Do Nothing Habitual Politicians

Political Proposals: Now you see 'em, now you don't

If you like big jokes, consider this one: The habitual politicians are going clean up the voting process ... again! One approach is "doomed to die"--GOP congressional leaders are pressing to combine election-reform proposals with a campaign-finance reform bill, in what Democrats charge is a maneuver to kill both." If you review their specific proposals, they do not address the primary problem of the vote counters who count votes outside of public view. Even the the proposals from the voter registrars specify no oversight of their activities. NUBS

Regardless of what the politicians propose and discuss, their actions speak louder. The following chronological listing of quotations show that the politicians have not intentions of fixing the front door or backdoors of democracy: elections and voting. Like a mammoth, noisy, ugly garbage scow disappearing into a growing fog, the political posturing and clamoring for massive reform fades over the media horizon.

  • 010126 WJS 

    1. "Congress Presses to Put Election Reform Atop Bush's List of Legislative Concerns"

    2. GOP congressional leaders are pressing to combine election-reform proposals with a campaign-finance reform bill, in what Democrats charge is a maneuver to kill both

  • 010328 WSJ

    1. "Panel Meets, but Reform of Voting System Is Going Nowhere Fast on Capitol Hill"

  • 010329 WSJ

    1. Blind to Voter Fraud
    2. Voter fraud continues to be an underreported story, "It's a silent scandal, and the problem is getting worse with increases in absentee voting."

  • 010329 WSJ

    1. Speaker of the House] Hastert Abandons Proposal For Voting-Reform Panel.

  • 010402 WSJ

    1. Campaign-Finance Reform May Not Take Effect by 2002

    2. Privately leaders in both parties believe deliberations on the measure will stretch out to a point where--even if the bill is enacted into law--it would be too late to affect the 2002 elections.

  • 010424 Washington Post

    1. "Electoral Reform, a Hit Last Fall, Goes Amiss."

  • 010426 NYT

    1. Little Change Forecast for Election Process
    2. Despite the outcry over last year's presidential election, the next national election will probably occur under virtually the same circumstances as the last, with the same unreliable voting systems and under the same dizzying hodgepodge of rules that vary from county to county across the nation.

  • 010508 USA Today

    1. Campaign reform in jeopardy Congressional Black Caucus may oppose finance overhaul

    2. Members of the influential Congressional Black Caucus are threatening to oppose an overhaul of the nation's campaign-finance laws, a move that could endanger its passage.

  • 010514 USA Today

    1. "Election reform at mercy of elected officials"
    2. The push to reform the way the nation runs elections, the hottest issue in politics a scant three months ago, has stalled on Capitol Hill.
  • 010516 New York Times
    1. Lott Rebuked for Delaying Campaign Finance Bill
    2. Senator John McCain pushed through the Senate a rebuke of the Republican leader today for acting to "thwart the will of the majority" by failing to send to the House the overhaul of the campaign finance law that was handily approved by the Senate last month.
    3. The House passed the campaign finance overhaul in 1998 and 1999, when it was blocked by the Senate, but is now moving slowly on the issue. Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority whip, has vowed to do everything he can to defeat the bill.
  • 010517 USA Today
    1. "Already running behind for 2004, voting-machine exec says"
    2. The chairman of the nation's largest voting-equipment company says delays in Congress and state capitals have cost the nation its chance of replacing all antiquated punch-card voting machines in time for the 2004 presidential election.
  • 010623 Washington Post
    1. House Readies for Campaign Finance
    2. Passing a campaign finance bill that the Senate, now under Democratic control, could easily adopt is hardly the end of the road. President Bush, while avoiding an outright veto threat, has said he opposes banning soft money.
    3. And even if Bush signs a bill into law, it faces immediate court challenges by those who say spending limits violate First Amendment free speech rights. Even this week, the Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling that could end all limits on regulated contributions raised by political parties and then turned over to candidates.
  • 010713 Star Tribune
    1. Campaign finance sidetracked in House
    2. But Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told reporters, ``Right now I have no plans to bring this bill up.''
    3. Democrats, in particular, have struggled in recent days to attract the votes of members of the Black Congressional Caucus and Hispanic Caucus who have expressed fears about the impact on voter registration if soft money were banned.
  • 010714 StarTribune/AP
    1. Alaska adopts new rules for primaries
    2. Under Alaska's current system, all parties' candidates are listed on the same ballot, meaning a voter could choose a Republican for governor and a Democrat for senator.
    3. The new law requires the Division of Elections to prepare a separate ballot for each of the state's six parties.

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