Find out who your elected officials are, check your voter registration, locate your local board of canvassers, view sample ballots for upcoming elections, and find out where your polling place is. There are two search options. Go to the Secretary of State’s Voter Information Center.

A final plea to the aging, white males who want to see the successful businessman in the White House, please heed Bill Maher’s recent warning about who you will be going to bed with.

When you’re electing Mitt, you aren’t just electing him. You’re electing every right-wing nut he’s pandered to in the last ten years. If the “Mitt-mobile” does roll into Washington, it’ll be towing behind it the whole anti-intellectual, anti-science freak show: the abstinence obsessives, the flat-earthers, home-schoolers, holy warriors, the anti-women social Neanderthals, the closeted homosexuals, and every end-timer who sees the Virgin Mary in the grass over the septic tank.

Romney has proven to be an astute businessman when it comes to his own portfolio but displays little acumen regarding the federal budget. And eldest Romney son, Tagg, and his private-equity firm Solamere Capital, just can’t wait to empty the latter into the former via government contracts (defense contractors, fracking concerns, for-profit colleges). The recent Providence Journal editorial on this topic noted,

Solamere touts its “access to compelling opportunities.” Indeed.

(Also read Froma Harrop’s excellent piece — 11.4.12.)

More after the jump.

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If you want a robust economy, and a job, put a Democrat in the White House. Some facts from Uncle Bill.

You see, we believe that “we’re all in this together” is a far better philosophy than “you’re on your own.” (Cheers, applause.) It is.

So who’s right? (Cheers.) Well, since 1961, for 52 years now, the Republicans have held the White House 28 years, the Democrats, 24. In those 52 years, our private economy has produced 66 million private sector jobs.

So what’s the job score? Republicans, 24 million; Democrats, 42 (million). (Cheers, applause.)

Complete transcript and video of President Clinton’s DNC speech at Politico.

A sad day indeed. Ian Donnis and Scott MacKay report on the new staffing cuts at the Providence Journal and offer up a brief history of the ProJo’s sad decline from one of the finest privately-owned papers in the country to now. (WRNI 9.7.12)

The Journal had considerable swagger in the ’90s, with the kind of deep staffing suited to a state rich with colorful, sometimes eye-popping source material.

However, the new corporate owners (the ProJo was purchased in 1997 by the Belo Corporation) had motivations other than journalistic excellence, and declining circulation and ad revenues have further conspired to erode the bottom line. So here we are now on the brink. But newspapers are not buggy whip factories to be briefly mourned as quaint relics of the past. We desperately need that “deep staffing” to keep an eye on things — the democracy depends on it.

(The Pew Research Center’s ‘Project for Excellence in Journalism’ provides perspective from around the country, “Building Digital Revenues Proves Painfully Slow.”)

Go to The Washington Post for a comprehensive retrospective of investigative journalism’s finest hour. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein once again share a byline for their unique take on the legacy — “Nixon was far worse than we thought.” Tonight, Monday at 6:15pm, Woodward and Bernstein, along with many other Watergate figures, will speak at a ‘Washington Post Live’ forum (watch it streamed live here).

This will give you just enough time for a Watergate double-feature. First watch “All the President’s Men” with Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, of course. Then click here and watch the under-appreciated 1999 satire, “Dick,” a New York Times ‘Critics Pick’ starring Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams.

. . . an uproariously dizzy satire that reduces the Watergate scandal into a goofy Nancy Drew caper for starry-eyed teeny-boppers . . . Mr. Woodward (Will Ferrell) and Mr. Bernstein (Bruce McCulloch) . . . are portrayed as a ludicrous journalistic dog-and-pony show; one is puffed up and stuffy, the other a pudgy, competitive little creep who tries to steal his colleague’s information.

The cast is everybody fanastic. But in all seriousness, we need newspapers!!!! Our democracy depends on it.

Consider this an open letter to the Providence Journal.

The people of Rhode Island need your newspaper. A lot is at stake here. Imagine what would go on in this state, and in the cities and towns, if the paper were to fold. With all due respect to the great investigative reporting done at the local television stations, the Providence Journal has always been relied upon to take on the long-ranging, in-depth investigations that have ferreted out the entrenched corruption and criminal enterprises that continually plague our state, cities and towns.

We know that with subscriptions dwindling, newspapers have to make money from their online content, but why not just adopt the New York Times paywall model, which charges when a reader crosses a certain threshold of article views? Felix Salmon has written an illuminating piece on this subject for Reuters. Turns out that a somewhat porous paywall system is working just fine for the Times and several other papers as well.  (“How the NYT paywall is working” 8.12.11. I also found another recent Reuters piece very helpful in understanding this issue — “The year of the newspaper paywall” by Clay Shirky, 1.6.12.)

But the current online ProJo set-up, a bifurcated mishmash of mini-reports and hidden content, is confusing and frustrating. Nobody can find anything or link to anything. Just yesterday I sent a link to friends of a video-feature taped on Monday night and posted hours later — and it was wonderful — but the video was swapped out in under 12 hours and has evaporated completely. No archive, nothing. So the link didn’t even connect to the video, it connected to the video space. This just isn’t how people would ever use this.

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Corporations are not people. Unfortunately we may now be facing the enormous effort and expense of having to pass a constitutional amendment making that seemingly obvious concept the law of the land. Nothing less than the democracy is at stake. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders recently appeared on The Colbert Report calling on Americans to support his proposed Saving American Democracy (SAD) Amendment and help overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United vs. FEC. Says Sanders, “We can not have a handful of large entities spending hundreds of millions of dollars electing the candidates who will represent their interests.”

Click here for more on the proposed constitutional amendment and to sign the Sanders petition. His book The Speech: a Historic Filibuster on Corporate Greed and the Decline of Our Middle Class is the complete text of his eight-and-a-half-hour filibuster decrying the President’s plan to preserve the Bush tax cuts, and all it symbolized: the bankrupting of the middle class, corporate greed, and the impotence and corruption of today’s Congress. (NYT 12.11.10)

Lawrence Lessig writes on the same topic in Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress — and a Plan to Stop It, excerpted last October in Rolling Stone magazine.

If you found the recent coverage of the Iowa straw poll with Michele Bachmann and deep-fried butter unbearably depressing (over a year left of this crap?) then consider another option for 2012. This is really happening. Check out the Thomas Friedman column from July 23 New York Times — “Make way for the radical center.”

“Our goal is to open up what has been an anticompetitive process to people in the middle who are unsatisfied with the choices of the two parties,” said Kahlil Byrd, the C.E.O. of Americans Elect, speaking from its swank offices, financed with some serious hedge-fund money, a stone’s throw from the White House.

As the group explains on its Web site, www.americanselect.org: “Americans Elect is the first-ever open nominating process. We’re using the Internet to give every single voter — Democrat, Republican or independent — the power to nominate a presidential ticket in 2012. The people will choose the issues. The people will choose the candidates. And in a secure, online convention next June, the people will make history by putting their choice on the ballot in every state.”

Elliot Ackerman, an Iraq war veteran with a Silver Star, serves as the chief operating officer of Americans Elect and appeared on The Colbert Report last Wednesday.

From Ocean State Action,

Do you want to see progressive change in your community? Are you frustrated by the General Assembly’s conservative agenda in Rhode Island?

Join progressive champion Representative Edith H. Ajello (Democrat – District 3) and like-minded neighbors at the Brown Career Development Center to discuss the status of progressive politics in our state, and how we can work together in the coming year to fight for marriage equality, a health care exchange that makes sense for working Rhode Islanders, responsible tax policies and laws to protect our environment.

6pm to 8pm, Tuesday, July 26, East Side Community Meeting, 167 Angell Street

Among the many sins to be laid at the door of George W. Bush — one I’m sure he gave absolutely no thought to whatsoever — was the de facto disenfranchisement in 2006 of thousands of Rhode Island voters who very much wanted to reelect Senator Chafee, but just could not do it. I wonder if people around the country truly realized the sacrifice voters here were making in order to take senate control away from the Republicans. Following the loss, Chafee was apparently plagued with people flagging him down. . . apologizing and explaining, pleading for a second chance. Happily we had a new opening here at home and the qualities that made him a good senator will serve him well as our new governor.

Noon Tuesday (live on Channel 10) — According to the Providence Journal, today’s swearing-in takes place on the south portico at the State House. Mollis swears in Chafee and Roberts; then Chafee swears in Mollis, Raimondo and Kilmartin. After this ceremonial hokey pokey they all head inside for a receiving line, public invited.

5pm — Special WaterFire lighting at Waterplace Park.

6:45pm — Torchlight procession from State House to Waterplace Park. And instead of a big ball there are just assorted receptions starting at 7:30pm that are also free and open to the public. No public funds are being used, and the corporate sponsorship has been paid directly to WaterFire Providence to avoid the appearance of . . .you know. (ProJo)

Kate Brock is taking over at Ocean State Action — Rhode Island’s preeminent coalition of progressive organizations. It’s still a powerhouse, but could use more stability at the helm than its had in a few years:

Kate Brock, who played a key role in organized labor’s effort to elect Lincoln D. Chafee to governor, has been named the new executive director of Ocean State Action, a Cranston-based coalition of labor unions and social advocacy groups. more »

Director of Ocean State Action, Peter Asen, brings this to our attention. Director Ron Howard and the Funny or Die people have brought together the old SNL crew of presidential impersonators to bring attention to some urgently needed legislation.

Hollywood isn’t generally known for precisely timed or well-defined campaigns aimed at specific legislative language as bills move through Congress. But the clip, directed by Ron Howard and written by Adam McKay and Al Jean, was produced in coordination with Americans for Financial Reform, a major pro-reform coalition based in Washington, and it hits just as Senate negotiators work toward a compromise on the CFPA in the Banking Committee.

This “compromise”, or castration, backed by Senate Republicans as well as nominal Democrat Connecticut Senator Dodd (who seems determined to end his career in complete ignominy), would fold the agency tasked with regulation into the Federal Reserve. Senator Barney Frank thinks this is “crazy” as The Fed already has regulatory powers but seems loath to use them. For more and to view clip go to HuffPo. (You would think Obama, or at least Michelle, would be getting tired of everyone talking about his balls all the time. We know you have ‘em B.)

Rhode Islanders should call Senator Reed and let him know that this banker-supported compromise is unacceptable. The regulatory agency must be independent.

Call Senator Jack Reed at 866.544.7573 and urge him to support the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

And his name is George Hutchins.  Just a couple minutes poking around his campaign website for North Carolina’s Fourth District will make it clear that Hutchins is the real deal, not one of those fake conservatives.

And as any REAL conservative knows, the reason that our country is in the economic mess it’s in– and why Democrats have won overwhelming majorities in both chambers in the last two elections, and Obama trounced McCain –is not a result of 8 years of Bush’s radical conservativism: it’s because Bush wasn’t ultra-radical conservative enough.

Which is why Palin should waste not one minute in declaring Hutchins her VP candidate for 2012.  In fact, the best political decision of her life would be to announce him as her pick on Thanksgiving.  And no worries about it being a rushed decision.  After all, looking at his website is about the same amount of vetting McCain did when he chose Palin.

Imagine it, the most coordinated and massive robocall in human history.  Timed to hit at precisely the moment families across the nation are sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, every house, business, and cell phone in the nation receives a call, and who’s on the phone but Sarah Palin to announce that in exactly 90 seconds, on Fox News of course, she will be making the most important announcement in the 6,000 years of the earth’s history. more »

Here’s an important call to action today from Ocean State Action. We need your help sticking it to the insurance industry. There’s some real momentum for the public insurance option, but our Senators need to hear from YOU to make it happen.

Please call Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse TODAY! Dial tollfree 1-877-264-4226 or click here.

Tell your Senators: “We’re counting on you to make sure that we end up with a Senate health care bill that requires employers to pay their fair share for health care, that makes health care truly affordable for all Americans, and gives us all the choice of a public health insurance option. Please sign onto Senator Brown’s letter calling on Senate Leadership to include the choice of a public plan in the final Senate bill.

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Why it is critical to make this call today:

While Senators Reed and Whitehouse helped move forward affordable health coverage options and a public plan in the HELP committee, the more conservative Senate Finance Committee has legislation that without a public plan and with less support to make insurance affordable for middle-income families. We need our senators to join Senate Sherrod Brown’s letter to senate leadership to make clear that a large number of members of the Senate’s majority caucus want to see a public plan in the final bill.

Call Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse today! 1-877-264-4226 or click here.

There will also be a vigil today at 4:30pm outside of UnitedHealthcare at 475 Kilvert Street in Warwick to call for real reform that benefits people, not the profits of the insurance industry.

To (almost) quote Emma Goldman, “If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be a part of your [health care reform].”

Dance you will this Friday at The 201. Providence’s dearly departed DJ duo Certified Bananas (Sammy Bananas now resides in Brooklyn, Certified Max in Boston – catch them while you can) will be on hand for a crazy set. The 201 has a bar and sexy couches and pool tables for the wallflower types. Organizers are requesting a $5 suggested donation, all proceeds will go to Young Invincibles, a national grassroots and e-advocacy effort aimed at encouraging young Americans to engage in the health care reform debate. Check out their website and photo petition.

Dance Rally for Health Care Reform w/Certified Bananas at The 201

Friday, October 9th 10pm-2am, 201 Westminster, across from the Dress Barn

Please give us $5 at the door.

Is dancing and drinking and lounging at a bar enough to pass the health care reform we need? Of course it isn’t. But the fight isn’t over, so let’s use this opportunity to start bringing our voices to the conversation.

Okay, so our Senators didn’t really say that. But what is true is that, even more important than hearing from Obama, our elected leaders need to hear from their constituents — that means YOU — that we need real health care reform, and we need it now.

Ocean State Action asks that you please call Senators Reed and Whitehouse TODAY tollfree at 1-877-264-4226 and tell them: “We can’t wait for health care reform!”

As our Senators go back to work after their recess–when opponents tried to drown out the voices of health care reform supporters by being loud and abusive, and often just plain crazy — we need to make sure our Senators hear our voices loud and clear: It’s time to move forward with reform that ensures quality, affordable health care for all — and to capitalize on the strong bill that the Senate HELP Committee has already passed.

Even if you’ve called our senators in the past in support of health care reform, they need to hear from you today as they get back to work. Now is the best opportunity we’ve had in decades to win real health care reform, and we must keep up the momentum and make sure Congress is hearing from us.

So be sure to call Reed and Whitehouse today at 1-877-264-4226. more »