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2007 US News:

20071231

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

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

John Edwards -

Music -

Des-Moines -

Iowa -

Farm -

History -

Working -

Poverty -

Race -

2008 Election

"Edwards Wins the Mellencamp Primary." ... "So it is that [singer John] Mellencamp will come to Iowa Wednesday to close the [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards campaign off with a "This Is Our Country" rally at the not-exactly-Hollywood Val Air Ballroom in West Des Moines [Iowa]. (In case anyone is missing the point here, they will be distributing the tickets from the United Steelworkers Local 310 hall.)" ... "Where [Oprah] Winfrey brought a big name but little in the way of a track record on the issues that are fundamental to the rural and small-town Iowans who will play a disproportional role in Thursday's caucuses, Mellencamp is more than just another celebrity taking a lap around the policy arena." ... "For a quarter century, the singer has been in the thick of the fight on behalf of the rural families he immortalized in the video for "Rain on the Scarecrow," his epic song about the farm crisis that buffeted Iowa and neighboring states in the 1980s and never really ended." ... "Mellencamp has not merely sung about withering small towns and farm foreclosures. As a organizer of Farm Aid, he has brought some of the biggest stars in the world to benefit concerts in Iowa and surrounding states, and he has helped to distribute the money raised at those events to organizations across Iowa." ... "Farm Aid is nonpartisan. It's not endorsing in this race. But Mellencamp is. The singer, who this year will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but whose music remains vital enough to have earned a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, was lobbied for support by other campaigns, especially Clinton's. But he has a long relationship with Edwards. He has an even longer relationship with the issues that Edwards is talking about. Indeed, his credibility is grounded in the recognition that Mellencamp has repeatedly taken career-risking anti-war, anti-racist and anti-poverty stances that other celebrities of his stature tend to avoid." ... "What matters, of course, is the fact of that credibility -- and the fact that it is so closely tied to the farm and rural issues that have meaning even in the more urbanized regions of Iowa. That is why, if there is an endorsement that is going to have meaning with the people who drive down country roads to attend caucuses on what looks to be a very cold and unforgiving Thursday night, it is likely to be that of the guy who proudly sings that, "I was born in a small town..."" -By John Nichols

-TheNation.com

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

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 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

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

-McClatchy

20071229

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

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

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

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

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

Economic -

Construction -

History

"Sales of New Homes in U.S. Dropped 9% to 12-Year Low (Update3)." ... "Sales of new homes in the U.S. fell to a 12-year low in November, pointing to bigger declines in construction that will hobble economic growth throughout 2008." ... "Purchases dropped 9 percent to an annual pace of 647,000 and October sales were revised down to a 711,000 rate, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Last month's sales were weaker than the lowest forecast in a Bloomberg survey. " ... "A Bloomberg survey of 68 economists forecast sales would fall to an annual pace of 717,000 from a previously reported 728,000 rate in October, according to the median estimate. Economists' forecasts ranged from a low of 685,000 to a high of 750,000." ... "Sales of new homes were down 34 percent from the same time last year, the biggest 12-month drop since January 1991." ... "The housing recession has deepened since the August turmoil in subprime mortgages led to a worldwide credit shortage. Stricter borrowing standards and a freeze on lending to borrowers with poor credit put mortgages out of reach for more potential buyers. That's driving home prices lower, weakening sales as people hold out for even bigger reductions." -By Bob Willis

-Bloomberg

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

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

US -

Iraq -

Military

" US military deaths in Iraq at 3,900." ... "As of Thursday, Dec. 27, 2007, at least 3,900 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count."

-AP via -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

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

John Edwards -

Wisconsin -

Iowa -

Poll - Union -

2004 Election -

2008 Election

"Edwards may be closer than he appears." ... "In 2004 [Election], when [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards nearly beat John Kerry in Wisconsin, he declared, "Objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear."" ... "In 2008, he may be getting close again." ... "He has run in Iowa and knows the caucus system. He has worked rural counties, where a little-reported study revealed that last time it took only 22 caucus-goers to win a delegate, compared with 80 in urban counties." ... "According to a shrewd observer, a big chunk of Dick Gephardt's 2004 trade union support has gone to Edwards. Adding what he already had gives him a solid share of the 122,000 people who caucused last time." ... "[Iowa] Caucus-goers whose candidates don't get 15 percent at a given caucus can switch on a subsequent ballot to a "viable" candidate. A recent poll found Edwards is much more likely (42 percent) to be the second choice of those whose candidate didn't make the cut than Obama (31 percent) or Clinton (27 percent)." -By Dan Payne

-BostonGlobe

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

20071226

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Iraq -

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Poll - Idaho -

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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

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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

John Edwards -

Barack Obama -

Hillary Clinton -

Iowa -

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Human Rights -

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China -

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Iraq -

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2008 Election

"Behind the Edwards Surge: Right Message at the Right Time." ... "To a far greater extent than [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack] Obama or [Hillary] Clinton, [John] Edwards has struck at the heart of issues that should matter most in the race to replace not just [Republican President] George W. Bush, but the Bush agenda of corporate giveaways, job-crushing free trade deals, war profiteering in Iraq, and subprime mortgage profiteering in Indiana, Idaho, Illinois and, yes, Iowa." ... "Edwards summed up his increasingly aggressive and powerful anti-corporate themes with a declaration: "What makes America America is at stake: jobs, the middle class, health care, preserving the environment in the world for future generations."" ... ""But all those things are at risk. And why are they at risk? Because of corporate power and corporate greed in Washington, D.C. And we have to take them on. You can't make a deal with them. You can't hope that they're going to go away. You have to actually be willing to fight. And I want every caucus-goer to know I've been fighting these people and winning my entire life. And if we do this together, rise up together, we can actually make absolutely certain, starting here in Iowa, that we make this country better than we left it."" ... "Edwards got to know workers in Iowa. He stood with them in their struggles." ... "Turning a broad question about human rights toward the specific issue of trade policy, the former senator said that human rights, human needs and human values "should be central to our trade policy."" ... ""But," he added, "if you look at what's happened with American trade policy, look at what America got: Big corporations made a lot of money, are continuing to make a lot of money in China. But what did America get in return? We got millions of dangerous Chinese toys. We lost millions of jobs." ... ""And right here in Iowa, the Maytag plant in Newton [Iowa] closed. A guy named Doug Bishop, who I got to know very well, had worked in that plant, and his family had worked in that plant literally for generations. And his job is now gone. The same thing, by the way, happened in the plant that my father worked in when I was growing up. It is so important that we stop allowing these corporate powers and corporate profits to run America's policy, whether it's trade policy, how we engage with China. This is not good for America. It's not good for American jobs. And it's not good for working people in this country."" ... "That's an issue Edwards has taken far, far more seriously than his opponents in what is now a three-way race in Iowa. And that seriousness has benefitted the former senator." -By John Nichols -

TheNation