on what state you live in. For example, if you committed a felony in Alabama, you could [...]Related posts:

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Auto Rescue and Low Home-State Bonus Keep
Michigan Out of Play

post from FiveThirtyEight on 26 October 2012 11:59:50 AM. © FiveThirtyEight

Mitt Romney, who was born and raised in Michigan, does not appear to be contesting the state, and the FiveThirtyEight forecast gives President Obama a 97 percent chance of winning there.

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Paul Ryan's war on coal miners

post from Daily Kos on 26 October 2012 11:55:03 AM. © Daily Kos

In a screenshot from a Mitt Romney ad, Romney stands in front of coal miners whose boss had made attendance at Romney's speech mandatory and unpaid. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are banking on the decline of coal to win them swing-state votes. Their whole "Obama's war on coal" argument is contradicted by the facts?the market is what's hurting the coal industry?but this is not a campaign dictated by the fact-checkers or the facts themselves. In addition to the real reason for coal's current decline, there's another body of facts Romney and Ryan would prefer the miners and miners' families they're trying to appeal to would not think about: what Romney and Ryan themselves would do to mine safety. That's the question Ken Ward, Jr., of the Charleston Gazette's Coal Tattoo blog raises, and the answer should give miners serious pause.

For example, two years ago, Rep. Ryan was among the Republicans who helped defeat an effort to resurrect a coal-mine safety reform bill put together after the deaths of 29 workers at the Massey Energy Upper Big Branch Mine in April 2010.

But forget improving mine safety. Paul Ryan's budget may not be Mitt Romney's official plan, at least as long as he's campaigning and it's still deeply unpopular. But here's what that budget would have done to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, according to an analysis by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce?s Democratic staff. If Ryan's cuts to the MSHA budget were applied across the board evenly:

MSHA would lose 22 coal mine inspectors in 2013 (5.4 percent of 411 total inspectors), and another 78 (19 percent of 411 inspectors) in 2014, dropping the coal inspectors from 411 to 311 nationwide by 2014. That?s even less than they had at the lowest ebb of the Bush years (2006). In 2006, the year of the Sago mine disaster which prompted the rebuilding of the agency, there were 326 coal inspectors.

If Romney's use of coal miners as an unpaid campaign prop and his praise of the coal CEO who required miners to lose pay to hear Romney speak didn't tell you enough about where the Republican ticket stands on coal miners as opposed to coal CEOs, Ryan's obstruction of mine safety legislation and attempts to cut current mine safety inspectors should clear up any doubt.

No matter where you live, sign up to help get Democratic voters to the polls in swing states with Workers' Voice.

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al-miners

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Facebooks New Fees Could Mean a Corporate
Takeover of Your Timeline

post from Firedoglake on 26 October 2012 11:45:38 AM. © Firedoglake

When Facebook began to struggle after going public this past May, they launched a desperate crusade for revenue that has ultimately placed the burden on users by severely limiting your ability to reach your friends unless you pay a premium.[...]

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Lou Dobbs Forgets To Report CIA's Denial That It
Ordered Personnel To Abandon Americans In Benghazi

post from Media Matters for America - Latest Items on 26 October 2012 11:43:57 AM. © Media Matters for America - Latest Items

Fox Business host Lou Dobbs claimed that during the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, CIA operatives were ordered to stand down instead of aiding those under attack. But Dobbs did not mention that the CIA has denied that its operatives were told not to help those in need -- despite the fact that Fox itself had reported the denial.

Dobbs: CIA Operatives Told Not To Aid Those Under Attack In Benghazi

Dobbs: CIA Operatives Were "Ordered To Stand Down" When They Reported Hearing "Gunshots At The Consulate." Lou Dobbs began the October 26 broadcast of his Fox Business show by claiming that during the Benghazi attack, CIA operatives who reported "gunshots at the consulate" to their superiors were "ordered to stand down" and not permitted to come to the aid of those under attack.

During the segment, the following graphic aired:

Benghazi chyron

Dobbs' segment followed a FoxNews.com article in which Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin wrote that Fox "learned from sources who were on the ground in Benghazi that an urgent request from the CIA annex for military back-up during the attack on the U.S. consulate and subsequent attack several hours later on the annex itself was denied by the CIA chain of command -- who also told the CIA operators twice to 'stand down' rather than help the ambassador's team when shots were heard at approximately 9:40 p.m. in Benghazi on Sept. 11." [Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 10/26/12; FoxNews.com, 10/26/12]

But The CIA Denied Fox's Claims -- As Fox News Itself Has Reported

FoxNews.com Quotes CIA Spokeswoman: "No One At Any Level In The CIA Told Anybody Not To Help Those In Need." Griffin's article included a statement from CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood:

"We can say with confidence that the Agency reacted quickly to aid our colleagues during that terrible evening in Benghazi," [Youngblood] said. "Moreover, no one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate. In fact, it is important to remember how many lives were saved by courageous Americans who put their own safety at risk that night-and that some of those selfless Americans gave their lives in the effort to rescue their comrades." [FoxNews.com, 10/26/12]

Dobbs Did Not Report CIA Denial. During the October 26 edition of his Fox Business show, Dobbs did not mention the CIA's statement, despite the fact that Fox itself had reported it. [Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 10/26/12]

Dobbs Also Claimed Military Forces Were Nearby In Italy During Attack

Dobbs Claims Special Operations Forces "Were Stationed A Mere 480 Miles Away In Italy" During Benghazi Attack. Dobbs later said during the segment, "Fox News also learned today that Special Operations forces were stationed a mere 480 miles away in Italy, less than two hours by aircraft." [Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 10/26/12]

But Military Commandos Reportedly Did Not Reach Italy Until After Benghazi Attack Was Over

CBS/AP: Team Of Military Commandos "Did Not Arrive In Sicily Until After The Attack Was Over." An October 25 CBS/Associated Press article noted that on the night of the attack, "a team of American military commandos were sent from Europe to an airfield at Sigonella, in Sicily, Italy, putting them at least an hour's flight away from Benghazi." The article continued: "But U.S. officials say it did not arrive in Sicily until after the attack was over." The article also noted that "[e] ven if the team had been ready in time, confusion about what was happening on the ground in Benghazi -- and State Department concerns about violating Libyan sovereignty -- made a military rescue mission impractical, officials say." [CBS/Associated Press, 10/25/12]

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Romney surrogate: Powell supported Obama because
hes black

post from AMERICAblog on 26 October 2012 11:43:25 AM. © AMERICAblog

More subtle bigotry from the Romney campaign, which hasn't flinched from playing the race card.

.

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ck-romney-racist.html

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Romney surrogate: Powell supported Obama because
hes black

post from AMERICAblog on 26 October 2012 11:43:25 AM. © AMERICAblog

More subtle bigotry from the Romney campaign, which hasn't flinched from playing the race card.

.

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ck-romney-racist.html

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Death Penalty Repeal Picking Up Steam In
California

A new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll finds support building for a California ballot initiative that would repeal the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in that state. Although opponents of the ballot initiative retain a 45-42 edge in the poll, this is a significant shift from September, [...]

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gress0Borg0Cjustice0C20A120C10A0C260C10A949410Cdeath0Epenalty0Erepeal0Epicking0Eup0Esteam0Ein0Ecalifornia0C/story01.htm

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Sherrod Brown, Josh Mandel meet for final debate,
talk Social Security

Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Sherrod Brown (L) talks with patrons of Tommy's Diner during a campaign stop in Columbus, Ohio, November 6, 2006. Sen. Sherrod BrownLast night was the final Ohio senate debate between incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown and challenger Josh Mandel, and reading the reports you have to think Brown is wondering what in the hell he did to deserve this for an opponent.

When Mandel was asked directly if he would have support the Ryan budget that his own party has endorsed, the 35-year-old newcomer to national politics didn?t give a yes or no, and eventually said that he if was sent to Washington he would introduce his own plan to save Medicare and Social Security. ?I believe it is unfair to change Medicare or Social Security for my grandmother and her generation and my parents and my generation,? Mandel said.
Brown pounced. ?I know this sounds like Washington-speak to Josh, but you have to vote yes or no on issues,? Brown said.

Mandel's plan for Social Security is raising the retirement age, a solution the City Beat reporter deftly dispatches with real reporting. Brown's solution for Social Security is lifting the payroll tax cap, a solution that Republicans entirely reject because it raises taxes on people making more than $110,000. Mandel, of course, has signed his vote away to Grover Norquist.

Watching Josh Mandel stumble through three debates with shifting policy positions and a lack of command of the issues, you have to wonder how this has become a single digit race for Brown. Here's how: more than $26 million in dark money spent on ads attacking Brown, $20 million of it from secret groups that are concealing the identity of their donors. Brown has a good idea who they are, though:

?I can?t prove any of it, but Wall Street and the oil companies and the outsourcers and the banks don?t like me much,? he said.

In Mandel, they've found a perfect puppet. Don't let them get him elected.

Please donate $3 to keep Sherrod Brown in the Senate and get Ohio Democrats to the polls.

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-final-debate-talk-Social-nbsp-Security

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Why Cable Providers Should Do More To Promote TV
Everywhere

As Deadline notes, there’s a huge untapped potential to get The research firm says that in September, 3.1M unique users streamed TV Everywhere programming at AT&T, Cox, Comcast (Xfinity), Verizon, Cablevision (Optimum), Time Warner Cable, and Dish Network. That comes to just 5.1% of the roughly 60M customers who could have accessed TV Everywhere videos [...]

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gress0Borg0Calyssa0C20A120C10A0C260C10A942410Ccable0Etv0Eeverywhere0C/story01.htm