Conyers Calls Out McCain Over Voter Suppression

[Nambe]

Source: The Hill

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) told John McCain's campaign Friday to take control over its supporters following reports that a Republican county chairman in Michigan planned to use lists of recently foreclosed residents to block them from voting

"It is beyond disgraceful that the Republican Party now seems to be targeting those who are suffering the most," Conyers said. "It appears that individuals who can't recall how many houses they own don't understand how awful it is to lose your home to foreclosure, and don't know that you don’t need to own property to vote in the United States of America."

"It should surprise no one that the people who gave us the worst economy since the Great Depression would now want to prevent those victimized by this economy from voting in the coming elections. Senator McCain needs to step forward now and halt the Republican Party's efforts to profit politically from the economic misery of others." ...

Read more: http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/09/19/conyers-calls-out-mccain-over-voter-suppression/

[radfringe]

1. and what are you going to do, John?

issue more subpoenas that will be ignored?

[Grateful for Hope]

2. Good one, Radfringe

Wondering the same thing.

[Lugnut]

6. Nah.

A strongly worded letter will be sent first.

[Golden Raisin]

62. And he'll wag his finger forcefully

and utter several stern "tsk-tsks". All fucking talk and no action.

[Ian David]

9. Why, he's going to write a strongly-worded letter, by jove! Johnny Letter strikes again! n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

13. He is going to anger "hard working Americans" with this statement so they won't vote McCain, sillies

Go Conyers!

The GOP may think they can disenfranchise 10k voters in Michigan with this, but Obama can peel away a million or more working class voters who might have been thinking about voting McCain by letting them know about this plan.

[bluesmail]

39. Recommended!

[midnight]

79. I like the way you think. This week in Wisconsin our Attorney General

has his motives to sue a client while at the same time representing them in two cases. Attorney General of Wisconsin, and Co-chairman of McCain claims voter fraud happenings and has several thousand voters on a list that he claims are coming up with questionable voter information that was cross compaired between two data bases. A target group of Van Hollen is Acorn. These people will most likely be given provisional ballots. Attorney Lester Pines is hired by our Democratic Governor to look into this matter,and brings into question this Attorney General's conflict of interest issues towards his client the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

[pnwmom]

42. Now that he's made the letter public, Move-On or any other 527 can put it in an ad.

A very effective ad.

[DrDan]

44. are you saying the Dems are ineffective?

well . . . there may be quite a few that would agree with you

[sudopod]

54. OH SNAP nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

57. More strongly worded letters

Maybe two this time.

[stillcool]

77. what can he do..

when people in their own states don't even call their own Secretary of State, or their representatives, and demand that their state provide them with secure elections? Of course, these very same people will be screaming their heads off..after..the election, and demand someone from outside their state fix their problems.

[pacalo]

82. McSame&Co's cold remark probably wouldn't have seen the light of day

if BushCo's harshness had been nipped in the bud with IMPEACHMENT.

[Spritz57]

3. Good for Conyers!

[EFerrari]

4. So, IS McCain cool with vote suppression? Who else is asking? n/t

[wowimthere]

12. You have to ask? That's like asking is McCain republican. Yes he agrees with everything Republican

that means voter suppression.

[McCamy Taylor]

21. If he wasn't he would have denounced it by now. Karl Rove is the king of vote suppression

and Rove is running McCain's campaign now. That is how Rove wins elections---the old fashioned way. He suppresses the vote.

[EFerrari]

28. The point is, he should be made to answer.

I myself already know who he is and what he's signed on for. They've been working for the last four years to steal this one even more easily than 2004.

[Raksha]

50. Of course he's cool with it--he's a Republican, isn't he?

But he can't admit it. Now he HAS to address the issue in public, and sound all outraged and pretend he doesn't know his campaign is doing these nefarious things...and not be very convincing.

[Pete2069]

32. Shows Reputes Don't believe in the fundamental rights of U.S democracy!

This shows that the republican party no longer is patriot or
believes in our constitution and the fundamental principles of
our democracy. When people really check into the policies and
actions of the corporate republicans party , they find that
they have never really cared about the citizens or our
constitution. 

Without a free and honest voting system ,, a democracy can not
survive so, With the republicans constantly attacking our
voting rights from every angle shows they are trying to
destroy it.

I sent an email to My Senators before when I first read the
article and ask what are they are doing about it....

When our democracy is attacked it is not just a state issue ,
it is an issue about the survival of our democracy and
country.

Our forefathers would be going to war over these type of
criminal and corrupted actions from the republicans in their
bid for complete power and control over our county.

McCain has never been a straight shooter , his has never been
the friend of the Americans citizens , our military or our
constitution.

The news media has alway stump for McCain's lies and deceit.  


A persons actions and morals do not change overnight.

[Roland99]

5. oooo....ZING!!!

[norepubsin08]

7. check out the thread on

NATIONAL 'GUARANTEE YOUR VOTE' DAY

[Ian David]

8. Johnny Letter Strikes Again! n/t

[qwlauren35]

61. I'm clearly missing something.

What more do you want Conyers to do?

Someone in Michigan who is being struck from the rolls will have to file suit, or someone will have to file suit on their behalf, take the matter to court, etc.

How else do you declare something unconstitutional?

I would add that I thought refusal to obey a subpoena was illegal. When did this change?

[Tigress DEM]

72. I don't like these people dissing Conyers, but even w/o a majority they obey a Higher Law.

The pRes put himself above the law, so if they think he'll let them get away with it or if they don't have to take a dive until after the repukes steal the election...

Voter suppression already IS unconstitutional, so is caging.

And all these DC yahoos who have avoided their supoena's should have had the Senate send out warrants for their arrest.

I don't agree with these people that Conyers isn't doing all he can, he's only one person and by doing what he's doing he's getting this all on the Congressional Record so that at the point where we do have enough of a majority to steam roll we'll be able to round them all up and put them in Gitmo.

[stillcool]

78. Exactly..someone in Michigan..

If 'we' can't take on our own state government how the hell are 'we' supposed to have any effect in Washington?

[sellitman]

10. OMG...another harshly worded letter coming right up!

Gosh!

[barbtries]

11. that's great

is it on the news?

[BradBlog]

14. CONYERS DEMANDS 'IMMEDIATE HALT TO GOP SUPPRESSION EFFORTS

Source: BRAD BLOG



CONYERS DEMANDS 'IMMEDIATE HALT TO GOP SUPPRESSION EFFORTS'
U.S. House Judiciary Chair Announces Hearings, Requests DoJ Investigation Into Recent Reports of GOP 'Vote Caging' Schemes...

The U.S. House Judiciary chairman has sent a letter to John McCain demanding he immediately cease recent voter suppression efforts such as the reported GOP scheme to use home foreclosure lists to challenge voters in Michigan, and apparent "caging" letters akin to those sent to Democratic voters in Florida. He has also called on AG Mukasey to begin an investigation into these activities and has announced hearings on the matters in a statement released today...

CONYERS STATEMENT, LETTERS TO MCCAIN & MUKASKEY:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6406

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=6406

[intheflow]

15. Any way he could also demand the GOP

quit stalling on the Palin invetigation? Gah, the Bush regieme makes my head spin like Linda Blair when I think of how sleezy they are. Pelosi could have cut this all off at the knees if she hadn't declared impeachment off the table. :puke:

[grannie4peace]

16. i called his office yesterday

and talked to a young lady. i told her america is watching & doesn't want him to stop warning them. that this election is too important to be stolen from the american people again. she assured me they were working 14 to 16 hours a day to make sure it can't happen. i told her to thank him for pressing on ....it was a nice conversation :):):)

[renate]

35. that's good to hear

Thanks for passing that along!

And it's good to know that they're working hard behind the scenes; just because something isn't being reported doesn't mean it's not happening (as we know all too well from the past seven-plus years).

[n2doc]

17. Another "strongly worded letter"

And it will get the same response. Bupkus.

[crappyjazz]

18. I bet Mukasey will get right on that

bastards, all of them.

[Robbien]

19. It is good that Conyers is still out there trying

However the GOP admin will ignore him and Pelosi will say Dems should do nothing about the criminality.

Hard to see how Conyers gets the energy to keep trying.

[Ian David]

20. OOooh... he wrote another Strongly Worded Letter! Johnny Letter strikes again!

The Repukes must be ascared somethin' awful!

[McCamy Taylor]

23. You guys! People in Michigan are going to notice this. McCain's name will be MUD.

[bushmeister0]

33. You mean Mudd, right?

As in Daniel H. Mudd, the former chief executive of Fannie Mae, perhaps?

Decendant of the infamous Dr. Mudd who conspired with John Wilks Booth to kill Lincoln?

That's where the expression comes from.

I lived in Charles County, MD (where Lincoln got exactly 1 vote in the '64 election), for about 6 months, and they're still pretty much convinced there that they won "the war of northen agression" and tha Mudd was a hero.

Good to see Danny boy is keeping the name in the news.

[Fire1]

68. McCain, mud in Michigan?? I WISH!!

Between Jenny Granholm, Kwame Kilpatrick and his drama and Monica Conyers, Geoffrey Feiger, people in Michigan have lost confidence in Democrats. I predict a VERY close race in this state.

[radfringe]

24. here's how the repubs respond to harshly worded letter

[noonwitch]

22. He's been busy, his wife is now Detroit City Council president, at least until the feds get her

I like John, lived in his district for over a decade, but his wife is bad news.

[Joe Chi Minh]

25. I cries to Heaven for vengeance.

[sakabatou]

26. The one thing I have in mind is...

How to enforce the subpoenas?

[McCamy Taylor]

27. I do not like the tone of the posts here. Conyers is one of the bravest Dems around.

I think the Freepers are messing up DU.

:dem:

[midnight]

56. Yes he is.

[Pastiche423]

29. I heard about this story on my LOCAL MSM news

And this in a state that votes solely by mail. The newscaster was warning people not to be taken in on this scam. I was shocked!

[Beregond2]

30. You are all missing the point.

The more people in high places draw attention to this, the more the MSM is forced to cover it, and the more the pubic becomes aware of just what the GOP is capable of. This all helps in the election.

[glinda]

40. IT NEEDS TO GO FATHER

The huge amount of problems should absolutely be all over TV and the alarms should be sounded soooooo loud that the only way the American trust can be reinstated to to go totally to paper ballots with a tear off or carbon copy or something so the voter also has a record. This record can then be checked after the election maybe somehow.

[Another Joe]

60. I have seen ZERO coverage in the MSM

Certainly it has no traction or legs and this meaningless "nasty" letter was released on FRI when virtually EVERYTHING gets buried - during the friday news dump...

To those that want to stand up for conyers now - a couple of years ago I cheered these actions too.

But I have seen they don't mean a thing - not even to conyers - he will now drop the whole thing. He could have done something meaningful 2 years ago.

Just more noise - really its disinformation.

[SharonRB]

31. Go, John!

He's supposed to be at my house for a fundraiser on Sunday. It's for someone running for county clerk, and hopefully he'll talk about this in his speech.

[lonestarnot]

34. And so on and so forth.

[RiverStone]

36. Good on ya John! I'm totally digging how the Dems have gone on offense!!!

K & R!

[Overseas]

37. Go Conyers !! I'd like to hear McSame defend those Republican tactics !! /nt

[crickets]

38. John, put your teeth in.

This is a great first step, but when you stop at the 'strongly worded letter' point, all you've done is gum the issue and left a little drool all over everything.

It's time to BITE DOWN.

[Bloody John Flynt]

41. Ever vigilant

We must be ever vigilant so that what happened in 2000 and 2004 will not happen again!!

[The Woodpecker]

45. Time for the GOP to dissolve and go back to the WHIG party name

Republicans are disgraceful, anti-American, and racist. The party name has been disgraced forever by their ongoing actions over the last 10 years. American people will not allow these extremists to ever have power over the citizens again.

The Republican brand name is dead. It's about time. It took a financial collapse for most to finally understand the evil the Republicans are, and will always be. The shame of them using their religious facade to hide behind while they destroyed the American ideals.

[Senator]

43. Impeachophobia Aids And Abets The Suppression

Put your own house in order Chairman Chickenheart.

Standing up against election thieves has ceased to be part of your legacy.

-----

[quiet.american]

46. Despite the snark on this thread, I still say, thank you, Rep. Conyers.

I appreciate that the Dems this time are taking action before the election, and not after. I also still haven't forgotten that during the darkest, bleakest days of Bushco, Rep. Conyers practically carried alone the challenge of saving the future of this country on his shoulders, by continually investigating, speaking out, yes -- writing letters, creating a record of Bushco's transgressions, appearing at progressive conferences and endless other actions we probably don't know about.

Thank you, John Conyers.

[ThatsMyBarack]

47. I second that!

:patriot:

[Raksha]

48. Well, it's about damn time!

I'm glad Conyers went public about this outrage.

[Frisbee]

49. McCain won't do a goddamned thing....

because he has reached full on I'll do ANYTHING FUCKING THING to get elected. If it means destroying the country and being the last American president, fuck it, he'll do it. If it means selling out everything he ever stood for, fuck it, he'll do it. If it means hiring the people who tried to destroy his (and his families) reputation beyond repair in 2000, fuck it, he'll do it. If it means selecting as your VP someone who is singularly unqualified for that job, much less filling the potential vacancy at the White House, just to try to get a few votes from the extreme religious right and a few disgruntled Hillary supporters, fuck it, he'll do it. I suspect, if it meant going to Osama bin Ladens cave and giving him a hummer, he'd do that to, because to John McCain, 2008, nothing matters but getting elected. Not principles, not ethics and certainly NOT COUNTRY!

Edit: He changed to McCain

[jonestonesusa]

51. Thanks for the post.

I'm glad this has lots of recs here in DU at least.

I want to also let people know that in Wisconsin, another battleground state, more efforts to tamp down turnout are going on. I am going to write the attorney general in Wisconsin, and I encourage others to write or call.

This link has the address and the photo of another perpetrator of minority vote suppression. Until we rebel, the practice will continue.

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/ag/

[bobd0]

52. K&R -- This needs to be a Democratic talking point

[salguine]

53. It'd have been great if Conyers had shown some of this spine regarding impeachment.

[bobd0]

55. Pelosi threatened to take his committee chairmanship away from him if he showed too much spine

Conyers is one of the very few voices on Capitol Hill who took on the Bush administration at all. Pelosi is the root, trunk, and branches of the impeachment problem, IMHO.

[salguine]

65. Pelosi will take his chairmanship away. Pelosi takes impeachment off the table. How

in the hell did she become such an autocrat? Where the hell does all her authority to unilaterally do or not do all this stuff come from?

[republikkkon]

58. shout it from the fucking rooftops~!

will anyone outside of DU/progressive democratic community even hear this??? i hope so

[Another Joe]

59. So that asshole conyers is callin' out mccain

on crimes that he has sat back and watched for the past 6 years. Guess next will come a nasty letter...

And then absolute silence and NOTHING.

Conyers is part of the problem and surely has some culpability in this. If anyone thinks this is somehow "good news" that will result in change, <b>YOU ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION!</b>

[yurbud]

63. k & r

[eowyn_of_rohan]

64. too little too late conyers

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

66. This should be made into a national ad...

..."Call John McCain's campaign and tell him that it's wrong to suppress the right to vote in a democracy."

[orleans]

67. SOMEONE should do a tv ad about this--mcfuck doesn't want

people to VOTE

[99th_Monkey]

69. Conyers' staff has been documenting massive GOP election fraud since 04 ~ Now it's time to use it.

All this damning evidence of blatent GOP election buggering may come in handy during the next
47 days; to head off and expose these criminals to the voting public before they go to the
voting booth.

Go Johnny Go!! Enough with the letters now, go for the jugular.

[ryanmuegge]

70. Imagine what the real rate is.

Everybody knows the official economic numbers aren't accurate.

[KoKo]

71. that's nice...that Conyers said that.......good for him..

[L. Coyote]

73. Ad idea: "You don't need seven house to vote in America"

"Someone should tell John McCain."

[Imagevision]

74. The point also is to keep people informed not to be misled into thinking they cannot vote!

[biglefthander]

75. Republicans are just terrible people, plain and simple.

I do loathe them beyond my ability to communicate. :nuke:

[HowHasItComeToThis]

76. BINGO, CITIZEN

[hasssan1]

81. No , They are EVIL People.

[hasssan1]

80. ******* I hope obama's lawyers are on top of this story ********