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Election

Rob Portman: Hurricane Sandy Could Turn Voters Away From Obama

By Igor Volsky on Nov 3, 2012 at 4:20 pm

While multiple Republican governors and Mitt Romney surrogates have praised the administration’s response in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) told CNN on Saturday that some voters might blame President Obama for the government’s relief efforts.

Romney’s point-persion in Ohio emphasized the importance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in helping storm victims recover and argued that voters could turn against the president if victims don’t receive the federal aid they were “promised”:

Portman admitted that Hurricane Sandy “wasn’t helpful” to the Romney campaign at a time when it had some momentum, but suggested televised images of frustrated storm victims in New York and New Jersey might have an impact on a small number of undecided voters this weekend.

“As usual in a major disaster like this, there are a lot of people who are concerned about the government not providing the assistance they deserve and need,” Portman told CNN. “People are feeling like, ‘Hey, where’s FEMA? Where’s the help that I was promised?‘”

Ironically, in 2011, Romney suggested closing FEMA, the emergency response agency, so that states could have greater control over disaster relief, adding if “you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that’s even better.”

In the aftermath of the storm, Romney’s spokespeople promised that as president, he would retain the agency, though they did not say if he supports the efforts of Republicans — including those of running mate Paul Ryan — to slash funds for disaster preparedness and response.

Election

Last-Minute Ohio Directive Could Trash Legal Votes And Swing The Election

By Judd Legum on Nov 3, 2012 at 4:10 pm

A last-minute directive issued by Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) could invalidate legal provisional ballots. Ohio is widely viewed as the most critical state for both presidential campaigns and — with some polls showing a close race — the 11th-hour move could swing the entire election.

The directive, issued Friday, lays out the requirements for submitting a provisional ballot. The directive includes a form which puts the burden on the voter to correctly record the form of ID provided to election officials. Husted also instructed election officials that if the form is not filled out correctly by a voter, the ballot should not be counted.

According to a lawsuit filed by voting rights advocates, this is “contrary to a court decision on provisional ballots a week ago and contrary to statements made by attorneys for Husted at an Oct. 24 court hearing.”

Indeed, it also appears directly contrary to Ohio law. From the lawsuit:

Ohio Rev. Code § 3505.181(B)(6) provides that, once a voter casting a provisional ballot proffers identification, “the appropriate local election official shall record the type of identification provided, the social security number information, the fact that the affirmation was executed, or the fact that the individual declined to execute such an affirmation and include that information with the transmission of the ballot . . . .” (Emphasis added.)

The law “ensures that any questions regarding a voter’s identification are resolved on the spot or, consistent with due process, the voter is informed that he or she needs to provide additional information to the board of elections. This protects the integrity of the voting process, and provides a reasonable opportunity to resolve deficiencies.”

The last-minute directive changes this and switches the burden to the voter, greatly increasing the chances that legal provisional ballots will be discarded.

The court gave Husted until Monday to respond to the lawsuit and indicated it will resolve the dispute before provisional ballots are counted on November 17.

Husted has also tried to limit voting in Ohio by reducing early voting hours.

Election

Tea Party Group And Republican Campaign Coordinating To Supply Illinois With ‘Nonpartisan’ Poll Watchers

By Aviva Shen on Nov 3, 2012 at 1:21 pm

John Curry, Republican committeeman and True the Vote coordinator

On Tuesday, Tea Party group True the Vote will dispatch poll watchers throughout the country to challenge voters’ rights as they cast their ballots. True the Vote often insists it is a nonpartisan organization simply concerned with election integrity. It has even applied for non-profit status, which would exempt them from taxes. But a new email to True the Vote volunteers in Illinois shows that the organization is recruiting poll watchers specifically for one candidate — Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL).

The email was sent by John Curry, the 32nd Ward Republican committeeman in Chicago who apparently moonlights as a True the Vote coordinator. He encourages volunteers to contact another coordinator named Sharon Keller:

…I have identified an important area for you to poll watch in this election. It is in the general area of Northwest suburban Chicago, including Schaumburg and Elk Grove Village. The area is of concern because of the close campaign between Joe Walsh and Tammy Duckworth for Congress, in which millions of dollars are being spent and many out of area workers are coming in to influence the election. Will you work as a poll watcher in this area? If you agree to do so, please contact Sharon Keller, who is coordinating pollwatching in this area. Her email is estateattorney@earthlink.net and her cell phone is 310-871-3611. Please tell her you were referred by John Curry. She will be running a special poll watcher training on Sunday, so it would be great if you can attend.

This Sharon Keller appears to be the same person who is in charge of partisan poll watchers for the Joe Walsh campaign, according to a Tea Party website:

To volunteer to poll watch for Joe, contact Sharon Keller, who is heading up Joe’s poll watching efforts. Email Sharon at: estateattorney@earthlink.net or call her at (310) 871-3611. She seems to prefer phone calls but will respond to email also. You will be asked to sign up for one of two shifts on Election Day: 6 am – 10:00 am and 3:00 pm – 7:30 pm. (Yes, you can sign up for both shifts.) Right now, they especially need poll watchers for the morning shift.

Illinois categorizes poll watchers as either partisan or nonpartisan. Presumably, True the Vote poll watchers will be posing as nonpartisan so as to not endanger their pending non-profit status. Yet this email to volunteers suggests they are recruiting partisan poll watchers for the Walsh campaign — in blatant defiance of their claim of nonpartisanship.

This isn’t the first time the group has provided illegal aid to a campaign. A judge ruled in March that poll watchers deployed by True the Vote in Texas’ 2010 election amounted to an illegal campaign contribution to the Republican Party. After Tuesday, it will be hard to see how True the Vote can keep up the nonpartisan facade.

Politics

Romney Robocall Accuses Obama Of Threatening ‘Our Religious Freedom’

By Igor Volsky on Nov 3, 2012 at 12:40 pm

A robocall financed by the Romney campaign falsely tells voters in Virginia that President Obama “forced Christian organizations” to offer insurance coverage that undermines their religious beliefs and is threatening “our religious freedom.” The Christian community is “supporting Romney,” the spot says:

Christians who are thinking about voting for Obama should remember what he said about people of faith: “They … cling to guns or religion.” And remember when Obama forced Christian organizations to provide insurance coverage that was contrary to their religious beliefs?

That’s the real Barack Obama. That’s the real threat to our religious freedom. Mitt Romney understands the importance of faith and family. That’s why so many leaders of the Christian community are supporting Romney.

They know we can’t underestimate the threat Barack Obama poses to our faith, our values, our freedom.

The call is misleading. While the Affordable Care Act requires insurers and employers to offer women’s health benefits — including contraception — houses of worship and religiously affiliated nonprofits are specifically excluded from the provision. In fact the rule is modeled on existing contraception equity rules that are already in place in numerous Catholic hospitals, universities, and at least 28 states.

Romney has frequently accused Obama of undermining religion on the campaign trail. In January, the GOP presidential candidate said Obama is waging “the assault on religion”; in April, he claimed that the president is trying to establish “secularism” as an official religion.

Climate Progress

Did Climate Change Have A Role in Hurricane Sandy’s Unusual Track Into New Jersey?

By Climate Guest Blogger on Nov 3, 2012 at 12:31 pm

Figure 1. Inlet section of Atlantic City, NJ, after Hurricane Sandy. Image credit: 6 ABC Action News.

by Jeff Masters, via Wunderblog

We’re used to seeing hurricane-battered beaches and flooded cities in Florida, North Carolina, and the Gulf Coast. But to see these images from the Jersey Shore and New York City in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is a shocking experience. New Jersey only rarely gets hit by hurricanes because it lies in a portion of the coast that doesn’t stick out much, and is too far north. How did this happen? How was a hurricane able to move from southeast to northwest at landfall, so far north, and so late in hurricane season?

We expect hurricanes to move from east to west in the tropics, where the prevailing trade winds blow that direction. But the prevailing wind direction reverses at mid-latitudes, flowing predominately west-to-east, due to the spin of the Earth. Hurricanes that penetrate to about Florida’s latitude usually get caught up in these westerly winds, and are whisked northeastwards, out to sea. However, the jet stream, that powerful band of upper-atmosphere west-to-east flowing air, has many dips and bulges. These troughs of low pressure and ridges of high pressure allow winds at mid-latitudes to flow more to the north or to the south. Every so often, a trough in the jet stream bends back on itself when encountering a ridge of high pressure stuck in place ahead of it. These “negatively tilted” troughs have winds that flow from southeast to northwest. It is this sort of negatively tilted trough that sucked in Sandy and allowed the hurricane to take such an unusual path into New Jersey.

The 1903 Vagabond Hurricane
The only other hurricane to hit New Jersey since 1851 besides Sandy was the 1903 Category 1 Vagabond Hurricane. According to Wikipedia, the Vagabond Hurricane caused heavy damage along the New Jersey coast ($180 million in 2006 dollars.) The hurricane killed 57 people, and endangered the life of President Theodore Roosevelt, who was sailing on a yacht near Long Island, NY, when the hurricane hit. However, the Vagabond Hurricane hit in September, when the jet stream is typically weaker and farther to the north. It is quite extraordinary that Sandy was able to hit New Jersey in late October, when the jet stream is typically stronger and farther south, making recurvature to the northeast much more likely than in September.

Figure 2. The path of the 1903 Vagabond Hurricane, the only other hurricane to hit New Jersey since 1851.

The blocking ridge that steered Sandy into New Jersey

A strong ridge of high pressure parked itself over Greenland beginning on October 20, creating a “blocking ridge” that prevented the normal west-to-east flow of winds over Eastern North America.

Read more

Justice

Prominent Washington State Law Enforcers Explain Why Marijuana Should Not Be A Crime

By Nicole Flatow and Jeff Spross on Nov 3, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Washington is one of three states that will take up a ballot initiative on Tuesday to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana. Support for the measure has been particularly widespread in the state, including among law enforcement officials, who have touted the initiative as a necessary fresh alternative to years of expensive arrests and prosecutions that have not achieved public safety or public health goals.

Among those who strongly support the initiative are Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes and former Seattle FBI Special Agent in Charge Charles Mandigo. ThinkProgress spoke with Mandigo and Holmes in Seattle. Watch it:

Holmes ran for office in 2009 on a platform to stop prosecuting marijuana possession. But he says simply not enforcing a bad law is not good enough:

59% of the cases that were pending when I took office on Jan. 1, 2010, were against African Americans. That in a city with a 7% African American population. The only achievement if you will of marijuana prohibition in this case has been to make sure that we become the number one jailer nation on the planet, and it’s only made certain that only criminals are getting wealthy from the sale of marijuana. […]

Prohibition has failed in every legitimate public safety goal. Youth have ready access to it. The concerns about driving while impaired are rampant.

Mandigo said he had a gut reaction against marijuana legalization up until about a year ago, when he realized that the measured approach of Washington’s proposal, I-502, eliminated the hand-to-hand transactions that law enforcers are simply not able to address.

I don’t see that it increases in public safety risks. In fact, arguably it diminishes them because if people are making purchases in a regulated outlet … if they’re taking enough financial gain away from the gangs that are selling it, then you’re eliminating the competition and turf wars within these groups that have violence. You’re eliminating drive-by shootings, the unintended consequence of drive-by shootings. … What’s driving all of this isn’t marijuana. It’s the money. You know, if you can address the money factor then you are addressing the problem.

I-502 proposes to:

  • Remove criminal penalties for possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana
  • Authorize marijuana dispensaries and producers registered with the state
  • Impose an age limit of 21 years of age for possession and purchase
  • Tax purchases at a rate of 25%, with proceeds going substance-abuse prevention and education
  • Establish strict punishments for driving under the influence of marijuana

Law enforcement officials who support it include:

  • John McKay, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington
  • Kate Pflaumer, former U.S. Attorney, Western District of Washington
  • Charles Mandigo, former Special Agent in Charge, FBI’s Seattle office
  • Pete Holmes, Seattle City Attorney
  • King County Sheriff Steve Strachan
  • Norm Stamper, former Seattle Police Chief
  • Sgt. John Urquhart, a former narcotics officer and King County Sheriff candidate
  • Hon. Robert Alsdorf, former King County judge
  • Hon. Anne Levinson, former Municipal County judge

Election

Steve King: Obama’s Response To Libya Attack Is ‘Worse Than Watergate’

By Igor Volsky on Nov 3, 2012 at 11:56 am

Republicans and conservative media outlets like Fox News began blaming the Obama administration for “covering up” the events that led to the deaths of four Americans in Libya just moments after the raid on the U.S. consulate on September 11th. But even as their various accusations and conspiracies have fallen to close scrutiny, the GOP is still making Obama out to be the next Richard Nixon.

“Benghazi is a far worse situation than Watergate,” Rep. Steve King (R-IA) said during an event earlier this week. “I have more questions than I have answers about that one. Who told the Seals to ‘stand down’? We will hold hearings. We will get answers. This is disgraceful. But if Obama is re-elected, it’s going to take longer to get facts about this than it has to get facts on the Fast and Furious.”

An investigation into Fast and Furios — a gun trafficking operation gone wrong — criticized federal officials, but “exonerated Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., whom many Republicans have blamed for the scandal.”

Politics

Giuliani: Obama’s ‘Incompetence’ Has Killed Americans, He Should Resign

By Igor Volsky on Nov 3, 2012 at 10:41 am

Former New York City Mayor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate called on President Obama to resign over the nation’s 7.9 percent unemployment rate and argued that Mitt Romney’s experience in running the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics could have prevented the deaths of four Americans in Libya. Giuliani made the comments during a rally for Romney and Paul Ryan in Ohio on Friday.

“Our growth is at 1.2 percent. He should resign! He told us he would resign if he did poorly,” Giluliani shouted to the crowd, referring to a 2009 interview during which Obama promised to turn the economy around. He claimed that Obama is covering up the truth in the Libya incident and that his actions or policies have killed Americans who might otherwise still be alive:

GIULIANI: If [Romney] can have the same success for us that he had in running the Olympics, maybe something like what happened in Libya could have been avoided! Maybe if we had a president who was paying attention, we wouldn’t be going through all of this investigation of what’s being covered up about Libya!… You know of what happened in Libya is the result of at least of incompetence. You think if we had elected John McCain president of the United States, those people wouldn’t have had the full resources of the United States of America there in Benghazi trying to save them!? Well, we’ve got to change to right that wrong. We’ve got to elect a Commander in Chief who will not leave Americans behind! … Millions of Americans have paid the price of being unemployed. I believe some Americans who might not have had to have died, may have died because we had incompetence in the White House.

Watch it:

Giuliani’s Libya charges — particularly the claim that the Obama administration withheld assistance during the September 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya — are making the rounds on Fox News, but have already been dismissed by the nation’s security agencies. As the Los Angeles Times has reported, “At every level in the chain of command, from the senior officers in Libya to the most senior officials in Washington, everyone was fully engaged in trying to provide whatever help they could,” a senior intelligence official said in a statement. “There were no orders to anybody to stand down in providing support.” The Pentagon, White House, and CIA have all denied refusing requests for support.

Economy

The African-American Unemployment Crisis Continues

By Travis Waldron on Nov 3, 2012 at 9:30 am

The American labor market continued its steady recovery in October, as the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the economy added 171,000 jobs last month. The nation’s unemployment rate is now 7.9 percent, and there is an unquestionable recovery taking place. Lost in the positive news, though, is that the unemployment rate for African-Americans rose nearly a full point to 14.3 percent, up from 13.4 percent in September.

The black unemployment rate has fallen from its Great Recession peak of 16.7 percent, but it’s at the same level it was in October 2011, even though the nation’s overall unemployment rate has fallen more than a full point since then. As this chart from The Roosevelt Institute’s Mike Konczal shows, black unemployment averaged 8.6 percent before the recession:

And while the 7.9 percent overall unemployment rate is still too high, it would represent a historical low for blacks, whose unemployment rate has been over 10 percent for most of the last 50 years:

Austerity policies that have crunched federal and state governments partially explain the problem. Blacks are more likely than whites to work in the public sector, meaning the loss of more than 600,000 government jobs at the federal, state, and local levels has disproportionately impacted them. The public sector shed another 13,000 jobs in October.

Had the government kept pace with previous levels of job creation, the overall unemployment rate would be a full point lower than it is today. It stands to reason that black workers, one-in-five of whom work in the public sector, would have filled a significant amount of those jobs.

The larger story, though, is that high black unemployment is a structural problem that has resulted from centuries of less access to education and higher-paying jobs. Sixty years after the Supreme Court officially desegregated American schools, they remain largely segregated along racial and economic lines. Students from low-income, low-education backgrounds, more likely to be black, are less likely to go to college; even high-achieving students at low-income schools are less likely to attend college than similar students at high-income schools. And black students are more likely to fall on the wrong side of the growing education gap between the rich and the poor.

That has created a cycle of rising income inequality that was only exacerbated by the recession, when the wealth gap between black and white families doubled (blacks were twice as likely to have been hit by the housing crisis as whites, thanks in part to discriminatory lending policies). Declining unionization rates are more likely to hurt black workers, and cuts to all sorts of social programs, from public transportation to the safety net, have made it harder for black workers to participate fully in the economy.

This is nothing short of a crisis. And unlike the unemployment crisis that has afflicted the United States since the Great Recession began, it is not one that will be addressed simply by fostering economic growth.

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