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Politics : Al Gore vs George Bush: the moderate's perspective -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (9285)	1/11/2001 5:36:20 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10042

Oppose Him, But Ashcroft Is No Racist Thursday, January 11, 2001 ; Page A27 In his column in today's Washington Post Richard Mr. Cohen says: "But Waters is typical of certain black politicians -- and their non-black allies - who casually yell racism when, in fact, other factors are operative " We saw a recent example of that when Jesse Jackson roared into Florida to charge that blacks were singled out for disenfranchisement. In fact, it seems they lived in poor counties where voting was even more chaotic than is usual in Florida. This is not racism as we understand it -- not the racism that used to be the practice in Florida." What Mr. Cohen fails to mention was that many voters in Florida were purged from the State's roster, and the contractor that purged the voter list was, according to SI's THIRD EYE, Database Technologies, a Texas company whose CEO made a $100k contribution to the Republican National Committee. I understand that many of those purged from the voter's list were minorities. Was it discrimination? Or was this a sure-fire method to get Mr. Bush elected as President? I found information about the purged voter's list on the Jim Lehrer's News Hour. The following is an excerpt. MEPHISTO KWAME HOLMAN: One of the most substantial charges regarding the Florida vote involved a purge of voter rolls………….. SPOKESPERSON: Unfortunately, the information's coming out now that there were literally thousands of people whose names were purged from the voter registration roles who had no felony convictions, who had never moved, just faulty information coming from that contractor. KWAME HOLMAN: Alison Bethel is director of civil rights for the Florida attorney general's office. She acknowledges the voting list purge may have deleted valid voter names from the rolls. ALISON BETHEL: Well, we have received reports from people claiming that they were incorrectly advised, that they were a convicted felon. Some received letters prior to the election, others did not learn that they were so incorrectly listed until they showed up at the polls to vote. And apparently the company that provided the information to the state officials of who was and who was not a convicted felon, that information was flawed and that's what led to the problem. It's wrong and yes, it impacted the minority community in a disproportionate way. Excerpt from: VOTING RIGHTS from JIM LEHRER News Hour December 15, 2000 pbs.org ************************************************************ From: Impeach George Bush Thread To: Mephisto who wrote (943) From: ThirdEye Dec 28, 2000 1:26 PM Respond to Post # 963 of 1183 just faulty information coming from that contractor. "that contractor" was Database Technologies, a Texas company whose CEO made a $100k contribution to the Republican NationalCommittee. dbtonline.com

To: Mephisto who wrote (9285)	1/13/2001 9:31:15 AM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 10042

Norton Billed Alaska for Her Help By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Gale Norton billed the Alaska Legislature $270 an hour last year to help overturn a fishing policy of the Interior Department that she's been chosen to run. Billing records also show she charged the state for help she gave a private group in the case. Alaska Democrats are questioning why Norton would ask Alaska's taxpayers to pay for her to assist the MOUNTAIN STAES Legal Foundation, a group she once worked for that has SUED THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT REPEATEDLY. `I would be concerned about us spending Alaska money to help another organization outside the state put their views forward,'' Democratic state Rep. Al Kookesh said Thursday. Republican lawmakers and a Norton spokeswoman said the billings were proper because the group was supporting the Legislature's position in the same case. Bill records obtained by The Associated Press show Norton was paid more than $60,000 last year by Alaska lawmakers to help write a friend-of-the-court brief in a federal lawsuit OPPOSING INTERIOR DEPARTMENT OVERSIGHT OF FISHING IN ALASKA.. The work is part of the legal and lobbying activities she performed after ending her tenure as Colorado attorney general in 1999. The work is underreview by senators for possible conflicts of interest. Norton was named last month as Bush's choice to head the Interior Department, which manages the nation's vast natural resources from national parks to offshore oil deposits. The billing records state Norton charged Alaska at least 18 times to help the legal foundation file its brief in the case. The records charge for such items as eight hours for ``revisions to MOUNTAIN STATES Legal Foundation brief'' and 1.2 hours to ``review and comment on final draft of MOUNTAIN STATES Legal Foundation amicus'' and make a phone call. Norton's spokeswoman, Jeanie Mamo, said Norton charged Alaska for helping the foundation because she had enlisted the group's help on the state's behalf. `She worked with them on the amicus brief on behalf of the state,'' Mamo said Thursday. Norton's ties to the Mountain States Legal Foundation are often cited by environmentalists who oppose her nomination. She was a foundation lawyer from 1979 until 1983, hired by James Watt, an Interior secretary under president REAGAN WHO WAS ANATHEMA TO ENVIRONMENTALISTS The foundation has sued the Interior Department repeatedly in recent years, seeking to overturn restrictions on mining, grazing and off-road vehicle use on federal land. The fishing case is the SECOND major environmental controversy in Alaska to involve Norton. While a top Interior Department lawyer during the Reagan administration, Norton advocated drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - a position Bush supports but environmentalists oppose. In the fishing case, Alaska is challenging a ruling that said the Interior Department has the right to regulate subsistence fishing in most Alaska waters. The state argues that such federal regulations infringe on the state's right to regulate fishing in its territory. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - heard arguments in September but has not ruled. GOP legislative leaders decided to make their arguments to the appeals court because they didn't trust Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, to represent lawmakers' point of view fully, Porter said. But Democrats cried foul when the GOP leaders waited until October, after Norton and Lenzini had finished their work, to get formal approval for the state contract. Alaska House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz called the move ``an abuse of legislative discretion.'' - On the Net: Alaska Legislature: legis.state.ak.us