KUAM News: Cameron withdraws protest, caucus results certified

Related Posts: Hillary Clinton Addresses Concerns With Guam Military Build Up, Barack Obama..First Presidential Candidate to Open Guam Office, Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations, Guam Democratic Caucus Recount "Imminent"

The Central Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Guam met this evening to make several large and important decisions relative to last weekend's historic caucus. First, they voted to accept the nomination of Senator Ben Pangelinan's as national committeeman. The former speaker of the Guam Legislature had been nominated by outgoing party chairman Tony Charfauros.

They then proceeded to tackle the more contentious issue on the table: whether to certify or recount the results from the weekend election. The committee had previously received a request from national chairperson candidate Joseph Cameron, who demanded a recount after losing the election to Pilar Lujan, alleging there were missing ballots and expressing strong concern over the more than 400 spoiled ballots.

At the onset of discussions, Cameron announced that he was withdrawing his protest, with the results subsequently certified by the party members. Both local offices for the respective presidential campaigns for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton expressed their satisfaction and support of the results, as tabulated last Saturday.

From KUAM News: http://www.kuam.com/news/27785.aspx

Guam Democratic Caucus Recount "Imminent"

Related Posts: Hillary Clinton Addresses Concerns With Guam Military Build Up, Barack Obama..First Presidential Candidate to Open Guam Office, Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

• Guam, with an estimated population of 173,456, held its Democratic Presidential caucus Saturday, May 3, 2008.
• Preliminary results show Barack Obama won with seven more votes then Hillary Clinton. There were 576 "spoiled ballots" that were not counted.
• According to the Pacific News Center "Herbie Perez, chairman of the nominating committee, said she will not certify the results because the Committee needs to ensure that all the uncounted ballots were properly identified as "spoiled.""
• Party officials and representatives of the Obama and Clinton campaigns are expected to meet early this week to address the issue.
• A second issue is the fact that more than 8,100 ballots were printed in response to shortages at precinct sites however, only 4,500 were counted and it is unsure what happened to the other 3,600 ballots.

Sources:

http://www.mvariety.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=10888&format=html

http://pacificnewscenter.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=161&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=24110&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1718&hn=pacificnewscenter&he=.com

Related Posts: Hillary Clinton Addresses Concerns With Guam Military Build Up, Barack Obama..First Presidential Candidate to Open Guam Office, Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

Hillary Clinton Addresses Concerns With Guam Military Build Up

Related Posts: Barack Obama..First Presidential Candidate to Open Guam Office, Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

• From 2008 to 2014 the US military plans to relocate its base in Okinawa to Guam to include US Marines, Trident submarines, a ballistic missile task force, Navy Special Operations forces and Air Force F-22 fighter jets.


• The build up is expected to increase the island's population by approximately 40,000 people or 25%.


• According to a January 2008 Washington Post article "Guam's government says it needs $2 billion to $3 billion in federal funds to cover outside-the-fence costs of the military move."


• However, federal law dictates that all income taxes paid by residents on the island must go to Guam's general operating fund and not the US Treasury. As a result, the tax revenue from the 40,000 new residents that will result from the military build up could provide as much as $200 million annually in additional tax revenue.


• On April 30, 2008 Hillary Clinton outlined a plan to "to address Guamanian concerns" with regards to the military build up in addition to the $130 million in reparations promised previously.


• The plan includes appointing a senior advisor that will report directly to the Secretary of Defense to fully consult with Guam's officials in the planning process and to be the territory's point of contact to address any concerns during the build-up and beyond, ensuring that the United States will help the Government of Guam finance capital improvements and directing the Small Business Administration to open a Procurement and Technical Assistance Center on Guam.


• The Guam Democratic caucus will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2008 with eight pledged delegates with a half vote each and five super delegates at stake.

Sources:

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=7400

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012403509_2.html?sid=ST2008012602071

Related Posts: Barack Obama..First Presidential Candidate to Open Guam Office, Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

Barack Obama..First Presidential Candidate to Open Guam Office

Related Post: Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

• Barack Obama will be the first presidential candidate to open an office in Guam in the history of the territory.
• The campaign is still negotiating the lease but, expect opening soon.
• The Guam Democratic caucus will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2008 with eight pledged delegates with a half vote each and five super delegates at stake.
  
  Source: http://www.mvariety.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=9570&format=html

Related Post: Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

Hillary Clinton Pledges $130 Million in Reparations

• The press releases on HillaryClinton.Com this weekend included a statement from Hillary pledging $130 million in reparations and grants for "research, educational, and media activities to memorialize the occupation of Guam."
• Guam, an American territory, was occupied by the Japanese for 31 months during World War II. Its modern economy is derived primarily from Japanese tourism and US military bases.
• Clinton supports the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act (H.R 1595). If the bill is not approved by the Senate this year she says "as President of the United States, I will get it passed next year so that we may provide these survivors and their families with the compensation they deserve for their courageous devotion to the United States during Japanese occupation."
  

Her statement goes on to say "Although Guamanians received limited compensation immediately after the war, the restrictive procedures, narrow window for recovery, and incomplete range of compensable injuries left too many under-compensated. As the Commission concluded, their claims were not treated comparably to U.S. citizens or nationals of other territories who suffered disproportionate hardships during World War II. The bill would remedy that decades-old injustice.

The bill I support has four components.
1. It would recognize the injuries endured by the people of Guam during the occupation and their steadfast loyalty to the United States.
2. It would compensate Guam's residents for specific harms.
3. It would authorize a grant program for research, educational, and media activities to memorialize the occupation of Guam.
4. It would authorize $130 million for the grant program and compensation."

Sources:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/release/view/?id=6926
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-1595
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guam