Replies

CatholicVote.org needs all Catholic freepers and their friends to mail them their church bulletins and send them your e-mail address and other catholic e-mail addresses as I just did. The information will be used to build a Catholic Database so that we can be informed of Catholic Voting and Political Issues across the country. 50% of Catholics do not vote, and those Catholics who do vote, generally, as evident in the NJ gubernatorial election, vote for pro-abortion candidates. We need to change that and with Catholic Vote it's a start. Kindly send them the material requested.

`

"People reading this in New Jersey should care because if a Republican wins here in November and the Republicans take control of the Senate Justice Owens will be confirmed."

Perhaps this article should be titled:
"Vote for the Crook Toricelli or You Will Go to Hell"?

Bush should be spending some of his capital to get pro-life Judges on the bench. So far he seems MIA.

Catholic bump

The irony here is that Senator Leahy who switched from Republican to Democrat and Senator Kennedy, call themselves Catholic but are ardently pro-abortion.

The even sadder irony is that probably at least 50% of Americans who call themselves Catholics, including a significant number of clergy, are deli Catholics at best who are also pro-abortion and simply ignore Church teachings in the matter

The Bishops never speak out against the pro-abortion "Catholic" politicians and the Catholic Universities give them honorary degrees.

I'm continually SHOCKED when I read about Catholics voting for anti-Catholic candidates like Teddy Kennedy, Cuomo,
and other pro-abortion 'Catholics in Name only!' I must
only conclude that the Liberal Catholic (which thinks
abortion is okay, women should be priests, and reject any
commands from Rome like that in 1969 that precluded
homosexuals as candidates for the seminary.) This group
is responsible for the Catholic Crisis and is NOT my Church but because it's basically Democrats it's loved by the mainstream media and equated to THE Church. I'm a
Roman Catholic, not an American Catholic and I expec that
this scism will blow up soon. I only wish that the Roman
(Orthodox) Church could manipulate the media as well as
the American Church can.

The irony here is that Senator Leahy who switched from Republican to Democrat and Senator Kennedy, call themselves Catholic....

It was Jeffords who switched.

Dear Catholic Vote Contributor:

Catholics are under attack. Legislation to lift the veil of secrecy at the confessional, mandate contraceptive coverage for Catholic employers, regulate and or defund Catholic schools, promote gay marriage and promote abortion has been introduced in Trenton.

Because of the Priest Sex Scandal our enemies have been emboldened. Catholics need a stronger better organized voice and the US Bishops have challenged lay Catholics to get involved.

The Knights of Columbus met in California this week and they were challenged by their leaders to get involved, register to vote and defend the church's teachings and positions on the issues before the legislatures. It is not enough to only vote, we need to actively participate in the legislative process.

There are 340 Councils in New Jersey and 56,000 Knights but they are limited in what they can do because of IRS tax regulations. They can do all of the nonpartisan things the church can and should do. They cannot mention specific legislators names and support or oppose them.

We as lay Catholics can and should.

60% of all Catholics did not vote in the last election. Weekly Mass attendees, Church going Catholics, voted overwhelmingly for the pro-life candidate but too many of them did not vote.

Over 250,000 Catholics voted for Bob Franks in 2000 and did not vote in 2001. I assume they would have voted for Schundler but we will never know because they did not come to the polls, they only vote in Presidential years.

New Jersey has 698 parishes. I have been asked what it would cost to get Catholics to vote. Obviously we need candidates who can motivate voters and speak to our issues.

Conversely we need voters who will demand and support politicians who support our issues.

We need to identify Catholics who go to church, get them to register to vote, educate them on the issues and motivate them to go vote.

Each church has a Sunday bulletin. We need to collect the bulletins, identify names and phone numbers of active Catholics, match them to voter rolls and develop a phone/mailing list. Parish lists are no good because they include the hatch, match and dispatch Catholics who only go to church on holidays and for their own funerals. We need church going Catholics. They vote different from the self proclaimed "Catholics."

DATA ENTRY OF NAMES AND PHONE NUMBERS @ $.12 A NAME
MATCH WITH A VOTER LIST. ALL NON-Registered VOTERS SHOULD GET A LETTER, COPY OF THE BISHOP'S LETTER, LIST OF ELECTED OFFICIAL'S CONTACT INFORMATION AND A VOTER REGISTRATION FORM.

We need to get people from each parish to approach their pastor about holding a voter registration drive. The phone book changes by 20% every year. All of the kids who turn 18, people who move, people who get married and new citizens need to register. Even if they are registered they may have changed their address.

We know that half of the Catholics, (686,000) are not registered to vote. A third of them go to church weekly. (228,0000)

I would suggest that Saturday, September 21, and Sunday, September 22, 2002, be Voter Registration Sunday. This allows for rain date and follow up the following Sunday, September 29, and the deadline is the following Friday, October 5th.

We need volunteer teams to assist the parishioners. They need:
Voter registration forms. Different for each County.
A card table
Folding chairs
Pens
Signs (Optional)
T Shirts (Optional)

They need to make copies of each form and they need to mail in the voter registrations. The names need to go into a data base and they need to get voter information, education materials about the issues and the candidate's positions and absentee ballot applications.

Each new voter should get 5 pieces of mail. 3 newsletters, an absentee ballot application, a welcome letter with legislator's contact information. Each newsletter will solicit donations and subscriptions and direct people to the web site.

Each table should also have CatholicVote literature and sign up sheets to get e-mail address'.

2 T-Shirts @ $5 = $10
1 Sign $ 1
Literature 100@.10 = $10
Total $21 per church x 698 = $14,658

Average 10 new voters per mass times 5 masses = 50 new voters x 698= 34,900 new voters.

Each of the 75 Catholic High Schools needs to be visited. A mock election with a questionnaire for the candidates on Catholic issues will generate a lot of calls to the candidates from students doing research about the issues. Great press opportunities for winning the mock elections. This gets to the parents.

Diocese High Schools Number of Students Seniors
Newark 37 15,622 3905
Paterson 10 3,954 988
Metuchen 6 3,738 934
Trenton 11 3,445 861
Camden 11 5,943 1935
Total 75 32,702 8623

Rewards besides the T-shirts for the most registered voters such as lunch with Ambassador Flynn will be arranged.

Follow up letters to all of the new voters at $.50 with an absentee ballot application and a copy of the Bishops letter and a list of their legislator's contact information for their refrigerator.

Students frequently get credit for volunteer time. They have to be asked to participate and they need to be educated about the political process.

Cost is whatever we hand out and the expenses of time and travel.

A mailing to all 700 parishes with info about the unregistered voters, list of legislator's contact information, UCCB/IRS regulations on voter registration etc.

Cost $700

Newsletter
Mailing a newsletter to 5000 Catholic activists and 15,000 for hand distribution =$5000
August, September, October = $15,000

Newspaper Advertising

I know newspapers are not a preferred way of advertising but much like Roll Call and The Hill The Catholic newspapers have a great influence over their select community. An add in the newspaper has a greater impact and a better chance of being read than a piece of mail.

Catholic Newspapers are by subscription and come out every two weeks except in Paterson where it comes out weekly. They are read by the faithful. Priests, nuns, Catholic school teachers, parents and students. Newark's Advocate goes to every family who gives money by envelope and to subscribers. Additional copies are distributed free in the back of churches. A little over 200,000 people get the Catholic newspapers. a full page ad in all 5 papers costs about $7500.

I believe this is the best way to initiate outreach to the Catholic community. Education about the need to register, voter education about the issues, and candidate comparisons as well as legislative scorecards are all fair game.

If it is in the paper (a trusted source of information) it will get people's attention.
It will also have the Bishop's implicit support for voter registration.

Information needs to be early in order to get to people before they make up their minds. Voter registration must be in September. Voter education needs to be in the first issue in October. The second issue in October Comes out in the third week and will have a deadline of October 21.

Issues besides the Right to Life are Embryo Research, Cloning, School Choice, Welfare reform, gay marriage, and the death penalty. Catholics do not agree with all of the church's teaching but the educational aspect must include issues.

Diocese/Counties Paid Circulation Full Page
Newark Advocate 130,000 $2535
Marge McCue 973-497-4201
Bergen 44K, Essex 25K, Union 33K, Hudson 23K
1,319,558 Catholics

Paterson Beacon
32,500 $1260
973-279-8845x 14 Steve Hadasko
Passaic, Morris, Sussex
403,207 Catholics

Metuchen The Catholic Spirit 12,000
732-562-1990 x1407 Cathy O'Neil
Middlesex, Somerset, Warren, Hunterdon
495,322 Catholics

Trenton The Monitor
Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean
609-406-7400x
703,531 Catholics

Camden The Catholic Star Herald 32K $1372.70
Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumbeland, Gloucester and Salem
856-756-7900x 6366 Dennis Ezekiel
418,713 Catholics

An alternative is to insert the newsletter in the newspaper @$55 per thousand plus printing.

WEB

We are adding VoteNet to our web site. This will allow us to have a zip code lookup of legislators and up to date information on Federal and State legislator's contact information, legislation tracking including cosponsors and committee votes.

We will be able to educate voters about pending legislative votes and provide them with the tools to become activists. Letters to be Emailed or faxed can be pre written and phone scripts provided.

This is the best way to motivate and communicate with activists.
Initial cost is $15,000 but there is no postage or printing and the pass along viral effect is significant.

if we build an organization with at least two people per parish we can have a tremendous impact. That's 1400 people.

A weekly newsletter will be able to sent via email. Legislative alerts can be sent at any time as well as crowd building or newspaper clip distribution.

Cost for webmaster and data entry $2000 per month.

Phone Contact
An automated phone call to each parish and to all of the active Catholics with phone numbers can get a message out to a select group of people over a wide geographic area in a short period of time for a very reasonable cost.
7000 x $.12 = $840

Total budget:

Data Collection and entry: $ 5,000
Mailing to parishes Re voter registration $ 700
Voter registration: $14,658
Newsletter: 3 moths @$5000= $15,000
Newspaper Advertising: $ 7,500
Web $15,000
Phone Outreach: 7000x$.12= $ 840

Total: $58,698

A contribution towards overhead and expenses also needs to be factored in.

Some of this is fluff. Some areas are probably not worth trying. Certainly areas such as the 67 churches in the 5th CD, where there is a clear choice between a pro-lifer and a pro-abortionist are worth our time. But that is only this election. We need to take the long term view and build a network for supporting issues instead of candidates. If the issue support is there, organized and vocal, the elected political "leaders" will follow.

Next year's legislative races will give us a whole new set of opportunities and targets. We need an ongoing effort.

I'd like to get your thoughts and input.

I'll be away until August 20th but I'll be checking my email. I'd like to have a meeting with you and any of your friends to talk about what we can do to promote Catholic values in the legislatures.

I need help. Help with organization. Help with writing the newsletter. Help with getting the mailings out the door. Help with fundraising.

You have been my core group of supporters. Will you help me now?

Larry Cirignano, Esq.
http://www.CatholicVote.org
PO Box 118
Far Hills, NJ 07931
609-781-0090 cell
202-318-0789 fax

CITIZENLINK
September 10, 2002

URGENT CALL TO ACTION

Peaceful Pro-Life Protest in Jeopardy

Your help is needed urgently to prevent a bill from
becoming law that would single out peaceful pro-life
protestors for harsh punishment.

The U.S. House of Representatives could vote as early
as Thursday on the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 333) -- a well-intentioned
bill that nevertheless contains an amendment targeting
peaceful pro-life protestors. Several pro-life
congressmen have announced they would not vote for
the bill unless the amendment is removed.

"The current bankruptcy bill would force peaceful,
otherwise law-abiding pro-life protestors to unique
punishment and financial ruin," said Rep. Rep. Joe Pitts,
R-Pa.

Pitts, who helped stall a vote on the bankruptcy bill in
July, said the amendment -- which was added by pro-
abortion Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. -- would prevent
peaceful abortion protestors who have been sued by
abortion providers from discharging the fines in
bankruptcy, while leaving other debtors unaffected.

The Pennsylvania congressman noted that current law
already provides for the punishment of violent acts
against abortion clinics or abortion doctors, so the effect
of Schumer's amendment would be to target only
peaceful protestors.

"The typical pro-life protestor, in my experience, is a
middle-aged homemaker or retired person whose
Christian beliefs compel him or her to protest the deaths
of more than a million unborn Americans each year," he
said. "Grouping them with violent pro-life protestors (of
whom there are very few) is like grouping the followers
of Martin Luther King with the Black Panthers."

Pitts, who is working on his own compromise bill, said he
could not support Schumer's provision because it "would
only punish people for standing in the wrong place and
speaking their minds."

David Varnam, issues response analyst at Focus on the
Family, said Pitts' compromise would clarify that the
Schumer provision only applies to violent protestors.

"So, if you had a 65-year-old lady who was arrested for
praying outside an abortion clinic, she wouldn't be
treated in the same way as a person who burned down
an abortion clinic," Varnam said. "While bankruptcy
reform is a pressing issue, this comes down to a
question of fairness."

Pitts concluded: "Why is it okay to have civil rights
protests ... union protests ... animal rights protests or
peace protests, and ... it (is) not okay to protest in
defense of unborn babies?"

TAKE ACTION:
A vote on this issue could come up as early as
Thursday, Sept. 12. Please take the following steps
IMMEDIATELY:

1. Call House Majority Whip Tom DeLay at 202-225-
0197 and urge him to oppose the Bankruptcy Abuse
Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 333)
unless the Schumer amendment is either removed, or is
replaced with the legislation being offered by Rep. Joe
Pitts.

2. Contact your House representative and urge him or
her to oppose the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 333) unless the Schumer
amendment is either removed, or is replaced with the
legislation being offered by Rep. Joe Pitts. If the person
is unfamiliar with the legislation Rep. Pitts is offering,
refer him or her to Mr. Pitts' office for more details.

Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or to find
out who your representative is and how to contact him or
her, see our Legislative Action Center:
http://capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/

3. Following is a list of key members of the House who
especially need to hear from their constituents on this
issue. If your representative is listed below, please make
a special effort to contact him or her and urge him or her
to oppose the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and
Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 333) unless the Schumer
amendment is either removed, or is replaced with the
legislation being offered by Rep. Joe Pitts. If the person
is unfamiliar with the legislation Rep. Pitts is offering,
refer him or her to Mr. Pitts' office for more details.

Call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or to find
out more specific contact information, including phone and
fax numbers and an e-mail address, see our Legislative
Action Center:
http://capwiz.com/fof/dbq/officials/

<Alabama>
Terry Everett (AL-2nd)
Bob Riley (AL-3rd)
Robert B. Aderholt (AL-4th)

<Arizona>
J.D. Hayworth (AZ-6th)

<California>
Wally Herger (CA-2nd)
John Doolittle (CA-4th)
Richard Pombo (CA-11th)
George Radanovich (CA-19th)
Gary B. Miller (CA-41st)
Chris Cox (CA-47th)
Duncan Hunter (CA-52nd)

<Colorado>
Scott McInnis (CO-3rd)
Joel Hefley (CO-5th)
Tom Tancredo (CO-6th)

<Florida>
Jeff Miller (FL-1st)
Cliff Stearns (FL-6th)
David Weldon (FL-15th)

<Georgia>
Bob Barr (GA-7th)
Charlie Norwood (GA-10th)

<Idaho>
C.L. "Butch" Otter (ID-1st)

<Illinois>
Bill Lipinski (IL-3rd)
Philip M. Crane (IL-8th)
Jerry Weller (IL-11th)
Jerry Costello (IL-12th)
Dennis Hastert (IL-14th)
Donald Manzullo (IL-16th)
David Phelps (IL-19th)
John Shimkus (IL-20th)

<Indiana>
Tim Roemer (IN- 3rd)
Mark Souder (IN-4th)
Steve Buyer (IN-5th)
Dan Burton (IN-6th)
John Hostettler (IN-8th)

<Kansas>
Jerry Moran (KS-1st)
Jim Ryun (KS-2nd)
Todd Tiahrt (KS-4th)

<Kentucky>
Ron Lewis (KY-2nd)
Ken Lucas (KY-4th)

<Louisiana>
David Vitter (LA-1st)
Chris John (LA-7th)

<Maryland>
Roscoe Bartlett (MD-6th)

<Michigan>
Bart Stupak (MI-1st)
Pete Hoekstra (MI-2nd)
Dave Camp (MI-4th)
Jim Barcia (MI-5th)
Nick Smith (MI-7th)
Mike Rogers (MI-8th)
Dale Kildee (MI-9th)

<Minnesota>
Gil Gutknecht (MN-1st)
Collin Peterson (MN-7th)
Jim Oberstar (MN-8th)

<Mississippi>
Chip Pickering (MS-3rd)
Ronnie Shows (MS-4th)

<Missouri>
W. Todd Akin (MO-2nd)

<Nebraska>
Lee Terry (NE-2nd)
Tom Osbourne (NE-3rd)

<New Hampshire>
John Sununu (NH-1st)

<New York>
Tom Reynolds (NY- 27th)
John LaFalce (NY-29th)

<North Carolina>
Walter B. Jones (NC-3rd)
Mike McIntyre (NC-7th)
Robin Hayes (NC-8th)
Sue Myrick (NC-9th)
Charles Taylor (NC-11th)

<Oklahoma>
John Sullivan (OK-1st)
J.C. Watts, Jr. (OK-4th)
Ernest J. Istook (OK-5th)

<Pennsylvania>
Melissa Hart (PA-4th)
Patrick Toomey (PA-15th)
Mike Doyle (PA-18th)
Phil English (PA-21st)

<Rhode Island>
Jim Langevin (RI-2nd)

<South Carolina>
Henry E. Brown, Jr. (SC-1st)
Joe Wilson (SC-2nd)
Lindsey Graham (SC-3rd)

<Tennessee>
Zach Wamp (TN-3rd)
Van Hilleary (TN-4th)
Ed Bryant (TN-7th)

<Texas>
Ralph Hall (TX-4th)
Pete Sessions (TX-5th)
Joe Barton (TX-6th)
John Culberson (TX-7th)
Kevin Brady (TX-8th)
Ron Paul (TX-14th)
Charlie Stenholm (TX-17th)
Tom DeLay (TX-22nd)
Dick Armey (TX-26th)

<Utah>
Chris Cannon (UT-3rd)

<Virginia>
J. Randy Forbes (VA-4th)
Virgil H. Goode (VA-5th)
Eric Cantor (VA-7th)

<West Virginia>
Alan Mollohan (WV-1st)
Nick Rahall (WV-3rd)

<Wisconsin>
Paul Ryan (WI-1st)
Mark Green (WI-8th)

<Wyoming>
Barbara Cubin (WY-At Large)

==================
Ben Taylor
Editor

Pete Winn
Associate Editor

Trish Amason
Editorial Coordinator

Peter Brandt
Director, Issues Response

Tom Minnery
Vice President, Public Policy

Dr. James C. Dobson
President, Focus on the Family

The irony here is that Senator Leahy who switched from Republican to Democrat and Senator Kennedy, call themselves Catholic but are ardently pro-abortion. Not just in favor of allowing a woman to "choose" to kill her baby but against any reasonable restriction and in favor of taxpayer funded abortion, on demand, right up until the moment of birth.

and the sheeples continue to vote them back into office!

http://www.catholicvote.org

http://www.catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org
http://www.catholicvote.org

Sunday, October 6, 2002, is the last day to register voters. There are over One million Catholics in New Jersey who are not registered to vote.

Please ask your pastor to put a notice in the Sunday Bulletin and to have registration forms available.

People who have moved since they last voted, women who have gotten married and changed their names, students who are away at school and anyone who has become a citizen or turned eighteen need to register.

Every election is won by the person who gets the most votes and too many Catholics are not voting. Only one person in eight will vote for the winner in most elections.

Half the people are not registered and half the people who are do not vote. That means only one in 4 are voting and half of them vote for the loser.

If we can get one more person in every pew to vote and vote for the candidates who support Catholic teaching we all will win.

To download the registration form: http://www.state.nj.us/lps/elections/voter_reg_app.pdf

For the list of your County Election Commission go to:
http://www.state.nj.us/faqs/elections.html

From the US Catholic Conference of Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/ogc/guidelines.htm#drives

Nonpartisan Voter Registration/Get-Out-the-Vote Drives. Both IRS and the Federal Election Commission [11 C.F.R. §114.4(d)] permit Catholic organizations to sponsor voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, provided that no bias for or against any candidate, political party, or voting position is evidenced. Such bias would be indicated by distribution of partisan literature or materials indicating the organization's positions in connection with the voter registration or get-out-the-vote drives, by targeting registration or get-out-the-vote drives toward individuals who support the organization's positions or a particular candidate or party, by coordinating with candidates or their committees, etc. Thus, voter registration or get-out-the vote efforts should not be conducted (1) in cooperation with any political campaign, (2) according to the identity of the candidates, (3) based upon a candidate's or party's agreement or disagreement with the sponsoring organization's positions, or (4) in a manner targeting members of a particular party. Targeting voter registration drives at historically disadvantaged groups, whether based on economic status, race, gender or language, generally should not be objectionable 8.

Please let me know if your parish is participating and how many people you register.
Larry Cirignano, Esq.
http://www.CatholicVote.org
PO Box 70695
Washington, DC 20024
609-781-0090 cell
202-318-0789 fax

bump