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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (57673)	9/29/2004 7:50:33 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

The Issues: Reviving The Draft PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 28, 2004 Dreading The Draft "I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe." Beverly Cocco, mother of two grown sons (CBS) CBS News continues an election-year series titled "What Does It Mean To You?" focused on where the presidential candidates stand on major issues and how a vote for one or the other candidate might affect average people's lives. In this report, CBS News Correspondent Richard Schlesinger looks at what President Bush and Sen. John Kerry say about the possibilities of reinstituting the military draft. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Beverly Cocco has spent most of her life protecting children in Philadelphia. She spends most of her time worrying about other people's kids. But as Election Day approaches, it's her own two grown sons who Beverly is most worried about. "I go to bed every night and I pray and I actually get sick to my stomach," she says. "I'm very worried; I'm scared. I'm absolutely scared; I'm petrified." Beverly is petrified about a military draft – and she's not alone. There's an undercurrent of anxiety; mass e-mails are circulating among parents worried their kids could be called up. "I think there's a good possibility," Beverly says. But neither President Bush, nor Sen. John Kerry has said he will re-institute the draft. In fact they both say they won't. Kerry says, "I will give us a foreign policy that absolutely makes it unnecessary to have a draft for this country." Kerry says he'll try to get allies of the U.S. to send troops that could relieve American soldiers. The Bush campaign says expecting great numbers of foreign troops to help out is pure fantasy. The president wants to train more Iraqi troops to take over for the Americans. And, he says, despite the war on terror, there will be no draft. "The war on terror will continue," says the president. "It's going to take a while and no, we don't need a draft." But Beverly's not buying it. She's a Republican, but also a single-issue voter. Would she vote for a Democrat? "Absolutely," she says. "I would vote for Howdy Doody if I thought it would keep my boys home and safe." In fact, there are at least three votes in this house riding on the draft: Beverly's and her sons' Carmen and Nick. Are her sons worried about being drafted? "Yeah," says Nick. "It's the talk; the talk's there. Though people aren't actually coming out and saying it, it's there." What worries the Coccos is the continuing need for more troops in dangerous places. And the machinery for a draft is already in place: all men have to register when they turn 18. Beverly Cocco is so concerned she is involved with the organization "People Against the Draft." The head of the Selective Service believes he could start drafting people quickly. "I think we could do it in less than six months if we got the call," says Selective Service Director Jack Martin. This time, Martin says there would be no long deferments for college students and a lot more people could be eligible for the draft than before: men and women ages 18 to 26 could be called up. There hasn't been a draft since 1973, but that's not much comfort to Beverly Cocco. So she is keeping a sharp eye on the political traffic. She's a Bush supporter today, but if she doesn't like what she hears between now and November, she could easily cross over. cbsnews.com

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (57673)	9/29/2004 9:37:04 PM
From: crdesign	Respond to of 89467

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (57673)	9/29/2004 9:38:34 PM
From: crdesign	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

I'm struggling with the Patriot Act. Is it an asset or is it the end of freedom as we know it? The guys written about in the following article have held a strangle-grip over our local city district for decades. That grip has held this neighborhood back by the creeps in the artical always screeming 'racism' when things they want don't go their way. Now, it turns out, that it was all about MONEY! The grip I elude to is a grip that prevents a 300 year old historic neighborhood from succeeding to be a national tourism magnet: 220+ years ago, 300 yards south of our house, a column of American soldiers fought off the British and preseved our freedom. (don't have time to post a link. Just GOOGLE "Battle of Germantown.") Why does this grip remain in effect? Because some greedy bastards consider this area an easy score; We are a Quaker community that still practices 'tolerance'; This virtue at times has proved positive but recently it has slugged us in the eye. Some of us have decided enough is enough and we are turning the dirtbags in. Finally they are finding there due justice... Posted on Wed, Sep. 29, 2004 Imam, mayoral aide indicted in corruption investigation By Emilie Lounsberry and Maria Panaritis INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Shamsud-din Ali, a prominent Muslim cleric with influence among mayors, governors and congressmen for decades, was charged yesterday with defrauding the city of tens of thousands of dollars through corrupt business deals with City Hall. John Christmas, a deputy mayor in the Street administration; Steven Vaughn, a top City Council aide; and Ali's wife, Faridah, were also charged in the alleged corruption scheme. Prosecutors said the group engaged in a racketeering enterprise to win city contracts, extort money and defraud the government. Yesterday's marked the second major corruption indictment linked to the Street administration. Vaughn was charged with helping Ali's company, Keystone Information & Financial Services, get a contract from the city to collect delinquent taxes. They received $60,000 to collect taxes from one delinquent firm in 2001, even though the debtor had already paid his bill. According to prosecutors, they conspired to create a "false impression" that they had done work to collect the money. Christmas was charged with perjury in connection with the investigation. Absent, however, in yesterday's indictment were any drug-related charges - the allegation the FBI raised more than three years ago when obtaining court permission to tap the religious leader's phones. Instead, investigators focused on municipal corruption charges that FBI agents picked up on wiretaps during their extensive surveillance of Ali, which included video footage of what authorities called a cash exchange between the imam and Vaughn, chief of staff to City Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller. For months, Ali has called the federal investigation unfounded, insisting that he has nothing to do with the drug trade, that his business dealings are beyond reproach and that the federal government has targeted him because he is Muslim. Those narcotics wiretaps, which began in June 2001 and lasted 18 months, unexpectedly sparked the political corruption investigation that led, ultimately, to the discovery of an FBI bug in the mayor's office a year ago. Charges were levied in June against former city treasurer Corey Kemp, top mayoral fund-raiser Ronald A. White and two Commerce Bank executives, among others.