Struggling 72-Year-Old Wal-Mart Worker Featured On Last Night’s Obama Infomercial

He should have taken a job at Burger King, or possibly Home Depot if they allow people that old to work there.

M.Patel: Being from Houston,this may be of concern to you:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~More Vote-Flipping in TX by Machines Other Than Those Made by ES&S;Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems Made by Hart InterCivic and Diebold Also Reportedly Now Flipping Votes From Democratic to Republican in TX…

Last week, from the Houston Chronicle:

[Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman’s] office was informed early today that some of the first voters had cast straight-ticket Democratic ballots and then discovered that the electronic machines listed them as voting for John McCain in the presidential election.
In the report, Kaufman, as expected, tries to play down the reports of problems. Harris County (Houston), the largest county in the second largest uses the Hart InterCivic eSlate DRE. Though the eSlate is not a touch-screen --- voters use a wheel and a button to select candidates from the computer screen --- it’s still an unverifiable DRE voting system.

Our friend Pokey Anderson, an election integrity advocate in Houston, and host of KPFT/Pacifica’s Sunday Monitor program, confirmed with one of the first 30 or so voters to vote on the first day of early voting at the West Gray Multi-Service Center that her straight ticket Democratic vote was flipped to McCain.

Fortunately, “the voter caught it, and finally called for help from a pollworker, and they got the machine’s McCain choice changed back,” Anderson told us. “She said the pollworker told her she was not the only one who had had this problem.”

We’ve received reports that some locations in TX, using the Hart eSlate, have taken to taping signs on the machines which read “This is not a touch-screen!” Whether that’s meant to deceptively ease voter concern about the systems --- which are still unverifiable DREs, just like touch-screens but with a wheel to make selections, instead of a touch-sensitive screen --- or simply an attempt at a helpful instruction to keep folks from trying to select candidates by tapping the screen, we couldn’t tell you. Either way, Hart’s DRE is as unverifiable and susceptible to tampering and vote-counting error as those made by ES&S;, Sequoia or Diebold.[BradBlog,10/28/08]

NEW REPORT: McCain Would Give America’s 200 Largest Corporations $45 Billion In Tax Breaks-(June,08)-----------------
If you’re a CEO of one of America’s largest corporations and have enjoyed the Presidency of George W. Bush, a contribution to the McCain campaign is looking like a pretty good investment.

A new report from the Center For American Progress Action Fund finds that a key piece of John McCain’s tax plan — cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% — would cut taxes by almost $45 billion every year for America’s 200 largest corporations as identified by Fortune Magazine.

Eight companies — Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips Co., Bank ƒƒof America Corp., AT&T;, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Microsoft Corp. — would each receive over $1 billion a year.

These giveaways are just one part of McCain’s doubling of the Bush tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy which would create the largest deficits in 25 years and drive the United States into the deepest deficits since World War II.

A recent analysis by the Public Campaign Action Fund found that John McCain’s campaign has received $5.6 million from the PACs and executives of the Fortune 200.

Over the past eight years, under George W. Bush, American workers have seen their wages stagnate as corporate profits have skyrocketed. John McCain’s misguided priorities show he’s more of the same: the same $45 billion in tax cuts for America’s 200 largest companies could be used to lift over 9 million Americans out of poverty.(Think Progress)~~~~NOTE:Who will be saving more and living better,under John McCain? I doubt it will be the WalMart workers,although more tax cut money would give WalMart LESS excuse for not upping the associates hourly wages! Incidentally, McCain recently received two FREE cell towers for the Sedona ranch from ATT,who BTW is that robo call firm’s[FLS-DCI] biggest client. Oops,did I forget to mention McCain sits on the Commerce and Communications board of the Senate ? Can you spell e-t-h-i-c-a-l-l-y challenged?

McCain’s economic adviser makes Obama’s case for him and against McCain’s bogus 5000 dollar tax credit as his health care plan.

Younger, healthier workers likely wouldn’t abandon their company-sponsored plans, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, McCain’s senior economic policy adviser.

“Why would they leave?” said Holtz-Eakin. “What they are getting from their employer is way better than what they could get with the credit."~~~~~~~~~~~Crooks and Liars,10/28/08

Low paid workers? Anti-union? ACORN voter REGISTRATION issues? WHAT and WHO do these all have in common? Rick Berman. Read on.~~~~~~~~~~“Rotten” ACORN Ad Funded by Anti-Minimum Wage Group
by Mosi Secret, ProPublica - October 29, 2008 -

The New York Times ran a full page advertisement today in the front section of the paper featuring an attack on ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, whose voter registration practices have come under fire this election season.
The ad does not indicate who or what organization paid for it, but a click to the Rotten Acorn Web site reveals the source—the Employment Policies Institute.

The Employment Policies Institute is connected with Rick Berman, a Washington lobbyist who for several years has been fighting ACORN’s efforts to increase the minimum wage at the state and federal levels. The nonprofit Employment Policies Institute styles itself as a research organization, but recent IRS filings show a combined $1.4 million in payments from the nonprofit to Berman and Company, Berman’s lobbying firm, in 2005 and 2006.

The Institute, which reported spending $4.5 million during those two years, has produced numerous reports arguing that boosting the minimum wage hurts teen workers and frustrates job creation. Other recent studies assert that increasing the minimum wage would not reduce poverty rates and would benefit two-income families that aren’t actually poor.

Berman could not be reached for comment. Among clients listed on his firm’s web site are the American Beverage Institute, a trade group of bars and restaurants, and the Center for Union Facts, which OPPOSED “check card” organizing drives by labor.  A USA Today profile compared Berman to a hard-boiled lobbyist lampooned in the movie “Thank You for Smoking,” and the news show “60 Minutes” profiled Berman under the title “Dr. Evil.”

Tim Miller, spokesman for the Employment Policies Institute, said his group timed the ad to take advantage of the flurry of negative publicity about ACORN with thanks to attacks from GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, running mate Sarah Palin and the Republican National Committee.

With less than a week before the election, the appearance of the Times ad is curious for the people at ACORN, who have battled Berman and his clients over minimum wage ballot initiatives in Florida, Missouri, Colorado, Ohio and Arizona, but NOT over presidential politics. “What we’ve been told is he’s a Republican Party operative above all else,” said Steve Kest, executive director of ACORN. “He must have been recruited into this effort. Somebody is paying them to run this ad.”

ACORN has already answered the charges of registration fraud and increased quality control, he said. Organizers make up to three attempts to contact and verify the identity of people on a registration form. Problematic forms – like those with Mickey Mouse or other ficticious names, are separated out, he said, but the law in most states requires ACORN to turn them over. “It’s not our job to determine if someone is a valid person or not,” Kest said.

“When the charges first came out I think people were asking questions. But the facts have come out. There have been a whole slew of editorials that have put all this in perspective,” Kest said. “What I really think is going on is (the GOP is) trying to use this as a smokescreen to try to distract from the voter suppression efforts they have been engaged in.”~~~~~~~~~Type in Rick Berman into the WMW search engine here. LOTS of info,including the fact that he and the Secretay of Labor,Elaine Chao, have had an inappropriately cozy relationship via labor issues and disputes.

I spotted the nametag and his job was described as a “sales associate”. He said something to the effect of ..."Yeah, I sell stuff.”

Should McCain pull this one out it will be remembered as the year we cut off our nose to spite our face. Can you imagine trying to pay the taxes on catastrophic health benefits? Sorry, pal, you received $750,000 in cancer treatment, you owe tax! It’s like those poor snooks that win a car and then have to sell it to pay the taxes.

I don’t spend much on health care but it still doesn’t sound very good to me.

(Watch McCain video for him scratching next to his left eye. That’s where the last melanoma was.)

quality fade: the deliberate and secret habit of widening profit margins through a reduction in the quality of materials.

“Instead of enjoying their retirement and what should be their “golden years,” this man like many others in these tough economic times had little choice but to join the forces of low-paid Wal-Mart workers.”

First, what was this man doing during the 54 years he had, to earn a living and save for his future?  Second, if he had “No other choice but to join the forces of low-paid Wal-Mart workers”, what would he have done if Wal-Mart wasn’t there to give him a job?

Ken V,

“Can you imagine trying to pay the taxes on catastrophic health benefits? Sorry, pal, you received $750,000 in cancer treatment, you owe tax!”

Nice try, but a person wouldn’t have to pay taxes on claims, only on company paid PREMIUMS!!

ddrb,

All you have shown with your conspiracy theory, is that no matter what type of ballot or machine is used, Democrat ‘voters’ can’t seem to figure out how to use them correctly!!  If this is ‘really’ a problem, why aren’t the Obama people crying ‘foul’ and the election committees doing something about it?  Also, if the companies making the machines are at fault (seems strange that it is all the companies), why isn’t the Democrat side of Congress doing something about it, before the election?  Seems like this is some sort of scam, to make a case, should Obama lose the election, much the same as the Florida ‘hanging chad’ fiasco!!

Wow Ken,

I thought working for General Dynamics would make you pro Republican. They sure have done a lot for your company these past 5 years.

RDS: Re: Florida “hanging chad"~~~~~~~~~:  Hanging Chad Guy leads army of lawyers in Florida-------------Ewen MacAskill in Orlando-----------------------------------------------The Guardian, Friday October 31 2008--------------------------------- A team of 5,000 volunteer lawyers representing the Democrats will fan out across polling stations in Florida next Tuesday to ensure the Republicans do not “steal” the election, as - Democrats claim - George Bush did eight years ago.

Heading the biggest team of lawyers ever assembled is Charles Lichtman, a partner in the Fort Lauderdale law firm Berger Singerman, who has been working as an unpaid volunteer for up to 18 hours a day since August. His drive comes from the experience of being what he describes as “the Hanging Chad Guy”, leading a group of lawyers based in the infamous Broward County for weeks during the recount in 2000.

“Legitimate votes of citizens did not get counted. If they had been counted, we would not have been in Iraq and the economy would not have tanked,” Lichtman said. He vowed he would do his best to ensure it never happened again and began planning the operation that will be in place on November 4.

Barack Obama’s campaign team has recruited thousands of volunteer lawyers to attend polling stations in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and other states where the vote could be close.~~~~~~~~Guardian

But the biggest push is in Florida, in part because of its history and also because polls suggest the vote will be tight.

The lawyers will be on hand to help any voters denied a ballot on spurious grounds, or fight to keep polling stations open late if they become overwhelmed by the expected high turnout. The Republicans will have their own lawyers across Florida too.

So far, Lichtman said, there had been no serious problems, other than long queues - with waits of two hours or more - as people take advantage of the early voting that has been in place for the last two weeks. “The only issue is the long lines but I think that is a good thing. It shows an enthusiasm for democracy. It is a great problem to have,” Lichtman said. He was not anticipating any major legal challenges from the Republican side.

An Obama campaign worker in Florida, who requested anonymity because he had signed a pledge not to speak to the press, agreed that Republicans had NOT so far been mounting challenges to voter eligibility at polling stations.

But that, he said, was because the Republicans in Florida had adopted a different strategy, passing legislation that set stringent rules on voter registration. As a result, people were disqualified if there were minor discrepancies, for example between the name on a driving licence and on a registration form.

The Obama campaign worker, who comes from outside the state, said: “I have never seen such shameless manipulation of a process as I have seen here.”

Charlie Crist, the Republican governor of Florida, extended early voting hours this week by three hours a day, from 7am until 7pm

“Second, if he had “No other choice but to join the forces of low-paid Wal-Mart workers”, what would he have done if Wal-Mart wasn’t there to give him a job?”
RDS the low wage economy clown

He would have gone to work at Costco the 4th largest retailer in the United States where the average wage is $17.50/hr and 92% of your health care is covered.

‘Don’t you people just hate it when you’re wrong?’ bbrd, defender of WalMart indentured poverty for Americans.

WalMart- Your low wage impoverishment dream job.

A History of Fraud and Deceit…

ACORN has a long and dubious history.

House Minority Leader John Boehner recently said:

“Election cycle after election cycle, this organization has been at the forefront of breaking the law in order to promote their left-wing agenda. All the while, they have been the recipients of millions of dollars of federal funding through various federal programs and third-party groups. House Republicans took a stand recently to cut off funding to an ACORN slush fund created by their allies in the House Majority, but now more must be done.”

Boehner continued:

“ACORN spent decades promoting the housing policies that brought America’s economy to the brink, and similarly over the years has committed fraud on our system of elections, making American voters question the fairness and accuracy of the exercise of their most fundamental right under the Constitution. Now it is time to cut off ACORN before it grows even more destructive.”

Michael Gaynor with Canada Free Press recounts:

“These are recent complaints, but ACORN’s history is riddled with criminal activity. During the last major election [2006], the Wall Street Journal did a story about ACORN. Four ACORN workers had been indicted by a federal grand jury for submitting false voter registration forms to the Kansas City, Missouri, election board; other ACORN workers were convicted in Wisconsin and Colorado and investigations, at the time the article was written, were under way in Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.”

Gaynor also writes of more recent indictments and investigations:

“Last year, The Seattle Times reported the biggest voter-registration fraud scheme in Washington history. Three ACORN employees pleaded guilty, and four more were charged for filling out and submitting more than 1,800 fictitious voter-registration cards during a 2006 registration drive in King and Pierce counties.’ (Keith Ervin, ‘Three plead guilty in fake voter scheme,’ 10-30-2007)”

“This year, an ACORN employee in West Reading, PA, was sentenced for up to 23 months in prison for identity theft and tampering with records. A second ACORN worker pleaded not guilty to the same charges and is free on $10,000 bail.

“There are also examples of indictments this year, such as the four ACORN employees in Kansas City charged with identity theft and filing false registrations during the 2006 election and the Reynoldsburg fellow indicted on two felony counts of illegal voting and false registration, after being registered by ACORN to vote in two separate counties. And there are current investigations into ACORN for voter fraud all over the map… .”

Low paid workers? Anti-union? ACORN voter REGISTRATION issues? WHAT and WHO do these all have in common? Rick Berman. Read on.~~~~~~~~~~“Rotten” ACORN Ad Funded by Anti-Minimum Wage Group
by Mosi Secret, ProPublica - October 29, 2008 -

The New York Times ran a full page advertisement today in the front section of the paper featuring an attack on ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, whose voter registration practices have come under fire this election season.
The ad does not indicate who or what organization paid for it, but a click to the Rotten Acorn Web site reveals the source—the Employment Policies Institute.

The Employment Policies Institute is connected with Rick Berman, a Washington lobbyist who for several years has been fighting ACORN’s efforts to increase the minimum wage at the state and federal levels. The nonprofit Employment Policies Institute styles itself as a research organization, but recent IRS filings show a combined $1.4 million in payments from the nonprofit to Berman and Company, Berman’s lobbying firm, in 2005 and 2006.

The Institute, which reported spending $4.5 million during those two years, has produced numerous reports arguing that boosting the minimum wage hurts teen workers and frustrates job creation. Other recent studies assert that increasing the minimum wage would not reduce poverty rates and would benefit two-income families that aren’t actually poor.

Berman could not be reached for comment. Among clients listed on his firm’s web site are the American Beverage Institute, a trade group of bars and restaurants, and the Center for Union Facts, which OPPOSED “check card” organizing drives by labor.  A USA Today profile compared Berman to a hard-boiled lobbyist lampooned in the movie “Thank You for Smoking,” and the news show “60 Minutes” profiled Berman under the title “Dr. Evil.”

Tim Miller, spokesman for the Employment Policies Institute, said his group timed the ad to take advantage of the flurry of negative publicity about ACORN with thanks to attacks from GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, running mate Sarah Palin and the Republican National Committee.

With less than a week before the election, the appearance of the Times ad is curious for the people at ACORN, who have battled Berman and his clients over minimum wage ballot initiatives in Florida, Missouri, Colorado, Ohio and Arizona, but NOT over presidential politics. “What we’ve been told is he’s a Republican Party operative above all else,” said Steve Kest, executive director of ACORN. “He must have been recruited into this effort. Somebody is paying them to run this ad.”

ACORN has already answered the charges of registration fraud and increased quality control, he said. Organizers make up to three attempts to contact and verify the identity of people on a registration form. Problematic forms – like those with Mickey Mouse or other ficticious names, are separated out, he said, but the law in most states requires ACORN to turn them over. “It’s not our job to determine if someone is a valid person or not,” Kest said.

“When the charges first came out I think people were asking questions. But the facts have come out. There have been a whole slew of editorials that have put all this in perspective,” Kest said. “What I really think is going on is (the GOP is) trying to use this as a smokescreen to try to distract from the voter suppression efforts they have been engaged in.”~~~~~~~~~Type in Rick Berman into the WMW search engine here. LOTS of info,including the fact that he and the Secretary of Labor,Elaine Chao, have had an inappropriately cozy relationship via labor issues and disputes.Funny how there has been NO dispute by the GOP when it comes to thousands of Hispanic votes registered THERE in Florida by ACORN,OR that McCain was the keynote speaker for an ACORN celebration in MIAMI ,in conjunction with Cathoilc and Hispanic clubs,TWO years ago.

Hanging Chad Guy leads army of lawyers in Florida-------------Ewen MacAskill in Orlando-----------------------------------------------The Guardian, Friday October 31 2008--------------------------------- A team of 5,000 volunteer lawyers representing the Democrats will fan out across polling stations in Florida next Tuesday to ensure the Republicans do not “steal” the election, as - Democrats claim - George Bush did eight years ago.

Heading the biggest team of lawyers ever assembled is Charles Lichtman, a partner in the Fort Lauderdale law firm Berger Singerman, who has been working as an unpaid volunteer for up to 18 hours a day since August. His drive comes from the experience of being what he describes as “the Hanging Chad Guy”, leading a group of lawyers based in the infamous Broward County for weeks during the recount in 2000.

“Legitimate votes of citizens did not get counted. If they had been counted, we would not have been in Iraq and the economy would not have tanked,” Lichtman said. He vowed he would do his best to ensure it never happened again and began planning the operation that will be in place on November 4.

Barack Obama’s campaign team has recruited thousands of volunteer lawyers to attend polling stations in battleground states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, and other states where the vote could be close.~~~~~~~~Guardian

But the biggest push is in Florida, in part because of its history and also because polls suggest the vote will be tight.

The lawyers will be on hand to help any voters denied a ballot on spurious grounds, or fight to keep polling stations open late if they become overwhelmed by the expected high turnout. The Republicans will have their own lawyers across Florida too.

So far, Lichtman said, there had been no serious problems, other than long queues - with waits of two hours or more - as people take advantage of the early voting that has been in place for the last two weeks. “The only issue is the long lines but I think that is a good thing. It shows an enthusiasm for democracy. It is a great problem to have,” Lichtman said. He was not anticipating any major legal challenges from the Republican side.

An Obama campaign worker in Florida, who requested anonymity because he had signed a pledge not to speak to the press, agreed that Republicans had NOT so far been mounting challenges to voter eligibility at polling stations.

But that, he said, was because the Republicans in Florida had adopted a different strategy, passing legislation that set stringent rules on voter registration. As a result, people were disqualified if there were minor discrepancies, for example between the name on a driving licence and on a registration form.

The Obama campaign worker, who comes from outside the state, said: “I have never seen such shameless manipulation of a process as I have seen here.”

Charlie Crist, the Republican governor of Florida, extended early voting hours this week by three hours a day, from 7am until 7pm

SDV,

“He would have gone to work at Costco the 4th largest retailer in the United States where the average wage is $17.50/hr and 92% of your health care is covered.”

Yeah, I guess he could have, providing there was a Costco store within 50 miles of where he lived and they were hiring, (didn’t you say they have ‘little’ turnover at Costco?)!!  But, because it says he had ‘Little Choice’, it would seem that a Costco wasn’t close enough!!

...working for General Dynamics

That was then, this is now.

When I first read the headline STRUGGLING 72-YEAR-OLD.. I thought this thread was about John McCain! :o)

Live Better In Cheap Lead-Free Underwear

Ken V: ZING!!!!!! Touche’,mon Roi!

Did you know?
McCain consistently opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment, voting against the proposal in both 2004 and 2006.
http://gays4mccain.com/

I’m just a lurker stopping in to ask a very obvious question: why hasn’t ddrb and Larry been banned? Not only are their copy and pasting of articles off topic, but they’re blatant copyright infringement. Just ban them already.

I think it was very telling that Obama chose WalMart to use in his ad,as an example of low wage,low benefit corporation that exploits American workers AND has been the prime motivator to move our factories and jobs offshore,while simultaneously milking our country’s tax systems.A change is gonna come,oh yes it will!Guess those WalMart moms thought” spreading the wealth” might be a good thing!

ddrb,

“Guess those WalMart moms thought” spreading the wealth” might be a good thing!”

This country has had the “Spread the Wealth” concept going for over 100 years now, but, somehow we still have a big group of ‘poor’ people!! 

What’s the old saying, “If you always do, what you have always done, you will always get, what you have always got”!!

“Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

RDS: That $7000bn swindle spread the wealth to WallStreet -a BIG CYA to those Free Marketeers at humble taxpayers’ expense. Thats a helluva chunk of cheese. But the same Free Marketeers would deny welfare cheese,literally, to needy families.As I said earlier,it depends upon what streeet you live that determines the name attached to your assisstance.If its Wallstreet,its called a bailout,if its main street its called welfare.Wall Street wants to privatize its profits, but socialize their losses. Why don’t you have a problem with that form of sociallism?Why should the burden of reckless risk be borne by those who had no part in it? Wal Mart is the master of privatizing profit and socializing risk. Thats why the use publicwelfare and tax dodges do much.

“Why don’t you have a problem with that form of socialism?Why should the burden of reckless risk be borne by those who had no part in it?”

You contribute to the diagnostic of the corporate psychopath and the ‘love of money’ reality of these infections upon our society, ddrb. And as you know, Bushco had all the policing and moral interest of a limp wet noodle to restrain ungodly corporatism. You remember the ‘capitalism without conscience’ number from Dubya that went nowhere on behalf of the criminal corporate/WallStreet/ elite.

You don’t really expect RDS and the pro-WalMart ilk to actually self-diagnose their ‘Objectivism’ sickness and internet propaganda indifference to what is good for America do ya?

George W. Bush- America can’t hardly wait literally to get rid of him.

SDV: A synchronistic,cosmic convergence that GW and Lee Scott were handed their sceptres the same year,2000.

ddrb,

“That $7000bn swindle spread the wealth to WallStreet -a BIG CYA to those Free Marketeers at humble taxpayers’ expense.”

That $700 billion is just beginning to go out, how can you say it’s a swindle, before you even know how it will work out, do you have a crystal ball?  It has been projected, that if things work the way the ‘rescue plan’ is constructed, taxpayers could even MAKE money from it!!  Even Barney Frank admitted as much!!  But, you seem to be an EXPERT on SCAMS & SWINDLES, could that be from experience?