Open Letters to Charles Schumer and Chris Van Hollen

Senator Charles Schumer (D - New York) is the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate. Here's a copy of an e-mail message I sent to Senator Schumer:

Dear Chairman Schumer:

Every year I make contributions, totaling several hundred dollars, to various Democratic candidates and committees, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. However, I was extremely disappointed in the Democratic leadership's bringing the so-called "Protect America" Act to a vote, and Senate Democrats' failure to filibuster it, back in August.

The so-called "Protect America" Act will soon come up for renewal. If Congress sends President Bush a bill that either allows for warrantless wiretapping of Americans without individualized suspicion, or provides retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in Bush's illegal, warrantless wiretapping scheme, or both, then I will not contribute to the DSCC for the 2008 election cycle. Furthermore, I will withhold all contributions from congressional Democrats in general election campaigns, and instead contribute to primary challengers who run against Democrats who vote to gut FISA.

There aren't many issues that are absolutely non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned, but this is one of them. If you want me to continue to contribute to your effort to elect a Democratic Senate, then you will make sure that Congress does not capitulate to Bush on either of these two points.

Sincerely,
Jason Sonenshein

cc:
The Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader
Mr. J. B. Poersch, Executive Director

Senator Schumer's counterpart in the U.S. House is Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Here's a copy of an e-mail I sent to Rep. Van Hollen

Dear Chairman Van Hollen:

Every year I make contributions, totaling several hundred dollars, to various Democratic candidates and committees, including the Democratic Congressionial Campaign Committee. However, I was extremely disappointed in the Democratic leadership's bringing the so-called "Protect America" Act to a vote, and House Democrats' failure to defeat it, back in August.

The so-called "Protect America" Act will soon come up for renewal. If Congress sends President Bush a bill that either allows for warrantless wiretapping of Americans without individualized suspicion, or provides retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in Bush's illegal, warrantless wiretapping scheme, or both, then I will not contribute to the DCCC for the 2008 election cycle. Furthermore, I will withhold all contributions from congressional Democrats in general election campaigns, and instead contribute to primary challengers who run against Democrats who vote to gut FISA.

There aren't many issues that are absolutely non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned, but this is one of them. If you want me to continue to contribute to your effort to elect a Democratic House, then you will make sure that Congress does not capitulate to Bush on either of these two points.

Sincerely,
Jason Sonenshein

cc:
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker
Mr. Brian Wolff, Executive Director

My contributions alone won't matter much to the DCCC and the DSCC. However, there probably are others who believe as I do. If you're a Democratic contributor, or a potential Democratic contributor, and you agree that another FISA cave-in would be a deal breaker, please let Senator Schumer and Representative Van Hollen know.

General Assembly Rushes to Halt Skill Game Emergency

In its continuing quest to stamp out fun in Ohio, the Ohio House of Representatives approved emergency legislation to ban skill games. Jim Siegel and James Nash of The Columbus Dispatch report:

The Ohio House voted overwhelmingly yesterday to put an immediate end to the proliferation of slot machine-like games in the state.

The bill would ban games with cash payouts or prizes with values of more than $10. It also bans tournaments, such as those for Golden Tee Golf machines, darts or pool, in which the house takes a cut of the proceeds.

[...]

If enacted, the law will be "devastating" to bars and other businesses that draw in customers with pool and dart tournaments and games such as Golden Tee Golf and Silver Strike Bowling, said David P. Corey, executive vice president of the Ohio Coin Machine Association. Many of those bars already are losing business because of the statewide smoking ban, he said.

(entire article here)

But wait, it gets worse. Mr. Nash also reports:

As written, the bill declares illegal any "mechanical, video, digital or electronic device" that pays out any amount of cash or merchandise with a wholesale value of $10 or more. It also bans tournaments in which the house takes a cut of the proceeds.

The restrictions alarm some bowling-alley proprietors, who say it's not hard to conceive of authorities defining a bowling alley as a mechanical device and a tournament purse as a cash payout. Several bowling operators are lobbying state senators to explicitly exempt them from the proposed law.

"This legislation appears to be extending way beyond just the skill-game issue," said Lee Zavakos, who owns a Dayton bowling alley and is an officer with the Bowling Proprietors Association of America. "They claim they're not coming after us, but there's language that's definitely going to hurt us."

Nearly all bowling leagues issue cash prizes to winners, said Jo Dimond, manager of the central Ohio chapter of the U.S. Bowling Conference.

(entire article here)

That's right, under this legislation, nearly all bowling leagues in Ohio could be illegal. This is emergency legislation, meaning that it would take effect immediately and opponents would not have the opportunity to collect signatures for a referendum to repeal it.

Our last chance to stop this legislation may be in the Ohio Senate. No Fun Ohio has an action alert, with contact information for your state senator. However, the correct bill number is 177, not 117, as No Fun Ohio states.* Please call or e-mail your state senator today and ask him or her to vote NO on Amended Substitute House Bill 177. Please also contact Governor Strickland and ask him to veto H.B. 177.

In its rush to curb the gambling menace, the General Assembly is poised to outlaw bowling, dart, and pool tournaments. Meanwhile, the West Virginia Lottery Commission recently approved 24-hour-a-day table game operations at three locations, including two on Ohio's shores.

* Update: No Fun Ohio has since corrected the bill number.

Today is Your Last Chance

If you're an Ohio voter, today is your last chance to protect Ohio's economy against the loss of a quarter billion dollars of economic activity and 10,000 jobs. It's your last chance to protect your community's power to regulate adult entertainment as it sees fit. It's your last chance to protect the free choice of consenting adults. It's your last chance to protect your neighborhood from the proliferation of residential adult entertainment.

Today is the deadline to sign the petition to allow Ohio's voters to repeal Senate Bill 16. The Buckeye Association of Club Executives has a list of locations where you can sign the petition. If you've not yet signed the petition, please go to one of these places today and sign it.