Did Kucinich vote NO on Rush Holt's voting bill because it didn't "mandate" the states to comply?

[Postman]

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Voting_safeguards_measure_fails_in_House_0415.html

All but 16 Republicans voted against the bill because, get this......it costs too much. Give me a friggin break. I guess the 9-12 Billion a month being sunk down the Iraq black hole is frugal spending to these jackasses.

[mac2]

1. I may sound cynical but the "frat gang" in Congress take

turns voting down bills which give us power. They want to control the profit center (with our tax dollars).

Did Kucinich offer an amendment to do just that before voting against it?

It happens so frequently we can't keep up with it all. Yet...we are mess and they have failed to act in our best interest. Where are those Progressives?

[Junkdrawer]

2. Why did it require a 2/3 vote?

:shrug:

[mac2]

6. The Congress needs a 2/3rds vote to over ride the President's

veto. President..err King George will still add signing statements unless they impeach him.

Congress promised us election reform in 2000 and have yet to act.

[Junkdrawer]

9. I don't think it ever passed...I'll bet it has to do with scheduling and "Emergency Legislation"....

Reid and Pelosi are experts at rigging legislation they don't want passed, but they don't want to be seen as killing.

[mac2]

12. Might be a "How to run a Neo Con government" manuel for them.

[KharmaTrain]

10. We Sure Got "Reform" in 2000...

It was called having the Supreme Court steal it. None of those messy voters or dangling chads to contend with ya know.

The only "reform" the repugnicans...who controlled congress until 2007 was the Gramps/Feingold bill that Gramps now believes doesn't apply to him.

Yep, boooshie will use signing statements and there's not much that can be done until he's drageed out of the oval office on 1/20/09...so the best that can be done right now is limit the damage and keep gathering the evidence on ALL the criminals in this regime. The ultimate justice for this regime belongs in the World Court...the crimes are well beyond what the U.S. can handle or deal with.

[mac2]

11. Coup in 2000 by the Neo Cons

Heck with elections and democracy. The Congress went along remember. It is Congress people who are running for President. Am I impressed with their "change"? Change to the Americas I fear.

[KharmaTrain]

13. And Who Ran The Congress in 2000?

The CBC was shot down by DeLay, but by then it was time to "move along".

In many ways I viewed the change-over in January '07 as the peons finding their way onto the bridge, looking at the steering wheel and trying out how to figure how to prevent the ship from hitting the rocks. Many who were now in the majority had never known anything but the ruthless DeLay rules that turned Congress into a cespool of corruption. Those who were old enough to remember were brow-beaten and broken over 12 years of being irrelevent that they suffered from Stockholm Syndrome.

In recent months...with S-CHIP and FISA we're starting to see a Congress that is getting comfortable in their own skin, and I honestly believe that a strong Democratic victory that adds seats to the majority will begin to change things in this country. With a Democratic President, the priorities will change as well...and with it an improvement. No, it won't be ideal...and I don't have high expectations of a liberal or progressive revolution to flourish, but I'll sure take a change from the culture of corruption that eminates from the beltway repugnicans and their enablers.

Cheers...

[mac2]

14. They will do all they can to silence us if they can get away

with it.

Democracy isn't the best political system but it beats all the others. When they realize that we might get somewhere.

[Breeze54]

8. Yes. n/t

[Breeze54]

3. The Holt bill does not require a paper ballot for every vote cast. DK removed his support last year.

Kucinich to Withdraw Co-Sponsorship of Holt Election Reform Bill

Saturday Jun 23rd, 2007

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/23/18430240.php

Announces Plans to 'Continue Oversight Hearings on Election Integrity' and Re-Introduce
Legislation Calling for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots in Presidential Elections...

Democratic Presidential Candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich announced plans to drop his support of Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ)'s controversial election reform bill, HR 811, during a telephone appearance at a New Hampshire activist event over the weekend. The Ohio congressman and outspoken critic of the Iraq War also announced that he plans to re-introduce "The Paper Ballot Act," (HR 6200) a bill he filed in the last Congress, requiring the hand counting of paper ballots in Presidential elections.

Kucinich "announced he will advise Rep. Holt that the he will not be supporting HR 811, a voter reform bill rapidly losing support," according to a press release issued today by his New Hampshire campaign spokesman....

Speaking to a gathering at DemocracyFest, a grassroots event sponsored by Democracy for America (DFA), the Ohio Congressman said, "The key to engaging voters is complete credibility of the electoral process," as he announced intentions to "continue my oversight hearings on election integrity.”

"When asked about reintroducing HR 6200, his bill calling for hand counted paper ballots in the presidential race for last session, Kucinich said it would be 'very soon,'" according to the campaign's press release, which was also posted by Democracy for New Hampshire election integrity advocate Nancy Tobi at OpEdNews today. Tobi, an outspoken critic of HR 811, also spoke at the event, which her group also helped sponsor.

Earlier this year Rep. Maxine Waters had announced her intention to withdraw sponsorship as well during an appearance in San Francisco, though she is still listed as one of the bill's current 216 co-sponsors.

Last night, The BRAD BLOG ran an editorial by Ellen Theisen of the non-partisan election integrity organization VotersUnite.org. Theisen, who had been an ardent supporter of previously introduced versions of Holt's bill, has now come out against the current version citing seven "severe failures" in the bill. She writes that such failures will do "more harm than good" to our democracy. She charges that the bill's provisions will "legitimize that 'ballots' need not be counted" and will "endorse the practice of secret vote-counting."

[Postman]

4. So according to Theisen, the republicans saved democracy by killing the bill.

or in other words , were able to preserve their somewhat more democratic way of stealing elections than passing the Holt bill.

Since most of the democrats voted in favor and most of the republicans voted against.

[Breeze54]

5. Well; from what I understand the bill doesn't finance paper ballots and

doesn't rule out e-voting at all and Holt has said that

he'd "add that little finance provision" later. :eyes:

Apparently, DK doesn't think that's good enough.

There's a whole bunch of info about this bill on The Brad Blog.

[mac2]

15. I tried to get my county election head to have paper ballots

available to those who don't trust computers and scanners. She is Republican and said, it was the best system and we should trust it. Bold faced liar.

[Breeze54]

7. Here's a little more info....

Daily Voting News' For April 15, 2008

http://www.votersunite.org/article.asp?id=7636

Today the House GOP members managed to block Congressman Rush Holt’s emergency voting bill with a 239 – 178 vote; 2/3 majority was required for passage. It is unknown at this time what the next move will be. Maybe an all-out ban on DREs? The bill would get no where but it would bring the Election Integrity Community back together.

&&& Today is “Match Day” for Sequoia. Can they satisfy Smartmatic with a matching offer that will save themselves from Hart Intercivic? And, if they do will they have enough funds left to continue paying their contracts and employees? http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5885