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October 22, 2008
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b e tte r to the (3Lditor
Selfish Fat Cats
Do you understand that our government just allocated $700 bil­
lion dollars of our tax money to "bail out” the selfish, greedy fat eats
on Wall Street?
The middle-class and the working poor saved companies that
operate in the billions of dollars each year. Oh, my mistake, we "res­
cued” them.
Now who is going to "rescue” us? The federal government or
perhaps Lehman Brothers or AIG (American International Group,
Inc.) after they recuperate from their losses; or maybe some kind-
hearted CEO who just flew away on his golden parachute with
multimillions of dollars? You think?
Some lawmakers said that if the American people did not agree to
bail them out of the mess they were in, we; the taxpayers would
suffer even more for it. Well maybe so. But I can’t believe that AIG
just thanked the federal government and hard working Americans
by taking an extravagant week long vacation at the plush St. Regis
Resort by splurging and spending $440,000.
When was the last time you and your family were able to take a
luxury vacation? Oh I guess the executives needed a relaxing break
from work and worry about whether they'd get the bail out money to
keep their company from going bankrupt.
Do you think I could go to Lehman Brothers or AIG and get a job
and benefits to keep me afloat? Do you think they’d be willing to
hire an unemployed middle-aged mother who doesn’t know how
she’s going to pay her mortgage and bills this winter? Where’s my
resume? I think I'll send it to them.
I totally agree with House Oversight Committee Chairman Henry
Waxman, D-Calif. that average Americans are suffering economi­
cally; losing their jobs, their homes and their health insurance.
Is anyone concerned about what happens to us?
The small retirement fund that I had is slowly slipping away as the
stock market continues to fall. How about yours? Is it safe? Perhaps
under your mattress?
Can you tell that T just tired of getting trampled on? I’m angry,
frustrated and appalled at this situation. It's time to wake up, shake
up and speak out.
R. Lawrence
Northeast Portland
We’ve Seen These Attacks Before
Politics of
intimidation
by
J ulian B ond
The Voting Rights Act
o f 1965 d ra m a tic a lly
changed American poli­
tics. Until then, racial mi­
norities were routinely
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excluded from the political pro­
cess by fraud, terror and intimi­
dation. This was par­
ticularly true in the
American South.
This was almost ex­
clusively activity by
the Democratic Party,
then the dom inant
party in the region. As
large num bers o f
newly enfranchised black voters
flocked to the Democrats so did
large numbers of white voters
join or switch to the Republicans,
and the Republicans discovered
the utility of finding ways to dis­
courage and prevent blacks from
registering and voting.
Republicans have practiced an
assortment of subtle and overt
m ethods to suppress and
smother voter registration and
turnout. The targets are low-in­
come families, minorities, senior
citizens and citizens for whom
English is a second language.
Their tactics are armed guards
and real and make-believe police­
men at the polls; telling voters
they could cast their votes on
alternative days, even after the
actual election was over; d e ­
manding forms of identification
not required by law; telling vot­
ers outstanding warrants or util­
ity bills would prevent them from
voting; saying immigration offi­
cials w ould haunt the polls,
checking on voters' immigration
status; constructing phony voter
purge lists which included names
of long-time legitimate voters;
loosing the FBI and State Police
on elderly voters; videotaping
v o te rs ap p ro ach in g p o llin g
places; setting up so called "bal­
lot security” and “ballot integ­
rity” programs based on the rac­
ist presum ption that m inority
voters are inveterate cheaters;
and threatening legitimate and
honorable organizations - like
ACORN and the NAACP - for
exercising their rights and help­
ing other Americans to exercise
theirs.
In 2008, Republican operatives
already have tried to prevent
Ohio from registering voters at
its early voting sites; admitted
plans to use foreclosure notices
to challenge thousands o f vot-
yelled "Voter Fraud!” There is al­
most no evidence o f fraud in
today’s American politics, and it
is nearly im possible to find a
single proven case o f anyone,
anywhere, casting an illegal vote
as a result of a fraudulent voter
registration application.
This latest attack on ACORN
follows a sorry pattern, played
out in election after election.
The NAACP has been the vic­
tim of these partisan attacks too,
including one from the United
States government itself, threat­
ening our tax exemption on scur-
ers in Michigan; gone to court to
try to block early voting and clos­
ing early voting sites in minority
neighborhoods in Lake County,
Ind.; wrongly told college stu­
dents they cannot vote using
their school address.
A Republican operative was
indicted in an investigation into
the New Hampshire GOP's efforts
to jam Democratic phones on
Election Day 2002.
Even when arguing for restric­
tive voter identification rules that
made it more difficult for minori­
ties and the poor to register, In­
diana admitted that there had not
been a single case of voter im­
personation in the state’s history.
Ever since they first practiced
v o ter su p p re ssio n , th e y ’ve
rilous grounds. They said we had
“criticized" President Bush and
his policies; today three-quarters
of the country would be guilty if
criticizing officials was a crime
instead of every citizen’s right.
No one believes registration
authorities will let Mickey Mouse
or Elvis Presley vote. But surely
some partisans believe that they
can prevent qualified voters from
registering or casting their legiti­
mate votes, that they can frighten
voters away from the polls, and
th at they can w in e le c tio n s
through their own fraud and de­
ceit and trickery.
We think the American people
are too smart for that.
■ ~~
,
There is almost no
evidence o f fraud in today’s
American politics.
Julian Bond is hoard chair­
man o f the NAACP.
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Nov. 4 General Election
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I
U.S. Senator: Jeff Merkley
• Measure 54: Yes
• Measure 60: No
Allows 18-year-old voters in school board
elections.
Unfair to teachers.
• Measure 55: Yes
Way too costly. Doesn’t address foot cause of
crime.
Allows legislators to finish term in original
district after redistricting.
• Measure 56: Yes
Eliminates double-majority election require­
ment
• Measure 57: No
Doesn’t address root cause of crime. Costly,
but better alternative to Measure 61.
• Measure 58: No
Unwise mandate on bilingual education.
• Measure 59: No
Unlimited federal tax deduction would reduce
state budget by $1.2 billion.
• Measure 61: No
• Measure 62: No
Takes away money from schools.
• Measure 63: No
Sacrifices safety in building permit process.
• Measure 64: No
Limits political rights of public employees.
• Measure 65: No
Limits rights of political parties to nominate candi­
dates.