Saturday, October 31st, 2009
John Baer, Philadelphia Daily News, October 30, 2009. PHILADELPHIA — The nasty race for state Supreme Court is making yet another strong case for not electing statewide judges. Pennsylvania, no surprise, is among only a handful of states with partisan judicial elections at all levels. The others? Such progressive giants as Alabama, Louisiana, Illinois, Texas and West Virginia, the state with the lowest percentage of college grads in the nation.
As for those mewling and whining, “Oh, we want to keep our vote”? Really, do you? Then why does turnout in judicial elections run around minus-4 percent? Given what Pennsylvanians do with their vote, we should have merit selection not only for the state bench but also for the Legislature. In fact, for the Legislature we should try random selection. Would we be worse off? Read More
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Ellen Nakashima and Paul Kane, Washington Post, October 30, 2009. WASHINGTON DC – House ethics investigators have been scrutinizing the activities of more than 30 lawmakers and several aides in inquiries about issues including defense lobbying and corporate influence peddling, according to a confidential House ethics committee report prepared in July.The report appears to have been inadvertently placed on a publicly accessible computer network, and it was provided to The Washington Post by a source not connected to the congressional investigations. The committee said Thursday night that the document was released by a low-level staffer.
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Friday, October 30th, 2009
Brian Bakst, Associated Press, October 29, 2009. ST. PAUL, Minn. — A new law meant to protect the voting rights of deployed troops and other Americans overseas is forcing at least a dozen states to consider holding their primaries earlier or to negotiate another plan that federal officials will accept. Read More
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Newsroom, Demos.org., October 29, 2009. New York, NY – This week, Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), introduced legislation in the Senate and House of Representatives that would allow for Same Day Registration (SDR) in all federal elections. With SDR, individuals who missed their states’ voter registration deadline can register to vote on Election Day or the period leading up to it, and then cast a valid ballot. Nine states currently offer Same Day Registration. The bill is also cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and John Kerry (D-MA). House cosponsors include Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Kendrick Meek (D-FL), Timothy Walz (D-MN), Bob Filner (D-CA), and James Oberstar (D-MN).
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Friday, October 30th, 2009
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, October 29, 2009. WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, announced today that President Obama has signed into law his legislation to make it easier for U.S. troops to cast ballots from overseas. The measure-co-sponsored by Senators Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Senate Rules Committee Ranking Member Robert Bennett (R-UT) and 55 other senators-was attached to the Department of Defense authorization bill, which cleared the Senate on a 68-29 vote last week.
President Obama signed the bill into law late Wednesday. Read More
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