Does Your Vote Count?

Your vote counts only if it is counted. Let’s look at the deviousness that occurs in the polling place. In 2004, according to the exit polls in Ohio and televised on CNN at 1 A.M., among men voters Kerry defeated Bush 51% to 49% and among women Kerry defeated Bush 53% to 47%. As the voters leave the polls, when asked, they indicate who they have voted for. There is not much chance that the voter had a memory loss. So the next morning you wake up and the results are just the opposite by the same percentages, i.e. Bush defeats Kerry. Now how could that possibly happen? It’s simple. You cast your ballot for your candidate and it is not counted. In every state uncounted ballots go down the toilet. In the case of Ohio the number was 153,237. Nationwide the official number was 1,855,827. But if you include the under reporting of the no-count vote it goes as high as 3,000,380.

So what ballots go uncounted? Let’s start with the “provisional ballot”. This was invented in the 2004 election because too many voters were refused the right to vote. So now if the voter’s name is missing from the rolls, the voter will be given a provisional ballot that would be counted after the polls closed and the identity of the voter is checked. Well, it was a great idea that was supported by the black caucus in Congress because so many black voters were left out. But what happened? A large number of provisional ballots were not counted and at least half were black voters. There were approximately 3 million provisional ballots of which 1 million were trashed and never counted.

And then there are the machines. Bad machines do not record your vote. If you don’t punch the card hard enough, the machine can’t read it. The Election Commission counted 1 million votes lost in this manner.

Many more voters are using absentee ballots today. Over a half million are rejected for some minor technical reason. So if you vote absentee, you may not be voting at all.

Another trick is the assumption that most black voters are “felons” and felons lose their right to vote. But for many there only crime is their skin color.

Next is the elimination of polling stations so that the lines become so long that people won’t wait to vote.

Lastly one more bit of chicanery we should be aware of. Voters reported in 2004 that when they punched the card for Kerry, the vote went to Bush and his name would appear on the machine. This is known as “vote switching”.

And this is the way the 2000 and 2004 elections were won by the Republicans despite the fact that the Democrats had more votes than their opponents. So what is going to happen in 2008? At the moment it looks as though it may be another close vote.

Reference: Palast, Greg. Armed Madhouse. 2007.

The Food Crisis

Food prices are going up because the giant corporations have global control of commodities and resources. Seed, fertilizer and even water are controlled by Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM), Mosaic and Monsanto. The shortages in seed and fertilizer are artificially created by the huge agricultural corporations in order to run up the prices. For example, the third quarter profits of ADM jumped 42%. New income from storage and transportation of wheat, corn and soybeans has risen seven-fold. The fertilizer companies, such as Potash Corporation, have seen the rise in its stock price from $70 to $238. Mosaic also a fertilizer and feed producer has seen its stock go from $32 to $159. Monsanto profits jumped 45%. So do you wonder why food costs are up?

Furthermore, their intention is even to privatize the water supplies or possibly patent the water as Monsanto has done with seed. The farmer will no longer own the well under his farm. Also, rising oil prices are directly linked to the rise in food prices because fossil fuel is used in the production of chemical fertilizer. Third world countries are facing a starvation crisis because of food shortages and rising prices created by the profiteering of the huge agricultural corporations. The corporations blame the shortages on countries like China and India that for the first time have increased their food consumption. Increased income from manufacturing has improved the life style of the middle class. The corporations obviously are making obscene profits from the increased consumption.

To make matters even worse, the production of ethanol has tripled in the last several years promoted by the corporatists. The resultant increase of food prices has created a scarcity of food for the poor. Nearly all US corn production has gone into the making of ethanol. This has caused a severe shortage of grains and it is the poor who suffer. In the US it is not just the poor who are feeling the pressure. The middle class consumer is not spending as in the past; for example: restaurants that have been in business for many years are declaring bankruptcy. Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy act is the end.

One more point. ADM has a history of price fixing and their profiteering is causing global tragedy. Corporate spin covers their double-dealing.


Reference: commondreams.org