AMERICAN PUBLIC POLICY and GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY:Public Citizen,Common Cause,U.S. Constitution,Alliance for Democracy,corporate rule vs. constitution,NAFTA,consumer advocacy & worker's rights
"If it is true that freedom and free markets are the keys to America's greatness, who poses the greater threat to Americans, Ben Bernanke or Ben Laden? If Ben Bernanke is a threat, what are the implications for George Bush, not just as the man who appointed Ben Bernanke, but also as the office of the President of the United States who has the ultimate duty to uphold the Constitution of the United States, which unarguably precludes the Federal Reserve?
"Here is what Thomas Jefferson had to say: 'Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies... [The] Bank of the United States... is one of the most deadly hostility existing, against the principles and form of our Constitution... If the American people allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.'" – Paid up subscriber of S & A Digest-Bob
Common Cause works with our members and activists and in coalition with other
advocacy organizations to make government more accountable to the people.
We have been engaged in a wide range of issues for more than thirty years,
succeeding in many reforms and today keeping up the fight to make government
open and accountable.
Common Cause has led successful efforts for campaign finance reforms, ethics and accountability in government, and open government at the national, state and local
levels. We joined with coalitions fighting for civil rights legislation, ending wasteful weapons programs and working for reforms to our nation’s system of voting.
Panelists discuss the alarming trend of politicians who break their promises to the lobbyists who helped elect them. CAUTION: This is so ridiculous you may throw UP on your laptop or monitor !!!
PUBLIC CITIZEN Protecting Health,Safety and Democracy- National Non-Profit Public Interest Organization
We fight for openness and democratic accountability in government, for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts; for clean, safe and sustainable energy sources; for social and economic justice in trade policies; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; and for safe, effective and affordable prescription drugs and health care.
We have six divisions and one state office. To learn more about each of the divisions and our Texas office, click on the links below.
The Crossed Pond Blog
And speaking of Ron Paul, I’d be remiss to not post about his American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007 which he’s introduced in the House. His speech to the House upon introduction:
The Alliance For Democracy Joining Together To End Corporate Rule.
This partnership established by the executive branches of the governments of Mexico, the US and Canada is mostly unknown to the majority of Americans. Yet it has dire consequences for them economically, environmentally and socially. Watch the slide show below to become informed. Send on to others to help educate the country.
Mary White Threats to Our Communities & Our Water: SPP, Super-Corridors, NAFTA
Thousands of citizens from across Massachusetts and beyond are coming to Boston to demand action from their elected representatives and learn effective tools and strategies to utilize in their communities. Citizens will engage in a weekend full of activities, including workshops on climate organizing, city/town break-out sessions around Green Jobs, and Soul Purpose Live: an afternoon rally on the Boston Common complete with music, activism, and leadership. The weekend will culminate on Monday with a lobbying push at the State House to pass the Global Warming Solutions Act and set Massachusetts as a national and global model by reducing Massachusetts' Greenhouse Gas Emissions 80% below 1990 levels by the year 2050, and 20% below 1990 levels by 2020 (in keeping with what scientists say we need to do in the developed world in order to avoid the worst consequences of Climate Change).
George W. Bush and
the World Trade Center
George W. Bush says it alright to use the images of 9-11 in the 2004 election because voters needed to remember his leadership during that time. After 4 years I finally agree with him on something. So lets look.....
Before 9-11
WASHINGTON (AP) -
L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, said in a speech six months before the Sept. 11 attacks that the Bush administration was "paying no attention" to terrorism. "What they will do is stagger along until there's a major incident and then suddenly say, 'Oh my God, shouldn't we be organized to deal with this,'" Bremer said at a McCormick Tribune Foundation conference on terrorism on Feb. 26, 2001. Source:AP "Frankly, I find it outrageous that the president is running for re-election on the grounds that he's done such great things about terrorism. He ignored it. He ignored terrorism for months, when maybe we could have done something to stop 9/11. Maybe. We'll never know. . . I think the way he has responded to al-Qaeda, both before 9/11 by doing nothing, and by what he's done after 9/11 has made us less safe, absolutely. I think he's done a terrible job on the war against terrorism."
White House counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke Clarke worked on conterterrorism under Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, and Bush II In Bob Woodward's "Bush at War," the president himself acknowledged that Osama bin Laden had not been a central focus in the eight months before the attacks. "I was not on point," Mr. Bush was quoted in the book as saying. "I have no hesitancy about going after him. But I didn't feel that sense of urgency, and my blood was not nearly as boiling."
*WHITE HOUSE, 4/01: FOCUS ON BIN LADEN "A MISTAKE"* A previously forgotten report from April 2001 (four months before 9/11) shows that the Bush Administration officially declared it "a mistake" to focus "so much energy on Osama bin Laden." The report directly contradicts the White House's continued assertion that fighting terrorism was its "top priority" before the 9/11 attacks (1). Specifically, on April 30, 2001, CNN reported that the Bush Administration's release of the government's annual terrorism report contained a serious change: "there was no extensive mention of alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden" as there had been in previous years. When asked why the Administration had reduced the focus, "a senior Bush State Department official told CNN the U.S. government made a mistake in focusing so much energy on bin Laden." (2). The move to downgrade the fight against Al Qaeda before 9/11 was not the only instance where the Administration ignored repeated warnings that an Al Qaeda attack was imminent (3). Specifically, the Associated Press reported in 2002 that "President Bush's national security leadership met formally nearly 100 times in the months prior to the Sept. 11 attacks yet terrorism was the topic during only two of those sessions" (4). Meanwhile, Newsweek has reported that internal government documents show that the Bush Administration moved to "de-emphasize" counterterrorism prior to 9/11 (5). When "FBI officials sought to add hundreds more counterintelligence agents" to deal with the problem, "they got shot down" by the White House.
Sources: 1. Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, 03/22/2004, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1211298&l=24793. 2. CNN, 04/30/2001. 3. Bush Was Warned of Hijackings Before 9/11; Lawmakers Want Public Inquiry, ABC News, 05/16/2002, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1211298&l=24794. 4. Top security advisers met just twice on terrorism before Sept. 11 attacks", Detroit News, 07/01/2002, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1211298&l=24795. 5. Freedom of Information Center, 05/27/2002, http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1211298&l=24796.
