[Pacg] Action Alerts! Weigh in now!

Tue Dec 4 09:20:35 CST 2007

* STOP the Police State Bill

*
**The Senate will vote this week (as early as Tuesday) on *two critical
measures*: *The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act* and the *Peru Free Trade
Agreement.  *Already passed in the House, both bills will be taken up in the
Senate this week and both issues need your attention. Read more below and
use the links to take action!

The Senate is about to vote to *criminalize thought* and shred the first
amendment, unless we stop
them<http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=10616211>
.

This *flawed and dangerous
legislation<http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2007-12-03-13-51-09-news.php>
*, The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of
2007, HR 1955, introduced by Rep. Jane Harman, was passed on October 23,
2007, with only four Democrats and two Republicans voting against it. The
companion bill in the Senate, S. 1959, will be voted on soon, as early as
Tuesday.

*Why do we need this bill?* We already have laws that allow the police to
arrest perpetrators of violent crimes. Could the real purpose of Harman's
bill be to create a commission to hold hearings and administer oaths for the
purpose of taking testimony, and to cite for contempt anyone failing to
testify?

The ACLU <http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/32886prs20071128.html> said
this: "As an organization dedicated to the principles of freedom of speech,
we cannot in good conscience support this or any measure that might lead to
censorship and persecution based solely on one's personal beliefs."

Americans are at a turning point.  Will we return to the days of McCarthyism
and forfeit our rights or will we forge ahead, holding theses values sacred,
as we try to undo the mistakes of this administration and rebuild our
standing in the world?

*Send a message to your
Senators<http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=10616211>
* demanding they protect your first amendment right and uphold their oath to
protect the Constitution by voting NO on S. 1959, The Violent Radicalization
and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

*
 **Peru "Free" Trade Act: *
*Of the corporations, by the corporations,
and for the corporations*

This Tuesday the Senate will likely vote on the Peru Free Trade Agreement.
The experiment that was NAFTA has been proven to be disastrous on many
levels. Tell your Senators that "free" trade isn't free, and to *vote NO on
the Peru Free Trade
Agreement<http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=10616371&PROCESS=Take+Action>
*.

"Free Trade" agreements<http://pdamerica.org/articles/news/2007-12-03-14-42-08-news.php>,
which were characterized as a win-win scenario for all parties, have proven
to be quite something else. Unfortunately, many Democrats support this
flawed legislation, which like NAFTA, CAFTA and other FTAs, hurts workers
and the environment in both the U.S. and our partner countries.

* Send a message to your
Senators<http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=10616371&PROCESS=Take+Action>
* asking them to oppose further corporatism by voting NO on the Peru Free
Trade Agreement.

House to vote on Energy Bill this week
*Tell your Representative to be a leader*

 The House will soon have the chance to take the lead on global warming.

That's because a final vote on the Energy Bill is expected this week in the
House.1 The bill will save money for consumers at the pump by requiring cars
to go farther on a gallon of gas and will require utility companies to use
renewable energy as the source of 15% of their electricity production.2 It's
a definite step in the right direction.

 *Tell your Representative to be a leader and support the Energy Bill
<http://act.truemajority.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Ki7zIGoqJ%2BT1iTL2BstoO8t6fdtrF76V>
*.
http://act.truemajorityaction.org/t/50/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1215<http://act.truemajority.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=y1Ni8d8E13EJtLzomscuQwrOCeMTDDB%2F>

We know that the window for action is closing quickly. This bill would move
us forward by providing real standards that would help reduce the greenhouse
gas emissions that cause global warming. Write to
Congress<http://act.truemajority.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hs7oWVlujU8JtLzomscuQwrOCeMTDDB%2F>today
and let your Representative know that you expect support for the
Energy Bill. Before the world melts...

*Verified Voting in Iowa*

We need you to make one more push to place paper ballot voting systems
throughout Iowa in time for the 2008 elections.

Please contact Governor Culver 515-281-5211 and urge him to provide full
funding for optical scan equipment, with ballot-marking devices to serve
voters with disabilities.

We were concerned a few weeks ago when the Governor called for
discussion<http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/NEWS/711080029/1006/news>of
adopting a statewide vote by mail system. To our relief, the Governor
has
indicated that he is not going to push for a statewide vote by mail in lieu
of funding for new equipment.  But he has also noted that the current
budgetary environment is tight, and the Revenue Estimating Conference for
next year's budget is December 11. So timing is important.

The new equipment we need for 2008 could cost the state $8
million<http://www3.legis.state.ia.us/fiscalnotes/data/82_1607SVv0_FN.pdf>more;
$2 million has already been allocated. With a state budget that
exceeds
$6 billion <http://www.dom.state.ia.us/state/budget/files/FY08_Gov_Rec.html>a
year, a one-time expense of $8 million is not a bad bargain for
counting
our votes accurately.

Important reasons why optical scan equipment and ballot-marking devices are
the best voting system for Iowa:

   - Voter-marked paper ballots counted by optical scanners at the
   precinct produced the lowest rate of residual
votes<http://www.iowansforvotingintegrity.org/ivi_press_release_6_November_2007.doc>of
any voting system used in
   Iowa in 2006.

   - The alternative to voter-marked paper ballots is to add "paper
   trail" printers to touch screen voting machines (DREs), which print votes on
   a continuous roll. These printers have proven unreliable: in Cuyahoga
   County, Ohio in November 2007, 20% of the paper trail printouts were
   unreadable<http://www.cleveland.com/community/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/119624295790400.xml&coll=2>.
   There is a history<http://www.votersunite.org/info/ADeeperLook-ESI.pdf>of
problems with paper trail printers.

   - Paper ballots are much easier for election officials to recount or
   audit by hand than the continuous paper roll than the electronic machines
   offer for voter verification.

   - Paper ballots are more intuitive to the voter.

   - Voters may fail to check the voter-verified paper record. Paper
   ballots are inherently voter-verified.

   - In case of a recount, ballots are better for public confidence than
   a printer roll. A ballot marked by the voter is stronger evidence of
   the voter's intent than a secondary printout.

   - With optical scanners and ballot-marking devices, all voters use the
   same type of ballot, and all votes are counted using the same method. The
   state could not be accuses of treating voters unequally in the tabulation of
   votes.

   - It is easier to protect voter privacy with voter-marked paper ballot
   systems, because the DRE paper trail printers store the votes on a
   continuous roll.

   - The current generation of touch screen DREs has proven vulnerable to
   calibration problems; e.g., "vote
flipping<http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1967&Itemid=26>
   ."

   <http://us.f329.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=3355_7614500_1271337_685_3377_0_34224_12704_4090820548&Idx=2482&YY=57555&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=up&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Sent#sdfootnote2sym>

   - Federal legislation could soon
ban<http://www.lwv.org/AM/TemplateRedirect.cfm?template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7743>the
use of thermal paper and reel-to-reel vote rolls for the paper trail
   printers. Optical scan with accessible ballot-marking devices would meet the
   requirements of proposed federal legislation.

   <http://us.f329.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?MsgId=3355_7614500_1271337_685_3377_0_34224_12704_4090820548&Idx=2482&YY=57555&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&inc=25&order=up&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b&box=Sent#sdfootnote1anc>

 Tell the Governor that it is time for the state to make a smart investment
in democracy. Call him at 515-281-5211, or use the contact information below
.

www.IowansForVotingIntegrity.org <http://www.iowansforvotingintegrity.org/>
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