(Note: The Palos Verdes Peninsula Democratic Club provides the following links for reference and research only, and is not responsible for the content of any of the folowing websites, nor does its membership necessarily agree with all points of view or facts presented therein.)
(click on selection or scroll down) (yellowasterisk * = see new article):
* What's Up in the Senate & House of Representatives?
* Economic Issues (also see Job or Social Security Issues below)
* Job, Outsourcing, & NAFTA Issues
* Social Security Issues
* Homeland Security Issues (also see Civil Rights below)
* Iraq War and Middle East Issues (See International Issues Page)
* Corporate Corruption & Tax Avoidance/Offshore Issues
* Media Control Issues
* Education Issues
* Medicare and Drug Issues
* Medical and Health (Non-Medicare) Issues
* Abortion & Women's Rights Issues
* Civil Rights & Voting Issues
* Immigration & Minority Issues (see Civil Rights Issues)
* Separation of Church & State Issues
* Energy Issues
* Environmental Issues - Air
* Environmental Issues - Water
* Environmental Issues - Greenhouse
* Environmental Issues - Parks & Recreation
* Campaign Finance Reform Issues
* Gun Control Issues
* Crime Issues
* Drug Control Issues
* Opinions & Observations from our members
What's Up in the Senate & House of Representatives?:(also see Individual Issue Subjects below):
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson
(more quotes: http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/words.htm)
U.S. House of Representatives - Office of the Clerk
Home Page (order documents, links to resources, etc.):
http://clerk.house.gov/
U.S. House of Representatives - Office of the Clerk
Current House Floor Proceedings:
http://clerk.house.gov/floorsummary/floor.php3
U.S. House of Representatives - Office of the Clerk
Committee Information:
http://clerk.house.gov/committee/index.php
U.S. House of Representatives - Office of the Clerk
"Member" Information & Facts (about Representatives):
http://clerk.house.gov/members/index.php
Thomas - Legislative Information on the Internet
Information and Links to Information about Congressional Activities
Including Bill Summary & Status; Bill Text; Public Law Legislation;
Congressional Records (by date or text search);
Roll Call Vote Records; Congressional Committee Reports;
House & Senate Committee Information;
Appropriations Bills Passed & Status of Pending Bills;
Congressional Reports; Presidential Nominations; Treaties.
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Thomas - 108th Congress (2003-2004)
(Linked from above reference) Information & Details about bills
& links to Lists of Legislation, Public Laws, Private Laws,
Vetoed Bills, & Bill Sponsors
Search based on Bill/Amendment/Public Law #; Word Phrases;
Sponsor/Cosponsor; Committee; Stage in Legislative Process;
Date of introduction; Standard Subject Term; Type of Legislation;
OR various combinations of the above.
http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d108query.html
Economic Issues:(also see Job and Social Security Issues below):
"Zealous men are ever displaying to you the strength of their belief, while judicious men are showing you the grounds of it."
William Shenstone, English Poet 1714-1763
(more quotes: http://www.allthingswilliam.com/ - Belief link)
According to Forbes Magazine's Top 400 Richest Americans,
the rich got 10% richer this year!
Well, at least Bush's tax rebate helped their economic growth!!
See not only the top 400 list, but also see them sorted by their worth, age, states, & how they got their wealth - even their hometowns.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fo/forbes400.html
or
http://www.forbes.com/richlist2003/rich400land.html
"Labor Day 'Executive Excess' Report" - August 26, 2003
"CEOs Profit from Layoffs, Pension Shortfalls, and Tax Dodges"
by United for a Fair Economy & Institute for Policy Studies:
Article about relationships between corporate layoffs and high CEO pay & benefits.
http://www.faireconomy.org/press/2003/EE2003_pr.html
The above article includes a link to a great pdf file that gives actual names and amounts for many top corporations' CEO pay & benefits packages. It also includes summaries and analyses of CEO pay & benefits for corporations with large recent employee layoffs. (Plus a corporate management political cartoon by Wiley)
http://www.faireconomy.org/press/2003/EE2003.pdf
"Busted: Why the Markets Can't Fix Themselves"
[Webmaster note: article has been pulled by their website & is no longer available there, so the following synopsis is all you can get.]
by George Soros, The New Republic, September 2, 2002
[Mr. Soros is a philanthropist worth $7 billion according to the Forbes Article above - where he ranks as #28 in the top 400 richest in the U.S.]
Excerpts from this outstanding article:
"Analyzing what went wrong in the '90s, we can identify two specific elements: a decline in professional standards and a dramatic rise in conflicts of interest. And both are really symptoms of the same broader problem: the glorification of financial gain irrespective of how it is achieved. The professions - lawyers, accountants, auditors, security analysts, corporate officers, and bankers - allowed the pursuit of profit to trump longstanding professional values."
"... Similarly, conflicts of interest were ignored in the mad dash for profits....A whole industry was born, called structured finance, largely devoted to rule evasion."
"... Underlying the indiscriminate pursuit of financial success was a belief that the common interest is best served by allowing people to pursue their narrow self-interest.... I have given it [this belief] a more contemporary name: market fundamentalism. Market fundamentalism became dominant around 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected president.... Its goal was to remove regulation and other forms of government intervention from the economy and to promote the free movement of capital and entrepreneurship both domestically and internationally.... Market fundamentalism is a false and dangerous ideology. It is false on at least two counts. First, it profoundly misapprehends the way financial markets operate. It assumes that markets tend toward equilibrium and that equilibrium assures the optimum allocation of resources.... market fundamendalists continue to believe they have solid science behind them, not just economics but also Charles Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest. Second, by equating private interests with the public interest, market fundamentalism endows the pursuit of self-interest with a moral quality.... [but] Left to their own devices, financial markets are liable to go to socially disruptive extremes."
"The fallacy of endowing the market mechanism with a moral quality goes deeper still. What distinguishes markets is exactly that they are amoral - that is to say, moral considerations do not find expression in market prices....
It is exactly because markets are amoral that we cannot leave the allocation of resources entirely to them. Society cannot hold together without some consideration of the common interest. If private interests cannot be equated with the public interest, the public interest must be given expressing in some other way than through the market.
Here we must draw a distinction between rulemaking and playing by the rules. As market participants, we may pursue our self-interests as long as we play by the rules. But as rulemakers we must be guided by the common interest - and in a democracy we are all rulemakers...."
"Americans must relearn the difference between a collection of individuals each pursuing his or her self-interest and a society of people guided by the public interest. How well Americans relearn that difference may well determine whether this country and the world return to economic stability and prosperity in the months and years to come."
[Webmaster comment: Well, well. While most of Soros articles are still on their website, this one is not. Why??
The webmaster will try to find another copy of this important article somewhere else.] The full article used to be at:
http://www.soros.org/gsbio/new_republic_090202.htm
Job, Outsourcing, and NAFTA Issues:9 million unemployed Americans (6.2%) are still waiting for those promised economic benefits from Bush's tax cuts to the wealthy.
Jobs are being "outsourced" - Lo
Social Security Issues:
Homeland Security Issues:"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards."
Vernon Law, pitcher, Pittsburgh Pirates
(more quotes: http://www.simplerwork.com/library/think2.htm)
NEW 08/16/2004
U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services Website:
http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/
Official website of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
NO TRANSCRIPTS of meetings, but at least it shows the dates, subjects, and witnesses to various hearings they have conducted, as well as showing names of the Committee's members, etc.
NEW 08/16/2004
"Completion of Markup for The National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2005; Press Release and Summary"
As of May 7, 2004 - [so this was before the increased turmoil that has arisen in Iraq in the last few months.]
http://www.armed-services.senate.gov/press/05mark.pdf
Note that this is an officially planned "press release," but it does provide some information about planned expenditures as a whole.
Corporate Corruption & Tax Avoidance Issues:"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Lord Acton
(more quotes: http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/words.htm)
NEW 08/16/2004
"Halliburton to pay $7.5 million fine - Energy company failed to report accounting changes"
article by Floyd Norris, New York Times
(Article apparently published in the San Francisco Chronicle, August 4, 2004.) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/04/BUG0H8294C1.DTL
Haliburton is being fined by the SEC for failing to report an accounting change (which increased profits shown investors by 46%! according to this article) While CHENEY was CEO in 1998!!!
Plus, the cause of the accounting change was apparently due to a cost over-run on an energy project in the "Middle East" but the SEC doesn't [won't?] say in which country!
[Webmaster comment: How can Cheney claim to be part of the "moral" group? Also, could someone explain why Cheney isn't being prosecuted like the Enron CEO???
NEW 08/16/2004
"Halliburton subpoenaed over unit's Iran work"
by Matt Daily, Reuters, Mon Jul 19, 2004
"A U.S. grand jury issued a subpoena to Halliburton Co. seeking information about its Cayman Islands unit's work in Iran, where it is illegal for U.S. companies to operate, Halliburton said on Monday...." "Halliburton said the investigation of its subsidiary's work in Iran had been transferred to the U.S. Department of Justice from the Treasury Department, which first initiated an inquiry in 2001." [Webmaster's comment: "transferred to the Dept. of Justice" - so much for that inquiry...]
The article also discusses the "fuel overcharge" charges against Haliburton.
"Halliburton's engineering and construction unit KBR, formerly called Kellogg Brown & Root, is the subject of U.S. Justice Department and SEC investigations for possible overcharges of fuel supplies and food services in Iraq, where it is the largest contractor, holding contracts that could eventually be worth $18 billion...." http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5710858
(This article is also shown at the Iranian Americans for Kerry Website:) http://www.iranianamericansforkerry.com/newsletters/newsletter/1104780/7769.htm
NEW 08/16/2004
"Halliburton asbestos settlement approved by court"
by Matt Daily, Reuters, Tue Jul 27, 2004
Article regarding Haliburton payment of asbestos charges for acquired company and overcharge issues of subsidiary in Iraq.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5789101
"Busted: Why the Markets Can't Fix Themselves"
by George Soros, The New Republic, September 2, 2002
[Mr. Soros is a philanthropist worth $7 billion according to the Forbes Article above - where he ranks as #28 in the top 400 richest in the U.S.]
[Webmaster note: this fine article has been pulled by their website and is no longer available online.] See Excerpts from this outstanding article in our "Economics Issues" section above.
Media Control Issues:"There is nothing so fretting and vexatious, nothing so justly terrrible to tyrants, and their tools and abettors, as a free press."
Samuel Adams
(more quotes: http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/words.htm)
"As long as a country has no civil liberty, no freedom of information, and no independent press, then there exists no effective body of public opinion to control the conduct of government and its functionaries."
Andrei Sakharov (Russian physicist; Nobel Peace Prize 1975)
(more quotes: http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/words.htm)
Education Issues:"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
William Butler Yeats
(more quotes: http://www.kebnekajse.tripod.com/thoughts.htm)
"There is nothing so costly as ignorance."
Horace Mann
(more quotes: http://www.wfs.org/Q-klm.htm)
Medicare and Drug Issues:"Who's Really Raising Drug Prices?"
Time, March 8, 1999
Re: The Price of Prescription Drugs and Oligopoly.
see article at Northeastern University Website:
http://www.economics.neu.edu/exploring/index.php?pid=3&eid=73
Medical and Health (Non-Medicare) Issues:
Abortion & Women's Rights Issues:"The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."
Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Bradeis
(more quotes: http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/words.htm)
"Bush’s Latest Nominee: Claude Allen, the Triumph of Ideology" Statement of NARAL Pro-Choice America President Kate Michelman, October 28, 2003
" President Bush has repeatedly shown that when it comes to judicial nominations, he values anti-choice ideology first and all other considerations not at all. Claude Allen is the ultimate triumph of that strategy." See full statement at:
http://www.naral.org/about/newsroom/pressrelease/pr20031028_allen.cfm
Anti-Abortion Bill Details at "Thomas" Website: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:s.00003:
Regarding Senate OK of Bill to Limit Abortion:
"Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, expressed an opposite view. Anticipating the Senate vote, she said the legislation 'for the first time in history bans a medical procedure without making any exception for the health of the woman.' She predicted that it was 'clearly going to be declared unconstitutional.'"
(quote from expired article: "Senate Expected to Approve Ban on Abortion Procedure Today"
was at: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nyt/20031021/ts_nyt/senateexpectedtoapprovebanonabortionproceduretoday)
"Senate Passes Ban On Abortion Procedure Bush Set to Sign Bill; Foes Plan Court Fight"
By Helen Dewar, Washington Post Staff Writer, Oct. 22, 2003 pg.A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61725-2003Oct21.html
NARAL Pro Choice America
National Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League
Discusses womens' choice issues - Click on Bush's image to see a "game" which shows the various ways his administration is enforcing his anti-choice stance.
http://www.naral.org
CARAL - California Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League
California affiliate of NARAL promoting the right to choose in California>
http://www.caral.org/
Civil Rights & Voting Issues:(Including Immigration & Minority Issues)
"Concentration of power is what always precedes the destruction of human liberties."
Woodrow Wilson
(more quotes: http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/words.htm)
ITVS.org - Independent Television Service
List of Links to Voting Rights Articles & Resources
http://www.itvs.org/countingondemocracy/resources.html
NEW 08/18/2004
"The Longer View: Every Vote Counts - If It's Counted"
Susan Q. Stranahan, Columbia Journalism Review online, August 08, 2004
An outstanding review of all of the issues and problems faced with electronic voting, including descriptions of known problems [example: code secrecy] and evidence of potential problems.
http://www.campaigndesk.org/archives/000805.asp
NEW 08/18/2004
"Voting Equipment summary by Type as of: 11/02/2004"
compiled by Election Data Services, Washington, D.C.
Gives the national numbers for various types of voting mechanisms, including the number of counties, precincts, potential voters, and registered voters in the areas served by each type of equipment. Unfortunately, no information is provided about which is used where.
http://www.electiondataservices.com/VotingSummary2004_20040805.pdf
California Voter Foundation:
-- Links to information about California Election system: http://www.calvoter.org/index.html
-- County-by-county directory of voting systems: http://www.calvoter.org/issues/votingtech/index.html
-- Information about the 2003 Recall: http://www.calvoter.org/recall/index.html
-- "Campaign Promises" made by various candidates (report card through 2000 shows Davis did exactly what he promised to do in 1998!)
They have archived Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2003 campaign statements, as featured on his campaign website in October 2003. Read them here:
http://www.calvoter.org/voter/elections/promises/index.html
For a list of contributors to Arnold's (or other's) campaign Oct. 2003:
Cal-Access - California Automated Lobbying and Campaign Contributions & Expenditure Search System:
http://dbsearch.ss.ca.gov/RecipientSearch.aspx
Go to the above page and fill in the following 2 lines (for Arnold):
"Name of Entity Receiving Contribution:" Schwarzenegger - & use down arrow for "Contains"
"Amount of Contribution:" "Min." 10,000 - "Max." 999,999,999
Do not fill out any other lines. Leave pre-checked items as-is.
Scroll down to bottom of page and hit "Search" button"
The results take a while to compile & download - but the list of 261 MAJOR contributors to Arnold is very telling about those "Special Interest" groups he says he isn't involved with!
Note: You can sort by Amount donated by clicking on the "Total" column heading on the results page.
The Campaign Disclosure Project:
http://www.campaigndisclosure.org/
Contains summaries of state campaign finance disclusure laws & issues plus a "report card" for EACH STATE.
Institute for Policy Studies:
"Action Agenda for Electoral Reform"
List of their suggestions of what could be done to create a Fair Voting environment in our country.
http://www.ips-dc.org/electoral/intro.htm
You Should Know: In a speech Sept. 12, 2003, Senator Harkin of Iowa stated that last year the Republican legislature of Iowa voted in a state bill that REDUCED voting hours and made it HARDER to get absentee ballots (this would have made it more difficult for many working Democrats to vote!) Luckily, they have a Democratic governor who vetoed the anti-enfranchisement bill! Yeah!
Separation of Church & State Issues:NEW 08/17/2004
The following article describes issues regarding the proposed Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA):
"Oppose the Workplace Religious Freedom Act (S. 893)"
(no date shown on article)
"... The Workplace Religious Freedom Act (WRFA) is gaining momentum in the Senate.... Employers may face significant difficulties under WRFA for protecting employees or third parties -- particularly religious minorities – from religious harassment caused by unbridled proselytization by religiously-motivated employees.... WRFA will make it much easier for employees to win harmful religious claims that they are now losing under the applicable Title VII standard. For example, a maternity ward nurse refused to scrub for an emergency caesarian section based on her religious beliefs and left a woman 'standing in a pool of blood,' a nurse insisted on telling an AIDS patient and his partner her views of salvation and that God 'doesn’t like the homosexual,' and a police officer refused to guard an abortion clinic...."
http://capwiz.com/au/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6007941
NEW 08/17/2004
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Several articles on this issue can be found at the website of this group. Our recent spearker, Attorney Eddie Tabash, is affiliated with this active group.
http://www.au.org/
NEW 08/17/2004
"Bush 'Faith-Based' Agenda Spreading In Federal Government, Report Finds"
Tuesday August 17, 2004
"... report by the Roundtable, which is a project of the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, N.Y., reveals that religious groups 'are now involved in government-encouraged activities ranging from building strip malls for economic improvement to promoting child car seats....'"
"... In particular, the research notes that the regulatory changes 'encompass two reversals of longstanding policy on Constitutional interpretation. The federal government now allows faith-based groups receiving federal funds to consider religion when employing staff, and to build and renovate structures used for both social services and religious worship....'"
http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6869&abbr=pr&security=1002&news_iv_ctrl=1241
NEW 08/17/2004
"Florida Appeals Court Rules Against School Voucher Law"
Monday August 16, 2004
"Americans United Says Court Decision Is Victory For Public Schools, Taxpayers"
http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6865&abbr=pr&security=1002&news_iv_ctrl=1241
NEW 08/17/2004
California state legislative bills involving church/state issues:
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer?pagename=advocacy_states_CA
Energy Issues:"Enron-gate. Where Are the Investigations of Bush's Liaison with the Bankrupt Company?"
Molly Ivins 12/6/01
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=12461
GAO's Final Energy Task Force Report Reveals that the Vice President Made A False Statement to Congress
By John W. Dean, Friday, Aug. 29, 2003
(Author of "Blind Ambition" (1976),"Lost Honor (1982), & "The Rehnquist Choice: The Untold Story of the Nixon Appointment that Redefined the Supreme Court" - he was the White House Council to Nixon for 1000 days)
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20030829.html
The National Environmental Trust
Information about all types of environmental issues, and ways the current Administration is directly supporting the destruction of our environmental gains of the past 30 years.
http://environet.policy.net/
Bush's Anti-Environmental Actions:
http://environet.policy.net/reports/rollbacks.html
"Busted: Why the Markets Can't Fix Themselves"
by George Soros, The New Republic, September 2, 2002
[Mr. Soros is a philanthropist worth $7 billion according to the Forbes Article above - where he ranks as #28 in the top 400 richest in the U.S.]
This article emphasizes the reasons why deregulation in the energy markets did not & will not work.
http://www.soros.org/gsbio/new_republic_090202.htm
See Excerpts from this outstanding article in the "Economics Issues" section above.
Environmental Issues - Air:The National Environmental Trust
Information about all types of environmental issues, and ways the current Administration is directly supporting the destruction of our environmental gains of the past 30 years.
http://environet.policy.net/
Their Air Quality Page:
http://environet.policy.net/cleanair/?PROACTIVE_ID=cecfcdc7c9cdcacecbc5cecfcfcfc5cececdc8cecdcbcfcbc9c5cf
Bush's Anti-Environmental Actions:
http://environet.policy.net/reports/rollbacks.html
"Busted: Why the Markets Can't Fix Themselves"
by George Soros, The New Republic, September 2, 2002
[Mr. Soros is a philanthropist worth $7 billion according to the Forbes Article above - where he ranks as #28 in the top 400 richest in the U.S.]
This article emphasizes the reasons why Bush's support of trusting private business to monitor themselves does not & will not work.
http://www.soros.org/gsbio/new_republic_090202.htm
See Excerpts from this outstanding article in the "Economics Issues" section above.
Environmental Issues - Water:The National Environmental Trust
Information about all types of environmental issues, and ways the current Administration is directly supporting the destruction of our environmental gains of the past 30 years.
http://environet.policy.net/
Bush's Anti-Environmental Actions:
http://environet.policy.net/reports/rollbacks.html
"Busted: Why the Markets Can't Fix Themselves"
by George Soros, The New Republic, September 2, 2002
[Mr. Soros is a philanthropist worth $7 billion according to the Forbes Article above - where he ranks as #28 in the top 400 richest in the U.S.]
This article emphasizes the reasons why Bush's support of trusting private business to monitor themselves does not & will not work.
http://www.soros.org/gsbio/new_republic_090202.htm
See Excerpts from this outstanding article in the "Economics Issues" section above.
Environmental Issues - Greenhouse:The National Environmental Trust
Information about all types of environmental issues, and ways the current Administration is directly supporting the destruction of our environmental gains of the past 30 years.
http://environet.policy.net/
Bush's Anti-Environmental Actions:
http://environet.policy.net/reports/rollbacks.html
"Busted: Why the Markets Can't Fix Themselves"
by George Soros, The New Republic, September 2, 2002
[Mr. Soros is a philanthropist worth $7 billion according to the Forbes Article above - where he ranks as #28 in the top 400 richest in the U.S.]
This article emphasizes the reasons why Bush's support of trusting private business to monitor themselves does not & will not work.
http://www.soros.org/gsbio/new_republic_090202.htm
See Excerpts from this outstanding article in the "Economics Issues" section above.
Environmental Issues - Parks & Recreation:The National Environmental Trust
Information about all types of environmental issues, and ways the current Administration is directly supporting the destruction of our environmental gains of the past 30 years.
http://environet.policy.net/
Bush's Anti-Environmental Actions:
http://environet.policy.net/reports/rollbacks.html
Campaign Finance Reform Issues:
Gun Control Issues:
Crime Issues:Death Penalty Talking Points
The Nation (online) - December 18, 2002
List of reasons against the death penalty.
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030106&s=death
Drug Control Issues: