http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/buyingvotes/ en-us Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:40:21 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2091226/posts Senate Republicans on Friday blocked a plan by Democrats to pump $56 billion in government spending into the economy through public works projects, help for the jobless and money for states struggling with their Medicaid bills. The 52-42 tally fell well short of the 60 votes needed to defeat a GOP filibuster. The White House promised a veto anyway, saying the measure would not work and would cost too much. The House was expected to have better luck with a companion $61 billion House plan later in the day. AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2091226/posts#comment Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:40:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2060730/posts A casual encounter sparked a controversy over the methods of the Democratic National Committee. Several women say they saw volunteers offering to pay people to register to vote. wjla.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2060730/posts#comment Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:30:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027181/posts Examples of lawmakers who have sponsored earmarks for private companies and received campaign contributions from them and, in some cases, their lobbyists: _Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, a member of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, obtained a $2.4 million earmark last year for the Greentree Group of Beavercreek, Ohio, for a digital information sharing system. Greentree Group executives, their families and consultants have donated $43,350 to Hobson since 2000, reports The Columbus Dispatch. _Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., a member of House defense appropriations subcommittee, sponsored a $2 million earmark to 21st Century Systems last year for a virtual fence demonstration project.... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2027181/posts#comment Fri, 6 Jun 2008 17:45:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021584/posts When it comes to running the economy, no-one could ever accuse Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez of being a hostage to conventional wisdom. With the country's most recent statistics showing consumer price rises of 29.1% in the 12 months to the end of March - the highest rate of increase in Latin America - now might not be the best time for inflation-busting pay deals. But on 1 May, Mr Chavez gave public sector workers an across-the-board salary increase of 30%. He said maintaining people's purchasing power was a more pressing priority than getting inflation down. At the same time, he... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2021584/posts#comment Mon, 26 May 2008 21:28:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015202/posts In the threadbare border towns of South Texas, one of the country’s poorest regions, enterprising locals like Candelaria Espinoza have long been paid to round up votes for candidates on Election Day. There is even a name for these electoral soldiers of fortune: politiqueras. So when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign arrived in South Texas in February seeking an edge in its uphill battle against Senator Barack Obama, Ms. Espinoza was happy to oblige, for a price. The campaign paid her and seven other members of her family $100 to $200 each to knock on doors, deliver fliers and... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2015202/posts#comment Tue, 13 May 2008 12:42:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013238/posts DNC Superdelegate Puts His Vote Up For Sale Steven Ybarra Wants $20 Million For His Vote SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) ― In this tight battle for the Democratic nomination we've heard a lot about the candidates courting superdelegates. But, one superdelegate is courting the candidates. He says he'll sell his vote for a price. A very high price: $20 million. Steven Ybarra of Sacramento says that eight-figure price is peanuts for the presidency. http://cbs13.com/local/Superdelegate.Vote.Ybarra.2.718616.html http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2013238/posts#comment Thu, 8 May 2008 21:14:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000374/posts Fourteen months into a campaign that has the feel of a movement, Sen. Barack Obama has collided with the gritty political traditions of Philadelphia, where ward bosses love their candidates, but also expect them to pay up. The dispute centers on the dispensing of "street money," a long-standing Philadelphia ritual in which candidates deliver cash to the city's Democratic operatives in return for getting out the vote. Flush with payments from well-funded campaigns, the ward leaders and Democratic Party bosses typically spread out the cash in the days before the election, handing $10, $20 and $50 bills to the foot... The Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2000374/posts#comment Sat, 12 Apr 2008 01:03:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995529/posts Why Rescues Don't Work By Paul Tustain "...Just like natural organisms, the financial system must have death to evolve into a better form..." NOW THAT HE'S wearing some sort of do-good government hat, even Hank Paulson is not thinking straight.Regulate in New York and finance goes to Toronto. Regulate in London, it goes to Frankfurt or Paris - and since Toronto, Frankfurt and Paris are run by the same nervous bureaucrat-types, we can reckon soon enough that the entire financial markets will be hosted out of Singapore and Shanghai.There they will accept the risks as well as the rewards,... DollarDaze.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995529/posts#comment Wed, 2 Apr 2008 16:13:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1969408/posts College Junior Breakfasts With Chelsea Clinton 21-Year-Old Wisconsin Super Delegate Gets Face Time With Former First Daughter Noooo Chelsea is not being Pimped Out!Check out the young virgin's Wikipedia page! No HillaryClinton.com Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1969408/posts#comment Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:45:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966301/posts The fate of $600-$1,200 rebate checks for more than 100 million Americans is in limbo after Senate Republicans blocked a bid by Democrats to add $44 billion in help for the elderly, disabled veterans, the unemployed and businesses to the House-passed economic aid package. GOP senators banded together Wednesday to thwart the $205 billion plan, leaving Democrats with a difficult choice either to quickly accept a House bill they have said is inadequate or risk being blamed for delaying a measure designed as a swift shot in the arm for the lagging economy. The tally was 58-41 to end debate... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966301/posts#comment Thu, 7 Feb 2008 06:19:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1912061/posts MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton courted female voters on Tuesday with a plan to expand paid family leave, boost child-care funding and fight workplace discrimination against pregnant women. In a speech peppered with anecdotes from raising her 27-year-old daughter Chelsea, the former first lady who would be America's first woman president said her plan would cost $1.75 billion a year and be paid for by shutting down certain kinds of tax shelters without expanding the deficit. "The struggle to balance family and work can be simply overwhelming," the New York senator told a gathering of about... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1912061/posts#comment Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:30:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1911349/posts Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, noncitizens who legally obtained New York State driver’s licenses have been given licenses stamped “temporary visitor” along with the date their visa expired. No longer. The Spitzer administration three weeks ago quietly eliminated the state policy that required the special identification stamp on the driver’s licenses for noncitizens who are legally, though temporarily, residing in the United States. The policy change also eliminated the accompanying expiration date that was intended to show when the person’s legal right to be in the United States ended — raising the chance that a valuable form... Buffalo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1911349/posts#comment Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:20:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1909811/posts Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign gets kookier by the day. On Tuesday, she abandoned her widely ridiculed "baby bonds" in favor of a plan, funded by robbing the graves of "the rich," to give Americans earning less than $100,000 a year a 401(k), into which the government would deposit up to $1,000 annually. She apparently figured out babies don't vote. On Monday, she declared Sandy Berger would have "no official role" in her campaign. Her statement was meant to deflect criticism of her naming Mr. Berger as her unofficial, unpaid foreign-policy adviser. But his record of foreign-policy blunders is scary.... Waterbury Republican-American http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1909811/posts#comment Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:20:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904222/posts WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 — Democrats and their allies mapped out a strategy on Friday that they hoped would enable them to override President Bush’s expected veto of a bipartisan bill providing health insurance for 10 million children, most of them in low-income families. Democratic leaders said they would highlight the contrast between the president’s request for large sums of money for the Iraq war and his opposition to smaller sums for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as Schip. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said, “It’s ironic that in the very same week that the president says he’s... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1904222/posts#comment Sat, 29 Sep 2007 22:19:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903179/posts WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers persisted Thursday in their efforts to persuade President Bush to set aside his veto threat of a large spending increase for a children's health insurance program. The Senate is expected later in the day to vote for a $35 billion increase in funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, a federal-state partnership that subsidizes health coverage for low-income families. Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1903179/posts#comment Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:35:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878126/posts A Californian who set up a vote-swapping Web site for supporters of Ralph Nader and Al Gore in 2000, before the state shut it down with a threat of prosecution, said Tuesday he may try again next year now that a federal appeals court has ruled that online vote-trading agreements are constitutionally protected. It all depends, Jim Cody said, on a candidacy by Nader or some other third-party hopeful that might siphon away enough votes from the Democratic nominee to tip the scales to a Republican in one or more states. His short-lived Vote Swap2000.com was meant to counteract that... San Francisco Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878126/posts#comment Wed, 8 Aug 2007 15:02:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1874791/posts MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WHBQ The FOX13 I-Team has discovered an undercover investigation into voting fraud in North Mississippi. The Mississippi Attorney General is trying to find out who's buying people's votes in Benton County WHBQ.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1874791/posts#comment Wed, 1 Aug 2007 16:59:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1824770/posts I watched the Democrat debate yesterday evening, not so much to learn something new, but because I have the innate curse of enjoying political speeches, even if those speeches grind against the very pit of my soul in both substance and concept. The majority of the debate uncovered no real surprises, but one particular answer to a question about drug testing sticks in my mind. The answer that Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd gave to a question about drug testing welfare recipients strikes hard at the very nature of the rampant disability and aggressive disease that infects the modern Democrat party,... SmallGovTimes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1824770/posts#comment Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:59:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1811308/posts 11 hours, 56 minutes ago U.S. Sen. Barack Obama says he has not softened his position on Iraq, despite suggestions to the contrary from other presidential camps and liberal blogs. The Democratic presidential candidate yesterday took issue with a weekend report suggesting that he believes that if President George Bush vetoes a withdrawal bill, Congress should quickly provide full funding for the war with no strings attached. Other campaigns privately pointed out The Associated Press's report and questioned if Obama has changed his stance. The liberal blog Daily Kos carried a headline Sunday stating, "Obama Caves to Bush." In a... http://unionleader.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1811308/posts#comment Tue, 3 Apr 2007 16:55:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739213/posts Kent Conrad's Web site proclaims that the North Dakota Democrat "has been a leading voice for fiscal responsibility" in Washington... ...$4.9 billion, which is the amount of emergency drought relief the parsimonious Mr. Conrad is attempting to shovel into a Senate military construction bill in this week's lame duck session. If this is the sort of "fiscal discipline" we can expect from the new Democratic majority, K Street ought to be popping the champagne corks. Farm-state Senators have been pushing for this handout for months, and the only good news is that they've modestly scaled back their demands. Nebraska Democrat... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1739213/posts#comment Wed, 15 Nov 2006 21:46:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733674/posts (Madison, WI)….First it was “Smokes for Votes.” Then it was “Pastries for Votes.” Now Democrats are continuing their assault on the health of voters by offering “Wieners for votes.” Democrats in Eau Claire are illegally offering free food in an effort to bribe people for their vote. Today, a complaint had to be filed against Democrat Kathleen Vinehout’s campaign for handing out free food in violation of Wisconsin’s “election bribery” law. The Executive Director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Rick Wiley, says he doubts even free food will help Vinhout’s campaign. “Apparently, Kathleen’s campaign is so out of steam,... email news release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1733674/posts#comment Tue, 7 Nov 2006 01:46:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1730470/posts Mayor Bill White today ordered a halt to a privately funded drive to offer flu vaccinations at early voting sites in Hispanic and black neighborhoods, amid conservative criticism that the effort would boost Democratic votes. Since Monday, the city had been offering the free vaccinations at four polling places around Houston under a national grant program, used in more than 20 other cities. White defended the program at a news conference today, saying public health was the city's only motive in launching the initiative. Still, he said he decided this morning to abandon the plan after today to avoid perception... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1730470/posts#comment Thu, 2 Nov 2006 04:29:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600547/posts Party money bought backing in the past St. Clair County Democratic leadership has distributed election packets to countywide precinct committeemen, which include an affidavit stating that money from the party will not be used to buy votes. The unusual action follows the vote buying convictions in June of five East St. Louis politicians. They had helped distribute more than $70,000 received by city Democratic precinct committeemen two days before the 2004 election from the county Democratic organization. While St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Robert Sprague could not be reached for comment, a fax received Monday from his Belleville... Bellville News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600547/posts#comment Tue, 21 Mar 2006 22:28:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1592513/posts WASHINGTON -- The Senate has agreed to put an additional $1 billion this year into a program to help poor people with energy costs, but only after overcoming resistance from warm state senators who said those suffering from summer heat weren't getting their fair share.The additional spending would increase to $3.1 billion the amount the federal government will have this year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a decades-old program that subsidizes heating and cooling costs for poor families.The legislation, which still must be considered by the House, passed by a voice vote Tuesday, but only after a... Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1592513/posts#comment Wed, 8 Mar 2006 18:21:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582595/posts One of the more amusing lines in President Bush's State of the Union Address last month was his call for yet another commission to study the problem of entitlement spending. Entitlements are programs that do not require annual appropriations. The money is paid out automatically to anyone who meets the eligibility criteria. Spending cannot be capped because people have a legal right to their benefits. Hence, spending for entitlements can only be reduced by changing the basic law applying to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. There are two reasons why the Bush proposal cannot be taken seriously. First, he has... RCP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1582595/posts#comment Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:27:19 GMT