posted on January 5, 2001 09:09:22 AM new
Now the media vote counters are discovering mysterious marks made on Gore only ballots in Florida that look like they may have been made to deliberately invalidate the ballots. Not many, yet, but they've got a long way to go.
“Of the 1,900 overvotes examined today, 40 of them were clear and obvious votes for Al Gore,” said Florida attorney George Drumming, who handled the examination of the ballots on behalf of Democrats.com. These 40 were invalidated due to a smudge mark or some other extraneous mark through some other candidate's name, most done by a light pencil mark that was completely different from the mark indicating the voter’s preference.“There was not a single case of mysterious extraneous marks appearing on any ballots for George W. Bush,” said Drumming.
There are other things: tomorrow the electoral votes are cerified by congress unless there is a compelling request not to do so. Some people are making such a request.
Also, the issue of Dick Cheney's sudden move back to Wisconsin is still being addressed. Some people ask whether or not the Cheneys are separating. Mrs. Cheney is still registered to vote in Texas and she still has a Texas driver's license even though her hubby quickly changed his in July and November. Even though their house in Texas has been sold, many are wondering how it is that the Cheneys were able to claim a homeowner's exemption on the house right up until the sale went through. Everybody who's ever had a homeowner's exemption knows that it can only be applied against the property taxes of a claimant's actual residence.
posted on January 5, 2001 09:15:05 AM new
I think its safe to say we will see a special independent council to investigate them like they had the Clintons investigated.
posted on January 5, 2001 09:45:19 AM new
This stuff about Cheney's residency is pretty interesting. Even though a Texas Republican judge and a Republican fedeal curcuit judge dismissed lawsuits without predjudice by saying that the plaintiffs in each case did not show a personal injury to them specifically, no one ever ruled on the 12th amendment restriction on a state's electors voting for both a presidential and vice presidential candidates who are residents of the same state.
"As property owners, and as legal residents of Texas, Mr. and Mrs. Cheney have filed their federal income taxes from there since 1995. They have registered and paid taxes on all but one of their vehicles there since 1995. Mr. Cheney was registered to vote there until this past summer, and Mrs. Cheney is STILL registered to vote in Texas (are they planning to separate?). Mr. Cheney changed his driver's license to Wyoming, which nullified his Texas license, but Mrs. Cheney has not surrendered her Texas drivers' license, nor applied for one from Wyoming (again, are they planning to separate?). Until after the election, the Cheneys had a standing request at the United States Post Office in Jackson Hole, Wyoming that any and all mail addressed to them be forwarded to their home in Texas. But, if all this isn't enough to convince someone that Mr. Cheney is not from Wyoming, there's more. The Cheneys also claimed what is called the General Homestead Exemption on their property taxes on their Highland Park home, starting in 1995, and up to November 30, 2000 when the sale of the home was closed.
Cheney's claiming the General Homestead Exemption in Texas, while also claiming that he's a Wyoming resident, is a pretty big deal. By Texas law, this exemption is not available to anyone who does not legally reside in Texas, or to anyone claiming a legal residence in any other state. Nor is it available on any property in Texas OTHER than the owners' legal domicile. Because Texas has no income tax, property taxes are pretty hefty. The General Homestead Exemption is a sort of "tax deduction" on your place of residence, which has the same effect as claiming dependents on your federal income taxes. If one is claiming residency in another state (say, Wyoming), and still claiming a General Homestead Exemption on his or her property in Texas,then one is breaking the law and evading Texas taxes, at the very least. Also with regard to taxes, it is very telling that Mr. Cheney has filed all of his federal income taxes since 1995 from Texas, where there is no state income tax. He has not paid any state income taxes in Wyoming since he bought his Texas dwelling. Not even on the $20 million that he got as a "going away" present from his friends at Halliburton, which they were not, in any way, required to give him, and which raises UNLIMITED questions about just what that $20 million will buy if Cheney is VP. (It makes Hillary's $8 million book deal look rather pitiful, doesn't it?) I guess if we want to give him the benefit of the doubt, we can assume he's made all required estimated tax payments to Wyoming for 2000, when he got the $20 million, based on that amount. But it surely does seem that Mr. Cheney wants us to believe that for tax purposes he lives in Texas, while for national election and constitutional purposes, he lives in Wyoming.
Richard and Lynne Cheney did not even list their Texas home for sale until the Bush campaign learned, after Election Day,that a suit was filed in an effort to block the Texas electors from voting for two Texans.The Cheneys were still claiming their Texas General Homestead Exemption at the time sale closed on November 30, fully four months after Mr. Cheney flew to Jackson Hole,Wyoming to register to vote there. If you would like a look at the tax record, it is still available at:
http://www.dallascad.org/dcadres00.cfm?theKey=60084500240110000 But it gets better. From Wyoming's perspective, Mr. Cheney only got a "temporary voter registration" back in July, when he did his big photo-op trip there to become a Wyoming resident (not!). Wyoming statute requires that all information provided by a prospective voter/resident must be verified. This could not have happened, because if the information had been verified, Wyoming would have learned that Cheney was
claiming his Texas home as his legal residence right up until the day he showed up in the elections office to register to vote. One cannot become a legal resident of WYOMING if one has been a legal resident of any other state within the 12 months prior. This means that when Dick Cheney gave us another photo-op, at the polls in Wyoming on Election Day, he was probably casting an illegal vote. (Mr. Cheney would not even qualify for a resident hunting license in Wyoming).
posted on January 5, 2001 09:47:04 AM new
I think its safe to say without anything to back this up, that it isn't Wisconsin, the Cheney's own property in Wyoming
edited: you said Wisconsin in first post
[ edited by NeartheSea on Jan 5, 2001 09:48 AM ]
posted on January 5, 2001 10:21:52 AM new
It is like that witchy woman who had the hotel chain said (what was her name?)Henly or something similar.
"Little people pay taxes." They put her away for having the bad taste to say it in public not because it was false.
posted on January 5, 2001 12:38:35 PM new
Actually I have heard that the Madison, Wisconsin area is a nice place to live. I have traveled through Wyoming and Montana ... talk about your wide open spaces ....
Hi krs and Kris!
UBB error
[ edited by nobs on Jan 5, 2001 12:39 PM ]
posted on January 5, 2001 12:55:57 PM new
Hahahaha! Hi Kris, & Krs,Nobs
Is their anything the state of Florida did right?????
Hope they do have an investigation this should be a good one.....
I bet they will uncover more more more!
posted on January 5, 2001 01:29:17 PM new
Wyoming is cold and has a billion cows. It does have less people though and no football team
Oddish~ The Odd One
posted on January 5, 2001 01:58:35 PM new
I wonder when the Bush legal team will start complaining about the never-ending on-going investigation into the Florida election count that is eating up huge sums of taxpayer monies in an effort to discredit him.
posted on January 8, 2001 10:34:02 AM new
Mighty curious residency questions, I'd guess Cheney might need to amend tax returns.
However, can anyone imagine the Supreme Court accepting any such 12th amendment arguments? I think not.
[ edited by figmente on Jan 8, 2001 10:40 AM ]
