Letter to President Obama from Candidate for Congress

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
FROM BRIAN “RYAN B” DOYLE for Congress

November 30, 2009

Hon. President Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20006

Fax and Mailed

RE: Suspending Payroll Taxes and Requiring Banks to make Loan to Small Business Owners

Hon. President Obama:

I am writing on behalf of the America people and small business owners across the country in need.

I am a candidate for Congress for the 3rd Congressional District of South Carolina. My district was hit hard due to the North American and Central Trade Agreements. We have lost thousands of jobs and small businesses are closing their doors. I believe it’s now time to review both agreements and make the necessary changes to save the few American jobs we have left in South Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

As a democratic candidate I am asking you Mr. President to order our treasury Secretary, Hon. Timothy F. Geithner to suspend payroll taxes as of Dec 31, 2009 for six months to help Americans and small business owners.

I believe this will help bail-out the real people who are suffering the tax payers. This will help simulate our economy and help our GDP. I know that you have been working hard to fix our financial crisis that you inherited. We need your help and support now more than ever.

I remember my two radio interview with you as an syndicated radio talk show host and you said “we have to get American back on the right track”.

I am also asking the administration to require banks and leading institutions that received government assistance to start lending money to small business owners. I believe it would only be fair to audit and confirm that banks loan or make available at least 25% of the monies they received from the tax payers.

In order to move forward and out of this financial crisis we can no longer allow the banks to use tax payer’s money to provide lavish bonuses nor buy or merge with other failing companies. We must demand real growth into our economy. Banks have failed to earn their bailouts and live up to the expectations of the American people.

I am working hard to bring more jobs and better opportunity to the people of the 3rd congressional district of South Carolina. I believe truly in my heart you want the best for all Americans and not only for large corporations and rich bankers. Now is the time to bail-out the American people and small businesses.

Please help me help the people of South Carolina and Americans. Please suspend payroll taxes for six months and give Americans and small businesses a chance to get back on their feet. God Bless you, your family and the United States of America.

Best Regards,
Brian “Ryan B” Doyle for Congress

Brian Doyle,
Candidate for Congress
3rd Congressional District South Carolina

Health Care Reform Town halls gone wild

Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.

On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior. In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.

“I had felt they would be pointless,” Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) told POLITICO, referring to his recent decision to suspend the events in his Long Island district. “There is no point in meeting with my constituents and [to] listen to them and have them listen to you if what is basically an unruly mob prevents you from having an intelligent conversation.”

In Bishop’s case, his decision came on the heels of a June 22 event he held in Setauket, N.Y., in which protesters dominated the meeting by shouting criticisms at the congressman for his positions on energy policy, health care and the bailout of the auto industry.

Within an hour of the disruption, police were called in to escort the 59-year-old Democrat — who has held more than 100 town hall meetings since he was elected in 2002 — to his car safely.

“I have no problem with someone disagreeing with positions I hold,” Bishop said, noting that, for the time being, he was using other platforms to communicate with his constituents. “But I also believe no one is served if you can’t talk through differences.”

Bishop isn’t the only one confronted by boiling anger and rising incivility. At a health care town hall event in Syracuse, N.Y., earlier this month, police were called in to restore order, and at least one heckler was taken away by local police. Close to 100 sign-carrying protesters greeted Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) at a late June community college small-business development forum in Panama City, Fla. Last week, Danville, Va., anti-tax tea party activists claimed they were “refused an opportunity” to ask Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-Va.) a question at a town hall event and instructed by a plainclothes police officer to leave the property after they attempted to hold up protest signs.

The targets in most cases are House Democrats, who over the past few months have tackled controversial legislation including a $787 billion economic stimulus package, a landmark energy proposal and an overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

Democrats, acknowledging the increasing unruliness of the town-hall-style events, say the hot-button issues they are taking on have a lot to do with it.

“I think it’s just the fact that we are dealing with some of the most important public policy issues in a generation,” said Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), who was confronted by a protester angry about his position on health care reform at a town hall event several weeks ago.

“I think in general what is going on is we are tackling issues that have been ignored for a long time, and I think that is disruptive to a lot of people,” said Bishop, a four-term congressman. “We are trying, one by one, to deal with a set of issues that can’t be ignored, and I think that’s unsettling to a lot of people.”

Freshman Rep. Dan Maffei (D-N.Y.), whose event at a Syracuse middle school was disrupted, said that he still planned to hold additional town halls but that he was also thinking about other options.

“I think you’ve got to communicate through a variety of different ways. You should do the telephone town hall meetings. You should do the town hall meetings. You should do the smaller group meetings,” said Maffei. “It’s important to do things in a variety of ways, so you don’t have one mode of communication.”

“You’re going to have people of varying views, and in this case, you’ve got the two extremes who were the most vocal,” Maffei said of the flare-up at his July 12 event.

On Tuesday, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who handles incumbent retention duties for House Democrats in addition to chairing the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, met with freshman members to discuss their plans for the monthlong August recess. While the specific issue of town hall protesters never came up, according to sources familiar with the meeting, he urged them not to back away from opponents.

“He said, ‘Go on offense. Stay on the offense. It’s really important that your constituents hear directly from you. You shouldn’t let a day go by [that] your constituents don’t hear from you,’” said one House Democratic leadership aide familiar with the meeting.

Some members profess to enjoy the give-and-take of the town halls, even if lately it’s become more take than give.

“Town halls are a favorite part of my job,” said Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), a third-term congressman from St. Louis who noted that a “handful” of disruptions had taken place at his meetings. “It’s what I do. It’s what I will continue to do.”

“People have gotten fired up and all that, but I think that’s what makes town halls fun,” said Perriello, a freshman who is among the most vulnerable Democrats in 2010. “I think that most of the time when we get out there, it’s a good chance for people to vent and offer their thoughts. It’s been good.”

“I enjoy it, and people have a chance to speak their mind,” he said.

Both Carnahan and Perriello said they were plunging forward with plans to hold more town hall meetings.

Republicans, with an eye toward 2010, are keeping close track of the climate at Democratic events.

“We’ve seen Russ Carnahan, we’ve seen Tim Bishop, we’ve seen some other people face some very different crowds back home,” said National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas). “The days of you having a town hall meeting where maybe 15 or 20 of your friends show up — they’re over. You’ve now got real people who are showing up — and that’s going to be a factor.”

Asked later how or whether the GOP would use the confrontations against Democrats, Sessions responded: “Wait till next year.”

But Democrats are quick to point out they’re not the only ones facing hostile audiences. They single out Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), who found himself in a confrontation earlier this month with a “birther” protester, and insist that Republicans face a backlash of their own if it appears the party is too closely aligned with tea party activists or other conservative-oriented protesters.

“It’s a risk that they align themselves with such a small minority in the party,” said Brian Smoot, who served as political director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the past election cycle. “They risk alienating moderates.”

Steve McNair was drunk when murdered, Sahel Kazemi had marijuana in her system

Vernon Forrest’s killer caught on tape

On Thursday, Atlanta police released video from three locations near Saturday night’s robbery and shooting death of boxer Vernon Forrest. Authorities hope that the video will help them find as many as four suspects that were involved in the crime.

Lt. Keith Meadows said, “at least three, and possibly four” individuals were involved. According to Meadows, the video shows a clear image of the suspected robber, but not the man who shot and killed Forrest less than three minutes later. The man who robbed Forrest took his Rolex watch and championship ring.

See Video above picture

Vernon Forrest Boxer

Madoff enroute to federal prison: U.S. official say

Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:26pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Admitted thief Bernard Madoff was moved from his New York jail cell on Monday and was en route to federal prison, a U.S. prison official said.

Disgraced financier Madoff, who has spent the last four months in jail after pleading guilty to a worldwide fraud of as much as $65 billion, was sentenced to 150 years imprisonment by a judge on June 29.

“He is in transit to another facility,” said Scott Sussman, a spokesman for the Manhattan Correctional Center next door to the courthouse where Madoff confessed to his crimes in front of defrauded investors.

Sussman declined to provide further details, citing Federal Bureau of Prisons policy not to disclose the location of a prison until the convict had arrived.

Madoff’s lawyer had asked that his client be incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, New York, a medium-security prison about 70 miles northwest of New York City, but the final decision is made by the prisons bureau.

CNBC TV reported on Monday that Madoff was being transferred to a prison in Butner, North Carolina. A spokeswoman at Butner was not available for comment. (Reporting by Grant McCool; Editing Bernard Orr)

O.J. Makes Request for Bail

By The Associated Press

LAS VEGAS (AP) — O.J. Simpson is promising not to disappear or endanger the community if he’s freed from prison pending his appeal in an armed hotel room heist, his lawyers told the Nevada Supreme Court.

“Simpson recognizes that he has a heavy burden in demonstrating that his release will pose no danger to the community and that he is not a flight risk,” attorneys Yale Galanter and Malcolm LaVergne said in a follow-up document filed Monday with the state’s only appellate court. “Simpson will strictly adhere to whatever conditions this court sets for bond.”

A three-member panel of Nevada Supreme Court justices plans oral arguments Aug. 3 in Las Vegas on Simpson’s request to post unspecified bond while the seven-member court considers his appeal.

This week’s filing followed an initial appeal for bail filed May 28.

The new papers include an affidavit from one of the two memorabilia dealers robbed in the September 2007 encounter, renewing his allegation that Clark County District Attorney David Roger wouldn’t let him drop the charges against Simpson.

“I wanted all of the charges against O.J. Simpson dropped,” Alfred Beardsley said in the document. “After I testified, the Clark County district attorney’s office fabricated the idea that the reason I was a reluctant witness was because Mr. Simpson had intimidated, threatened or promised me something of value.”

The two-page affidavit also referred to Beardsley’s denial before a judge in Santa Monica, Calif., that he received Simpson’s NFL Hall of Fame ring to change his story in the Las Vegas case.

“Mr. Simpson has never promised me anything for me to testify the way I did,” Beardsley said.

Simpson, 61, is serving nine to 33 years for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon in the gunpoint robbery of Beardsley and memorabilia broker Bruce Fromong in a Las Vegas hotel room in 2007.

A lawyer for Simpson’s convicted co-defendant, Clarence “C.J.” Stewart, said Stewart also plans to file follow-up bail request documents before a separate Aug. 3 hearing by the state Supreme Court panel.

Roger has filed documents asking the state high court to keep Simpson locked up, citing the length of his sentence and Simpson’s admission in 2008 that he violated a court order by trying to contact a co-defendant before trial.

Simpson’s lawyers say Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass never made a specific finding that Simpson was a flight risk or a danger to the public.

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Bury the Never Ending Myth of Jackson as Child Molester

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Websites, blogs and chatrooms pulsed with garish cracks about it. Legions of commentators and news reporters snuck it in every chance they got. More than a few of Michael Jackson’s fervent admirers and supporters made a dismissive reference to it. Even President Barack Obama in a cautious acknowledgement of Jackson’s towering contributions to American music and artistry still made reference to the “tragedy” in Jackson’s life which was a subtle nod to it. And New York Congressman Pete King skipped the niceties and flatly said it.

The “it” is the never ending myth of Jackson the child molester. It still hangs as a damning indictment that feeds the gossip mills and gives an arsenal of ammunition to Jackson detractors. This is not a small point. In the coming weeks, there will be a push to bestow official commemorative monuments, honors on and a national stamp for Jackson. The taint of scandal could doom these efforts to permanently memorialize Jackson.

The child molester myth doesn’t rest on Jackson’s trial and clean acquittal on multiple child abuse charges in a Santa Maria courthouse in June 2005. Only the most rabid Jackson loathers still finger point to that to taint Jackson. The myth of Jackson as child abuser rests squarely on the charge by a 13 year old boy a decade before the trial and the multi-million dollar settlement out of court. The settlement, then and now, feeds the suspicion that Jackson must have done something unsavory and probably criminal, or else why settle?

16 years later, though, the facts remain unchanged. The charge that Jackson molested the boy was brought by the boy’s father. In interviews the boy repeatedly denied the charges. This changed only after he was administered sodium amytal, an invasive, mind altering drug that medical experts have frowned on and courts have disregarded in witness testimony. Prosecutors, police departments and investigators in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara spent millions of dollars, convened two grand juries and probed nearly 200 witnesses that included 30 children, who knew Jackson to try to substantiate the charge. Not a single corroborating witness was found. Nonetheless, a motley group of disgruntled Jackson’s former housekeepers, attendants and bodyguards still peddled the story to any media outlet willing to shell out the cash that Jackson had engaged in child sexual wrongdoing. Not one of the charges was confirmed. Typical was this exchange between one of Jackson’s attorneys and one of the accusing bodyguards under oath:

“So you don’t know anything about Mr. Jackson and [the boy], do you?”

“All I know is from the sworn documents that other people have sworn to.”

“But other than what someone else may have said, you have no firsthand knowledge about Mr. Jackson and [the boy], do you?”

“That’s correct.”

“Have you spoken to a child who has ever told you that Mr. Jackson did anything improper with the child?”

“No.”

“Where did you get your impressions about Jackson’s behavior?”

“Just what I’ve been hearing in the media and what I’ve experienced with my own eyes.”

“Okay. That’s the point. You experienced nothing with your own eyes, did you?”

“That’s right, nothing.”

When asked at the time about the charges against Jackson, child behavior experts and psychiatrists nearly all agreed that he did not fit the profile of a pedophile. They agreed that the disorder is progressive and there are generally not one but a trail of victims.

The myth of Jackson as child molester never hinged on evidence or testimony to substantiate it, but solely on the settlement. Why then did Jackson agree to it?

No charge stirs more disgust, revulsion, and pricks more emotional hot buttons than the charge of child molestation. The accusation stamps the Scarlet letter of doubt, suspicion, shame and guilt on the accused. The accused can never fully expunge it. There is simply no defense against it. Under the hyper intense media glare and spotlight that Jackson remained under, the allegation no mater how bogus would have been endless fodder for the public gossip mill. This would have wreaked irreparable damage on Jackson’s ever shifting musical career and personal life.

A trial in Los Angeles in the racially charged backdrop of the Rodney King beating, the L.A. riots, and pulsating racial tensions in the mid-1990s would have been risky business. A trial in staid, upscale, and majority white, Santa Barbara County would have been even more risky.

Jackson and his attorneys knew that when it came to the charge of child molestation the presumption of innocence, or even actual innocence, is tossed out the window. Though Jackson did nothing wrong, a trial would have left him, his reputation and his career in shambles. The settlement was the only pragmatic, logical and legal way to end the sordid issue.

The settlement under extreme duress must not sully his name and place as an honored American icon. The myth of Jackson as child molester must finally be buried.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His weekly radio show, “The Hutchinson Report” can be heard on weekly in Los Angeles on KTYM Radio 1460 AM and nationally on blogtalkradio.com.

McNair mourned as ‘hero’ at Funeral

HATTIESBURG, Miss. | Titans quarterback Vince Young didn’t expect to speak Saturday during his mentor’s funeral. He wound up summing up the emotional day with just a few words.

“Steve was like a hero to me, and heroes are not supposed to die,” Young said before stopping to rub his eyes as he talked about Steve McNair, his predecessor with the Titans.

McNair was shot and killed on July 4 by his girlfriend, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, who then shot herself in the head.

Nearly 5,000 turned out to say goodbye to the 36-year-old during one of the biggest funerals in the recent history of Mississippi, McNair’s home state. Fans and old friends filed into the Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, and McNair’s family rented buses to bring in people from his hometown of Mount Olive.

The high school football team McNair’s son plays on wore their jerseys in honor of the man they often saw smiling from the sideline.

“Mississippi has lost a tremendous legend,” said Cardell Jones, McNair’s college coach at Alcorn State.

The hearse carrying McNair’s casket was escorted 30 miles down Highway 49 by nine police officers on motorcycles and several vehicles carried family members. After the two-hour service, the procession headed back down the road for a private burial at Griffith Cemetery, about 20 miles from Mount Olive.

Police escorted McNair’s wife, Mechelle, and his mother, Lucille, into the stadium beforehand. Near the end, a handful of people surrounded his mother and his sons, waving them with fans and programs and giving hugs.

Brett Favre, who had a home near McNair’s in Hattiesburg, sat a few rows behind the McNair family but did not speak. Titans coach Jeff Fisher, Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis and Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler attended. Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl, also was on hand.

Young was added to the service late, and the quarterback drafted in 2006 to replace McNair remembered him as a father and mentor. Young said he felt selfish at times taking McNair away from his four sons to help him through his own life.

He then pointed at the Oak Grove High football team sitting in the stands and told them not to give up if they have someone who inspires them.

“Pay attention to that guy because every day you know I had to hear that guy’s voice,” Young said.

Lewis played against McNair and was his teammate the final two years of the quarterback’s NFL career. Lewis said he learned studying film and proper technique wouldn’t help him beat a quarterback fueled by will, heart and sacrifice.

“I find myself in awe when I speak about a man like Steve McNair,” Lewis said.

Bobby Hamilton, who played at Southern Miss and in the NFL with New England and Oakland, used to sleep on the floor of McNair’s oldest brother, Fred, when he played at Alcorn State. He also cheered on McNair during his career and recalled how McNair rallied Alcorn State once by scoring two touchdowns with less than a minute left.

“It’s very painful. We know he was a warrior. … I can’t even say the word how this warrior went down,” Hamilton said.

The program included memories from McNair’s mother, his wife and sons, brothers, and nieces and nephews. Photos were also displayed of the quarterback who played 13 NFL seasons with Tennessee and Baltimore before retiring in 2008.

Coach Nevil Barr brought the jersey-clad Oak Grove team to the service.

“He was on our sideline every Friday night supporting his son,” Barr said. “He loved to come watch Steve Jr., and we loved having him there.

“He always had that smile.”

Sotomayor vows ‘fidelity to the law’

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor responded to her critics publicly for the first time Monday, saying her judicial philosophy is “fidelity to the law” and saying her “career as an advocated ended” when she became a judge in 1992.

From her nomination by President Barack Obama in late May through today’s hearing, the task of defending Judge Sotomayor has largely fallen on Democratic senators and the White House.

The Capitol Hill hearing was interrupted several times by protesters, including a man who shouted shortly before the proceedings began: “What about the rights of the unborn?” About an hour later, U.S. Capitol Police removed a second protester, a younger man with his hair in a ponytail who shouted: “Abortion is murder, abortion is murder, abortion is murder.”

The proceedings were interrupted two more times after the lunch recess. “You’re wrong Sotomayor, you’re wrong about abortion,” a protester said before exiting the Hart Senate Office Building room. A fourth protester shouted an indiscernible phrase shortly before Judge Sotomayor testified.

Judge Sotomayor’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Monday afternoon marked the first time she directly responded to critiques that she let gender and ethnicity influence her decisions.

“In the past month, many Senators have asked me about my judicial philosophy. It is simple: fidelity to the law,” Judge Sotomayor said. “The task of a judge is not to make the law — it is to apply the law. And it is clear, I believe, that my record in two courts reflects my rigorous commitment to interpreting the Constitution according to its terms; interpreting statutes according to their terms and Congresss intent; and hewing faithfully to precedents established by the Supreme Court and my Circuit Court.”

• Text of Sotomayor’s opening statement

The testimony marks the first time Judge Sotomayor has publicly addressed her critics since being nominated to the court by Mr. Obama. For the last month much of the debate has been limited to Judge Sotomayor’s speeches and bits of privae conversations senators talked about.

Republican senators, who are outnumbered 7-12 on the committee, focused much of their opening statements on Judge Sotomayor’s remarks that a “wise Latina woman” would make better judgments than a “white male” saying they could not vote for a nominee who could not be impartial on the bench.

“If I had said anything remotely like that, my career would have been over. That’s true of most people here. And you need to understand that, and I look forward to talking with you about that comment,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told Judge Sotomayor.

Still, Mr. Graham said he was resigned to the political reality of the Democrat caucus controlling 60 of the Senate’s 100 seats.

“Unless you have a complete meltdown, you’re going to be confirmed,” he said.

Democrat and Republican lawmakers largely staked out the same positions on Judge Sotomayor they had developed in the month and a half since her nominations as the confirmation hearing continued Monday afternoon.

Judge Sotomayor also responded to critics who said her work for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund revealed her prejudices.

“My career as an advocate ended — and my career as a judge began — when I was appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York,” she said.

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Bill Clinton inducted by black fraternity Phi Beta Sigma

A historically black fraternity founded at Howard University has voted to induct former President Bill Clinton as an honorary member.

Phi Beta Sigma President Paul Griffin Jr. said Friday that Mr. Clinton is the first U.S. president to be inducted into a historically black fraternity.

The fraternity voted Tuesday for Mr. Clinton’s induction at its 95th Anniversary Conclave in New Orleans.

Stevie Wonder, Al Roker, the Rev. Al Sharpton and jazz musician Ramsey Lewis are also honorary members of Phi Beta Sigma.

The fraternity was founded in 1914.

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