New Edwards Website "AmericaBelongstoUS2008.com" --Sign The Petition...LINK

The Edwards Campaign has unveiled a new website called 'America Belongs to Us' which has two basic features.

The first is an online petition which states:

"Because I believe we need real change in America and an end to the broken system in Washington that works for special interests and not us, I pledge not to vote or caucus for a Democratic presidential candidate that accepts campaign contributions from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs."

The second is a compilation of 'outrages of the day' which must be addressed by the next President who represents the American People over the corporate interests.

The Wall Street Journal details this news by characterizing it as an attack on Hillary Clinton. The basics are excerpted below without the derisive spin. Follow the Link to read the whole thing.


http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/11/28/edwards-starts-web-site-targeting-clinton/

"Former North Carolina Sen. and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards launched a Web site today....called “America Belongs to Us,” the site is essentially a petition seeking one million voters who promise to withhold their vote for any candidate who “accepts campaign contributions from Washington lobbyists’’ and lobbyist political action committees."

<snip>

"...the site includes an “outrage of the day.” The debut outrage takes on credit-card companies, which the former North Carolina senator all but accuses of usury by deliberately making credit contracts opaque and confusing to the average consumer. The site says credit-card companies and banks have spent nearly $750 million on political contributions and lobbying since 1998."

<snip>


"...the site includes an “outrage of the day.” The debut outrage takes on credit-card companies, which the former North Carolina senator all but accuses of usury by deliberately making credit contracts opaque and confusing to the average consumer. The site says credit-card companies and banks have spent nearly $750 million on political contributions and lobbying since 1998."

MORE

weird.

There is no doubt that Edwards' positions promote the Progressive Democratic Agenda. This is a great idea to have a central location for compiling these issues. This list includes many influential corporate entities who have used their money to influence law-making and enforcement against the interests of the American People.

"Seniors and Taxpayers are Paying for Soaring Drug Company Profits: The Medicare prescription drugs benefit was written by prescription drug industry lobbyists, and it prohibits the government negotiating for lower drug prices. The law gives the pharmaceutical industry a windfall estimated at $140 billion over eight years – more than half the cost to taxpayers is the profit to drug makers. Meanwhile, seniors pay nearly 60 percent more for the ten most common drugs than Veterans Affairs pays for the same drugs. The “doughnut hole” forces seniors to spend up to $3,000 out of pocket for drugs they need.

Big Drug Companies Spent over $1.2 billion on Washington Influence: Since 1998, the pharmaceutical industry has spent over $ 1.2 billion on federal campaign contributions and lobbyists – more than any other industry. Drug companies have two lobbyists for every member of Congress, and many of those lobbyists are former senators, representatives, and congressional staffers. The pharmaceutical industry has poured over $148 million into federal candidates war chests since 1990. CPI, 2007; CBS News, 03/29/2007; CRP, 2007; Washington Post, 01/11/2007]

John Edwards Will Take on the Big Drug Companies to Help Seniors: Edwards will use the power of the government to benefit patients, not drug companies. He will repeal the provision preventing Medicare from negotiating drug prices and empower states to use Medicaid’s leverage to purchase drugs at lower prices by consolidating their purchasing power. He will also give Medicare beneficiaries a chance to obtain their prescription drugs through traditional Medicare, not a private company, forcing private companies to compete with the government to see who is more efficient. The savings from these and other steps will be used in part to address the doughnut hole.

For more information on John Edwards’ plan to take on skyrocketing Medicare drug costs, see http://johnedwards.com/issues/seniors/

11/28/07

American Families Are Struggling with Costly Debt: American families are working harder, saving less, and borrowing more just to make ends meet. Credit card debt has more than tripled since 1989 to $876 billion. Most big credit card companies advertise low rates but reserve the right to change rates at any time for any reason, and a single late payment can trigger penalties that raise interest rates to an average of almost 25 percent. Consumers often fail to understand the basic terms of their cards due to complicated and confusing disclosures.


Credit Card Companies and Banks Spent $750 Million on Washington Influence: Credit card companies and commercial banks have spent $747 million on campaign contributions and lobbying since 1998. Credit card companies have spent $196 million lobbying and $51 million on campaign contributions. Banks have spent $310 million lobbying and $191 million in campaign contributions.


John Edwards Will Take on the Credit Card Industry to Help American Families: He will pass a Borrower’s Security Act to restore minimum protections to credit card borrowers. He will create a new Family Savings and Credit Commission to put someone on families’ side, ensuring that financial products are not abusive or predatory. And he will reduce families’ reliance on costly credit by helping families save and creating new non-profit sources of emergency loans."

... is going to give some writers great opportunities!

- Dave

... of their chessboard a lot better now.

; )

- Dave

... and maybe the most important part is 'timing' events to produce the all important 'crest of support' at the date of the election.

The political road is littered with bodies of those candidates 'who could not lose' who peaked too early, .....and in fact did lose.

... the Edwards campaign was really cutting it close.

As an avid genealogist and political junkie, this site always cracks me up: http://politicalgraveyard.com/

- Dave

While I have not seen the actual internal polling results which provide the support for this comment, I have heard from credible people that AFTER Edwards announced the end of his 2004 campaign they received internal polling results that showed a surge of support for Edwards which would have likely encouraged them to continue on in their race against Kerry for the Democratic Nomination.

Just supposition, but it is possible that those polling results may have played a role in Kerry's selection of Edwards to run as his VP.

Timing is everything in politics....

... versus learning the right lessons and applying them moving forward, is at least as important as timing.

; )

- Dave

More of a stab at Biden than HRC, IMO.

Signed and sent to friends.

http://www.americabelongstous2008.com/

- Dave

"Banks and Lenders Have Bought Washington Influence: Massive subsidies and a guarantee against default – courtesy of U.S. taxpayers – make student loans a no-lose investment for banks and lenders. To protect their giveaways, banks have spent over $500 million on lobbying and campaign contributions since 1998. Sallie Mae's PAC alone contributed almost $600,000 to 2006 congressional campaigns and has spent over $9.3 million on lobbying since 2000.

http://www.americabelongstous2008.com/"

- Dave