LA Times Brings to Light Voter Identification Attempts

As primary elections are taking place today in nine states including the District of Columbia, voters should pay heed to the various voter identification efforts throughout the country. The LA Times today put out a very helpful and comprehensive story on these cases. The dispute, which is being fought in disparate and often half-empty courtrooms in as many as nine states, concerns new state laws and rules backed primarily by Republicans that require people to show photo identification in order to vote and, in some cases, proof of citizenship and identification when registering to vote.

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House Judiciary Favors Religious Compliance

CQ reported that HR 2679, the Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005 was approved on September 7th by the House Judiciary Committee. The bill makes suing a government official over public expression of religion very difficult, in that plaintiffs will be responsible for financial damages, costs or lawyer’s fees. This clearly dissuades citizens from bringing about lawsuits that contest popular religiosity. CQ (subscription required)

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Islamic Charity Allowed to Proceed With Lawsuit

Yesterday a federal judge in Oregon ruled that national security would not be threatened with the advancement of a lawsuit that challenges the well known Terrorist Surveillance Program. Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, a charity based in Oregon that distributed religious literature to prison inmates, filed a lawsuit in February claiming that the National Security Administration listened to telephone conversations in 2004 between the group's director in Saudi Arabia and his U.S. lawyers. Judge Garr M.

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Phone Forum on Election Involvement by 501(c)(3) Organizations

With the 2006 election just around the corner, the IRS has scheduled two free conference calls for tax exempt organizations on September 19th and 20th to discuss the electoral activity of 501(c)(3) organizations. The IRS invites tax professionals and representatives of tax exempt organizations to participate in a Phone Forum on Election Involvement by IRC section 501(c)(3) Organizations (including churches). The seminar provides an overview of the political intervention rules for these organizations.

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US Gov't To Inspect Reporters Phone Calls Over Islamic Charity Leak

From the New York Times: A federal prosecutor may inspect the telephone records of two New York Times reporters in an effort to identify their confidential sources, a federal appeals court in New York ruled yesterday. [...]

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Slaughter Calls For Investigation Into Foundation

According to BNA: Rep. Louise Slaughter is calling for an Internal Revenue Service investigation of a private family foundation established by Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. She cites a recent Washington Post article that while Mike Leavitt alone has claimed about $1.2 million in tax write-offs since 2000, the foundation gave away only $49,000 in 2002 and $52,000 the next year, according to tax returns and other documents filed by the foundation.

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Grassley and Baucus Question TIGTA Chief

According to BNA: The six-page Feb. 21 letter from Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking Democrat Max Baucus (Mont.)--released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from BNA--posed a broad range of questions to George, including queries related to his vision for the agency, his office hours, how he treats TIGTA employees, and his management style and practices that in part could reveal his leadership

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Grassley and Baucus Question TIGTA Chief

According to BNA: The six-page Feb. 21 letter from Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking Democrat Max Baucus (Mont.)--released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from BNA--posed a broad range of questions to George, including queries related to his vision for the agency, his office hours, how he treats TIGTA employees, and his management style and practices that in part could reveal his leadership

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Firefighters and Religious Groups Oppose Sunsets

The amount of organizations in opposition to sunset legislation has been continuously mounting. These efforts have advanced as groups are compiling unique letters to send to Congress addressing how a sunset commission would affect their programs and concerns. Voices of apprehension include organizations that span all areas of public interest and faith communities. This encouraging manifestation of written opposition shows that federal programs across-the-board will be vulnerable if sunset commission legislation moves forward.

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Congress Says Send Money, Not Your Opinion

The Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives recently announced the availability of an "enhancement" to the House's “Write Your Rep” system that challenges constituents with a "logic puzzle" before they are allowed to submit a comment via web form. For an example, go to http://www.house.gov/writerep, select California, and use zip code 93292. At this time, not very many representatives have adopted the logic puzzle challenge, but the numbers are growing.

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