Meagan Wiseley, University of New Mexico – Talk Radio News Service

The FreedomWorks Foundation is sponsoring a three day event that will give grassroots conservatives the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with government spending to Congress. The September 12 “March On Washington” will be the largest gathering of fiscal conservatives in history, with tens of thousands expected.

In a conference call Wedneday to promote the event, FreedomWorks President and CEO Matt Kibbe said, “I do think that our theme of ‘government goes to those who show up’ is relevant here. We’ve seen lots of Americans leave their homes and come to townhall meetings and come to Washington.”

September 9th and 10th will be dedicated to workshops, training seminars and rallies. Fiscal conservatives will also have the opportunity to address their congressmen during lobbying visits to Capitol Hill.

Jenny Beth Martin with The Tea Party Patriots, who also participated in Wednesday’s conference call, said of her fellow patriots, “They think it’s time for their elected officials to pay attention to what they have to say. They will have that opportunity on Thursday and Friday while they are in D.C.”

The three day event will begin Thursday September 9th.

By Courtney Ann Jackson-Talk Radio News Service

Civil rights leaders and Senators joined in a rally on Capitol Hill Wednesday to voice their support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation.

The familiar phrase from President Obama’s campaign, “yes we can,” was heard both in English and Spanish at the rally, which was hosted by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). The atmosphere was extremely celebratory as the crowd loudly responded with cheers each time the name of the historic nominee was mentioned.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was one of four Senators who spoke at the rally. “There are three words that sum up this nomination: It is time,” Schumer declared.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) also showed their support, adding that they were not pleased with the overall Republican response to the nomination.

“Let us hope that as history looks back on this day, it notes the historic occasion of the confirmation of Justice Sotomayor and …not the Republicans’ strange and strained efforts to impose right-wing political orthodoxy on our courts and judges,” said Whitehouse.

Sen. Menendez spoke about the response of the Hispanic community to Sotomayor nomination, but also mentioned the appreciation of the few Republican Senators who have said they will vote yes for her confirmation.

“When she raises her hand and takes that oath of office, the Supreme Court will be better, the nation will be better, and we will have fulfilled our promise as a country,” said Menendez.

Civil rights organizations including the Hispanic Federation, the Alliance for Justice, the NAACP and others were also present in support of Sotomayor. Many people held signs with the slogan “I stand with Sotomayor,” and at one point, a chant of, “What do we want?-Sonia-When do we want it?-Now,” erupted.

By Laura Woodhead – Talk Radio News Service
Supporters of President Obama’s health care plan rallied on Capitol Hill Thursday, to press for immediate action on health care reform. Organized by the Health Care for America Now! Coalition (HCAN), the “We Can’t Wait ’09″ rally brought together 10,000 health care activists from across the country to pressure Congress into taking significant action on health reform by the end of the year.

Joining those in attendance were actress Edie Falco, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

Said Dean, “The American public deserve the choice of whether to continue with what they have or if they want to try something different.”

Added Senator Schumer, “You being here will make sure that we hold everyone in that building’s [the Capitol’s] feet to the fire,” bringing the enthused crowd to cheers.

Gary Zuckett, Executive Director of the West Virginia Citizen Action Group, asserted that the issue of health care was literally a matter of life and death for many Americans, calling the current system a “national disgrace.” He added that Republicans need to decide whether to “get out of the way or be run over” by the sheer force of the public’s call for health care reform.

by Emma Hills and Jessica Sall

At an anti-abortion rally today in Skyline Park downtown Denver, CO. a speaker said, “The holocaust is here.” Kaitlyn Mahoney, a coordinator of the event, described the protest as a peaceful “prayful” presence. The rally was comprised of multiple pro-life organizations from around the country, most prominently the Christian Defense Coalition and Stand True. Brian Kemper, the president of Stand True, explained their presence at the Democratic National Convention by saying, “The Democratic party says they stand for social justice. We just want them to stand for social justice where it begins: in the womb.”

The rally featured the story of Brandi Lozier, a woman whose mother tried unsuccessfully to abort her. “Just because a baby is in the womb doesn’t mean it’s not a baby,” she told the crowd. When asked if she would be voting for Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) she said, “He didn’t vote for me, why should I vote for him.”

Besides the music, prayer, and the speakers in Skyline Park, members of the rally have walked to the Pepsi Center where the DNC is being held where they placed roses in the fence surrounding the center to symbolize fetuses that have been aborted. “We hope to have 3,000 roses placed for the 3,000 babies that are killed each day,” Mahoney said.

The Iraq Campaign 2008 held an event today in front of the White House in which a fifty foot long replica banner of the “Mission Accomplished” sign, that was aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln five years ago today, was on display. Protesters were present on this five year anniversary on the revealing of the sign to demonstrate that the mission is not yet indeed accomplished. Plenty of media were on hand to witness a protester against the protest, whom was immediately drowned out by the overwhelmingly outnumbering crowd in support of the protest.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer speaks in support of the House passing a long awaited mental disability act at Wellstone Action rally. (1:05)

 

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Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) held a “Stand for Change” rally today at the University of Maryland- College Park’s Comcast Center to a crowd of more than 18,000. The rally was organized by a group of college students known as Democrats for Obama The crowd was heavily dominated by college-age students, yet spectators of all ages were present. The crowd’s excitement did not wane for the more than two hours they waited for Obama’s appearance.

His speech was not focused on any one topic, but it was more of a crowd-pleaser aimed at rallying the people’s support. Obama deflected opponents’ comments about his lack of experience, jokingly stating, “I may be skinny, but I can fight.” He also distanced himself from Vice President Dick Cheney in response to the recent genealogical study which found that the two are distantly related. Senator Obama poked fun at Cheney, to much applause, saying, “Usually, when people do these studies, you want to end up being related to someone cool.”

Another interesting issue that Senator Obama discussed was that of education. He drew attention to the fact that aside from all of the current administration’s propaganda, many children were being left behind. The many topics addressed were the inability of intelligent students to afford higher education, teachers being forced to pay for school supplies out of their own pockets, and possible $4000 vouchers to cover some tuition costs for students enrolled in universities.