destroy the gains of the U.S. labor force achieved by centuries of struggle and sacrifice. These companies were built by the loyalty, creativity and dedication of American workers, and by the infrastructure of schools and universities, cities, roads, airports, hospitals, fire and police protection, safe buildings, safe work places, safe drinking water, a healthy, well educated work force, fair business practices regulation, a relatively honest legal and regulatory system, and many other similar subsidies provided mostly by middle class and poor U.S. taxpayers. They have furthermore had their profits enormously enhanced by tax breaks and government favoritism.
Their behavior toward the United States in off-shoring jobs amounts to treason. They really ought to be dechartered and dismantled, and their assets confiscated, and the board members and CEOs should be prosecuted for conspiracy. At the very least they should be forbidden to do business here.
The political system that has permitted this to happen is profoundly corrupt. There are many things that need to be done to un-corrupt it, but I would say that the chief among them is restoring our right to vote.
Eighty percent of the vote in 2004 was tabulated electronically by two Bushite companies, Diebold and ES&S, using SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code. We have lost control over the counting of our votes. This final outrage against American democracy must be reversed. We must regain public control of our election system!
This utter corruption of our political system has been long in the making--capped over the last decade by the Democratic Party leadership's betrayal of its base--U.S. workers. But what is happening right now--the end of American democracy in bloody and illegal preemptive war, the smashing of the will of the majority, and the wholesale looting of the U.S. government and destruction of its solvency--must be stopped. And it has been made possible by a wholly privatized and corrupted election system.
At best, we need a return to paper ballots, hand counted at the precinct level. At the least, we need to achieve some measure of election transparency with paper ballot backups to electronic systems, strict auditing, and no secret, proprietary programming code! We also need to rid our election system of partisan rightwing corporations, primarily Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia.
Election system reform is still DOABLE at the state/local level, where control over election systems still resides, and where ordinary people still have some influence. The bipartisan corruption in the electronic voting business at the state/local level is daunting, but it is nothing compared to the bipartisan corruption in Washington DC, and it is local and therefore much more fixable.
Join your local election reform group--or form your own--and help get this done. Our right to vote is fundamental and essential to achieving "consent of the governed." Without it, we have no say in our government. This is a very urgent matter! It is something that WE the people can do. And it is something that we MUST do!
See the DU Forum "2004 Election Results and Discussion" for information and action ideas:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203Also see Amaryllis' post on Diebold/ES&S/Sequoia lobbying of election officials at the Beverly Hilton this week--it will burn your eyeballs!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x380340 
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