cannabisnews.com: Budget Passage Comes at a Cost
Budget Passage Comes at a Cost
Posted by CN Staff on October 02, 2002 at 21:24:05 PT
By District Notebook - WP Staff Writers
Source: Washington Post
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) praised the House Appropriations Committee last week for what she called the smoothest approval of the District's budget in years. But it was too slick for proponents of legalizing medical use of marijuana.Supporters of a November ballot initiative to legalize marijuana had lined up five Democratic committee members behind a proposal by Rep. John W. Olver (D-Mass.) to lift a three-year-old congressional ban on such a change in the District.
The ban, advocated by lame-duck Rep. Robert L. Barr (R-Ga.), was added to the budget after 69 percent of District residents approved a similar initiative in 1998.But in a deal cut to speed approval of the city's $5.8 billion 2003 spending plan, Norton asked fellow Democrats not to submit new amendments to the budget and said several decided against District-friendly measures that "simply would have made the appropriation more controversial without any gain in the House.""Our strong belief is, whether Ms. Norton thought we might lose this vote or win this vote, the fact is we need to have these votes," said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. "When members go on record opposing medical marijuana, they do it at their own peril. We need people in Congress to stand up for the people of D.C., and members of Congress need to know that by leaving the Barr amendment as is, they are prolonging the suffering of seriously ill patients in the District of Columbia."Failure to remove the Barr amendment means the medical marijuana measure, Initiative 63, may not go forward, in accordance with a Sept. 20 decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.Norton noted that no new riders were added by either party in the House and that some from past years were removed. Bipartisan agreement was especially important because an election-year logjam threatens to delay many budget bills.Norton spokesman Jon Bouker said Norton "took her cues entirely" from supporters of the 1998 initiative, including Wayne Turner of Act Up/DC -- http://www.actupdc.org/ -- and that the partisan election season was not the time to try to remove the ban, especially since Barr lost his party's nomination and will not return to Congress next year.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: District Notebook, Washington Post Staff WritersPublished: Thursday, October 3, 2002; Page DZ02 Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Court Knocks Medicinal Marijuana Off Ballot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14187.shtmlCourt Blocks D.C. Vote on Medical Marijuanahttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14185.shtmlMedical Marijuana Initiative Accepted for Election http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14141.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on October 03, 2002 at 08:09:18 PT
Libertarian Party Press Release
Medical Marijuana Ads Play Role in Defeat of U.S. Rep. Bob BarrThe “worst Drug Warrior in Congress” has lost his seat -- and the Libertarian Party appears to have played a small role in making it happen.U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, an outspoken opponent of medical marijuana, was defeated by Rep. John Linder in a Republican primary election in Georgia on August 20. With 82% of precincts reporting, Linder had 67% of the vote to Barr’s 33%, prompting Barr’s concession.Over the past two weeks, Barr had been the target of a barrage of television ads produced by the Libertarian Party. The ads were run by Carole Ann Rand, the LP candidate for U.S. House in Georgia’s 7th Congressional district.Complete Press Release: http://www.lp.org/lpnews/0210/barr.html
Rand for Congress
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Comment #4 posted by DANA on October 03, 2002 at 00:40:49 PT
..Welcome To The Way Things Are!
...things are going to get even worse!.....consider the absurdity of the approval for war!..democrats are almost more sickening than republicans......"The People",no longer have control...........Yes,,ideally we could vote our way out of this nightmare,,BUT...have you heard about the new touch-screen computer voting machines?.... Here's a disturbing article:.. Election Night Projections -
Cover For Vote Rigging Since 1964?
by Lynn Landes The news networks don't just report election news,
they create it. But do they also conspire to
control election results? Voter News Service (VNS) is a top-secret private
consortium owned by ABC News, The Associated Press,
CBS News, CNN, Fox News, and NBC News. It's current
headquarters is in Brooklyn, New York. It's been
around (under different names) since 1964. It's the
only company whose exit poll results are used by
the news media to announce the "projected" winners
in races for the president, U.S. House and Senate,
state governors, and select races. By 1964, computers were used to predict election
outcomes, as well as to count votes on "punch
cards." With the use of computerized vote counters
and the news networks exclusive control over
polling data in major elections, the gates to
election fraud were wide open. Computerized voting
machines have now made election fraud as easy as
stealing candy from a baby. So how could VNS help rig an election? VNS could
conspire with corrupt government officials and
crooked voting machine companies (whose reputation
for fraud and "error" grows with every election) to
come up with projections that closely mirror the
expected election results. Then all that's needed
is some 'tweaking' in targeted precincts where
voting data can be manipulated, voting machines
rigged ....and elections swung. VNS follows through
with its de facto certification of election results
that have already been fixed. If someone suspects
vote rigging, there's always VNS to say that the
results match their projections. And with no oversight, who's to know? This scenario did not originate in my imagination.
The authors of "Votescam, The Stealing of America,"
James and Kenneth Collier (both deceased)
chronicled vote rigging from 1970 to 1992, that
followed a similar scheme. The Colliers also
included government officials, such as employees of
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as players
in this decades-old scam. Media critics have long
complained about an unethical relationship between
the CIA and the news networks. Most people believe that the networks compete to be
the first to announce the "projected" election
night winners. And the networks do their best to
create that impression. But they haven't competed
since 1964. However, VNS officials are still trying to obscure
their lengthy history. On February 14, 2001, in
testimony before Congressman Billy Tauzin's (LA)
Committee on Energy and Commerce, VNS executive
director, Ted Savaglio, said that the networks
first got together in 1990 and that VNS was created
in 1993. The name "Voter News Service" was created
in 1993, and new members have come on board over
the years. But the original group of news networks
has collaborated since 1964. They used two
different names - News Election Services and Voter
Research and Survey - before becoming VNS. In a telephone interview I had with long-time VNS
communications director, Lee C. Sharpio, she agreed
to the 1964 date. But that's about all she would
reveal. There is no transparency to VNS. Shapiro
will not tell you how big their budget is, nor who
hires the 46,000 people she claims they use on
election night to collect exit polling data, nor
will she give you any proof that these 46,000
employees exist...no phone logs, no emails lists,
no documents to prove that they do what they say
they do. Shapiro would not let me talk to any
employee of VNS's regular staff of 30. She says
that VNS will not let anyone witness their
operations on election night nor would she disclose
its location. VNS has no website and a very
uninformative brochure. Undeterred, I placed a direct call to VNS's current
executive director, Ted Savaglio. I left a message,
but he hasn't returned my call. Bill Headline was VNS's executive director during
the notorious 2000 Bush - Gore presidential
election. According to information on a University
of Miami webpage, Headline started his career as an
Air Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy from 1955
to 1957. Seven years later, in 1964, he was hired
at CBS where "as a member of Louis Harris and
Associates, he directed field research and vote
collection activities for CBS coverage of the 1964
Presidential elections." From there his career
skyrocketed to Senior Vice President of CBS News,
CNN Vice President, and past President of the
Radio/Television Correspondents' Association. Very impressive... but something may also be...
very wrong. Victoria Collier (daughter of James
Collier) interviewed Headline before he retired
from VNS. She was shocked at how nervous he sounded
over the telephone. I telephoned Headline the other
day and left a message asking for information about
Voter News Service, what he did between 1957-1964,
and if he ever had a working relationship with the
CIA or any other intelligence agency. He hasn't
returned my call. If VNS is helping to rig elections, why are they
doing it? Generally speaking... I believe that the
same people who can't rake in enough money, also
can't get enough power. The news networks are owned
lock, stock, and barrel by the richest corporations
and individuals in the world. They certainly have
an agenda. Their arrogance and disregard for the
little guy is clear. They may think that we're not
smart enough to pick the 'right' kind of leaders...
right for them, that is. So they might try to do it
for us. Voter News Service warrants an investigation. Its
operations should be shut down regardless. It's in
a perfect position to sabotage the election
process. Let the counties count the vote and report
it to the states. If it takes a day or two for the
states to report the results... so be it. Democracy
takes time. Meanwhile, we should bring back hand-counted paper
ballots and use computerized voting machines for
confirmation purposes only. If we don't take these
precautions, we may continue to have our
corporate-owned media, corrupt government
officials, and crooked voting machine companies
electing our leaders for us.
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Comment #3 posted by afterburner on October 02, 2002 at 21:53:31 PT:
Vote vote Vote
Vote out the bums.
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Comment #2 posted by DdC on October 02, 2002 at 21:51:27 PT
Bob Barbarian C.I.A. Lawyer, No Vested Ignorance!
"Suppose you go to Washington and try to get at your Government. You will always find that while you are politely listened to, the men really consulted are the men who have the biggest stake - the big bankers, the big manufacturers, the big masters of commerce...The Government of the United States at present is a foster child of Special Interests."
-- President Woodrow Wilson "The only way that democracy can be made bearable is by developing and cherishing a class of men sufficiently honest and disinterested to challenge the prevailing quacks. No such class has ever appeared in strength in the United States. Thus the business of harassing the quacks devolves upon the newspapers. When they fail in their duty, which is usually, we are at the quacks' mercy." -- H.L. Mencken "The end of the institution, maintenance and administration of government is to secure the existence of the body politic: to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying, in safety and tranquillity, their natural rights and the blessings of life; and whenever these great objects are not ordained, the people have a right to alter the government and to take measures necessary for their safety, happiness and prosperity." -- President John AdamsCannabis Hemp: The Invisible Prohibition Revealed
http://www.sumeria.net/politics/invpro.htmlThe Elkhorn Manifesto
http://www.wealth4freedom.com/Elkhorn.htmlBob Barbarian
http://www.cannabinoid.com/wwwboard/politics/binaries/32/32374.gif
D.E.A.th Deceptions
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Comment #1 posted by Prime on October 02, 2002 at 21:33:34 PT
Criminals...
They call us criminals? If this was 1690, we'd be storming the castle with pitchforks and torches.
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