Salaam

Some Good News from 2004

Thanks to Ben Cohen at TrueMajority for pointing out some good news from 2004. Grass roots efforts do work, and he points out evidence of it. By the way, if you follow the link you won't see the information I've copied below. It is from the e-newsletter he sends out, and I don't see it on the website yet. I suggest you sign up for the email alerts. They are great sources of information from time to time, and Ben has made contacting your representatives just a few clicks away.


Ben's Note:
Congress is about to get in full gear again, so it's a good time to take a look back at last year's successes for some inspiration. Yes, we know, a lot of us are trying to forget last year, too. But your faxes, e-mails, contributions, and phone calls generated results we can be proud of.

No New Nuclear Bombs

Who would have thought that Congress would ever cut all funding for a weapon called the "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator"? Sounds like just the kind of bomb Tom DeLay would love. But we're glad to report that after intense grassroots pressure, Congress cut this new bomb—which is designed to burrow underground and destroy bunkers. We should be dismantling the nukes we have, not building dangerous new ones. So this was a good victory.

Sudan

At first, the Bush administration wanted to essentially ignore the genocide in Sudan. Then Bush said he wanted to take action, but not call the atrocities "genocide." In the end, the administration not only joined Congress in calling the situation "genocide," which adds a new level of responsibility to the UN's reaction to the crisis, but Bush eagerly signed the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan bill. This bill puts the teeth of sanctions behind our demands that the Sudan government stop the genocide. This turnaround is directly attributable to grassroots pressure like ours. We are also glad for the media attention that you've generated—like the project funded by TrueMajority members that sent a camera crew directly to a refugee camp.

Renewable Energy

One of the Bush administration's top priorities for last year was enacting an energy policy that would further our nation's dependence on fossil fuels, locking our country into a future of more pollution, economic decline, and, almost certainly, more wars over oil. It was a great victory for us—and the planet—when, after a popular uprising, Congress stopped Bush's energy bill. We've got our work cut out for us this year, but this was a sweet win.

Star Wars

It makes sense only in the Bush administration's Orwellian mind to declare Star Wars "operable" even though it doesn't work. But this was Bush's goal for 2004. Thanks to you, the administration was not able to push this past Congress, due to failed testing, obvious incompetence, and serious grassroots pressure.

Voter Registration

We registered thousands of new voters and put the danger of electronic paperless voting machines in the national spotlight. Eleven states, including California, now plan to require voting systems that allow for recounts and issue verifiable paper ballots. Even Ohio—the home of Diebold, the nation's largest maker of electronic voting machines—now says it has no plans to buy any if the machines don't generate a paper trail.

posted by Abdul-Salaam @ 7:17 AM