Speech by Mia Love, Mayor of Saratoga Springs, UT to the Republican National Convention (Text / Video)

Let me tell you about the America I know. My parents immigrated to the U.S. with ten dollars in their pocket, believing that the America they had heard about really did exist. When times got tough they didn’t look to Washington, they looked within.

So the America I came to know was centered in personal responsibility and filled with the American dream.

The America I know is grounded in the determination found in patriots and pioneers, in small business owners with big ideas, in the farmers who work in the beauty of our landscape, in our heroic military and Olympians.

It’s in every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says, “I can do that.” That is the America I know!

President Obama’s version of America is a divided one — pitting us against each other based on our income level, gender, and social status. His policies have failed! We are not better off than we were 4 years ago, and no rhetoric, bumper sticker, or campaign ad can change that.

Mr. President I am here to tell you that the American people are awake and we are not buying what you are selling in 2012.

The American Dream is our story. It is a story of human struggle, standing up and striving for more. Our story has been told for over 200 years with small steps and giant leaps; from a woman on a bus to a man with a dream; from the bravery of the greatest generation, to the entrepreneurs and the innovators of today.

This is our story. This is the America we know because we built it.

With Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan we can restore the America we know and love. The world will know it, our children will tell it and our grandchildren will possess it for years to come!

God bless America.

Herman Cain's Black Voter Fantasy...

Written By Earl Ofari Hutchinson

GOP Presidential Herman Cain again solemnly told a pack of pesky reporters in New Hampshire recently that he was absolutely confident that in a head to head match-up against President Obama that he could snatch a third of the Black vote. The notion that he can get a big chunk of the Black vote for the GOP is intriguing. It’s intriguing because it has a ring to it that appeals to GOP leaders who have long imagined that if they could get the right Black candidate and package their message just right they could draw an appreciable number of Black voters. It’s a good talking point with GOP hawker Herman Cain out there leading the pack of GOP presidential contenders in some early but meaningless straw polls. Herman Cain, though, is hardly the first to step into fantasy land with the notion that the GOP can grab lots of Black votes.

Read the rest of this ThyBlackMan.com article.

Voter Suppression 'Map of Shame' is Now Interactive

Soulclap to The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law for sharing an interactive map of the voter suppression efforts taking place around the country.

We continue to see voter photo ID laws and other suppressive legislation being brought forward by Republican governors and legislators. These proposed laws threaten to roll back many efforts that have increased voter registration and turnout over the past few election cycles.

Restrictive voter ID laws are truly a "solution in search of a problem," since the issue they purport to address - impersonation of voters at the polls - is practically nonexistent. Therefore, these newly enacted voter photo ID requirements serve only to remove eligible voters from our democracy and are NOT needed to stop potential impersonation voter fraud. So why are these laws being enacted? It is obvious that other, more sinister motivations are at play here.

It seems obvious to most of us that these are thinly-veiled efforts to keep young people, senior citizens, poor people and people of color away from the voter booth in the 2012 election cycle.

This blog seeks to remind you that our right to vote is too important to allow these cynical plans by the Republican Party to continue unabated.

Add your name to the growing number of 'proud Black voters' who are saying, "Enough is enough! Stop these harmful laws and focus on real reforms that will expand access to our democracy for all Americans."

Visit the interactive map to see what your state is doing to suppress your vote!

GOP Enacts Voter Suppression Laws to Rig 2012 Election Results

The Republican Party is trying to suppress the votes of African Americans, elderly and students. Chris Matthews talks about voter suppression on his show recently.





The best way to combat these voter suppression efforts is to learn the new rules and follow them. Voting is our right ... and elections have consequences.

Voter Suppression Strategy by Republican Party in Nebraska and Pennsylvania

Soulclap to Mirror on America for pointing us to this interview with Melissa Harris-Perry, professor of political science at Tulane University. Dr. Harris-Perry talks with Rachel Maddow about a national effort by state Republican leaders to reconfigure voting rules, independent of principle and to bias the electoral system against President Obama's re-election.

There is some detailed information about how these voter suppression efforts are taking place in Nebraska and Pennsylvania.

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Are you hearing about voter suppression in your state?