According to MSNBC.com, Senator Susan Collins of Maine issued a statement to the press, but it hasn't been indexed on her official web site. So, it's unclear how much credit it should receive.

The President's Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, obviously thought refuting the ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee important enough to address the Senator's "concerns" point by point.

For Immediate Release: January 18, 2010

Groups Urge Secretary of State Galvin to Take Action to Detect Election Tampering

Belmont, MA

Representatives of nonpartisan election watchdog groups around the nation issued a last-minute 'orange alert,' warning that tomorrow's Massachusetts special election to elect a successor to the late Senator Ted Kennedy is ripe for manipulation. The groups call on Secretary of State Galvin to take immediate extra security precautions for the Senate race, which has become a high-stakes national contest. Critical national initiatives such as health care reform and financial reform will be influenced by the results of this election.

Unprecedented amounts of out-of-state money has funded a media blitz, and recent seesawing polls —some highly questionable—show Republican Scott Brown and Democrat Martha Coakley now reported to be in a virtual toss-up.

Experts are concerned that with the electronic election system in use, its lack of transparency and ease of manipulation, the public has no basis for trust in the accuracy and integrity of the election results. Confidence in election outcome should be based on objective verification rather than government reassurance, particularly when voting systems with so many known vulnerabilities and so little ability for oversight are employed.

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

We are writing to invite you to help us watch the polls on Tuesday in the MA Senate race.

There are many things to watch, and furthermore, poll watchers help to prevent any kind of malfeasance at the polls and contribute a great deal to the honesty of our elections.

WE WOULD ESPECIALLY LIKE PEOPLE TO BE THERE AT THE CLOSING OF THE POLLS, TO SEE THE POLL TAPES and RECORD THE TALLY. 6-8PM (or shortly thereafter. Document if you can; cell phones with photo or video capability are great for this)

We are going to select a variety of jurisdictions all over MA - ones where they have had trouble in the past or where we think there might be trouble now.

I am sorry we cannot be more specific right now, but we shall be as soon as we can.

If you can help, please send an email to sheilaruthparks@comcast.net and please include:

- your cell and landline numbers
- how early and late you can be called
- what hours you are available on Tues
- how far you are willing to travel

SOURCE: BlackBoxVoting

Black Box Voting : News Headlines: (MA) 1/10 - NO BASIS FOR TRUST IN MASS. SENATE RACE (THERE IS NEVER BASIS FOR 'TRUST'!) - ------------------------------

Posted by Bev Harris  on Sunday, January 17, 2010 - 2:07 pm:

Below you'll find suggestions for effective actions everyone can take, whether you live in Massachusetts or not, to help protect the truthfulness of Tuesday's Massachusetts senate special election.

Yes, the machines are hackable*, machines are programmed by a firm with a member of its key management team afflicted with a criminal record and a history of driving around the state with replacement memory cards and voting machines in his trunk. And this election is vehemently political, with the winner possibly holding a key vote on the controversial healthcare bill.

(* Did a program update eliminate hackability? Well, the point is that

1. Give to Doctors Without Borders

2. Tell Obama: Stop the forcible deportation of Haitians

Our hearts go out to the victims of yesterday's earthquake in Haiti. Here are two progressive ways you can make a difference today.

Give to Doctors Without Borders / Medicins Sans Frontieres.

Doctors Without Borders - a group CREDO members support with their phone bills - operates one of the only free trauma centers in Port-au-Prince as well as an  emergency hospital in the capital for  pregnant women, new mothers, and newborn children. All three of its primary medical centers have collapsed, but DWB/MSF has already set up temporary shelters and is offering emergency care on the ground. For more info on their work in Haiti click here. To make a donation click here.

SOURCE: NY Daily News

UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld deserves statue on Wall Street, not prison sentence

Juan Gonzalez - News

Wednesday, January 6th 2010, 4:00 AM

Take action

AP
UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld

Barack Obama, who entered the White House promising all this change, should be hailing Bradley Birkenfeld as a modern-day hero.

He should erect a statue on Wall Street for this former banker for Swiss giant UBS who blew the whistle on the biggest tax-evasion scheme in U.S. history.

Instead of rewarding Birkenfeld, Obama's Justice Department is sending him to prison. He begins serving a 40-month federal sentence Friday for conspiracy and bank fraud.

For Immediate Release: January 7, 2010

Contact: Emily Levy (831) 429-8946

emily@emilylevy.com

New Analysis Shows Proposition 8 Election

Results May Have Been Corrupted

Advocates Call For Immediate Investigation Into Whether Californians

Really Voted to Revoke Marriage Equality

Dateline: Los Angeles

Election Defense Alliance (EDA) has released a new study challenging the election results for Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that ended marriage equality in California through a constitutional amendment. Renowned election fraud investigator and data analyst Richard Hayes Phillips, Ph.D., best known for his investigation of Ohio's 2004 presidential election results, has now called into question yet another high-profile election. The culminating report is hosted at WasProp8Straight.org.  

Action Alert. Reclaiming Democracy: The Fair Elections Now Act

From: K.C.(Chad) Murdock, Pearl River, NY

It can make a real impact if we all make a short phone call right now to NY Senator Charles Schumer at 1-716-846-4111 or, if busy, 1-315-423-5471.* Night or weekend taped messages are fine, such as "Hello. This is (name) at (address). I am calling to urge Sen. Schumer to co-sponsor the Fair Elections Now Act and to soon convene his Rules Committee to begin moving this Act toward the Senate floor. Thank you."

Background: Key legislation to help curb global warming was passed in the House and is now bottled up in the Senate under the thumbs of big money special interest lobbies. We have seen all too clearly what such lobbies are doing to block or emasculate health care legislation and much environmental and financial reform. The Fair Elections Now Act can reclaim democracy by removing the huge special interest donations which now dominate many congressional election campaigns and thus link legislators to corporations and other large donors.

From Jim Dean:

I'll get straight to the point.

If Democrats remove the choice of a public option, they can't force Americans to buy health insurance.

Here's the deal, Senate leaders are all over Washington claiming they finally have a healthcare reform bill they can pass, as long as they remove the public option. After all, they say, even without a public option, the bill still "covers 30 million more Americans." The problem is that's not really true.

What they are actually talking about is something called the "individual mandate." That's a section of the law that requires every single American buy health insurance or break the law and face penalties and fines. So, the bill doesn't actually "cover" 30 million more Americans -- instead it makes them criminals if they don't buy insurance from the same companies that got us into this mess.

A public option would have provided the competition needed to drive down costs and improve coverage. It would have kept insurance companies honest by providing an affordable alternative Americans can trust. That's why, without a public option, this bill is almost a trillion dollar taxpayer giveaway to insurance companies.

We must act fast. Both Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Democratic Senators need to hear from you. Please stop whatever else you are doing and make the calls right now.

Senator Harry Reid
DC: (202) 224-3542
Carson City: (775) 882-7343
Las Vegas: (702) 388-5020
Reno: (775) 686-5750

Call your Democratic Senator too -- Senate Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 

REPORT YOUR CALL AND TELL US HOW IT WENT

Without the choice of a public option, forcing Americans to buy health insurance isn't just bad policy, it's political disaster for Democrats -- a ticking time-bomb for years to come.

Does anyone think Republicans won't use this against Democrats in 2010?

What about in 2014 after the mandate goes into effect and the press reports all the horror stories of Americans forced to choose between paying their monthly health insurance bill to Aetna or paying rent?

The mandate is toxic and Democrats will own it. By the 2016 presidential election, is there any wonder how this will play out for Democrats?

CALL SENATOR HARRY REID NOW AT (202) 224-3542 THEN REPORT YOUR CALL HERE

The message is simple: No public option? No Mandate!

Thank you for everything you do,

-Jim

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

Dear Friend,

Ask Governor Lynch to withdraw Raymond Donald's confirmation to the Air Resources Council for not revealing his relationship with PSNH.

Contact Governor Lynch and Commissioner Burack before December 9th!

New Hampshire Sierra Club has an appeal pending before a NH Department of Environmental Services tribunal, the Air Resources Council (ARC). This appeal is challenging a PSNH air permit for violations to the Clean Air Act at the coal plant in Bow.

ARC Presiding Officer Raymond Donald never revealed that he used to work for PSNH and currently receives a PSNH pension.

Gov. Lynch has nominated Mr. Donald for another term.

The New Hampshire Executive Council has put Raymond Donald’s confirmation to the ARC on hold because he did not reveal this important conflict of interest and it has destroyed the integrity of the appeal process.

SOURCE: Democrats.com The House of Representatives passed health-reform legislation that included an anti-choice amendment that will seriously jeopardize women's access to abortion – making it virtually impossible for private insurance companies that participate in the new health system to offer abortion coverage to women.

This would have the effect of denying women the right to use their own personal, private funds to purchase an insurance plan with abortion coverage in the new health system.

We must stop health-care reform from being enacted with this ban!

Sign our petition calling on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to stand firm against a ban on abortion coverage for women in the new health system.

SOURCE: NOW

Action Alert

Democrats in the House of Representatives Throw Women Under the Bus with Stupak Amendment

Tell US Senators to vote NO on the Entire Health Care Reform Package! Act NOW!

In an effort to placate anti-choice Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has allowed passage of a very dangerous amendment that will affect women's lives. The National Organization for Women-NYS is stunned with the passage of the Stupak Amendment, which would ban the public health insurance option from funding abortion, and also ban any private plan operating within the exchange from funding abortions. Under Stupak's plan, a woman buying private insurance from within the exchange with her own money would not have a choice of a plan that covers abortion. In short the Stupak Amendment throws American women under the bus.

This Act is absolutely basic to many of our environmental, social and legislative priorities. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) is one of 116 co-sponsors. However, other members of Congress and especially NY Senator Charles Schumer (212-486-4430) need to be urged to join as co-sponsors. Sen. Schumer is crucial for passing this Act, so NY residents have special leverage (see letter below).

Please feel free to use this letter in other Action Alerts, newsletters or blogs, or to edit, forward to members and others, delete my name and use parts or all of it in any way that works.

One or two quick phone calls from each of us activists around the country might reach the tipping point for a new era in democracy!

Good luck to us all,

Chad Murdock
Pearl River, NY


RECLAIMING DEMOCRACY
The Fair Elections Now Act

As individuals or as groups we have often felt that Washington has turned a deaf ear to our phone calls, visits and letters, drowned out by the influence of big money contributions from special interests. Our concerns may be global warming, other environmental damage, energy, water, health care, education, etc. Whatever our cause we feel it could be a lost cause without getting truly effective election campaign finance reform; to level the playing field by providing public funding of election campaigns. A cost of under $4/person/year for federal public funding could be the best investment we ever make. That's about $1 billion, compared to $64 billion in 2006 just for Congressional "earmarks pork", plus vastly greater amounts of taxpayer moneys diverted to powerful special interests.

SOURCE: PDAmerica.org

Healthcare Hoax from Hell By David Swanson October 29, 2009

Call Speaker Pelosi TODAY!

Published by AfterDowningStreet.org.

Lies, damn lies, and promises from Democrats. An amendment allowing states to create state-level single-payer healthcare has been stripped out of the House healthcare bill, after having passed in committee back in July by a vote of 27 to 19. And rumor has it that a vote on national single-payer that was promised in July in exchange for skipping a committee vote on it will now be denied. 

If you're reading this post, chances are that you're pretty familiar with the concept of net neutrality and understand what's at stake in the debate surrounding the FCC's proposed rules. But what about your parents, grandparents, friends and significant others? If you know someone who could use a quick primer on net neutrality, send them a a link to this five minute video. Directed by PK board member Jesse Dylan and featuring PK president Gigi Sohn alongside a sampling of the usual suspects (Professors Lawrence Lessig and Ed Felton, members of the band Ok Go, Free Press' Ben Scott, etc.), the video explains what net neutrality is and why it's critical that we preserve the free and open nature of the Internet. Help us protect free speech, innovation and economic opportunity--help spread the word by forwarding this video along to friends and family.