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2007 Politics News History Archive

20071231

John Edwards - Iowa - Families - Jobs - Money - Attorney General - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "Edwards the orator energizes audience." ... "Dayton Countryman said he's been around long enough to know what it means when a supposedly underdog presidential candidate can pack more than 500 folks into a social hall in this town [Boone, Iowa] of 12,000 people." ... ""This ought to scare the hell out of the other campaigns," Countryman said Sunday as he watched more and more people come in from the cold to hear [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards speak." ... "The 89-year-old lawyer is a former Iowa attorney general who recently became a Democrat after more than 50 years as a Republican. He said he's fed up with what's going on in Washington, D.C., and he'll caucus for Edwards because he believes the former North Carolina senator will stand up." ... "Edwards has been drawing increasingly large and energetic crowds in recent weeks as he presses his case that America needs a fighter in the White House. His audiences are filled mainly with people who are middle age or older, and he's banking that such Iowans have been most likely to show up in caucuses." ... ""The corporate greed that's stealing your children's future, that's destroying middle-class jobs in this country, it's not just destroying the middle class for Democrats. It's destroying the middle class for independents. It's destroying the middle class for Republicans," Edwards said." -By Tony Leys -DesMoinesRegister
Barack Obama- Hillary Clinton - Iowa - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - History - "Obama: Gore, Kerry Alienated "Half the Country"." ... "In a speech this afternoon in central Iowa, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama seems to have widened his criticism of the politics of the past to encompass not only [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton but [former Presidential Candidates] John Kerry and Nobel Laureate Al Gore." ... "Making an argument for his electability, Obama said, "I don't want to go into the next election starting off with half the country already not wanting to vote for Democrats -- we've done that in 2004, 2000," according to a person at the event (rush transcript)." -By Glenn Thrush -Newsday.com
John Edwards - Iowa - North Carolina - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Corporate - Government - Illinois - New York - 2008 Election - "Edwards in Iowa's Spotlight as Finish Line Nears." ... "With the sounds of the Bruce Springsteen song "America Rising" as a backdrop, former North Carolina [Senator and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Sen. John Edwards walked into the [Iowa's] Sioux City Convention Center and stood before hundreds of people to deliver his closing argument." ... ""Thank you for coming. There's an incredible energy and momentum behind this campaign. We can feel it everywhere we go, everywhere," he said." ... ""My job as president is to work with the Congress to unify America," Edwards told the crowd. "I will do that as president of the United States, but we have a huge battle with these entrenched moneyed interests. Those people have a stranglehold on your democracy, an iron-fisted hold on your democracy. Nothing will change until we break that hold."" ... "Edwards compares himself on the stump to former presidents such as [Republican President] Teddy Roosevelt, who fought the big trusts, or [Democratic President] Franklin Roosevelt, who faced down corporate bullies." ... "Edwards has also stopped playing Mr. Nice Guy, as he did four years ago. He recently took a thinly veiled swipe at Democratic rivals Illinois [Senator and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Sen. Barack Obama and New York [Senator and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Sen. Hillary Clinton." ... ""We have very good presidential candidates. I know them and I respect them," he said, but admonished that "the first time the tough fight comes, they will do the political thing. You can take that to the bank."" -By David Welna-NPR
Dennis Kucinich - Joe Biden - Chris Dodd - Ron Paul - Duncan Hunter - Television - Politics - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - "FOX, ABC to reduce debate fields." ... "This weekend’s [New Hampshire] presidential debates and forum will not include some nationally-known candidates, and the chairmen of the state Republican and Democratic parties are not happy." ... "Fergus Cullen and Raymond Buckley say the decisions by ABC News, WMUR and, in Cullen’s case, FOX News, are inconsistent with the New Hampshire primary’s tradition of providing a level playing field for all candidates." ... "ABC News and WMUR-TV (Channel 9) confirmed today that they have established performance-based criteria for Saturday night's pair of presidential debates. Those rules could leave several relatively well-known candidates on the outside looking in, including [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates] Democrats Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd." ... "And Cullen confirmed that FOX News has invited only five presidential candidates to a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] forum scheduled for Sunday night, leaving out [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidates] Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter." ... "GOP candidate Paul has said that FOX News is “scared of me” and has called the network “propagandists for this (Iraq) war, and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”" -By John Distaso -UnionLeader.com
Mike Huckabee - Mitt Romney - Iowa - Television - Ads - Crime - Money - Illegal - Immigrants - Colleges - Abortion - Health-Care - Arkansas - Massachusetts - 2008 Election - "Huckabee: Romney running 'dishonest' campaign." ... "Former Arkansas [Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Gov. Mike Huckabee blasted Republican presidential rival [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney as running a "desperate and dishonest" campaign and predicted the former Massachusetts governor won't be the Republican nominee." ... "Romney has been blasting Huckabee's record on crime and taxes as governor of Arkansas in [Iowa] television ads in the last days of the race." ... "Asked on Monday on CNN's "American Morning" why he felt the need to respond to Romney's attacks, Huckabee said, "I think a lot of people are deceived, and you have to ask do people want to elect a president who has been dishonest in order to get the job and said things about his opponents that simply aren't true?"" ... "With the two men locked in a statistical dead heat atop the latest Iowa polls, Romney has been airing television ads criticizing Huckabee for raising state spending, backing in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at state colleges and granting more than 1,000 pardons and commutations." ... "Huckabee has said the claims are taken out of context, and hit back by questioning the sincerity of Romney's opposition to abortion -- which was covered by the state health care program Romney pushed through in Massachusetts." -CNN
John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Iowa - New York - 2008 Election - "With New Poll Results, Candidates Scramble for Edge in Caucuses." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards:] “You can beat these people if you’re tough enough, if you’re smart enough, if you’ve got the fight inside you,” Mr. Edwards said at a high school in Carroll, Iowa. “You can’t nice them to death. You try and nice them to death, they’ll trample all over you.”" ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama:] “It is true that I believe we can disagree without being disagreeable,["] Mr. Obama said. “I do not believe that change will come with more angry rhetoric of turning up the heat on Republicans. We don’t need more heat in Washington, we need more light.”" ... "Mr. Obama also tweaked the third leading Democrat here, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, by knocking her husband by name for suggesting that an Obama presidency would be a gamble for the nation." ... "“It’ll be a roll of the dice — that’s what Bill Clinton said,” Mr. Obama said. “I have to remind people that the real gamble in this election is having the same old folks do the same old things over and over again and somehow expecting a different result. That’s the real risk.”" ... "Howard Wolfson, a Clinton spokesman, said, “The list of Democrats Senator Obama is attacking — John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and now Bill Clinton — gets longer and longer as we get closer and closer to the caucus.” " -By Patrick Healy and Julie Bosman with contributions by David D. Kirkpatrick, Cate Doty, Michael Cooper, Michael Luo, and Marc Santora -NYTimes
Money - Politics - Federal - Housing - Legislation - New Jersey - Georgia - California - Texas - Utah - Maryland - Nevada - Oregon - Washington - 2004 Election - US - Netherlands - "Lender Lobbying Blitz Abetted Mortgage Mess: Ameriquest Pressed For Changes in Laws; A Battle in New Jersey." ... "During the housing boom, the subprime industry succeeded at more than just writing mortgages. It also shot down efforts by some states to curtail risky lending to borrowers with spotty credit." ... "Ameriquest Mortgage Co. [ACC Capital Holdings], until recently one of the nation's largest subprime lenders, was at the center of those battles. Working with a husband-and-wife team of Washington lobbyists, it handed out more than $20 million in political donations and played a big role in persuading legislators in New Jersey and Georgia to relax tough new laws. Those victories, in turn, helped blunt efforts by other states to crack down on reckless lending, critics of the industry contend." ... "Home loans made by Ameriquest and other subprime lenders are defaulting now in large numbers, roiling global credit markets and sparking debate about whether regulators and lawmakers should have anticipated the mess and taken action. A close look at Ameriquest's lobbying and political donations shows how the subprime industry maneuvered to defeat legislation that might have contained some of the damage." ... "Data from federal and state campaign-finance records, Internal Revenue Service filings, and the National Institute on Money in State Politics show that from 2002 through 2006, Ameriquest, its executives and their spouses and business associates donated at least $20.5 million to state and federal political groups. In comparison, over the same time period, Countrywide Financial, another large subprime lender, gave about $2 million in campaign gifts, and spent an additional $6.7 million lobbying in Washington, records indicate." ... "Some of the giving by Ameriquest executives and associates was high-profile. [Republican] President Bush received more than $200,000 for his 2004 re-election campaign, and Ameriquest founder Roland Arnall and his wife, Dawn, contributed more than $5 million to political organizations that backed the president. Last year, [Republican] President Bush appointed Mr. Arnall ambassador to the Netherlands, and his wife took over as chairman of Ameriquest's parent company. California [Republican Governor] Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaigns received at least $1.4 million, along with stacks of tickets to a Rolling Stones concert that were used to lure big donors." ... "Last year, ACC Capital, its [Ameriquest Mortgage Company] parent company, agreed to pay $325 million to settle regulators' claims that it charged excessively high mortgage rates and didn't adequately disclose loan risks. Some of the state attorneys general who signed the settlement, including Greg Abbott of Texas, received campaign donations from the firm. Utah's attorney general, Mark Shurtleff, received a $1,000 contribution and Rolling Stones tickets." ... "Ameriquest also handed out Rolling Stones tickets to state legislators in Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and California, according to ethics records and local news accounts." ... "Federal lawmakers didn't pose much of a threat to the subprime industry in recent years. Members of Congress received at least $645,000 in donations from Ameriquest and large sums from other big subprime lenders, Federal Election Commission records indicate." ... "ACC Capital, Ameriquest's parent company, and its executives gave more than $350,000 to Texas politicians in 2006, including $100,000 to [Republican Governor] Gov. Rick Perry, according to state records." -By Glenn R. Simpson -WSJ.com

20071230

John Edwards - Mike Huckabee - Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Mitt Romney - Money - Religion - People - US - Iraq - Military - Iowa - 2008 Election - Poll - "Iowa: Edwards surges, Huckabees bubble bursts." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards has clawed his way into contention to win Iowa's caucuses on Thursday in the first vote for the Democratic presidential nomination, gaining strength even as rivals [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama have lost ground, according to a new McClatchy-MSNBC poll." ... "At the same time, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney has regained the lead among Iowa Republicans as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee has lost momentum and support, even among the evangelical Christians who had propelled him into the top spot just weeks ago." ... "If all second-tier Democratic candidates fall short [in Iowa’s Democratic caucuses] and their supporters switch to other candidates, Edwards gains the most, rolling up a clear lead at 33 percent to 26 percent each for Clinton and Obama." ... "Edwards, pushing a people-versus-the powerful message, owes his gains to voters looking for a general election winner, someone who agrees with them on the issues, and those who rank Iraq their top concern." -By Steven Thomma -McClatchyDC.com
Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - John McCain - Iowa - Television - Ads - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - Arizona - Illegal - Immigrants - "Romney, Huckabee attack each other in Iowa." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney's blistering ads criticizing [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain drew sharp rebukes from their targets and wary responses from voters Saturday, as candidates barnstormed Iowa five days before the nation's first presidential voting takes place in caucuses here." ... "Romney launched a new one against McCain in New Hampshire on Saturday." ... ""McCain championed a bill to let every illegal immigrant stay in American permanently," the 30-second TV spot says. "He even voted to allow illegal immigrants to collect Social Security."" ... "The tone was similar to one Romney rolled out Friday in Iowa against Huckabee." ... ""Soft on government spending," the ad charges. "His foreign policy? 'Ludicrous,' says Condoleezza Rice." ... "Huckabee fought back Saturday." ... ""Every time you turn on your television you're going to see all the terrible things my opponents said I did," he told hundreds crowded into a restaurant in Indianola [Iowa]. "Mitt Romney's not only attacking me. He's now attacked John McCain, he's attacked Rudy Giuliani, he's attacked everybody. He's not telling people why he ought to be president."" ... "McCain, the Arizona senator, dismissed Romney's charges and called him "a phony."" -By David Lightman with contributions by Jim Morrill -McClatchyDC.com

20071229

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Oil - Drug - Money - Foreign - Government - United States - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Edwards Pledges Ban on Lobbyists." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards vowed Saturday that corporate lobbyists would not be allowed to work in his administration, if elected." ... "“When I am president of the United States, no corporate lobbyists or anyone who has lobbied for a foreign government will work in my White House,” Mr. Edwards said, speaking at a public library." ... "He followed it up with an implicit attack on [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama] Mr. Obama." ... "[John Edwards said,] “I hear people argue that the way you can get things done is you sit at a table with drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies and negotiate with them, and somehow they will voluntarily give away their power,” he said. “I think it is a complete fantasy.”" ... "In a November speech to Iowa Democrats, Mr. Obama promised that lobbyists would not work in his White House." ... "But he [Obama] later amended his position, saying that lobbyists would not “dominate” his White House.”" ... "When campaigning, Mr. Edwards frequently reminds voters that he has never taken campaign contributions from lobbyists." -By Julie Bosman -NYTimes
Ron Paul - Television - Politics - New Hampshire - Iowa - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - "Paul: Fox News is 'scared of me'." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network "is scared" of him." ... ""They are scared of me and don't want my message to get out, but it will," Paul said in an interview at a diner here. "They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative."" ... "Paul, the Republican Texas Congressman, was wrapping up his final day of campaigning in New Hampshire until the Iowa Caucuses on Thursday." -By James Pindell -BostonGlobe
Fred Thompson - Tennessee - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Thompson: 'Not particularly interested in running for president'." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] Fred Thompson has long faced criticism he lacks motivation to be President of the United States, but the Tennessee Republican's latest comments Saturday are likely to spawn fresh heat." ... "“I’m not particularly interested in running for president," the former senator said at a campaign event in Burlington [Iowa] when challenged by a voter over his desire to be commander-in-chief." ... "“But I think I’d make a good president," Thompson continued. "I have the background, capability, and concern to do this and I’m doing it for the right reasons.”" ... "Thompson took heat for not jumping into the White House race until September — significantly later than every other candidate — and has since been criticized for his lax campaign style and often-times light schedule." -By Alexander Mooney -CNN

20071228

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Money - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Edwards ties rivals to special interests." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said Friday that those who take money from special interests cannot bring change to Washington, a criticism aimed at his leading rivals as they compete for undecided voters in Iowa's upcoming caucuses." ... ""To get real change, we need a president who will stand up against the big corporations and powerful interests who control Washington," the former North Carolina senator told about 250 people in Dubuque [Iowa]. "Nobody who takes their money and defends the broken system is going to bring change."" ... "In veiled criticism of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama, Edwards has said at recent campaign events that if a candidate believes that he or she can sit down at the table and negotiate with special interests, then the candidate is living in "Never-Never Land" and that it's a "fantasy" to think that way." ... ""I'm not talking about fighting politicians. Nobody is interested in seeing a bunch of politicians fight," he said. "We're going to put the power in the people, and that's what this democracy is."" -By Amy Lorentzen -AP via -Yahoo
John Edwards - Working - Family - Economics - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Edwards says he's ready to fight for the middle class." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards has been trying to hammer home his message that he'll stand up to special interests in Washington. As part of the effort, he has launched an eight-day, 38-county tour keeping him in Iowa until the caucuses, which begins the 2008 nominating process." ... ""My belief is that we desperately need to make this government work for everybody again. We need to stand up to the forces of corporate greed that are destroying the middle class of this country," he told a crowd of about 150 people packed tightly into a small restaurant bar in northeastern Iowa." ... "Edwards reminded them that despite his wealth as an adult, he grew up in a working-class family and knows their struggles." ... ""The truth is, all of us have an enormous responsibility to our children, to our grandchildren to do what our parents did for us and our grandparents did for us _ to give them a better life," he said. "I have no intention of letting this corporate power and corporate greed get in the way"" -By Amy Lorentzen -QCTimes
US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Money - Legislation - Reconstruction - "Bush rejects defense bill by pocket veto." ... "[Republican] President Bush on Friday used a "pocket veto" to reject a sweeping defense bill because he dislikes a provision that would expose the Iraqi government to expensive lawsuits seeking damages from the Saddam Hussein era." ... "In a statement, Bush said the legislation "would imperil billions of dollars of Iraqi assets at a crucial juncture in that nation's reconstruction efforts."" ... "The president's objections were focused on a provision deep within legislation that sets defense policy for the coming year and approves $696 billion in spending, including $189 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also in the legislation were improved veterans benefits and tighter oversight of contractors and weapons programs." ... "The pocket veto means that troops will get a 3 percent raise Jan. 1 instead of the 3.5 percent authorized by the bill." -By Ben Feller-AP via -Yahoo

20071227

John Edwards - US - Pakistan - 2008 Election - "More on Edwards' Chat With Musharraf." ... "After reiterating his insistence that Pakistan [leader Pervez Musharraf] "continue on this path to democratization with free and open elections," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards expressed some skepticism." ... ""He assured me he'd do it," said Edwards. "But we have to hold his feet to the fire because he's made those kind of promises before."" ... ""What the president and the presidential candidates need to be doing is not talking about politics and the political advantage supposedly this gives somebody or somebody else," said Edwards. "This is a crucial, important issue that presidential candidates need to show some calm and strength and leadership on."" -By Aaron Lewis -CBSNews
Government - Corporations - Employee - Retirees - Health - Law - Politics - History - "U.S. Ruling Backs Benefit Cut at 65 in Retiree Plans." ... "The [Republican President Bush run] Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday that employers could reduce or eliminate health benefits for retirees when they turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare." ... "The policy, set forth in a new regulation, allows employers to establish two classes of retirees, with more comprehensive benefits for those under 65 and more limited benefits — or none at all — for those older." ... "More than 10 million retirees rely on employer-sponsored health plans as a primary source of coverage or as a supplement to Medicare, and Naomi C. Earp, the commission’s chairwoman, said, “This rule will help employers continue to voluntarily provide and maintain these critically important health benefits.”" ... "But AARP and other advocates for older Americans attacked the rule. “This rule gives employers free rein to use age as a basis for reducing or eliminating health care benefits for retirees 65 and older,” said Christopher G. Mackaronis, a lawyer for AARP, which represents millions of people age 50 or above and which had sued in an effort to block issuance of the final regulation. “Ten million people could be affected — adversely affected — by the rule.”" ... "The new policy creates an explicit exemption from age-discrimination laws for employers that scale back benefits of retirees 65 and over. Mr. Mackaronis asserted that the exemption was “in direct conflict” with the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967." ... "Under the new rule, employers may, if they choose, provide retiree health benefits “only to those retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare.” Likewise, the rule says, retiree health benefits can be “altered, reduced or eliminated” when a retiree becomes eligible for Medicare." ... "Further, employers will be able to reduce or eliminate health benefits provided to the spouse or dependents of a retired worker 65 or over, regardless of whether benefits for the retiree are changed." -By Robert Pear -NYTimes
US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Worldwide - Military - Government - Accounting - Terrorism - Politics - History - Alaska - Ted Stevens - "Wars Cost $15 Billion a Month, GOP Senator Says." ... "The latest estimate of the growing costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the worldwide battle against terrorism -- nearly $15 billion a month -- came last week from one of the Senate's leading proponents of a continued U.S. [United States] military presence in Iraq." ... ""This cost of this war is approaching $15 billion a month, with the Army spending $4.2 billion of that every month," [Alaska GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican Senator] Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska), the ranking Republican on the Appropriations defense subcommittee, said in a little-noticed floor speech Dec. [December] 18." ... "While most of the public focus has been on the political fight over troop levels, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reported this month that the [Republican President] Bush administration's request for the 2008 fiscal year of $189.3 billion [$189.3/12=$15.775 billion per month] for Defense Department operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide counterterrorism activities was 20 percent higher than for fiscal 2007 and 60 percent higher than for fiscal 2006." (1, 2) -By Walter Pincus -WashingtonPost
Mike Huckabee - Money - Religion - Abortion - 2008 Election - Polls - Marketing- Arkansas - Iowa - South Carolina - "Huckabee's Rise Drives Wedge Between Wall Street, Evangelicals." ... "The former Arkansas governor [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee] has surged in Republican presidential-preference polls, winning the support of Christian fundamentalists while peppering his campaign rhetoric with jabs at the financial industry. He calls himself the candidate who isn't a ``wholly owned subsidiary'' of investment banks, decries large executive-pay packages and says the party needs to shift its focus from Wall Street to Main Street." ... "In doing so, he threatens the uneasy if effective coalition Republicans have counted on for three decades: abortion opponents and other social-issue activists supplying foot soldiers, proponents of tax cuts and business-friendly regulatory policies putting up the money and getting the biggest economic benefits." ... "``Huckabee puts this long-simmering feud between the social-conservative wing and the country-club and business crowd into starker contrast,'' said Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report in Washington." ... "The stronger he gets in the polls, the stronger the intra- party backlash against him. ``He's sort of a populist, and that doesn't sell too well on Wall Street,'' said David Hedley, a retired managing director at Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette who raised at least $100,000 for [Republican President] George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election." ... "The Club for Growth, a Washington-based group that advocates tax and spending cuts, has mounted a [marketing] campaign against Huckabee in Iowa and South Carolina, which holds its Republican primary on Jan. 19." ... "After Huckabee finished second in an August Iowa straw poll, he said in an interview that his biggest asset going into the contest ``was the negative attack ads that the Club for Greed, excuse me, the Club for Growth was running.''" -By Matthew Benjamin -Bloombergvia -Yahoo
Pakistan - Terrorism - Politics - Police - Religious - Female - History - "Benazir Bhutto assassinated." ... "Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday in the wake of a suicide bombing that killed at least 14 of her supporters, doctors, a spokesman for her party and other officials said." ... "Bhutto suffered bullet wounds in the aftermath of the bomb attack, TV networks were reporting." ... "Police warned citizens to stay home as they expected rioting to break out in city streets as a shocked Pakistan absorbed the news of Bhutto's assassination." ... "Bhutto, who led Paksitan from 1988 to 1990 and was the first female prime minister of any Islamic nation, was participating in the parliamentary election set for January 8, hoping for a third term." ... "A terror attack targeting her motorcade in Karachi killed 136 people on the day she returned to Pakistan after eight years of self-imposed exile." -Contributed to by Mohsin Naqvi -CNN

20071226

Secret - Torture - Terrorism - Government - Detainee - Intelligence - Law - Virginia - Christmas - "Senate meets briefly to block Bush." ... "The House was quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the [Democratic controlled] Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with [Republican] President Bush." ... "A nine-second session gaveled in and out by [Virginia Democratic Senator] Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.[Democratic-Virginia], prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be technically adjourned, allowing the president to install officials without Senate confirmation." ... "Democrats wanted to block one such recess appointment in particular: Steven Bradbury, acting chief of the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Counsel. Bush nominated Bradbury for the job and asked the Senate to remove the "acting" in his title." ... "Democrats would have none of it, complaining Bradbury had signed two secret memos in 2005 saying it was OK for the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] to use harsh interrogation techniques — some call it torture — on terrorism detainees." -By Laurie Kellman -AP via -Yahoo
US - Iraq - Military - Family - Poll - Idaho - Oregon - Afghanistan - "Military family members share public's division on Iraq war, Bush: Polls: Almost half say invasion was a mistake." ... "Close family members of U.S. [United States] troops are split on whether the Iraq invasion was a mistake, and 55% disapprove of [Republican] President Bush's job performance, according to USA TODAY/Gallup Polls focusing on immediate relatives of servicemembers." ... ""They've maxed out on the troops. You've got guys who are over there on their fourth or fifth tours. It's ridiculous," says Jeanette Knowles, 40, of Mountain Home, Idaho, whose brother, Jeff, served a tour in Iraq with the Oregon National Guard." ... "More than 1.5 million servicemembers have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001, and Army combat tours last up to 15 months." -By Gregg Zoroya -USATODAY
John McCain - Mitt Romney - Politics - Abortion - Immigration - New Hampshire - 2008 Election - "The Romney backlash: Conservatives are coming home." ... "[New Hampshire] Granite Staters want a candidate who will look them in the eye and tell them the truth. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain has done that day in and day out, never wavering, never faltering, never pandering." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney has not. He has spoken his lines well, but the people can sense that the words are memorized, not heartfelt." ... "Last week Romney was reduced to debating what the meaning of "saw" is. It was only the latest in a string of demonstrably false claims -- he'd been a hunter "pretty much" all his life, he'd had the NRA's endorsement, he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. -- that call into question the veracity of his justifications for switching sides on immigration, abortion, taxes and his affection for Ronald Reagan." ... "In this primary, the more Mitt Romney speaks, the less believable he becomes. That is why Granite Staters who have listened attentively are now returning to John McCain. They might not agree with McCain on everything, as we don't, but like us, they judge him to be a man of integrity and conviction, a man who won't sell them out, who won't break his promises, and who won't lie to get elected." -UnionLeader.com

20071225

Bill Richardson - John Edwards - Iowa - Energy - - New Mexico - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "Iowa caucus can elevate second choice." ... "Bill Grove is a [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Bill Richardson man. He thinks the New Mexico governor, with his background as a United Nations ambassador and secretary of the U.S. [United States] Department of Energy, is well seasoned for the White House." ... "But Grove has a backup plan." ... "If Richardson fails to qualify under Iowa's complicated system of counting Democratic caucus votes, Grove says he will switch his vote to former North Carolina Sen. [Senator and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards." ... "Second choices usually don't fare well in politics. In Iowa, though, being second could be critical to success." ... "When Iowa Democrats caucus on Jan. 3, candidates who receive less than 15 percent of the vote are considered nonviable. Their backers have the choice of either going home or casting their ballots for their second choice." ... "Grove picked Edwards as his second choice because he likes Edwards' emphasis on helping restore rural America and his populist message about the declining middle class." ... ""I like his fighting spirit," he said." ... ""His message really resonates with you. I just personally like him."" -By Rob Christensen -McClatchy via -KansasCity.com

20071224

Secret - Dick Cheney - David Addington - Government - Archives - Law - Politics - "Challenging Cheney: A National Archives official reveals what the veep wanted to keep classified--and how he tried to challenge the rules." ... "J. William Leonard learned the hard way the perils of questioning [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney. The veteran National Archives official challenged claims by the Office of Vice President (OVP) to be exempt from federal rules governing classified information. His efforts touched off a firestorm—and a counter-strike by Cheney's chief of staff, David Addington, who tried to wipe out Leonard's job." ... "Now, Leonard is quitting as director of the Archives' Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO)—the unit that monitors the handling of government secrets. He tells NEWSWEEK that his fight with Cheney's office was a "contributing" factor in his decision to retire after 34 years of government service." ... "Leonard-described by National Archivist Allen Weinstein as "the gold standard of information specialists in the federal government"-spoke to NEWSWEEK's Michael Isikoff." ... "[Newsweek:] So how did matters escalate?" ... "[J William Leonard:] The challenge arose last year when the Chicago Tribune was looking at [ISOO's annual report] and saw the asterisk [reporting that it contained no information from OVP] and decided to follow up. And that's when the spokesperson from the OVP made public this idea that because they have both legislative and executive functions, that requirement doesn't apply to them.…They were saying the basic rules didn't apply to them. I thought that was a rather remarkable position. So I wrote my letter to the Attorney General [asking for a ruling that Cheney's office had to comply.] Then it was shortly after that there were [email] recommendations [from OVP to a National Security Council task force] to change the executive order that would effectively abolish [my] office." ... "[Newsweek:] Who wrote the emails?" ... "[J William Leonard:] It was David Addington." (1, 2, 3) -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek
Dick Cheney - Car - Manufacturers - Fumes - Corporate - Government - Environmental - Science - Politics - California - Climate - "Cheney accused of blocking Californian bid to cut car fumes." ... "The US [United States Republican] vice-president, Dick Cheney, was behind a controversial decision to block California's attempt to impose tough emission limits on car manufacturers, according to insiders at the government Environmental Protection Agency." ... "Staff at the agency, which announced last week that California's proposed limits were redundant, said the agency's chief went against their expert advice after car executives met Cheney, and a Chrysler executive delivered a letter to the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] saying why the state should not be allowed to regulate greenhouse gases." ... "EPA staff members told the Los Angeles Times that the agency's head, the [Republican President] Bush appointee Stephen Johnson, ignored their conclusions and shut himself off from consultation in the month before the announcement. He then informed them of his decision and instructed them to provide the legal rationale for it, they said." -By Dan Glaister -Guardian.co.uk

20071222

Mitt Romney - Political - Corporation - Marketing - History - Gay-Rights - Pro-Choice - Stem Cell - Science - Health - Law - Religious - Salt Lake City - Utah - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - US - Torture - Prison - Guantanamo Bay - Cuba - 2008 Election - "Romney should not be the next president." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt] Romney's main business experience is as a management consultant, a field in which smart, fast-moving specialists often advise corporations on how to reinvent themselves. His memoir is called Turnaround - the story of his successful rescue of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City [Utah] - but the most stunning turnaround he has engineered is his own political career." ... "If you followed only his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, you might imagine Romney as a pragmatic moderate with liberal positions on numerous social issues and an ability to work well with Democrats. If you followed only his campaign for president, you'd swear he was a red-meat conservative, pandering to the religious right, whatever the cost. Pay attention to both, and you're left to wonder if there's anything at all at his core." ... "As a candidate for the U.S. [United States] Senate in 1994, he boasted that he would be a stronger advocate of gay rights than his opponent, [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Ted Kennedy. These days, he makes a point of his opposition to gay marriage and adoption." ... "There was a time that he said he wanted to make contraception more available - and a time that he vetoed a bill to sell it over-the-counter." ... "The old Romney assured voters he was pro-choice on abortion. "You will not see me wavering on that," he said in 1994, and he cited the tragedy of a relative's botched illegal abortion as the reason to keep abortions safe and legal. These days, he describes himself as pro-life." ... "There was a time that he supported stem-cell research and cited his own wife's multiple sclerosis in explaining his thinking; such research, he reasoned, could help families like his. These days, he largely opposes it. As a candidate for governor, Romney dismissed an anti-tax pledge as a gimmick. In this race, he was the first to sign." ... "In the 2008 campaign for president, there are numerous issues on which Romney has no record, and so voters must take him at his word. On these issues, those words are often chilling. While other candidates of both parties speak of restoring America's moral leadership in the world, Romney has said he'd like to "double" the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay [Cuba], where inmates have been held for years without formal charge or access to the courts. He dodges the issue of torture - unable to say, simply, that waterboarding is torture and America won't do it." ... "When New Hampshire partisans are asked to defend the state's first-in-the-nation primary, we talk about our ability to see the candidates up close, ask tough questions and see through the baloney. If a candidate is a phony, we assure ourselves and the rest of the world, we'll know it." ... "Mitt Romney is such a candidate. New Hampshire Republicans and independents must vote no." -ConcordMonitor.com

20071221

Mitt Romney - Civil Rights - Race - History - 2008 Election - "Romney never saw father on King march: Defends figurative words; evidence contradicts story." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney acknowledged yesterday that he never saw his father march with Martin Luther King Jr. as he asserted in a nationally televised speech this month, and historical evidence shows that Michigan's Governor George Romney and the civil rights leader never did march together." ... "Romney said his father had told him he had marched with King and that he had been using the word "saw" in a "figurative sense."" ... "But historical evidence, including news accounts at the time, shows that George Romney never marched with King, though he supported King's agenda." ... "Romney has repeated the story of his father marching with King in some of his most prominent presidential campaign appearances, including the "Tonight" show with Jay Leno in May, his address on faith and politics Dec. 6 in Texas, and on NBC's "Meet The Press" on Sunday, when he was questioned about the Mormon Church's ban on full participation by black members. He said that he had cried in his car in 1978 when he heard the ban had ended, and added, "My father marched with Martin Luther King."" ... "Mitt Romney went a step further in a 1978 interview with the Boston Herald. Talking about the Mormon Church and racial discrimination, he said: "My father and I marched with Martin Luther King Jr. through the streets of Detroit."" ... "Yesterday, Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom acknowledged that was not true. "Mitt Romney did not march with Martin Luther King," he said in an e-mail statement to the Globe." -By Michael Levenson -BostonGlobe
Mitt Romney- Pro-Choice - Stem Cells - Illegal - Immigrant - Health - Crime - Politics - History - Massachusetts - Michigan - 2008 Election - "King said George Romney didn't march: But, as usual, the truth wasn't good enough for Mitt." ... "Running for Senate in Massachusetts, in 1994, and trying to establish pro-choice credibility that he had done nothing to earn, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt] Romney told stories about his mother, Lenore Romney, running on a strong pro-choice platform in her own unsuccessful bid for public office in 1970. Those tales were debunked by Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara." ... "Then, as now, Romney tried to buttress his statement with weak documentation at odds with the precision of the claim: in that case, Romney provided the Globe with a vaguely-worded campaign document that could be read as supporting the pre-Roe v Wade status quo, in which abortion was a felony in Michigan. ''I support and recognize the need for more liberal abortion rights while reaffirming the legal and medical measures needed to protect the unborn and pregnant woman [sic]," the document read." ... "Again, at that time, Romney did not just pass along falsehood as fact. He sold it as personal truth, speaking of the painful memories of a close relative's death, from complications of an illegal abortion." ... "Romney was telling that tale, of course, when it was politically expedient to be pro-choice. Today, needing to be pro-life, he has a new, highly personal and emotional tale of personal conversion after a doctor showed him how stem cells are handled in research — another specific but uncorroborated story, about which even the doctor involved has expressed skepticism." ... "Romney once favored gun control; now, needing gun-rights voters, he has falsely claimed to be a "lifelong hunter" and to have been endorsed in 2002 by the National Rifle Association – an endorsement the NRA never gave him. Needing to establish anti-illegal-immigrant credentials, he boasts of an attitude that he never displayed while governor — when he expressed no concern over several "sanctuary cities" in the state — until the very end of his term, when he had turned his attention to the Republican Presidential nomination." ... "This week, he finds the need to attack [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidat] Mike Huckabee on crime, and so Romney has re-invented his record there, falsely claiming, in a new ad, to have cracked down on methamphetamine." ... "It is not just that these are untruths. They are the actions of a man desperate to cater to the whims of his audience. What they want, he must appear to be. " -By David S. Bernstein -ThePhoenix.com
Mike Huckabee - Prisoners - Guantanamo - Cuba - US - Military - Law - Arkansas - 2008 Election - "Huckabee: Gitmo Is "Too Nice"." ... "Asked about Guantanamo [American military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba], [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee said he had visited the facility and said it was “disappointing” that military personnel were eating meals that averaged $1.60 while the detainees were eating Halal meals that cost over $4 each." ... "“The inmates there were getting a whole lot better treatment than my prisoners in Arkansas. In fact, we left saying, ‘I hope our guys don’t see this. They’ll all want to be transferred to Guanatanmo. If anything, it’s too nice.”" ... "Huckabee has said Guantanamo is more a “symbolic issue” than anything else since the detainees are treated better than prisoners in the US. Today Huckabee said, “Where they are detained is of less importance to me than that they are detained…until we know they are of no threat to us.”" -By Joy Lin and Mary Hood -CBSNews
Tom Tancredo - Mitt Romney- Illegal - Immigration - Colorado - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Tancredo pulls out, backing Romney: Says he has best chance of winning." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Tom Tancredo pulled out of the presidential race yesterday and endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney, saying his erstwhile rival is the Republican with the best chance to win the White House and continue the fight to end illegal immigration, an issue the Coloradan helped push to the forefront of the campaign." ... "The fifth-term congressman, who consistently polled at the bottom of the nine-candidate GOP [Grand Old Party=Republican] field, said he dropped out two weeks before the Iowa caucuses because he feared his continued candidacy could enable an opponent favoring a less-stringent approach to immigration to win." -BostonGlobe
John Edwards - Working - Family - College-Education - Money - Race - Des-Moines - Iowa - NC - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - 2008 Election - "The Road Warrior: Even if he loses in Iowa's bigger cities, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards can still win by wrapping up smaller, far-flung precincts." ... "For months, Edwards has been rounding up support in the state's rural precincts where the front runners have paid less attention. While [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton have drawn crowds in the thousands in places like Des Moines [Iowa] and Ames [Iowa], Edwards has been winning over people in tiny towns like Sac City [Iowa] (population: 2,189). That's important, the strategists say, because under Iowa's arcane caucus rules, a precinct where 25 people show up to vote gets the same number of delegates as a place that packs in 2,500. In other words, even if he loses to Obama and Clinton in the state's bigger cities, he can still win by wrapping up smaller, far-flung precincts that other candidates have ignored. "The bulk of our support is in small and medium counties," says Jennifer O'Malley, Edwards's Iowa state director. O'Malley says Edwards has visited all 99 counties in the state; the campaign has so far trained captains covering 90 percent of all 1,781 precincts. Rural voters are sometimes reluctant to caucus, so the campaign has been enlisting respected community leaders to encourage first-timers to get past their apathy or fear." ... "This could be wishful thinking from an ailing campaign. But it's worth keeping in mind just how wrong the media echo chamber can be when it comes to predicting winners and losers. At about this time four years ago, Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was the press-anointed darling who could seemingly do no wrong in Iowa. Dour John Kerry was scorned by reporters as the should-have-been who had blown it and couldn't possibly win. But on caucus night, Kerry wound up the victor—and Dean wound up screaming. Reporters were left to wonder what they had missed. One story the talking heads may be missing this time: just how badly John Edwards hates to lose." ... "The desire to get ahead—to win—is no small thing for Edwards. He was raised in the depressed town of Robbins, N.C. [North Carolina], where his father, Wallace, worked in a now long-gone textile mill. It's a biographical detail the candidate mentions so often in speeches and campaign ads that it can sometimes border on self-parody. Yet his father's story is what Edwards's campaign, and political career, is all about. His dad worked his way up in the mill and was promoted to supervisor. But without a college degree, there was only so far he could rise. "He heard his mother and I talk about it at the dinner table, so he knew what I was faced with," his father tells NEWSWEEK. Money was scarce. Wallace was determined that John and his younger brother and sister, Wesley Blake and Kathy, would attend college. He set an example of self-improvement. He took classes offered by the mill, and tuned in to the education channel on TV early each morning when the station aired lessons in statistics and probability." ... "Tall and good-looking—and he knew it—John Edwards was a popular student and a star football player, skinny but fast. His high-school friend John Mashburn remembers Edwards as a leader. "In a little redneck town, he was different," he says. There was still racial tension in Robbins in the early 1970s, and black students were sometimes mistreated. In protest, several of them once held a sit-in. Edwards persuaded his white friends to join in. "Johnny got a lot of the athletes, myself, our girlfriends … he was instrumental in encouraging us," Mashburn says. John Frye, another high-school friend, says it was a gutsy thing to do. He "stuck his neck out," Frye recalls. "There was a price to pay in how some folks treated him after that. We had people who didn't embrace desegregation even though it had been a bridge crossed years earlier."" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) -By Arian Campo-Flores and Suzanne Smalley Dec 24, 2007 Issue -Newsweek

20071220

Mitt Romney - Civil Rights - Race - Politics - Michigan - Massachusetts - Texas - 2008 Election - "Romney fields questions on King: Campaign says claim not literal." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has said he watched his father, the late Michigan Gov. [Governor] George Romney, in a 1960s civil rights march in Michigan with Martin Luther King Jr." ... "On Wednesday, Romney's campaign said his recollections of watching his father, an ardent civil rights supporter, march with King were meant to be figurative." ... ""He was speaking figuratively, not literally," Eric Fehrnstrom, spokesman for the Romney campaign, said of the candidate." ... "The campaign was responding to questions raised by the Free Press and other media after a Boston [Massachusetts] publication challenged the accuracy of Mitt Romney's account." ... "In a major speech on faith and politics earlier this month in Texas, Mitt Romney said: "I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."" ... "He made a similar statement Sunday during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." He said, "You can see what I believed and what my family believed by looking at our lives. My dad marched with Martin Luther King. My mom was a tireless crusader for civil rights."" -By Todd Spangler and Alice Pepper -FreeP.com
Secret - Intelligence - War - Criminal - Videotapes - Censorship - Politics - Military - Terrorism - Texas - "Subpoena of CIA officials threatened: Justice Dept. [department] action in tape destruction probe angers House panel chairman, who expects testimony from two top intelligence agency officials." ... "The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, chafing at the Justice Department's handling of a probe into missing CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] interrogation tapes, threatened Wednesday to subpoena two top CIA officials to jump-start the panel's own investigation." ... "The department, which is conducting a criminal inquiry with the CIA inspector general into revelations that a CIA official destroyed videotapes of two terrorism suspects being interrogated in 2005, asked the panel last week to defer its inquiry." ... "Committee Chairman [Texas Democratic Representative] Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Texas) has called a hearing for Jan. 16. He said he expected testimony from both acting CIA general counsel John Rizzo and Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., the former head of the agency's operations branch, who authorized destroying the tapes." -By Richard B. Schmitt -LAtimes

20071219

Stephen Johnson - Mary E Peters - Dick Cheney - Government - Political - Gas - Auto - Makers - Fuel - Economy - Laws - Environmental - Health - Safety - American - People - Transportation - California - History - Global - Climate - Clean Air Act - "EPA blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration blocked efforts by California and 16 other states Wednesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, setting up a political and legal fight over whether states can take a lead role in combatting global warming." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government to impose its tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were poised to adopt similar rules if California's request was granted." ... "The states represent nearly half the U.S. [United States] population, and their laws would effectively require automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, despite [Republican] President Bush's rejection of mandatory national standards." ... "Johnson said Congress' passage of an energy bill this week that raises fuel economy standards for all cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 made the state laws unnecessary." ... "California officials said they believed Johnson had long ago decided to oppose the state's waiver, and said he was using the newly passed energy bill as an excuse. Nothing in the new law prevents states from taking stronger action, they said." ... ""I find this disgraceful," said [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.[Democratic-California], who helped write the fuel-economy law. "The passage of the energy bill does not give the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] a green light to shirk its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution."" ... "It was the first time the EPA has flat-out denied a waiver request by California under the Clean Air Act. The law gives California special authority to set stronger standards because the state has a long history of smog and other air-quality problems." ... "California officials complained that EPA's decision-making process for the waiver was tainted months ago when documents revealed that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters led a lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to call the EPA and oppose the waiver request." ... "Automakers have been meeting regularly at the White House to discuss the new fuel-economy standards. The Detroit News reported that [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney met with the CEOs [Chief Executive Officers] of Chrysler and Ford this fall to try to influence the policy." -By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com
John Edwards - Ron Paul - Mike Huckabee - Noteworthy - Journalists - Politics - Corporations - Legislation - Telecom - Money - 2008 Election - "Media hostility toward anti-establishment candidates." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Ron] Paul and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee are obviously disparate in significant ways -- ideologically, temperamentally, and otherwise. But there is a vital attribute common to those three campaigns that explains the media's scorn: they are all, in their own ways, anti-establishment candidates, meaning they are outside and critical of the system of which national journalists are a critical part, the system which employs and rewards our journalists and forms the base of their identity and outlook. Any candidate who criticizes and opposes that system -- not in piecemeal ways but fundamentally -- will be, first, ignored and, then, treated as losers by the press." ... "It is very striking how little Edwards' substantive critique of our political system has penetrated into the national discourse. That's because the centerpiece of his campaign is a critique that is a full frontal assault on our political establishment. His argument is not merely that the political system needs reform, but that it is corrupt at its core -- "rigged" in favor of large corporate interests and their lobbyists, who literally write our laws and control the Congress. Anyone paying even casual attention to the extraordinary bipartisan effort on behalf of telecom immunity, and so many other issues driven almost exclusively by lobbyists, cannot reasonably dispute this critique." ... "Yet because that argument indicts the same Beltway culture of which our political journalists are an integral part, and further attacks the system's power brokers who are the friends, sources, and peers of those journalists, they instinctively react with confusion, scorn and hostility towards Edwards' campaign. They condescendingly dismiss it as manipulative populist swill, or cynically assume that it's just a ploy to distinguish himself by "moving left." In the eyes of our Beltawy press, the idea that our political system is "rigged" or corrupt must be anything other than true or sincerely held." ... "As Digby notes [**], Ron Paul is going to raise more money than any Republican candidate this quarter; he just topped the record for most money raised in a single day; and has now exceeded Howard Dean's 2004 quarter total when Dean was at the peak of his online fundraising prowess. Huckabee is now tied for the lead in national polls and is leading in several of the key early states. Yet our establishment media stars continue to sneer at these anti-establishment candidates as though they are aberrational jokes, and there is virtually no serious effort to understand the meaning of their success." ... "Worse, whenever these candidates are discussed, it almost never entails any discussion of the critiques they are making. Is Edwards right that corporations and lobbyists dictate legislation in Washington and that this state of affairs is profoundly anti-democratic and corrupt? Are Paul's criticisms of our bipartisan imperial policies and his warnings of resulting financial unsustainability (and increasing anti-Americanism) accurate? Is Huckabee's claim true that the GOP has obliterated the economic prospects of its own middle- and lower-middle-class followers?" -Glenn Greenwald -Salon
Secret - Alberto R Gonzales - David S Addington - Dick Cheney - Harriet E Miers - Torture - War - Crimes - Tapes - Censorship - Law- Politics - Military - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism - History - US - Iraq - "Bush Lawyers Discussed Fate of C.I.A.Tapes." ... "At least four top [Republican President Bush] White House lawyers took part in discussions with the Central Intelligence Agency between 2003 and 2005 about whether to destroy videotapes showing the secret interrogations of two operatives from Al Qaeda, according to current and former administration and intelligence officials." ... "The accounts indicate that the involvement of White House officials in the discussions before the destruction of the tapes in November 2005 was more extensive than [Republican President] Bush administration officials have acknowledged." ... "Those who took part, the officials said, included Alberto R. Gonzales, who served as White House counsel until early 2005; David S. Addington, who was the counsel to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney and is now his chief of staff; John B. Bellinger III, who until January 2005 was the senior lawyer at the National Security Council; and Harriet E. Miers, who succeeded Mr. Gonzales as White House counsel." ... "It was previously reported that some administration officials had advised against destroying the tapes, but the emerging picture of White House involvement is more complex. In interviews, several administration and intelligence officials provided conflicting accounts as to whether anyone at the White House expressed support for the idea that the tapes should be destroyed." ... "One former senior intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said there had been “vigorous sentiment” among some top White House officials to destroy the tapes. The former official did not specify which White House officials took this position, but he said that some believed in 2005 that any disclosure of the tapes could have been particularly damaging after revelations a year earlier of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq." ... "The current and former officials also provided new details about the role played in November 2005 by Jose A. Rodriguez Jr., then the chief of the agency’s clandestine branch, who ultimately ordered the destruction of the tapes." ... "The officials said that before he issued a secret cable directing that the tapes be destroyed, Mr. Rodriguez received legal guidance from two C.I.A. [Central Intelligence Agency] lawyers, Steven Hermes and Robert Eatinger. The officials said that those lawyers gave written guidance to Mr. Rodriguez that he had the authority to destroy the tapes and that the destruction would violate no laws." ... "Current and former officials said the two lawyers informed the C.I.A.’s top lawyer, John A. Rizzo, about the legal advice they had provided." (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane with contributions by David Johnston -NYTimes
Mike Huckabee - Rudy Giuliani - Poll - 2008 Election - Iowa - Arkansas - "Huckabee and Giuliani tied in 2008 Republican race." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee has surged into a virtual tie with front-runner [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani in the national 2008 Republican presidential race two weeks before the first contest [in Iowa], according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday." ... "Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas whose campaign has caught fire in recent weeks, wiped out an 18-point deficit in one month to pull within one point of Giuliani, 23 percent to 22 percent." (1, 2, 3) -By John Whitesides with contributions by David Wiessler -Reuters

20071218

Kevin Jeffrey Martin

Corporate

Government

Politics

Media

Communications

Broadcast

Radio

"FCC Loosens Newspaper-Broadcast Cross-Ownership Limits: Federal Communications Commission Voted Along Party Lines; Copps Expects Rule to Be Overturned." ... "To cries of " unfair" and "this vote is a sham" from a handful of protesters, the Federal Communications Commission voted along strict party lines Tuesday to loosen its newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership rule." ... "Democratic commissioner Michael Copps was the first commissioner to weigh in with a public statement in advance of that vote, saying that the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] was "just inking up a rubber stamp for another round of consolidation."" ... "[Republican President Bush's] FCC chairman Kevin Martin called it a relatively minor change that may help to "forestall erosion of local news coverage" and only loosens the rules where there are many voices and competition." ... "The move sets up a showdown with mostly Democratic senators who have pledged to nullify that vote, and the deicison will likely be taken to court by media activists opposing any more consolidation, or even broadcasters arguing that it has not gone far enough -- no other ownership rule was loosened, in contrast to the 2003 rule rewrite, the remand of which by a court the FCC is wrapping up." ... "The commission will presume that newspaper-broadcast combinations in the top 20 markets are in the public interest so long as eight independent voices, including newspapers, remain and the stations are not among the top four in the market. It will also allow newspaper-radio combinations but require no voices test." ... "Newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership would also be presumed to be in the public interest in markets smaller than the top 20 so long as at least seven hours of local news is added to a station that did not do it before, or if the station or newspaper is in financial distress." ... "The latter is defined as a station or newspaper that has gone dark at least four months before a waiver is filed for, or a station that has less than 4% of the audience, where there has been negative cash flow for at least three years (newspaper or station) and where no out-of-market buyer wants it." ... "Copps called the ruling a shiny gift for big media and a lump of coal for the rest. "Happy holidays," he said, adding that the change won't pass muster with either Congress or the courts." ... "Citing the congressional pushback, Democratic commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said the FCC "has never attempted such a brazen act of defiance against Congress. Like the Titanic, we are steaming at full speed despite repeated warnings of danger ahead. It might yet sink. We should have slowed down rather than put everything at risk."" ... "Adelstein said three out of five unelected bureaucrats should not be able to overrule the American people, whom, he added, weighed in passionately in public hearings against consolidation. "They danced, they sang, they read us poems," he said, as well as providing expert opinions." ... "Both Adelstein and Copps said Martin made last-minute changes to the proposal late Monday night and they indicated that the commission was now granting waivers to 42 combinations in the dark of night." ... "Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, issued the following statement: "FCC chairman Kevin Martin is ignoring the public will and defying the [United States] U.S. Senate. His decision to gut longstanding ownership rules shows once again how the largest media companies -- with their campaign contributions and high-powered lobbyists -- are corrupting the policymaking process at the expense of local news coverage and independent voices."" ... "He continued, "Martin's FCC relied on slanted research and a rigged process to reach today's preordained outcome -- local media wrapped in a bow for Tribune, News Corp., Gannett and all the rest."" -By John Eggerton

-BroadcastingCable.com

Gordon Smith - Trent Lott - Racism - History - South Carolina - Mississippi - Oregon - "Gordon Smith Defends Lott's Segregationist Comments." ... "Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, [Oregon Republican Senator] Sen. Gordon Smith, R-OR [Republican-Oregon], offered a passionate defense of the pro-segregationist comments made by his colleague and friend, [Mississippi Republican Senator] Sen. Trent Lott, more then three years ago." ... ""I was half way around the world when an event befell Trent Lott that shook me deeply," Smith said, referencing Lott's 2002 remarks in praise of Dixiecrat [South Carolina Republican Senator] Strom Thurmond's 1948 run for the White House. "I was celebrating my re-election and on vacation. I watched over international news as his words were misconstrued, words which we had heard him utter many times in his big warm-heartedness trying to make one of our colleagues, Strom Thurmond, feel good at 100 years old. We knew what he meant. But the wolfpack of the press circled around him, sensed blood in the water, and the exigencies of politics caused a great injustice..."" ... "In 2002, Lott lost his Senate Republican Leader post after he was quoted praising the staunch segregationist Strom Thurmond during Thurmond's 100th birthday party. "I want to say this about my state: when Strom Thurmond ran for President, we voted for him," Lott boasted. "We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."" ... "Lott apologized repeatedly for his remarks, calling them "insensitive," "repugnant" and "inexcusable" during an appearance on a black-oriented cable channel." ... "Lott recently found himself back among the leadership ranks. His election as minority whip in November 2006 came by a 25 to 24 vote. Sen. Smith played a key role in the internal party election." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
WATCH Oregon Republican Gordon Smith defend Mississippi Republican Trent Lott's celebration of South Carolina Republican Strom Thurmond's segregationist run for President in 1948.
Fed - Money - Politics - Investigate - Law - History - People's - Homes - Consumer - California - New York - Wyo - "Fed Shrugged as Subprime Crisis Spread." ... "Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves." ... "Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford." ... "But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman." ... "In 2001, a senior Treasury official, Sheila C. Bair, tried to persuade subprime lenders to adopt a code of “best practices” and to let outside monitors verify their compliance. None of the lenders would agree to the monitors, and many rejected the code itself. Even those who did adopt those practices, Ms. Bair recalled recently, soon let them slip." ... "And leaders of a housing advocacy group in California, meeting with Mr. Greenspan in 2004, warned that deception was increasing and unscrupulous practices were spreading." ... "John C. Gamboa and Robert L. Gnaizda of the Greenlining Institute implored Mr. Greenspan to use his bully pulpit and press for a voluntary code of conduct." ... "“He never gave us a good reason, but he didn’t want to do it,” Mr. Gnaizda said last week. “He just wasn’t interested.”" ... "“The Federal Reserve could have stopped this problem dead in its tracks,” said Martin Eakes, chief executive of the center [Center for Responsible Lending]. “If the Fed had done its job, we would not have had the abusive lending and we would not have a [home] foreclosure crisis in virtually every community across America.”" ... "Mr. Greenspan and other Fed officials repeatedly dismissed warnings about a speculative bubble in housing prices. In December 2004, the New York Fed issued a report bluntly declaring that “no bubble exists.” Mr. Greenspan predicted several times — incorrectly, it turned out — that housing declines would be local but almost certainly not nationwide." ... " “Why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers?” Mr. Gramlich asked in a speech he prepared last August for the Fed’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo[Wyoming]. “The question answers itself — the least sophisticated borrowers are probably duped into taking these products.”" (1, 2, 3) -By Edmund L. Andrews with contributions by Gretchen Morgenson -NYTimes
Mitt Romney - Abortion-Rights - Money - Parent - Mass - History - 2008 Election - "Romney Attended Planned Parenthood Fundraiser in 1994." ... "ABC News' Rick Klein Reports: [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney attended a fund-raising reception for Planned Parenthood in 1994 in conjunction with a $150 donation his wife made to the organization -- notwithstanding Romney's contention that he had "no recollection" of the circumstances under which his wife gave money to the abortion-rights group." ... "In the photograph obtained by ABC News, Romney and his wife, Ann, are shown in a yellow-and-white tent chatting with local political activists, including Nicki Nichols Gamble, who was then president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts." ... "Nichols Gamble -- whose back is the camera in the photograph -- told ABC that the event was a Planned Parenthood fundraising "house party" in Cohasset, Mass., in June 1994. At the time, Romney, R-Mass., was locked in a tight Senate campaign with [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and was touting his support for abortion rights." ... "That event, Nichols Gamble said, was the occasion where Ann Romney wrote her $150 check -- drafted on a joint checking account she had with her husband -- to Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts." ... ""They were both there, and I remember very well chatting with both of them, and talking about his support for the pro-choice agenda," she said. "We talked about the fact that he was taking a pro-choice position on the issues, and we were very pleased about that."" -By Rick Klein -ABCNEWS.com
Mike Huckabee - Ron Paul - Religion - Ad - Liberty - Book - 2008 Election - "Huckabee admaker calls cross imagery "absolutely accidental;" Paul says "fascism' will be 'carrying a cross'." ... "Asked about Republican rival Mike Huckabee's Christmas-themed ad, which we wrote about yesterday and has attracted attention in part because of the image of a cross that many see hovering over Huckabee's shoulder, GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul said this morning on FOX & Friends that:" ... ""It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.' Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian or implying that subtly. So, I don't think I would ever use anything like that."" ... "From [Sinclair Lewis's book] It Can't Happen Here: "But he saw too that in America the struggle was befogged by the fact that the worst Fascists were they who disowned the word 'Fascism' and preached enslavement to Capitalism under the style of Constitutional and Traditional Native American Liberty."" -By Mark Memmott -USATODAY
Mitt Romney - Religion - Secret - 2008 Election - "Ex-Mormon Cartoonist Says Romney Not Telling Truth." ... "As an ex-Mormon, Arizona Republic editorial cartoonist Steve Benson has strong opinions about current Mormon Mitt Romney [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]. He said the Republican candidate's recent speech on religion should not be trusted by media people and other Americans." ... "In his talk, Romney said "I believe in my Mormon faith" while also noting that the church's "teachings" would not influence his decisions if elected president." ... ""Yeah, right," responded Benson, adding that "Romney also believes in misrepresenting what his Mormon Church actually espouses."" ... "Benson is the grandson of former Mormon leader Ezra Taft Benson." ... "He told E&P that, in his view, a Mormon believer is required by church doctrine (as dictated by the church's "living prophet") to "obey God's commands" over anything else. He said "Romney, like all 'temple Mormons,' made his secret vows using Masonic-derived handshakes, passwords, and symbolic death oaths that he promised in the temple never to reveal to the outside world" -- and that Romney also secretly vowed to devote his "time, talents" and more "to the building of the Mormon religion on earth."" ... ""When Mitt says he belongs to a church that doesn't tell him what to do, that's false; it's a 24/7, do-what-you're-told-to-do church," asserted Benson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1993." -By Dave Astor -EditorAndPublisher.com
Mitt Romney- Mike Huckabee - South Carolina - Utah - Arkansas - Massachusetts - Politics - Poll - 2008 Election - "Mormonism an issue for Romney in South Carolina." ... "Something about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney just isn't right with Bill Burdette. And something about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee is." ... ""Romney's from Utah and he's Mormon," said the 41-year-old software engineer from Iva, S.C. [South Carolina] "Huckabee's from the South and he's Baptist."" ... "Understand, Burdette said, he's not choosing his candidate based on religion, but Huckabee, a Baptist minister who was the governor of Arkansas for 10 and a half years, is someone he's comfortable with." ... "That's Romney's problem throughout this crucial early-voting state, where a win Jan. 19 by the former Massachusetts governor would give him a huge boost in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination." ... "An estimated 63 percent of Republican primary voters in South Carolina are "born again" or evangelical Christians, so a Romney win would be hailed as dramatic proof that his Mormon faith wasn't a big factor in voter judgments." ... "Except that evidence from polls and visits throughout the state shows that it is." -By David Lightman -McClatchyDC.com
Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - Crime - Drug - Religious - Television - Ad - Iowa - New Hampshire - South Carolina - 2008 Election - "Romney continues Huckabee attacks." ... "This week, the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt] Romney campaign launched a TV ad in Iowa accusing [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee of being soft on crime and reducing punishments for those caught manufacturing meth." ... ""I think people recognize this is very critical time in our nation's history and the issues are important," he said. "This is not just about feel-good. This is about how we would deal with important issues."" ... "Romney's "feel-good" comment was a reference to Huckabee's own television ad currently running in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, in which Huckabee dons a red sweater and tells viewers that "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Christ."" ... "Romney questioned whether the ad, with its clear Christian overtones, is politically appropriate. He said he hopes "we don't divide America on the basis of faith."" -By Peter Hamby -CNN
Colorado - Electronic - Voting Machines - Technology - Hacking - Elections - Federal - Politics - 2008 Election - "Colo. Bans Most Electronic Voting Machines: Security Risks, Inaccuracy Cited; Federal Certification Process Called "Inadequate"." ... "Colorado's top election official decertified electronic voting machines used in many of the state's largest counties Monday, calling into question equipment used in past elections in a move he said could have national implications." ... "Electronic voting machines used in [Colorado counties:] Denver, Arapahoe, Pueblo, Mesa and Elbert counties cannot be used in the next [2008] election because of problems with accuracy or security, Secretary of State Mike Coffman said." ... "A number of electronic scanners used to count ballots were also decertified, including a type used by Boulder County as well as more than three dozen small to mid-size counties around the state." ... "His decision affects six of Colorado's 10 most populous counties and three of the four equipment manufacturers allowed in the state." ... "The four systems are manufactured by Hart InterCivic, Premier Election Solutions - formerly known as Diebold Election Systems - Sequoia Voting Systems and Election Systems and Software [ES&S]." -By George Merritt -AP via -CBSNews
John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - 2008 Election - Iowa - Poll - "Poll: Edwards leads in Iowa." ... "In an InsiderAdvantage poll in Iowa, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards leads among (977) likely voters 30-26-24 over [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama. Edwards is also the clear second choice winner, 42-29-28 over Clinton and Obama." -By Domenico Montanaro -MSNBC
John McCain - Mitt Romney - Immigrants - Gay-Rights - Abortion - Finance - Law - New Hampshire - Arizona - Mass - 2008 Election - "McCain launches direct mail attack." ... "Republican hopeful [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, of Arizona, launched an attack – a direct mail campaign labeling New Hampshire primary front-runner [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney as a serial flip-flopper that "voters can't trust.''" ... "The two-page flier cites a May 2007 article in the Tampa Tribune, which states Romney had once supported allowing illegal immigrants to "apply for citizenship and permanent residency''" ... "It then refers to Romney's decision to re-hire a firm after it had been found to have used illegal immigrants to work on his Belmont, Mass.[Massachusetts], home." ... ""How many times has Mitt Romney flip-flopped?'' the mailing asks. "Immigration, taxes, gay rights, abortion, campaign finance reform.'' -By Kevin Landrigan -NashuaTelegraph.com
Iran - Russia - Fuel - Business - Construction - US - International - Military - Politics - "Russia starts nuclear fuel deliveries to Iran." ... "Iran passed a significant milestone in its quest for nuclear power status yesterday when it received a first delivery of enriched uranium from Russia, allowing for the completion of a long-delayed reactor at Bushehr [Iran]." ... "The head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, announced that 80 tonnes of fuel had been received, with further consignments expected in the next two months." ... "The delivery appeared to signal a weakening of the international coalition opposing Iranian nuclear ambitions which the US and its allies suspect are aimed at building an atomic bomb." ... "It also means Iran is just months away from having its first nuclear power station, after years of delays. The Russian contractors building the Bushehr plant, which will be used to generate electricity, say it could be operational within six months." -By Robert Tait -Guardian.co.uk

20071217

Connie Mack - Florida - California - Wyoming - "Reps. Mary Bono, Connie Mack marry." ... "[California Republican Representative] Mary Bono, who was married to late singer-turned-politician [Republican] Sonny Bono and replaced him in Congress after his death, has married U.S. [United States Florida Republican Representative] Rep. Connie Mack." ... "Mack, a Republican representative from Florida, and Bono, R-Palm Springs [California-Republican], had been dating for two years." ... " Bono and her previous husband, former Wyoming businessman Glenn Baxley, filed for divorce in 2005." -AP via -PE.com
Ron Paul - Mitt Romney - Politics - History - Online - 2008 Election - 2004 Election - "Ron Paul Supporters Make History with $6 Million Online Haul -- Updated." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul made history Sunday by raising $6 million in online contributions in 24 hours, breaking the record for the most money raised by a national candidate in a single day, and potentially putting Paul on track to surpass the fourth quarter fund raising of all of his competitors in both parties." ... ""I just think it's extraordinary," says Anthony J. Corrado, a campaign finance expert and professor of government at Colby College in Maine. "In my view, I expect that Ron Paul will raise more money than any other candidate this quarter. At this point, his main competition will be [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] (Mitt) Romney's checkbook."" ... "The $6 million number beats the 2004 [Election] record set by Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who raised $5.7 million after he gave his nomination speech." -By Sarah Lai Stirland -Wired
Chris Dodd - Corporate - Government - Spy - Law - Intelligence - Politics - Telephone - Internet - E-Mails - Electronic - Civil Liberties - 2008 Election - Foreign - American - Nevada - Conn - Wisc - VT - Mass - "Spy law showdown postponed until next year." ... "Congress won't decide until next year whether to pass a complex law that would let telephone and Internet companies off the hook from lawsuits alleging illicit cooperation with federal government spies." ... "In something of an unexpected move, U.S. Senate Majority Leader [Nevada Democratic Senator] Harry Reid took to the Senate floor on Monday evening and announced he would postpone debate on the so-called FISA Amendments Act [FISA: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]. That bill, which has already been approved in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would grant such corporate immunity and make it easier for the feds to snoop on phone calls and e-mails involving foreigners and Americans without a warrant, drawing rampant criticism from civil liberties groups." ... "Earlier in the day, however, it appeared more certain that the Senate would move ahead with a vote to approve the controversial Senate measure, which would provide legal immunity to electronic communications providers that have allegedly opened up their networks to the National Security Agency and other federal spies since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Above vocal objections from some Democrats, the senators nevertheless voted 76-10 to limit debate and other stalling tactics related to the bill." ... "But in the end, last-minute rallying from Democrats opposed to the telecommunications immunity provisions applied the necessary pressure." ... "Perhaps most notably, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Connecticut Senator] Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a presidential hopeful, devoted nearly the entire day to delivering one impassioned speech after another about his opposition to granting legal immunity to telecommunications companies accused of providing illegal assistance to government spying programs. Other influential Democratic senators, including [Wisconsin Democratic Senator] Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), [Vermont Democratic Senator] Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) echoed his concerns at various points during the day." -By Anne Broache -CNET
Secret - Jack Abramoff - Dick Cheney - Government - Religion - Politics - "Judge: White House visitor logs are public documents." ... "The [Republican President Bush] White House must release its visitor logs and cannot hide behind a shield of privilege, a federal judge ruled Monday. The Bush administration has resisted public disclosure while it fights a lawsuit over alleged political influence by conservative Christian leaders." ... "The White House claimed exclusive control of the documents, subject to the complete discretion of the president over their release." ... "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a self-described government watchdog group, sought the visit records of prominent conservatives James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Wendy Wright of Concerned Women of America and seven others including the late televangelist Jerry Falwell." ... "Separate legal action by CREW and other groups, including Judicial Watch and the Washington Post, sought White House visitor logs that listed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He pleaded guilty last year to public corruption charges." ... "Another federal judge in Washington ordered the release of Secret Service logs of visitors to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney's office. Cheney claimed those logs were subject to executive privilege. That ruling is being appealed." -By Bill Mears -CNN
Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - US - Foreign - Military - Mentality - 2008 Election - "Romney Again Seeks Huckabee Apology." ... "At a campaign stop here on Monday, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney continued his blunt criticism of his Republican rival [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee, renewing a call for Mr. Huckabee to apologize for characterizing the [Republican President] Bush administration’s foreign policy as “arrogant.”" ... "Mr. Romney once again accused Mr. Huckabee of using “the language of a Democrat” in an article he wrote for the January/February 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs in which he asserts that “the Bush administration’s arrogant bunker mentality has been counterproductive at home and abroad.”" -By Michael Falcone -NYTimes
Hillary Clinton - Barack Obama - Drug - Criminality - Race - Religion - New Hampshire - Iowa - South Carolina - 2008 Election - "Clinton's stereotyping of Obama may backfire." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama said Friday that he accepted the apology of Democratic presidential rival [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Hillary Clinton after Bill Shaheen, Clinton's New Hampshire cochairman, suggested that Obama's teenage drug use would hurt him in the general election." ... "It was clear, though, that the apology did not cover all the recent shots at Obama that raise questions as to whether the Clinton campaign is getting desperate." ... ""The kindergarten stuff was not mentioned," Obama said in an interview after a morning town hall event here in eastern Iowa. The Clinton team was ridiculed in political circles for dredging up an Obama kindergarten I-want-to-be-president essay." ... "That leaves open as to how far the Clinton campaign, whose poll leads have evaporated in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, will go to stereotype Obama as not only naive, but cast him in a sinister light in a nation where black drug use and criminality is exaggerated in the media and where Muslims face undue wariness. Earlier this week, the Clinton staff fired two Iowa volunteer coordinators for circulating a hoax e-mail saying Obama, a Christian, was a Muslim who might help destroy the United States." -By Derrick Z. Jackson -BostonGlobe via -SeattlePI
University - Politics - New Jersey - "Police: Princeton student faked attack, e-mail threats." ... "A [New Jersey] Princeton University student who argued that his conservative views were not accepted on the campus confessed to fabricating an assault and sending threatening e-mail messages to himself and some friends who shared his views, authorities said Monday." ... "Princeton Township police said Francisco Nava was not immediately charged with any crime, but the investigation was continuing." ... "Nava claimed to have been assaulted Friday by two men off-campus, police said. But he later confessed that scrapes and scratches on his face were self-inflicted, and that the threats were his work, too, said Detective Sgt. [Sergeant] Ernie Silagyi." -By Geoff Mulvihill -AP via -Newsday.com
John Edwards - Working - Families - Energy - Corporate - Government- 2008 Election - Iowa - "Edwards Offers Middle-Class Pitch: [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards Sharpens Pitch Aimed At Working Families." ... "Edwards, on the seventh day of an eight-day bus tour of the state [of Iowa], spelled out the components of what he calls his "middle class rising agenda," including tax breaks for working families, tougher trade policies and investment in alternative energy." ... ""Corporate greed and political calculation have taken over our government and sold out the middle class," Edwards said. "That is wrong. It doesn't say 'life, liberty and the pursuit of endless corporate profits' in the Declaration of Independence."" ... ""We have a fight in front of us, we have a fight for the future of this country," he said. "We need someone who is going to step into that arena on your behalf, someone who is ready for that fight, somebody who has got it inside, somebody who has the toughness and strength and fight." ... ""Brothers and sisters, I was born for this fight," he told the more than 500 people jammed into a high school gym [in Iowa] to hear him." ... "Edwards also is making the case that he's best positioned to win the White House in November [2008's Election], pointing to polls that show him ahead of all the leading Republican presidential contenders." ... ""I was the only Democrat who beat every Republican in head-to-head matchups," Edwards said, telling backers to use that argument with wavering voters. "Make sure they know that the data is powerful, that I'm a winner. Say it that way."" -AP via -CBSNews
Chris Dodd - Secret - Telecom - Industry - Government - Spying - Politics - Net - E-Mails - Data - Iowa - Connecticut - 2008 Election - "Dodd out of Iowa for Senate filibuster." ... "With just weeks until the pivotal Iowa caucuses, [2008 Election] presidential candidate and Democratic [Connecticut Senator] Sen. Chris Dodd has abandoned the Hawkeye State to lead a filibuster against a controversial measure that would give special legal protections to the telecom industry." ... "The Connecticut Democrat has criticized the proposed renewal of government spying powers, insisting it gives too much power to secret agencies and lets large telecommunications firms off the hook for handing over reams of private data on American phone calls and e-mails." ... "Under the measure being considered this week, telecom firms would be given legal immunity from invasion of privacy lawsuits that result from the release of this information to government officials." -By Lisa Desjardins and Rebecca Sinderbrand -CNN
Mike Huckabee - Mitt Romney - John Edwards - New Hampshire - Iowa - US - Foreign - Corporate - 2008 Election - "Candidates Scrambling to Cope With Rise of Huckabee." ... "The campaign most immediately threatened by [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Mr. Huckabee’s rise was that of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mr. Romney." ... "Mr. Huckabee, in his latest campaign swing through New Hampshire, sounded almost like [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards, a Democrat running for president, when he decried what he called “fat cat” chief executive officers and their outsize paychecks." ... "In Iowa last week, Mr. Romney regularly tore into Mr. Huckabee’s record, sometimes bringing it up directly with audiences in town hall forums and other times waiting to do it with reporters afterward. And after the Foreign Affairs article [where Mike Huckabee described Republican President Bush's foreign policy as an "arrogant bunker mentality"], he questioned Mr. Huckabee’s Republicanism." ... "“That’s an insult to the president, and Mike Huckabee should apologize to the president,” Mr. Romney said Sunday on the NBC program “Meet the Press.”" ... "The Romney campaign’s decision to directly engage Mr. Huckabee carries risk; Iowans are known to dislike negative campaigning." (1, 2) -By Michael Cooper -NYTimes
Women - Poll - Rudy Giuliani - Hillary Clinton - New York - Mich - 2008 Election - "Women more willing to forgive Monica scandal than Judi Giuliani's trysts." ... "More [women] were likely to punish Judith Giuliani for trysting with the then-married [Rudy Giuliani, 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and former New York City, New York] mayor when she was Judith Nathan than [former Democratic President] Bill Clinton for cheating on his wife [Hillary Clinton, 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] in the Oval Office." ... ""I think [the Giulianis] have a lot of nerve to think they can get elected when the Republicans won't let my poor buddy Bill alone for what he did," said Marie Klieman, 74, of East China, Mich. [Michigan.]" ... "Only 15% of respondents in the poll said they worried about another sex scandal exploding should the Clintons return to their old digs on Pennsylvania Ave." ... "The poll also found that many female voters like the idea of Bill Clinton taking on a role in his wife's administration, but they split on whether Rudy Giuliani's third wife should get involved in government." ... "Hillary Clinton has said she might put her husband to work helping out with diplomacy, and 54% of women in the poll said they approved. " -By Helen Kennedy -NYDailyNews.com

20071216

John Edwards - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Edwards: 'I'm the strongest candidate in the general election'." ... "Taking a break from an eight-day Iowa bus trip, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Edwards appeared on national talk shows on CBS, ABC and CNN where he touted recent national poll showing that he was the only Democrat who would defeat all the potential Republican rivals in the fall." ... ""The empirical data points out, I'm the Democrat who beats every single Republican in national testing," Edwards said on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "I'm the strongest candidate in the general election."" ... ""What we ultimately have to do is have a president of the United States - a Teddy Roosevelt - whose tough, who has what it takes to engage in this fight to galvanize the American people in this cause."" ... ""Edwards is really good," former [Democratic] President Bill Clinton said in an interview Friday with PBS talk show host Charlie Rose. "You are underestimating his chances. Edwards might win in Iowa."" -By Rob Christensen -McClatchy via -KansasCity.com
Mitt Romney - Abortion - Gay - Money - Law - History - Massachusetts - 2008 Election - "Romney Defends Charges Of Flip-Flopping: Says He Will Keep Campaign Promises Despite Changing Views On Abortion, Same-Sex Rights." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidenticdal Candidate] Mitt Romney sought Sunday to deflect charges that he is a flip-flopper, insisting he had learned from experience and could be counted on to keep his campaign promises if elected president." ... "Romney acknowledged changing his views in 2004 from supporting abortion rights to opposing abortion. He said he did not entirely betray abortion-rights voters, either, because he did not seek to change Massachusetts abortion laws." ... "Romney said he promised not to raise taxes as governor and did not go back on his word by raising fees by about $240 million to help balance the budget. The fees were on services such as gun licenses and training to combat domestic violence." ... "Romney acknowledged that he initially supported federal efforts to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, but now only supports such laws at the state level. In an unsuccessful Senate run in 1994, Romney promised to be "more effective on gay rights in the Senate than [Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Ted Kennedy."" -AP via -CBSNews
John Edwards - Des-Moines - Iowa - Health-Care - Poverty - 2008 Election - "Iowa's first lady to back Edwards for president." ... "Iowa’s first lady [Mari Culver, wife of Iowa's governor Chet Culver], who had said she would stay neutral in the presidential race, has changed her mind and plans to endorse [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Democrat John Edwards Monday." ... "“I decided to join in the fray,” Mari Culver said in an interview today." ... "She said she agrees with his plans to fight poverty and to reform health care, and she thinks he offers Democrats the best chance to take back the White House." ... "“I think John is a winner. He’s electable,” she said. “He’s been tested. He’s been on the national ticket before. The national polls show him beating all Republicans in the general elections. He inspires me. I think he inspires other Iowans, and I think he can really rally Americans in the fall." ... "Mari Culver said she will endorse Edwards at a rally in Des Moines [Iowa's capital] at noon Monday, and she plans to appear at other events.” -By Tony Leys -DesMoinesRegister
John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Illinois- 2008 Election - "Edwards Sticks to the Positive." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards appeared on Sunday political talk shows this morning and put forth a consistently positive demeanor, declining easy opportunities to hammer his Democratic opponents." ... "He was particularly hands-off when it came to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama. On “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” Mr. Stephanopoulos noted that the [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton campaign has been making the case that Mr. Obama is “untested, unexamined and ultimately unprepared and unelectable.”" ... "“Are they right?” Mr. Stephanopoulos asked." ... "“Oh, I wouldn’t say those things,” Mr. Edwards replied. “I think that Barack Obama – I’ve gotten to know him during the course of the campaign. He seems to be a good man. He’s thoughtful, and I have respect for him.”" ... "Mr. Edwards then pointed out what he called a “fundamental philosophical difference” that Mr. Obama is more willing to compromise when working for change." -By Julie Bosman -NYTimes
Mitt Romney - Massachusetts - 2008 Election - 2002 Election - "Romney Claims NRA Endorsement He Didn't Receive." ... "Under [MSNBC TV host Tim] Russert's grilling about guns on this morning's "Meet the Press," former Massachusetts governor [and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney claimed an endorsement he'd never won." ... "In answer to questions about whether he would sign an assault weapons ban, Romney said: "Just as the president said, he would have, he would have signed that bill if it came to his desk, and so would have I. And, and, and yet I also was pleased to have the support of the NRA when I ran for governor. I sought it, I seek it now. I'd love to have their support."" ... "Later in the interview, he added the following:" ... ""I just talked about, about guns. I told you what my position was, and what I, what I did as governor; the fact that I received the endorsement of the NRA."" ... "The problem?" ... "He was never endorsed by the NRA, and didn't have their official support during his 2002 [Election] gubernatorial campaign." -By Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost
Secret - Surveillance - Terrorism - Crime - Telecommunications - Companies - Government - Legislation - Politics - Intelligence - Drug - Consumer - Wireless - Technology - United States - Global - Space - Colorado - New Jersey - "Wider Spying Fuels Aid Plan for Telecom Industry." ... "For months, the [Republican President] Bush administration has waged a high-profile campaign, including personal lobbying by President Bush and closed-door briefings by top officials, to persuade Congress to pass legislation protecting companies from lawsuits for aiding the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program." ... "But the battle is really about something much bigger. At stake is the federal government’s extensive but uneasy partnership with industry to conduct a wide range of secret surveillance operations in fighting terrorism and crime." ... "The N.S.A.’s reliance on telecommunications companies is broader and deeper than ever before, according to government and industry officials, yet that alliance is strained by legal worries and the fear of public exposure." ... "To detect narcotics trafficking, for example, the government has been collecting the phone records of thousands of Americans and others inside the United States who call people in Latin America, according to several government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the program remains classified. But in 2004, one major phone carrier balked at turning over its customers’ records. Worried about possible privacy violations or public relations problems, company executives declined to help the operation, which has not been previously disclosed." ... "In a separate N.S.A. [National Security Agency] project, executives at a Denver [Colorado] phone carrier, Qwest, refused in early 2001 to give the agency access to their most localized communications switches, which primarily carry domestic calls, according to people aware of the request, which has not been previously reported. They say the arrangement could have permitted neighborhood-by-neighborhood surveillance of phone traffic without a court order, which alarmed them." ... "The federal government’s reliance on private industry has been driven by changes in technology. Two decades ago, telephone calls and other communications traveled mostly through the air, relayed along microwave towers or bounced off satellites. The N.S.A. could vacuum up phone, fax and data traffic merely by erecting its own satellite dishes. But the fiber optics revolution has sent more and more international communications by land and undersea cable, forcing the agency to seek company cooperation to get access." ... "[An ATT engineer is claiming in a lawsuit that as early as February 2001,] “What he saw,” said Bruce Afran, a New Jersey lawyer representing the plaintiffs along with Carl Mayer, “was decisive evidence that within two weeks of taking office, the [Republican] Bush administration was planning a comprehensive effort of spying on Americans’ phone usage.”" (1, 2) -By Eric Lichtblau, James Risen, and Scott Shane -NYTimes
John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - North Carolina - Illinois - New York - 2008 Election - Government - Oil - Drug - Companies - Health-Care - US - Iraq - Military - Iowa - Fields - "Edwards cuts sharper edge in Iowa trail speeches." ... ""The few, the powerful, the well-financed, they now control the government," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards told a tight crowd of about 350 last week. "They've taken over your democracy. And it affects everything that happens in this country."" ... ""Everything," he emphasized." ... "During an 18-minute span, the former North Carolina senator took aim and fired freely at insurance, oil and drug companies and failed chief executives rewarded with golden parachutes. He described the Republican field as [Republican President] "George Bush on steroids" and said his Democratic competitors are talkers, not fighters." ... "In what has often been portrayed as a two-Democrat battle between [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Hillary Clinton of New York the populist Edwards is making an eight-day blitz across the frozen fields of Iowa, a sort of red-meat express to convince the middle class that he is the one who will wrest the country from the clutches of "corporate power and greed."" ... ""I know some people suggest we'll be able to sit at the table with drug companies and oil companies and think they can get their power away. Right," Edwards said dismissively, indirectly referring to the approaches he says Obama and Clinton would take." ... ""I'll tell you when they'll [corporations] lose their power: when we take it away from them," he told a cheering crowd at the [Iowa] Grinnell Eagles Club." ... ""There's been a change in America. We have greater concentration of wealth and power in a few. We have an increasingly dysfunctional health-care system. We have this war in Iraq that has gotten much worse," he said. "I think we need a president who's willing to be tough and to go after these things."" -By Tim Jones -ChicagoTribune

20071215

Mike Huckabee - Law - Politics - Money - Arkansas - Prison - 2008 Election - "Huckabee DWI clemency, donations raise questions." ... "Questions are being raised about then-Gov. [former Arkansas Governor and now 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee's 2004 decision to grant clemency to a repeat Driving While Intoxicated offender in Arkansas named Eugene Fields, despite the objections of a law enforcement official at the time. Documents obtained by NBC News reveal Fields' case was handled differently from any other DWI clemency or pardon granted by Huckabee, and some Republicans are now suggesting significant political contributions may have influenced the governor's decision." ... "In August 2001, Fields, of Van Buren, Ark. [Arkansas], was convicted of his fourth DWI charge, a felony in the state of Arkansas, was sentenced to six years in prison and a $5,000 fine. Fields reported to prison in August of 2003." ... "But prison records obtained by NBC News show that six weeks into that six-year sentence, Fields' application for clemency, a commutation of his sentence the governor could issue to grant Fields an early release from prison, was unanimously supported by the parole board. Within months, Huckabee issued his intent to grant executive clemency to Fields, who was released from prison soon thereafter." ... "Some Arkansas Republicans are also questioning whether Fields' clemency was tied to sizeable political contributions." ... "According to Federal Election Commission records, a month after Fields' appeal was denied, his wife made a $5,000 donation to the State Republican Party in June of 2003. A month later, she made an additional $5,000 donation, again to the Republican Party of Arkansas. The following month, Fields reported to prison and began his clemency application process. He was a free man in less than a year." ... "A former elected official in Arkansas with fundraising experience for the State Republican Party says the timing of Mrs. Fields' donations raises serious questions about their intended purpose." ... "Prior to his wife's donations, Fields had made a $10,000 donation to the Republican Party of Arkansas in October of 2000 under "Fields Investment Company," the name of his business. Both Mrs. Fields' 2003 donations and Mr. Fields' 2000 donation placed them among the largest, individual donors to the Republican Party of Arkansas in those years, on par with donations from members of the Walton family, of the Wal-Mart department store chain." -By Amna Nawaz -MSNBC
Hacking - Ohio - Voting Systems - Computers - Elections - Technology - Politics - 2008 Election - "Ohio Elections Official Calls Machines Flawed." ... "All five voting systems used in Ohio, a state whose electoral votes narrowly swung two elections toward [Republican] President Bush, have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election, a report commissioned by the state’s top elections official has found." ... "“It was worse than I anticipated,” the official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, said of the report. “I had hoped that perhaps one system would test superior to the others.”" ... "At polling stations, teams working on the study were able to pick locks to access memory cards and use hand-held devices to plug false vote counts into machines. At boards of election, they were able to introduce malignant software into servers." ... "Ms. Brunner proposed replacing all of the state’s voting machines, including the touch-screen ones used in more than 50 of Ohio’s 88 counties. She wants all counties to use optical scan machines that read and electronically record paper ballots that are filled in manually by voters." ... "The study released Friday found that voting machines and central servers made by Elections Systems and Software; Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold; and Hart InterCivic; were easily corrupted." -By Bob Driehaus -NYTimes
Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - Foreign - US - Military - Illegal - Immigrants - People - Baptist - Iowa - Massachusetts - Arkansas - Ads - 2008 Election - "Romney Hits Huckabee for Criticizing Bush." ... "Sensing an opening in his desperate effort to retake the lead in Iowa, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on Saturday pounced on comments by [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and] former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee in which he characterized [Republican] President Bush's foreign policy as an "arrogant bunker mentality."" ... "Romney has started heaping criticism on Huckabee as the former baptist minister has climbed into a comfortable lead in Iowa caucuses. On television and in mailings to voters, Romney has attacked Huckabee's position on illegal immigrants in the hopes of halting his momentum." -By Michael D. Shear -WashingtonPost

20071214

John Edwards - Online - Finance - Law - Politics - History - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "FEC Rules Against Online Fundraiser ActBlue and John Edwards." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and] Former North Carolina senator John Edwards can't match up the more than $4 million he's raised from thousands of individuals through an innovative online raising hub because of an outdated 1971 campaign finance law." ... "The Federal Election Commission [FEC] on Friday decided that the more than $4.2 million raised for the Democratic presidential candidate by ActBlue doesn't conform to what's defined as individual contributions under federal regulations, and thus can't be eligible for matching funds under the public financing system that the candidate opted for earlier this year." ... ""A matchable contribution consists of 'a gift of money made by a written instrument which identifies the person making the contribution by full name and mailing address,'" wrote FEC attorneys in an opinion that the commission approved Friday afternoon. "The Matching Payment Act specifically excludes from the definition of matchable contribution 'funds received by a political committee which are transferred to that committee from another committee.'"" ... "ActBlue is registered as a political action committee." ... "The problem is that the money that ActBlue sent along to John Edwards was sent as a weekly agglomerated check rather than funneled along marked from individuals." -By Sarah Lai Stirland -Wired

20071213

Noteworthy - Industrial - Government - Accounting - Environmental - Health - Safety - Politics - Air - Water - Ground - "EPA was pressured to weaken toxic report rules." ... "The [Republican President Bush] White House pressured the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] to weaken requirements that companies annually disclose releases of toxic chemicals, congressional auditors say." ... "In a study scheduled to be released next week, the Government Accountability Office says the changes mean that industry will have to file 22,000 fewer reports each year, reducing an important public monitoring tool on industrial emissions." ... "The EPA rushed to complete the changes because of "pressure" from the White House Office of Management and Budget to reduce the regulatory burdens on industry, says the report obtained by The Associated Press. The White House overstated the cost-savings to industry of making the changes, it added." ... "For more than two decades, industries and businesses have had to disclose to the EPA the amount of toxic chemicals they produce, store and discharge into the air, water and ground." ... "Last December, the EPA reduced the amount of information that needed to be disclosed in the Toxic Release Inventory Report, or TRI, process." -By H. Josef Hebert -AP via -Chron

20071212

John Edwards - Iowa - Economy - Union - 2008 Election - "Edwards banks on veteran caucusgoers to pull off Iowa." ... "... [M]ost of his [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards] supporters already have experience with this state's sometimes daunting system of caucuses held in each of 1,784 precincts." ... "Retired postmaster John Backer, 62, of Greene [Iowa], is one of them. Come Jan. 3, as he has done in the past, he'll join a few dozen neighbors at the community center and stand up for Edwards. "I know almost everybody in town," Backer says. "I feel comfortable going there."" ... "Most polls of Iowa show Edwards trailing his two rivals, yet still within the margins of error and within reach of winning. They also show that as many as three-quarters of his backers qualify as "likely caucusgoers" — that is, they've already been to a caucus." ... "Edwards will need every vote he can get to stay in the game." ... "Edwards has run a storm-the-barricades campaign this year driven by rhetoric about economic unfairness and destructive corporate influence." ... "But mostly his campaign is about basics: an endorsement from U.S. [Iowa Democratic Representative] Rep. Bruce Braley, an army of union members, that solid base of likely caucusgoers, visits to all 99 Iowa counties, and an 80-page policy book sent to more than 200,000 households." -By Jill Lawrence -USATODAY

20071211

US - Iraq - Military - Police - Terrorism - Politics - Christmas - "Christians in Basra told not to celebrate to protest 2 deaths." ... "The Christian archbishop of Basra on Tuesday canceled the celebration of Christmas in that southern city to protest the deaths of a brother and sister, both Christians, as bombings and mayhem struck at cities throughout Iraq." ... "Archbishop Imad al Banna said Christians in Basra should still pray to mark Christmas, but should forgo such celebratory trappings as trees, gift-swapping and family gatherings to protest the deaths of Maysoon Farid, a 30-year-old cashier at a local pharmacy, and her brother Osama, 33. The two were found dead Monday night, dumped in a neighborhood controlled by the Shiite Muslim Mahdi Army militia." ... "Meanwhile, two police officers in Baghdad [Iraq's capital] were killed by a car bomb that struck near the homes of two prominent politicians, while south of Fallujah, in the west, family members mourned a 9-year-old girl who they said was killed by U.S. troops." -By Leila Fadel and Ali al Basri with contributions by Hussein Kadhim in Baghdad and Jamal al Dulaimy -McClatchy
John Edwards - US - Iraq - Military - Corporate - Government - Energy - Drug - Health - Family - Farmers - 2008 Election - "AP Interview: Edwards on Iraq and Dems." ... "While [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards continues to invoke ending the [Iraq] war as one of the major challenges facing the nation, the thrust of his message is that entrenched corporate power has prevented the government from tackling long-standing domestic problems." ... ""You hear a lot more questions about corporate power, health care, energy, family farmers," he said. "Those are the things people ask about."" ... ""My focus for these last few weeks is on a positive agenda," he said. "That's what America rising is all about."" ... "That's not to say Edwards' message doesn't have an edge." ... "His culprits are "powerful, well-entrenched, well-financed interests that are distorting the democracy in their favor and against the interests of most Americans."" ... ""The specific examples are oil companies, drug companies, insurance companies, power companies, there are lots more examples," he said. "They've used money and power to spread their influence and have kept the democracy from working for most people."" (1, 2) -By Jim Kuhnhenn -AP via -NOLA.com
Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - Religion - 2008 Election - "Romney hits Huckabee on remark on Mormonism." ... ""Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee asks, according to a preview of the article posted on the Times website. He made the comment after being asked whether he believes Mormonism is a cult, as some evangelical Christians do." ... "On morning news shows today, he [Mitt Romney, 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] said the comments amounted to an attack that was un-American." ... ""I think attacking someone's religion is really going too far," Romney said on the "Today" show. It's just not the American way, and I think people will reject that."" ... "On MSNBC, he called the comment "an old attack. I was sad to see it come out again....Attacking someone's faith is simply un-American." " -By Foon Rhee -BostonGlobe
Mike Huckabee - Mitt Romney - Money - 2008 Election - "Huckabee says Romney 'desperate,' acting like a 'tattle-tale'." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee called fellow Republican [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney’s new ad “desperate” Tuesday, comparing his actions to those of “a tattle-tale in third grade.”" ... "“The more desperate and frantic campaigns get when they see how much money they’ve spent and we’re winning, that causes people to do some sometimes desperate things.”" -By Dana Bash and Rebecca Sinderbrand -CNN
Mike Huckabee - Mitt Romney - Religion - Massachusetts - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Huckabee Asks if Mormons Believe Jesus, Devil Are Brothers." ... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, ''Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?''" ... "His rival [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." ... "The authoritative Encyclopedia of Mormonism, published in 1992, does not refer to Jesus and Satan as brothers. It speaks of Jesus as the son of God and of Satan as a fallen angel, which is a Biblical account." ... "Earlier this month in Iowa, Huckabee wouldn't say whether he thought Mormonism — rival Romney's religion — was a cult." -By Libby Quaid -AP via -TIME.com
Mike Huckabee - Fred Thompson - Mitt Romney - Employed - Illegal - Immigrants - Enforcement - Tennessee - Massachusetts - Iowa - 2008 Election - Ad - US - Cuba - Money - "Huckabee rivals go on the attack." ... "Former Tennessee [Senator and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Sen. Fred Thompson’s campaign kept up a steady stream of attack, criticizing [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee for everything from past support for ending the Cuban embargo to allegedly allowing state hard drives and servers to be destroyed while he was governor." ... "And CNN’s John King reports that former Massachusetts [Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign announced that it plans to run a television ad in Iowa that targets Huckabee’s record on illegal immigration. The spot, which attacks him by name, hits the airwaves Tuesday." ... "Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said the ad was intended to highlight the difference between the former Massachusetts governor’s “pro-enforcement record” – under assault after recent revelations that he employed illegal immigrants on his property – and Huckabee’s somewhat softer stance in the past." -By John King, Alexander Mooney and Rebecca Sinderbrand -CNN
Barack Obama - Ron Paul - Illinois - Davenport - Iowa - Law - 2008 Election - Politics - "Yepsen: Parties, candidates must make sure [Iowa] caucuses are clean." ... "Maybe we should call these the Illinois caucuses." ... "Officials and campaigners in both parties are worried that zealous out-of-state staffers and non-Iowa supporters of candidates may try to vote in the [2008 Election] caucuses, thereby skewing the results." ... "On the Republican side, GOP officials are watching precincts in Council Bluffs [Iowa] and Davenport [Iowa] to make certain people aren't driving across the state line to participate. They are particularly concerned about [Republican Presidential Candidate] Ron Paul's over-caffeinated backers." ... "On the Democratic side, [Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama's campaign is telling Iowa college students they can caucus for him even if they aren't from Iowa." ... "However, both laws and practical considerations are in place to help ensure the integrity of the Iowa caucuses:" ... "- Falsely registering to vote is fraud in Iowa. Someone from Illinois who thinks voter fraud is a way of life in that state will find a much different attitude from Iowa prosecutors." ... "- Credibility. It's not going to do Obama or Paul any good to have a showing in Iowa that is tainted. Obama has worked hard in Iowa. He has built an impressive organization and can win this on the legit. He doesn't need to give opposition spinners a way to discredit a victory." -By David Yepsen -DesMoinesRegister

20071210

Rudy Giuliani - Federal - Energy - Legislation - Politics - Wind - Technology - Environment- 2008 Election - Massachusetts - Georgia - Ohio - "Giuliani Firm, Utilities Team Up to Fight Renewable-Energy Plan." ... "A lobbying blitz by some of the U.S.'s biggest utility companies is likely to strangle the most potent provision in energy legislation that's making its way through Congress." ... "[Atlanta, Georgia-based] Southern Co., [Ohio based] American Electric Power Co. and other producers hired top Washington lobbyists, including [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's firm, to help defeat a measure that would force them to boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020. That's up from less than 2 percent today, and is a move the industry says would cost at least $67 billion." ... "The Senate failed on Dec. 7 to get the 60 votes needed to move the legislation, a day after the House of Representatives approved it. To get the bill to [Republican] President George W. Bush's desk this year and steer clear of a White House veto threat, the Senate will probably have to pass a weakened measure." ... "``The lobbying effort led by Southern Co. is the principal obstacle to America unleashing a renewable-electricity revolution,'' says Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat[ic Representative] who has led the fight for a federal standard on the new energy sources." ... "The legislation pits the utilities and oil companies against wind and solar-electricity producers, as well as venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore is a partner. Those firms have made billions of dollars in clean-energy-technology investments, which would pay off if the bill becomes law." -By Daniel Whitten and Tina Seeley -Bloomberg
John Edwards - John McCain - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Rudy Giuliani- Mitt Romney - Mike Huckabee - Arizona - Massachusetts - North Carolina - 2008 Election - Poll - "Poll: Huckabee would lose to top Democrats by double digits." ... "While [2008 Election Republican] presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is surging in new polls of GOP candidates, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday shows he would lose to all three leading Democratic candidates by double digits in hypothetical contests." ... "The poll also shows that [2008 Election] Republican [Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain of Arizona would do best against leading Democrats. He beats [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary] Clinton by 2 percentage points (50 percent to 48 percent), ties [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama (48 percent to 48 percent) and loses to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards by a smaller margin (8 points) than the other Republican candidates do." ... "In addition to Huckabee, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Rudy] Giuliani and former Massachusetts [Governor, 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Gov. Mitt Romney lose to all three top Democrats in the survey." ... "On the Democratic side, Edwards performs best against each of the leading Republicans. In addition to beating Huckabee by 25 percent and McCain by 8 percent, the North Carolina Democrat beats Romney by 22 percentage points (59 percent to 37 percent) and Giuliani by 9 percentage points (53 percent to 44 percent)." ... ""Edwards is the only Democrat who beats all four Republicans, and McCain is the only Republican who beats any of the three Democrats," [CNN's polling director, Keating] Holland said." -By Alexander Mooney -CNN
I Lewis "Scooter" Libby - Dick Cheney - Criminal - Government - Intelligence - Politics - "Libby drops appeal in CIA leak case." ... "Former [Republican President Bush] White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby is no longer appealing his conviction in the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] leak case, a tacit recognition that continuing his legal fight might only make things worse." ... "Libby, the former chief of staff to [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury and obstruction but [Republican] President Bush commuted his 30-month prison sentence in July. As a convicted felon, Libby will lose his law license and, in some states, cannot vote." ... "He might have had a chance to avoid those consequences had he won on appeal, but at a new trial his commutation would be meaningless and Libby would again face potential prison time." ... "Libby, 57, was convicted of lying and obstructing an investigation into the 2003 leak of [American Undercover] CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity. He was the only person to face criminal charges in the case." ... "The decision to withdraw his appeal means Libby will remain a convicted felon. President Bush could wipe away the conviction with a full pardon, something he has refused to rule out." -By Matt Apuzzo with contributions by Deb Riechmann -AP via -Yahoo

20071209

Secret - Rudy Giuliani - Drug - Government - Politics - Qatar - Hong Kong - North Korea - Crime - Global - US - 2008 Election - "Giuliani Won't Release Client Names." ... "For the past year, though, Giuliani has declined to identify his clients on the grounds that they entered into confidentially agreements with his firm." ... "Giuliani formed the consulting firm in early 2002, offering "management consulting service to governments and business" and over the next five years it earned more than $100 million. That income, along with a robust speaking schedule, helped transform the moderately well-off public servant into a globe-trotting consultant whose net worth is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars." ... "Giuliani Partners has represented a pharmaceutical company mired in a lengthy investigation; a confessed drug smuggler who hired Giuliani to ensure his security company could do business with the federal government; and the horse racing industry, which was eager to recover public confidence after a betting scandal." ... "But many of the firm's clients have never been listed on its web site or identified publicly by associates, and two of the most controversial arrangements among them only surfaced in recent weeks. One involved a 2005 agreement to provide security advice to the government of Qatar. The second stemmed from a deal to assist a partnership proposing a Southeast Asian gambling venture. Among the partners were relatives of a Hong Kong billionaire who has ties to the regime of North Korea's Kim Jong Il and has been linked to international organized crime, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune." -By Matthew Mosk -WashingtonPost
Rudy Giuliani - Police- Politics - Trips - Apartments - New York - Indigent - Lawyers - US - Qatar - Terrorism - 2008 Election - "Giuliani Defends Girlfriend's Expenses." ... "Former New York Mayor [and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani on Sunday defended the expenses incurred by his security detail as he was beginning an extramarital affair with current wife Judith Nathan, saying police made the decision after she had received threats." ... "Giuliani in recent weeks has faced a barrage of questions about New York police security costs for his trysts with Nathan and about his business clients, which have included the Persian Gulf country of Qatar. The Gulf state is a U.S. ally, but allegations have been made that some prominent Qatari officials sheltered suspected Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. " ... "Records first reported by Politico.com last month showed repeated trips between 1999 and 2002 to Long Island, where Nathan had a condominium. Giuliani's first trip was from Aug. 31 to Sept. 1, 1999 - months before he acknowledged the breakdown of his second marriage in the spring of 2000." ... "Security costs for those trips were charged to agencies like the New York City Loft Board, which regulates loft apartments and was billed $34,000. The Office for People with Disabilities was charged $10,000, while the Assigned Counsel Administrative Office, which provides lawyers for indigent defendants, was charged roughly $400,000. " -By Libby Quaid -AP via -CBSNews
Joe Biden - Investigate - Military - Government - Intelligence - Terrorism - Videotapes - Censorship - Politics - Delaware - 2008 Election - "Biden calls for Special Counsel to investigate CIA." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Delaware Senator] Sen. Joe Biden, D-Delaware, says the Justice Department needs to go further than it has, by calling for the appointment of Special Counsel to investigate the CIA's destruction of videotapes that included the interrogation of terrorism suspects." ... "“Under federal law, the Attorney General may appoint a Special Counsel to prosecute matters when he or she determines that an investigation by the Department itself would present a conflict of interest, or there are other extraordinary circumstances and it would be in the public interest to do so. I believe these conditions are met," the Democratic presidential hopeful said in a news release Sunday." ... "“This is a White House that has sanctioned and pushed for the kind of interrogation techniques captured on those video tapes," Biden said. "This is a White House that was informed of the CIA’s desire to destroy those tapes. Thus, it is possible this investigation could lead to the [Republican President Bush] White House."" -By Jamie Crawford -CNN

20071208

Mike Huckabee - Law - Politics - Arkansas - Missouri - Religious - 2008 Election - "Parole officials: Huckabee pushed rapist's release: Former Arkansas governor says he didn't free the man who later killed at least one woman, but board members say they felt pressured." ... "With [Pastor Jay D.] Cole's urging, and with [Wayne] DuMond insisting he was "born again," [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Mike] Huckabee played a key role in setting free a rapist who was supposed to serve many more years, say three of the seven members of the state board that paroled DuMond." ... "After being released, DuMond moved to Missouri, where less than a year later he suffocated the mother of three in a Kansas City [Missouri] suburb. Police suspect that he killed another woman there as well." ... "Though he acknowledged discussing the case with the [Arkansas] state parole board, Huckabee said that conversation was "simply part of a broader discussion" initiated at the request of the board chairman. "I did not ask them to do anything," he said." ... "Three board members recalled it differently. They said Huckabee raised the issue of DuMond's release, asking to discuss the matter with them in a closed session. They said his religious beliefs, and the influence of the evangelical community from which he came, drove him." ... ""We felt pressured by him," said board member Ermer Pondexter. "I felt compelled to do it. . . . It was a favor for the governor."" ... "Looking back, she added, "I regret it."" ... "Parole board member Deborah Springer Suttlar said Huckabee did not mince his feelings about DuMond: "He wanted him out."" (1, 2) -By Richard A. Serrano with contributions by Richard Fausset -LAtimes
Mike Huckabee - Homosexuality - Science - Politics - History - Federal - Funding - Civil Rights - 2008 Election - Arkansas - "Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients." ... "[2008 Election Repbulican Presidential Candidate] Mike Huckabee once advocated isolating AIDS patients from the general public, opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk."" ... "[Campaigning unsuccessfully to be an Arkansas Senator] In 1992, Huckabee wrote, "If the federal government is truly serious about doing something with the AIDS virus, we need to take steps that would isolate the carriers of this plague."" ... ""It is difficult to understand the public policy towards AIDS. It is the first time in the history of civilization in which the carriers of a genuine plague have not been isolated from the general population, and in which this deadly disease for which there is no cure is being treated as a civil rights issue instead of the true health crisis it represents."" ... "When Huckabee wrote his answers in 1992, it was common knowledge that AIDS could not be spread by casual contact." ... "Also in the wide-ranging AP questionnaire in 1992, Huckabee said, "I feel homosexuality is an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle, and we now know it can pose a dangerous public health risk."" -By Andrew DeMillo -AP via -Yahoo
John Edwards - United States - Canada - Mexico - Working - Families - Multinational - Corporate - Media - Government - 2008 Election - New Hampshire - "Edwards Condemns NAFTA." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said Saturday he wants to replace the empty promise that NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] would create millions of jobs with his own promise to be a tough negotiator on trade deals." ... "On the 14th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement, Edwards condemned the deal that lowered trade barriers between the United States and Canada and Mexico, arguing that it has paved the way for a series of deals that put the interests of multinational corporations ahead of working families." ... ""NAFTA was sold to the American people with promises that it would grow the economy and create millions of new jobs. But today, we know those promises were empty," he said. "In all three countries, it has hurt workers and families while helping corporate insiders."" ... "He also told voters in Derry [New Hamshire] that those corporate powers are in danger not only of controlling what comes out of government but the election process itself. Responding to a woman who said she resented media conglomerates trying to dictate the outcome of the presidential campaign, Edwards said the concentration of media ownership has become unhealthy for democracy." ... ""This all goes back to the same problem. Are the big corporate interests in Washington going to decide what's going to happen with your democracy and what's going to happen with your government? You can't let them decide what's going to happen with your elections," he said. "Then, they're not only controlling your democracy, they're controlling your elections."" -AP via -CBSNews

20071207

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Families - Politics - Poll - "Bush loses ground with military families." ... "Families with ties to the military, long a reliable source of support for wartime presidents, disapprove of [Republican] President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq, with a majority concluding the invasion was not worth it, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll has found." ... "The views of the military community, which includes active-duty service members, veterans and their family members, mirror those of the overall adult population, a sign that the strong military endorsement that the [Republican President Bush] administration often pointed to has dwindled in the war's fifth year." ... "Nearly six out of every 10 military families disapprove of Bush's job performance and the way he has run the war, rating him only slightly better than the general population does." ... "And among those families with soldiers, sailors and Marines who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, 60% say that the war in Iraq was not worth the cost, the same result as all adults surveyed." ... "Military families are only slightly more patient: 35% are willing to stay until victory; 58% want the troops home within a year or sooner." ... "When military families were asked which party could be trusted to do a better job of handling issues related to them, respondents divided almost evenly: 39% said Democrats and 35% chose Republicans." -By Faye Fiore -LAtimes
Howard Krongard - US - Iraq - Blackwater - Corporate - Military- Law - "Official in Blackwater probe quits." ... "State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard, under scrutiny for his brother's link to the Blackwater security firm, has decided to resign, U.S. officials said on Friday." ... "Krongard, the State Department's top investigator, has been accused by current and former subordinates of thwarting probes into waste, fraud and abuse in Iraq, including alleged arms smuggling by Blackwater." -By Arshad Mohammed and Andy Sullivan with contributions by Bill Trott -Reuters

20071206

Secret - Porter J Goss - Michael V Hayden - Military - Government- Terrorism - Intelligence - Videotapes - Censorship - Officers - Safety - Prisoner - Torture - War Crimes - Law- Politics - "C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations." ... "The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s [Central Intelligence Agency] secret detention program, according to current and former government officials." ... "The videotapes showed agency operatives in 2002 subjecting terror suspects — including Abu Zubaydah, the first detainee in C.I.A. custody — to severe interrogation techniques. They were destroyed in part because officers were concerned that tapes documenting controversial interrogation methods could expose agency officials to greater risk of legal jeopardy, several officials said." ... "The C.I.A. said today that the decision to destroy the tapes had been made “within the C.I.A. itself,” and they were destroyed to protect the safety of undercover officers and because they no longer had intelligence value. The agency was headed at the time by Porter J. Goss. Through a spokeswoman, Mr. Goss declined this afternoon to comment on the destruction of the tapes." ... "The existence and subsequent destruction of the tapes are likely to reignite the debate over the use of severe interrogation techniques on terror suspects, and their destruction raises questions about whether C.I.A. officials withheld information about aspects of the program from the courts and from the Sept. 11 commission appointed by [Republican] President Bush and Congress. It was not clear who within the C.I.A. authorized the destruction of the tapes, but current and former government officials said it had been approved at the highest levels of the agency." ... "General [CIA Director, General Michael V Hayden] Hayden said in a statement that leaders of Congressional oversight committees were fully briefed on the matter, but some Congressional officials said notification to Congress had not been adequate." (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti with contributions by Eric Lichtblau and Scott Shane -NYTimes

20071205

US - Iran - Nuclear - Military - Intelligence - Politics - "Bush told in August that Iran nuke program 'may be suspended'." ... "[Republican] President Bush was told in August that Iran's nuclear weapons program "may be suspended," the White House said Wednesday, which seemingly contradicts the account of the meeting given by Bush Tuesday." ... "[Admiral] Adm. Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, told Bush the new information might cause intelligence officials to change their assessment of the Iranian program, but said analysts needed to review the new data before making a final judgment, White House press secretary Dana Perino said late Wednesday." ... ""Director McConnell said that the new information might cause the intelligence community to change its assessment of Iran's covert nuclear program, but the intelligence community was not prepared to draw any conclusions at that point in time, and it wouldn't be right to speculate until they had time to examine and analyze the new data," Perino said in a statement issued by the White House." ... "The new account from Perino seems to contradict the president's version of his August conversation with McConnell and raised new questions about why Bush continued to warn the American public about a threat from Iran two months after being told a new assessment was in the works." -By Ed Henry -CNN
Teen - Women - Government - Science - Money - Education - Politics - History - "First rise in U.S. teen births since '91." ... "In a troubling reversal, the nation's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials and reviving the bitter debate about abstinence-only sex education." ... "The birth rate had been dropping since its peak in 1991, although the decline had slowed in recent years. On Wednesday, government statisticians said it rose 3 percent from 2005 to 2006." ... "The reason for the increase is not clear, and federal health officials said it might be a one-year statistical blip, not the beginning of a new upward trend." ... "However, some experts said they have been expecting a jump. They blamed it on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that doesn't teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception." ... "The new teen birth numbers are based on the 15-19 age group of women, which accounted for most of the 440,000 births to teens in 2006. The rate rose to nearly 42 births per 1,000 in that group, up from 40.5 in 2005. That translates to an extra 20,000 births to teen mothers." -By Mike Stobbe -AP via -Yahoo
Mitt Romney - Rudy Giuliani - Immigrant - Workers - Company - 2008 Election - Politics - Florida - New York - Massachusetts - New Hampshire - Arizona - "More immigrant woes for Romney: GOP candidate fires landscaper after Globe shows continued use of illegal workers." ... "Standing on stage at a Republican debate on the Gulf Coast of Florida last week, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney repeatedly lashed out at rival [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani for providing sanctuary to illegal immigrants in New York City [New York]." ... "Yet, the next morning, on Thursday, at least two illegal immigrants stepped out of a hulking maroon pickup truck in the driveway of Romney's [Massachusetts] Belmont house, then proceeded to spend several hours raking leaves, clearing debris from Romney's tennis court, and loading the refuse onto the truck." ... "In fact, their work was part of a regular pattern. Even after a Globe story in December 2006 highlighted Romney's use of a landscaping company that employs illegal immigrants to tend to his grounds, Romney continued to employ Community Lawn Service With a Heart - until yesterday. The company continued to employ illegal immigrants." ... "The two workers confirmed in separate interviews with Globe reporters last week that they were in the country without documents. One said he had paid $7,000 to a smuggler to escort him across the desert into Arizona; the other said he had come into the country with a student visa that has expired. Both were seen working on the lawn by either Globe reporters or photographers over the last two months." ... "Questioned yesterday afternoon during a campaign swing through New Hampshire about the use of illegal immigrants on his lawn, Romney declined to answer." -By Maria Cramer and Maria Sacchetti with contributions by Connie Paige and James Pindell -Boston/Globe

20071204

Mike Huckabee - Women - Families - Law - Politics - History - Arkansas - Prison - Missouri - Crime - 2008 Election - "Mothers hold Huckabee partially responsible for daughters' murders." ... "[2008 Election Republican] Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he is "heartbroken" over the pain suffered by the families of two women murdered in Kansas City [Missouri] more than six years ago." ... "Authorities say the two victims, Carol Shields and Sara Andrasek, were killed by the same man —Wayne DuMond, who was released from an Arkansas prison in 1999, a year before Shields' murder." ... "Their mothers say Huckabee is responsible, at least in part, for DuMond's release." ... ""What a fool," said Lois Davidson, Shields' mother. "Thinking he could rule the country when he couldn't even do a good job as governor of Arkansas."" ... "Janet Williams, Andrasek's mother: "Wayne DuMond should have never been on the streets in Missouri. ... When politics are involved, people get hurt, and Sara and Carol Shields paid the ultimate price with their lives."" ... "A jury sent DuMond to prison in 1985 for the rape of 17-year old Ashley Stevens, a distant relative of then-[Democratic Governor]Gov. Bill Clinton. While awaiting trial on the rape charge, DuMond was castrated — some say by assailants, other say he did the job himself." ... "But his conviction and imprisonment became a rallying point for Clinton critics and some Republicans in Arkansas, who said they believed DuMond was in prison because of the Clinton connection, and that he was actually innocent of the charges." ... "In 1996, then-[Republican Governor]Gov. Huckabee joined the discussion, saying he planned to commute DuMond's sentence to time served, in part because evidence in the case was "questionable."" ... "Some parole board members have since said they made the decision without pressure from Huckabee; others, though, said he had talked with them about his desire that DuMond be released." ... ""He made it obvious that he thought DuMond had gotten a raw deal and wanted us to take another look at it," former board member Charles Chastain said in 2001. "Some board members who were usually very tough about letting people out ... (later) voted in favor of him, and seemed eager to."" -By Dave Helling with contributions by DeAnn Smith -McClatchy
Curt Weldon - Federal - Military - Money - Family - Politics - Pennsylvania - "Ex-Congressman's Aide to Plead Guilty to Conspiracy." ... "Former [Pennsylvania Republican] representative Curt Weldon's chief of staff has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges for allegedly helping a consulting firm that Weldon championed obtain federal funds and for concealing money the firm paid him and his wife, according to court papers unsealed today." ... "According to the court document, Russell James Caso and a top official at the unnamed consulting firm met repeatedly with Weldon to seek the Pennsylvania Republican's help in obtaining federal funds for the organization's defense projects." -By Carol D. Leonnig -WashingtonPost
Joe Biden - US - Iran - Military - Nuclear - Intelligence - History - Delaware - 2008 Election - "Democrats incredulous over Bush's account of Iran report." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate [Delaware Senator] Sen. Joe Biden on Tuesday said he can't believe [Republican] President Bush hasn't known for months about a recent intelligence estimate that downplays the nuclear threat from Iran." ... "On Tuesday the president acknowledged he had given a speech warning that Iran's nuclear development risked "World War III" about two months after his intelligence chief told him a reassessment of Tehran's nuclear ambitions was under way." ... "Bush told reporters during a White House news conference that he was not told the details of the new assessment until last week and he said the new report, which found that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003, will not change U.S. policy toward Iran." ... "The Democratic presidential candidates were incredulous that Bush did not know about the assessment's new finding." ... "Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called that explanation "unbelievable."" ... ""Are you telling me a president that's briefed every single morning, who's fixated on Iran, is not told back in August that the tentative conclusion of 16 intelligence agencies in the U.S. government said they had abandoned their effort for a nuclear weapon in '03?" Biden asked in a conference call with reporters." ... ""I refuse to believe that," he added. "If that's true, he has the most incompetent staff in modern American history, and he's one of the most incompetent presidents in modern American history."" -CNN
US - Iran - Nuclear - Military - Intelligence - Politics - Secret - History - "U.S. Finds Iran Halted Its Nuclear Arms Effort in 2003." ... "A new assessment by American intelligence agencies released Monday concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains frozen, contradicting a judgment two years ago that Tehran [Iran's capital] was working relentlessly toward building a nuclear bomb." ... "The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to reshape the final year of the [Republican President] Bush administration, which has made halting Iran’s nuclear program a cornerstone of its foreign policy." ... "The assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate that represents the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies, states that Tehran is likely to keep its options open with respect to building a weapon, but that intelligence agencies “do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.”" ... "Iran is continuing to produce enriched uranium, a program that the Tehran government has said is intended for civilian purposes. The new estimate says that the enrichment program could still provide Iran with enough raw material to produce a nuclear weapon sometime by the middle of next decade, a timetable essentially unchanged from previous estimates." ... "But the new report essentially disavows a judgment that the intelligence agencies issued in 2005, which concluded that Iran had an active secret arms program intended to transform the raw material into a nuclear weapon. The new estimate declares instead with “high confidence” that the military-run program was shut in 2003, and it concludes with “moderate confidence” that the program remains frozen. The report judges that the halt was imposed by Iran “primarily in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure.”" (1, 2) -By Mark Mazzetti -NYTimes

20071203

United States - Debt- Government - Fiscal - Politics - People - Parents - Accounting - History - Homeowners - Japan - China - Britain - Saudi Arabia - Oil - Countries - "National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute." ... "Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day -- or nearly $1 million a minute." ... "What's that mean to you?" ... "It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States." ... "Even if you've escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That's because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion." ... "And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt -- now at relatively low interest rates -- rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain." ... "The national debt -- the total accumulation of annual budget deficits -- is up from $5.7 trillion when [Republican] President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion [$10,000,000,000,000.00] sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009." ... "Foreign governments and investors now hold some $2.23 trillion -- or about 44 percent -- of all publicly held U.S. debt. That's up 9.5 percent from a year earlier." ... "Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury." ... "Democrats are blaming the runup in deficit spending on [Republican President] Bush and his Republican allies who controlled Congress for the first six years of his presidency." (1, 2, 3) -By Tom Raum -AP via -ChicagoTribune
Americans' - Communications - Freedom - Government - Intelligence - Surveillance - Law - Politics - "