Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Call For Action From Governor Dean
The following emergency call for action was sent out tonight from Governor Dean. Please click the links below to add your name.
Apparently Republican threats to abolish every United States Senator's right to freely speak on the floor of the Senate, the so-called "nuclear option", which would abolish filibuster and fundamentally alter our system of government, is coming to a head. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sent a powerful statement to Republican Senate leaders tonight. Read it at Daily Kos:
GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN
Sometimes partisan politics gets overheated -- I know that as well as anyone. But when one party controls all three branches of government, and then seeks to change the fundamental principles and rules of our democracy, we need to talk about it soberly and seriously.
The Republican Senate leaders have decided to fundamentally alter the role of Congress -- they want to give George Bush unprecedented power to manipulate the legislative branch and the courts.
Today Harry Reid and the Democratic Senators asked us, the American people, to help them preserve the right of our elected representatives to speak their mind on the floor of the U.S. Senate.
We have to act. Sign this petition, which we will deliver to every U.S. Senator, asking them to protect the right to free speech in the Senate. If they don't, it is not only their voice that will be silenced -- it will be ours:
Here are the facts: George Bush has appointed judges to lifetime positions at a better rate than any president in nearly three decades. More than 95% of his nominees have been approved. Only ten nominees have been refused -- all because they are unqualified and out of the mainstream.
But that's not enough. And on this issue, as on Social Security, it is becoming more and more obvious to everyone that the Republican leadership is out of touch with reality.
More Americans voted against George Bush than any sitting president in history. And that same day, across the country, the Democratic candidates for Senate received over 4 million more votes than Republicans.
Americans did not endorse the fringe agenda to dismantle Social Security. And they did not endorse dismantling the system of checks and balances that have served our country for over 200 years.
Please tell your Senator to stand up for free speech:
This is not a partisan issue -- it is an American issue. And we all must act together in order to protect our democracy.
Thank you.
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
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