|
|
|
|
|
|
| 08/11/04 |
Part 1 (of many to follow) by Edward Teague |
“American democracy today constitutes the advanced model of what I have called 'low intensity democracy'. Its functioning is based on a total separation between the management of political life, through the practice of electoral democracy, and the management of economic life, which is governed by the laws of capital accumulation. Moreover, this separation is not subject to any form of radical challenge; it is part of what may be termed the general consensus. Yet it is this separation that effectively destroys the entire creative potential of political democracy. It castrates the representative institutions (parliaments and so forth), which are rendered impotent by their submission to the 'market' and its dictates. In this sense, the choice between voting for the Democrats or the Republicans is ultimately futile, because what determines the American people's future is not the outcome of their electoral choices, but the vagaries of the financial and other markets.” The day after the Supreme Court decided George Bush was the new occupier of the Oval Office, his closest advisors sat down and started planning for his second Coronation in 4 more years for, “Four more years”. In early 2002, States were presented (Help America Vote Act of 2002 Public Law 107-252 (HAVA)) with a short timetable and Federal funds to install electronic voting – curiously, Ohio based Diebold, two of whose Directors, also Chairman and Director of Timken, (Just down the road in Canton) world famous, world class engineers. Both companies were major republican fund raisers, locally, for Republicans and for Bush in 2000. Diebold swamped the State‚s polling booths. Second in the race was a company fronted by Ex Secretary of State Carlucci, who is also Chairman of the shadowy Carlyle Group. In key swing state Ohio, the Internet leaves an electronic spoor of news items about the Diebold company – unlike the votes cast on Diebold‚s evidently flaky and hackable Windows based kit. Rove left no stone unturned to get the vote out. It looks like some of those stones are being turned over again…with unsurprising results – unlike those that the dodgy Diebold “tools for Democracy” produced last week. Timken Company Website www.timken.com/media/executive/excTimkenjr.asp W. R. Timken, Jr., a native of Canton, Ohio, is a graduate of Phillips Andover Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, Stanford University and the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. Mr. Timken first worked for The Timken Company as a summer associate in 1958 and began his full-time career at Timken in 1962. He retired as an executive of The Timken Company on December 31, 2003. Mr. Timken will continue as Chairman – Board of Directors, a position he has held since 1975. W.R. Timken – salary in 2002 – $950,000 Mr. Timken is chairman of the board of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation and is also a director of Diebold, Incorporated. Partial and not up to date Record of Political Contributions (not complete Board of Directors) Walden W. O'Dell Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive W.R. Timken Jr. (2,3,4) Chairman, The Timken Company Welcome to the web site of the Stark Education Partnership, Inc. www.edpartner.org/welcome.html Stark County is also home to major international businesses such as the Timken, (27% of the County employment) Diebold, and Hoover Companies. While a company such as Timken has offices and plants on five continents, its roots are in Stark County. Corporate offices and world headquarters are here. White House Press release April 2003 President Discusses Plan for Economic Growth in Ohio Tim was telling me that you all have been in business since 1899 — turns out that's when William McKinley, of Canton, slept in the same room I'm sleeping in. (Laughter.) Tim told me that this is a company — we are a “roll up your sleeves” company, a can — it is a can-do environment. Which is one of the reasons I've got so much optimism about the future of our economy — because of the “roll up your sleeves” attitude by thousands of our fellow Americans, because of the business sense of “we can do whatever it takes to overcome the obstacles in our way”. I know you're optimistic about the future of this company.” (The Company announced closure of the plant June 2004) “But the greatest strength of the American economy is found right here, right in this room, found in the pride and skill of the American work force.” (The company announced in early 2004 that they were opening a plant in China – www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36180-2004May18.html Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio, whose district includes the company said in opening remarks “The president recognizes Timken as a well-managed company. That the chairman is W.R. Timken is helpful, but this is the kind of company he wants to encourage to grow and be a more important contributor to jobs and economic growth,” GOP Hypocrite of the Week: Tim Timken …This week's GOP Hypocrite of the Week: Ohio Business Tycoon, Tim Timken, one of President Bush's favorite Buckeye State Johns, uh, fundraisers and the man who recently helped raise $750,000 for Bush and Cheney. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, while “Hosting a $2,000-per-person event Monday featuring Vice President Dick Cheney, Timken told an audience of Cleveland's wealthiest business and civic leaders that such money was intended to 'subvert democracy' and was an 'attempt to buy democracy.'” “Timken, of course, wasn't talking about his money, or that of other Republicans who filled a banquet room at the Cleveland Clinic's InterContinental Hotel & Conference Center. He was referring to more than $12 million that liberal philanthropist and billionaire Peter Lewis has pledged to give to organizations such as MoveOn.org that oppose the president.” Mother Jones March 5, 2004 www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2004/03/03_200.html A Bad Bet Diebold's Political Machine: Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman Political insiders suggest Ohio could become as decisive this year as Florida was four years ago. Which is why the state's plan to use paperless touch-screen voting machines has so many up in arms. One such Republican pocket is Upper Arlington, the Columbus suburb that is home to Walden “Wally” O'Dell, the chairman of the board and chief executive of Diebold. For years, O'Dell has given generously to Republican candidates. Last September, he held a packed $1,000-per-head GOP fundraiser at his 10,800-square-foot mansion. He has been feted as a guest at President Bush's Texas ranch, joining a cadre of “Pioneers and Rangers” who have pledged to raise more than $100,000 for the Bush re-election campaign. Most memorably, O'Dell last fall penned a letter pledging his commitment “to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President.” One of the longest-serving Diebold directors is W.R. “Tim” Timken. Like O'Dell, Timken is a Republican loyalist and a major contributor to GOP candidates. Since 1991 the Timken Company and members of the Timken family have contributed more than a million dollars to the Republican Party and to GOP presidential candidates such as George W. Bush. Between 2000 and 2002 alone, Timken's Canton-based bearing and steel company gave more than $350,000 to Republican causes, while Timken himself gave more than $120,000. This year, he is one of George W. Bush's campaign Pioneers, and has already pulled in more than $350,000 for the president's re-election bid. In Ohio, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has already signed $100 million in agreements to purchase voting machines. The bulk of the purchases would go to Diebold and ES&… Columbia Journalism Review June 1st 2004 President Bush went to Timken to tout his tax cuts last year, www.justabovesunset.com/id235.html Just Above Sunset Magazine July 11, 2004 – Election Notes Thursday, September 4, 2003 by Democracy Now! Will Bush Backers Manipulate Votes to Deliver GW Another Election? “Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that the head of Diebold is also a top fundraiser for President Bush's re-election. In a recent fund-raising letter Diebold's chief executive Walden O'Dell said he is “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.” In July, O'Dell invited Vice President Dick Cheney to his house for a fundraiser, which poured $500,000 into Cheney's coffers. On a trip to Ohio, President Bush visited one of Diebold's board members – W.R. Timken – who took him on a tour of the company. Timken, like O'Dell, is a “Pioneer” – the name given to wealthy Bush benefactors. …Harris told Democracy Now! that she recently uncovered another file on the Diebold site that she says “may very well be the smoking gun that brings this thing down.” The file, she claims, proves that Diebold has the ability to keep track of election results as they come in. More concerning she says technology exists that would allow Diebold to alter election results. Friday, August 27, 2004 10:02:00 PM PDT One Diebold director is W.R. “Tim” Timken. Good old boy Timken has donated over a million dollars to the Republicans since 1991. This year Timken is a Bush “Pioneer” having rounded up a measly $350,000 for him alone. Then there's chairman of the board Walden O'Dell who helped rake in over another $100,000 dollars for Bush's re-election campaign, and promised to deliver the state for Bush. San Jose Mercury Fri, Oct. 22, 2004 Bush-supporting Timken CEO gets $45 million in military contracts AP CLEVELAND – Bearings maker Timken Co., whose chairman has donated thousands of dollars to President Bush's campaigns, has received more than $45 million in military contracts since Bush took office, a newspaper reported Friday. The Plain Dealer's review of documents detailing government contracts to the company shows Timken has seen a 176 percent jump in military contracts under Bush. A major campaign donor four years ago, Timken chairman W.R. “Tim” Timken Jr. has earned the title “Ranger” from the Bush campaign for raising more than $200,000 for the president's re-election bid. Under Bush, Timken was among the companies to receive various tax breaks, including a pass on federal income taxes in 2001 and 2003. Timken also received $92 million in anti-dumping payments and is expected to benefit from the corporate tax bill the president signed Friday, the newspaper reported. Timken is best known as a bearings maker but it also makes parts for the Apache attack helicopter, the CH-47 helicopter and the F-16 fighter jet, among other aircraft. The Pentagon gave more than 60 percent of the weapons systems contracts to Timken without competition, according to a separate analysis by the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity. “Never doubt that a small committed group of individuals can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” www.onlinejournal.com/evoting/110504Madsen/110504madsen.html Grand Theft Election: Karl Rove's turd droppings all over this one By Wayne Madsen November 5, 2004-Karl Rove, the political sorcerer who is called “Turd Blossom” by his political master, George W. Bush, has his nasty fingerprints all over the 2004 Election in a scam that can best be called “Grand Theft Election.” There was something very wrong in Ohio, which Bush claims he won handily. Not only had the head of computer voting machine maker Diebold and Ohio's Republican establishment of Governor Bob Taft and Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell conspired to suppress registration and voter turnout in heavily Democratic precincts, but the Ohio Secretary of State's web site was only reporting results from nine counties as of 11:30 a.m. on November 3, just three hours before John Kerry conceded the election to Bush. Totalling the results from the nine counties (Fayette, Fairfield, Geauga, Jefferson, Portage, Mahoning, Trumbull, Richland, and Washington), John Kerry was clearly ahead. A tenth county, Columbiana, suspiciously showed up as “NO RESULTS.” Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based journalist, author, and commentator. He is the author of the forthcoming (but suppressed) book “Jaded Tasks: Big Oil, Black Ops, & Brass Plates.” He served in the National Security Agency (NSA) during the Reagan administration and has written extensively on intelligence and national security issues. |
|
|
|
|