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20081216
Jim DeMint - Bob Corker - Richard Shelby - Mitch McConnell - Foreign - Money - Politics - Construction - Auto - Makers - Government - Emergency - Legislation - Labor - Michigan - California - South Carolina - Alabama - Tennessee - Kentucky - German - Japanese - South Korean
"Foreign Auto Makers Won Billions in Government Subsidies: Southern States Gave [Foreign] Auto Companies Tax-breaks and Cash for Training." ... "To hear Southern Republicans tell the story, the financial burdens facing Detroit’s automakers are self-made troubles to be settled by the laws of Adam-Smith capitalism." ... "“We don’t think it is the role of government to intervene,” [South Carolina Republican Senator] Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]) told the Fox Business Network last week. “We need to let the market and the laws work the way they are already in place.”" ... "Yet this argument — that the government has no business interfering in free markets — ignores an increasingly frequent tradition among Southern states, which have fronted billions in local taxpayer dollars in the past two decades to attract foreign auto plants. Those incentives, arriving in the form of tax breaks, training for new employees and even land, have enticed [German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke] BMW to South Carolina, [German automaker] Mercedes to Alabama and [Japanese automaker] Nissan to Tennessee. The result of the government subsidies has been the steady emergence of the South as an auto-manufacturing powerhouse. Some are dubbing it the “New Detroit” –  a region where real estate is cheap and the labor’s not unionized." ... "Not coincidentally, these Southern states are represented by the same coalition of GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] senators who led the fight against the recent Detroit [Michigan] bailout proposal. That legislation would have provided $14 billion in emergency bridge loans to General Motors and Chrysler, both of which say they lack the finances to survive the month. Rallying behind the animated opposition of GOP [Republican Senators] Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.[Tennessee]), Richard Shelby (Ala.[Alabama]), Mitch McConnell (Ky.[Kentucky) and South Carolina’s DeMint, Senate Republicans killed the legislation." ... "On Friday, the day following the Senate vote, Shelby told CNBC that if the Big Three had only managed their business operations as well as the foreign companies, known as transplants, they wouldn’t be scrambling now for a taxpayer-funded bailout." ... "“You look at the South,” Shelby said. “You take — not just Mercedes in my hometown — but BMW, Honda and all of them. These companies are flourishing with American workers made in America.”" ... "But the flourishing of the transplants didn’t come without significant taxpayer help. Shelby’s Alabama, for example, secured construction of a [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz plant in 1993 by offering $253 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training and land improvement. For [Japanese automaker] Honda, the state’s sweetener surrounding a 1999 deal to build a mini-van plant was $158 million in similar perks, adding $90 million in enticements when the company expanded the plant three years later. A 2001 deal with [Japanese automaker] Toyota left the company with $29 million in taxpayer gifts." ... "Alabama is hardly alone. Corker’s Tennessee recently lured [German automaker] Volkswagen to build a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga [Tennessee], offering the German automaker tax breaks, training and land preparation that could total $577 million. In 2005, the state inspired Nissan to relocate its headquarters from southern California by offering $197 million in incentives, including $20 million in utility savings." ... "In 1992, South Carolina snagged a BMW plant for $150 million in giveaways. In Mississippi in 2003, Nissan was lured with $363 million. In Georgia, a still-under-construction [South Korean automaker] Kia plant received breaks estimated to be $415 million. The list goes on." -By Mike Lillis -WashingtonIndependent.com

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20081213
Bob Corker - Richard Shelby - Jim DeMint - Mitch McConnell - Foreign - Money - Politicians - Auto - Makers - Michigan - US - Workers - Emergency - Law - Tennessee - Alabama - Kentucky - South Carolina - Georgia - Japanese - German - South Korean
"Meet the GOP's [Republican's] wrecking crew: Why did a small group of Southern Republicans turn the auto bailout into a demolition derby? Introducing the senators who hate unions and love foreign cars." ... "On July 15, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker was a happy man." ... ""I cannot think of a more exciting day, even more so than Election Night, for me," the Republican senator from Tennessee said in a conference call that day. The reason for his elation was the announcement that [German automaker] Volkswagen, lured by up to $500 million worth of incentives from the state government, had agreed to build a $1 billion plant near Chattanooga, Tenn. [Tennessee.] That is, not just in his home state, but in the suburbs of the city he once served as mayor." ... "Add VW [Volkwagen] to [Japan automaker] Nissan, which already has two plants and its North American headquarters in Tennessee, and you begin to see why Corker was so aggressive this month about trying to block -- or at least dramatically rewrite -- a proposal to float billions of dollars in emergency loans to domestic automakers. Most of the focus during this debate has been on lawmakers who represent Michigan, the home of the Big Three -- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But Corker represents the other side of the coin: Tennessee and other Southern states have recently come to depend on foreign automakers and their non-union factories. If you're from those parts, what's good for American car companies may no longer be what's good for the country -- because your economy now depends on their foreign competitors instead." ... "Expect to hear more not just from the very vocal Bob Corker, but from the rest of a core group of Southern senators whose bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans. Here's a guide to the major players."

"[Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby, R-Ala. [Republican-Alabama]"
"Foreign auto plants: [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz, [South Korean automaker] Hyundai, [Japanese automaker] Honda"

"[South Carolina Republican Senator] Jim DeMint, R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]"
"Foreign auto plants: [German automaker] BMW [Bayerische Motoren Werke]"

"[Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. [Republican-Kentucky]"
"Foreign auto plants: [Japanese automaker] Toyota"

"[Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker, R-Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]"
"Foreign auto plants: Two [Japanese automaker] Nissan plants, as well as the company's U.S. [United States] headquarters; [German automaker] Volkswagen will open near Chattanooga [Tennessee] in 2011"

"As mayor of Chattanooga, he [Corker] reportedly conceived the idea for the site that will soon become home to the [German automaker] Volkswagen plant, and was instrumental in its development. He organized efforts to lure [Japanese automaker] Toyota to the area, and when that failed, he had VW execs [executives] and other top state politicians over to his house for dinner." ... "Georgia's two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isaakson, both voted against the plan as well. Their state has a big [South Korean automaker] Kia factory coming in soon." (1, 2) -By Alex Koppelman and Mike Madden with contributions by Vincent Rossmeier and Gabriel Winant -Salon

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Bob Corker - Richard Shelby - Foreign - Money - Auto - Makers - Michigan - Workers - US - Japan - Germany - Alabama - Tennessee
"Anger Grips Auto Workers: Critic of a Rescue, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Corker Faces Backlash at Home." ... "As the workers and residents of this small town [Spring Hill, Tennessee] that launched the Saturn automobile see it, there are several villains in the collapse of the automakers' rescue plan." ... "But what stuns many in this place defined by the General Motors auto plant and its 4,200 workers is that no person played a larger role in the demise of autoworker hopes than their own Sen. Bob Corker (R[Republican]), who is now regarded by some here with the kind of disdain reserved for traitors." ... "Corker emerged as one of the leading critics of the rescue plan passed by the House. He lashed into the carmaker chief executives when they came to Washington looking for help. And it was Corker's alternative proposal, which was a plan that would have been tougher on union workers, that ultimately failed." ... "In a dozen interviews with workers here, many suspected that he only feigned interest in rescuing Detroit's Big Three. Instead, they say, he wants to crush GM [General Motors] and its union to benefit foreign automakers, such [Japan's] Nissan and [Germany's] Volkswagen, who have opened or are opening nonunionized plants in the state." ... ""We're deeply disappointed in Senator Corker -- that's the official statement," said Mike Herron, union chief at the GM plant here. "But actually my members want to choke him."" ... "The anger of the workers and the harshness of their words reflect the larger tension between the old [Michigan] Detroit-based domestic auto industry, with its unionized workforce, and the new [foreign] transplant industry in the nonunion South. Emotions were stoked by the fact that GM, citing the economic downturn, had just announced that it will halt production at the plant for January and the first week of February." ... "Corker "has somehow ignored the fact that there's a major GM plant in his own state," said Ben McFarlane, who retired from the plant this summer and opened a local bar where many workers go. "And if this plant goes, then my business goes, this whole town goes, and the effects cascade across the country."" ... "At a news conference and in interviews yesterday, Corker, a millionaire real estate developer, took pains to depict himself as sympathetic to workers and responsive to his state's interests." ... "But Herron, like many here, pressed the idea that the foreign automakers had been involved in stalling the plan." ... ""It's in their best interest to see us not succeed," Herron said. "Who were the two biggest critics of the rescue? [Republican] Senator Shelby from Alabama and Corker -- and both preside over states that have given hundreds of millions to have foreign automakers to open shop here."" (1, 2) -By Peter Whoriskey with contributions by Julie Tate and Lucy Shackelford -WashingtonPost

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20081212
Bob Corker - David Vitter - Richard Shelby - Foreign - Money - Auto - Makers -Michigan - Working - People - US - Military - Japan - Tenn - La - Germany - Korea - Ala
"Anger grows in Michigan over Southern opposition to auto loans." ... "Mark Dobias, a small-town lawyer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, hasn't always been the domestic auto industry's biggest fan. But when it became clear that a few senators from places like Alabama and Louisiana were determined to do anything to block any aid to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford, it got to him." ... ""This is regional economic warfare. Pure and simple. The wounded Rustbelt being bayoneted in the throat by economic interests in the East and Sunbelt with aid from their political toadies," he wrote me. He's normally a laid-back guy with a puckish sense of humor, but the hypocrisy was, he said, a bit much." ... ""Michigan is a great state. It has good people - hard-working people who make things. The nation has gained from its natural resources and industrial capacity. And now … we will remember this in the same way that Georgia remembers William Tecumseh Sherman," the union general whose armies laid the Southern state waste." ... "What was highly unusual, in Michigan's quarrelling political culture, was the unanimity with which the state's various factions united in support of trying to help the automakers - and disdain for the senators who would prevent that effort." ... "The thoroughly Republican Detroit News normally denounces any government aid program. But not this time. In a highly rare front-page editorial, it pleaded "we urge the Senate, please give Detroit a chance to make things right … we appeal to Senate Republicans to act not in support of the domestic auto makers, but in the interest of the national economy and national security - we still need an arsenal of democracy."" ... "True, the News did publish a piece by freshman [Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]) that called on Congress to impose much harsher conditions on the companies and their workers as a precondition for any aid. He also called for more involvement by Congress in actually running these companies. But the newspaper shot back, that "like most of Washington, Corker is ill-informed of the forces roiling the domestic auto industry."" ... "There was bitterness, too, in Detroit [Michigan] at the men blocking the bailout. Some cattily noted that when [Louisiana Republican Senator] Sen. David Vitter (R., La. [Republican-Louisiana]) vowed a filibuster, it was the first time he had gotten national press attention since being linked to a Washington prostitution scandal." ... "Sens. [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby (R., Ala. [Republican-Alabama]) and Corker both represent states where foreign, nonunion automakers have significant operations. Mr. Corker, a freshman who won a narrow victory in 2006, is insisting that the United Auto Workers accept wage cuts so that workers make no more than nonunion workers in the South, such as the [Japan's] Nissan employees in his state." ... "Alabama, a right-to-work state, has granted vast concessions to win [auot manufacturing] plants operated by [Japan's] Toyota, [Germany's] Mercedes-Benz, [Japan's] Honda, and [South Korea's] Hyundai." -By Jack Lessenberry -ToledoBlade.com

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20081211
David Vitter - Mitch McConnell - Bob Corker - Foreign - Money - Politicians - Auto - Manufacturing - Work - Louisiana - Kentucky - Tennessee - Pennsylvania - US - Japan - Germany
"My Foreign Investor, Right Or Wrong." ... "A bunch of Southern-state Republicans (including, amazingly, ... [Louisiana Republican Senator] David Vitter), from right-to-work states, want to push GM [General Motors] and Chrysler into bankruptcy to bolster the foreign auto presence in their home states. Kentucky has a Ford factory but they also have a [Japanese] Toyota plant in Georgetown [Kentucky], so [Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch] McConnell's on board." ... "Last week, Jane Hamsher explained the conflict of interest for [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker in Tennessee:"

"He hasn't mentioned the subsidies his own state of Tennessee has given to
, making it harder for the Big 2 1/2 to compete:"

"Tennessee offered its richest incentive package — and perhaps the most government assistance and tax breaks ever for an American automobile plant — to lure [German auto manufacturer] Volkswagen to Chattanooga [Tennessee]."

"But the state’s chief business recruiter said Wednesday that the benefits from VW’s $1 billion assembly plant far will exceed what could top $500 million in government assistance and tax breaks for the project."

"“The Volkswagen investment in this community is going to have a tremendous economic gain for the entire region,” said Matt Kisber, Tennessee’s commissioner for economic and community development. “I’m confident we’re going to have a very reasonable incentive package when you look at the initial costs of what is being offered compared with a much bigger long-term return.”"

"Yes, that's the logic -- these incentives will bring more money to the region than they cost. But it doesn't always work out that way. As David Cay Johnston noted in Free Lunch, these kinds of subsidies frequently wind up costing communities much more than they ever make back:"

"Johnson writes: "The tribute Cabela's demanded from Hamburg [Pennsylvania] amounted to roughly $8,000 for each man, woman, and child in town." Johnson points out that between 2004 and 2006, Cabela's earned $223.4 million. During those years, it collected at least $293.7 million in subsidies, more than its reported profits. Meanwhile a family business selling fishing and hunting gear was driven out of business in Hamburg."

"Funny nobody is mentioning this."

The GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] does a lot of chest-thumping about "Country First" and patriotism. It's fun to watch them destroy American manufacturing so they can keep Japanese and German corporate executives happy. OK, maybe not so fun." -By D-Day via Hullabaloo

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20081030
Corporate - Government - Politics - US - Britain - Germany
"Banks to Continue Paying Dividends: Bailout Money Is for Lending, Critics Say." ... "U.S. [United States] banks getting more than $163 billion from the Treasury Department for new lending are on pace to pay more than half of that sum to their shareholders, with government permission, over the next three years." ... "The government said it was giving banks more money so they could make more loans. Dollars paid to shareholders don't serve that purpose, but Treasury officials say that suspending quarterly dividend payments would have deterred banks from participating in the voluntary program." ... "Critics, including economists and members of Congress, question why banks should get government money if they already have enough money to pay dividends -- or conversely, why banks that need government money are still spending so much on dividends." ... ""The whole purpose of the program is to increase lending and inject capital into Main Street. If the money is used for dividends, it defeats the purpose of the program," said [New York Democratic Senator] Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y. [Democratic-New York]), who has called for the government to require a suspension of dividend payments." ... "The 33 banks signed up so far plan to pay shareholders about $7 billion this quarter. Companies generally try to pay consistent dividends and, at the present pace, those dividends will consume 52 percent of the Treasury's investment over the initial three-year term." ... "The Treasury's approach contrasts with decisions by foreign governments, including Britain and Germany, to require banks that accept public investments to suspend dividend payments until the government is repaid. The U.S. government similarly required Chrysler to suspend its dividend payments as a condition of the government's 1979 bailout." (1, 2) -By Binyamin Appelbaum -WashingtonPost

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20081020
Cartoon - Fashion - History - Germany - Poland - US - McCain - Palin - 2008 Election - /Channel - Media - Corp
"Fox Family Feud Over ‘Family Guy’." ... "A Sunday night episode of the Fox animated series “Family Guy” stirred up trouble by suggesting­ rather directly that Nazi officers would have supported the McCain-Palin ticket. And it was another arm of the News Corp. conglomerate, Fox News Channel, that first reported on the episode." ... "Fox (the broadcast network) aired the episode in which Stewie, the obnoxious baby character at the center of the series, and Brian, a talking dog, traveled back in time to Poland during the 1939 German invasion. The characters ambush Nazi soldiers in an alley and steal their uniforms so they can travel without drawing attention. Putting on an overcoat, Stewie notices a McCain-Palin campaign button affixed to the lapel. “Huh, that’s weird,” Stewie remarks." -By Brooks Barnes -NYTimes

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"Family Guy" cartoon with animated character "Stewie" in a Nazi uniform with a McCain/Palin button on it:
WATCH episode of "Family Guy" cartoon with character Stewie in Nazi uniform with McCain/Palin button

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20080925
US - Germany - Global - Financial - Crisis - Politics
"Era of U.S. financial dominance at an end: Germany." ... "Germany blamed the United States on Thursday for spawning the global financial crisis with a blind drive for higher profits and said it must now accept more market regulation and a loss of its financial superpower status." ... "In some of the harshest criticism of the United States since the crisis threw Wall Street banks into financial disarray this month, German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the turmoil would leave "deep marks" on both sides of the Atlantic, but called it primarily an American problem." ... ""The world will never be as it was before the crisis," Steinbrueck told the Bundestag lower house of parliament." ... ""The United States will lose its superpower status in the world financial system. The world financial system will become more multi-polar," he said." ... "The crisis has put the [Republican President] Bush White House, which has long advocated a hands-off approach to markets, on the defensive and forced it to rethink its financial policy." -By Noah Barkin and Kerstin Gehmlich -Reuters via -Yahoo

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20080805
John McCain - Rick Davis - Foreign - Corporate - Politics - Airport - Transport - Jobs - 2008 Election - Obama - Ohio - Ky - Arizona - US - German
"McCain had role in original Wilmington DHL deal." ... "When [2008 Election] Republican presidential candidate John McCain meets Thursday with citizens and officials in Wilmington, Ohio, he won't need a playbook to understand why they're worried about deep job losses at the local freight airport." ... "Little known to those citizens, McCain and his campaign manager, Rick Davis, played roles in the fate of DHL Express and its Ohio air park as far back as 2003. Back then, however, their actions that helped DHL and its German owner, Deutsche Post World Net, acquire the Wilmington operations resulted in expansion, not retraction." ... "In a private meeting Thursday, Wilmington residents will ask McCain for help in stopping DHL's proposal to quit using the airport as a hub, which could cost more than 8,000 jobs. DHL says that it wants to stay in the freight business but that it can stem financial losses if it can put its packages aboard the planes of a rival - United Parcel Service - before delivering them in DHL trucks. UPS flies out of Louisville, Ky. [Kentucky], so the proposed change would render the Wilmington airport unnecessary." ... "None of that was anticipated in 2003, when McCain and Davis, who was a Washington lobbyist before managing the presidential campaign, first got involved. Several Wilmington civic leaders said that what happened in 2003 created an economic gain for their community, lasting several years." ... "But because that gain, and now the prospective loss, came from the decisions of a foreign-owned corporation, look for some Democrats and labor to seek to tie Wilmington's current troubles to McCain." ... ""Those jobs are on the chopping block because [Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain and his campaign were involved in a deal that resulted in control of those positions being shifted to a foreign corporation, and there's no getting around that," said Joe Rugola, president of the Ohio AFL-CIO." ... "Isaac Baker, a spokesman for [2008 Election] Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said, "This episode represents everything that's wrong with Washington, D.C." " -By Stephen Koff -PlainDealer

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20080630
John McCain - Barack Obama -US - Military - 2008 Election - World - Iraq - Afghanistan - Israel - Jordan - Germany - France - Britain - Ireland
"Former Nato commander questions value of McCain's military experience." ... "A top supporter of [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama has questioned the value of Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain's military experience, suggesting it did not qualify him to be president." ... "Former Nato [NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization] commander Wesley Clark described Mr McCain as "untested and untried", lacking the executive experience needed to lead the country." ... ""He [McCain] has been a voice on the Senate armed services committee. And he has travelled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the navy that he commanded - that wasn't a wartime squadron," Mr Clark said. "I don't think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president."" ... "Mr Obama hopes to beef up his foreign-policy credentials with a visit to Iraq and Afghanistan later this year. His campaign announced at the weekend that the Democratic candidate would go to the Middle East and Europe next month. Mr Obama will visit Israel, Jordan, Germany, France and Britain, but does not apparently plan to stop in Ireland, where he has ancestral roots in Co Offaly [Ireland, Irish county in the Province of Leinster]." ... ""This trip will be an important opportunity for me to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security and to consult with some of our closest friends and allies about the common challenges we face," Mr Obama said." -By Denis Staunton -IrishTimes.com

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20080612
John McCain - Rick Davis - Paul J Manafort Jr - Foreign - Money - Politicians - Russia - Ukraine - Military - Intelligence - Legislation - History - Germany - US - New York - 2008 Election
"Lawmakers Seek to Close Foreign Lobbyist Loopholes." ... "Loopholes that lobbyists for foreign clients sometimes use to keep their activities under wraps would be closed under legislation that two Democratic senators are expected to offer on Thursday." ... "“The idea you could lobby an American citizen and that it would not be disclosed is really very troubling,” [New York Democratic Senator Charles] Mr. Schumer said in a telephone interview." ... "The issue of foreign lobbying has flared up in the current presidential campaign because of past dealings abroad by several former lobbyists working for Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee." ... "For instance, a lobbying firm owned by Rick Davis, the McCain campaign manager, has worked in recent years for a Ukraine politician, Viktor Yanukovich. Both Mr. McCain and the [Republican President] Bush administration supported the opponent of Mr. Yanukovich, who had close ties to Vladimir V. Putin, then the president of Russia and now prime minister." ... "During this time, however, Mr. Davis’s firm, Davis Manafort, never registered as a lobbyist for Mr. Yanukovich even though Paul Manafort, Mr. Davis’s business partner, had met with the United States ambassador in Kiev [Ukraine's capital] on Mr. Yanukovich’s behalf." ... "In a related development, Mr. McCain may have first become aware of Davis Manafort’s activities in Ukraine as far back as 2005. At that time, a staff member at the National Security Council called Mr. McCain’s Senate office to complain that Mr. Davis’s lobbying firm was undercutting American foreign policy in Ukraine, said a person with direct knowledge of the phone call who spoke on condition of anonymity." ... "Such a call might mean that Mr. McCain has been long aware of Mr. Davis’s foreign clients." ... "The current law governing foreign lobbying, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, requires those representing a foreign government or foreign officials in the United States to inform the Department of Justice. The act does not cover meetings abroad with United States officials." ... "The law was enacted in the late 1930s in an effort to flush out Nazi propagandists working in the United States. As a result, several experts have said, the law is outdated and fails to reflect the current global nature of lobbying. " -By Barry Meier -NYTimes

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20080602
John Hagee - John McCain - Joseph Lieberman - Racist - Homosexual - Religious - Military - Politics - Arizona - Connecticut - New York - Indiana - History - Germany - Israel - Iraq - US - 2008 Election - "Pastor Hagee: The Antichrist Is Gay, "Partially Jewish, As Was Adolph Hitler" (Paging Joe Lieberman!)." ... "On March 16, 2003, on the eve of the United States' invasion of Iraq, [Republican Televangelist] Pastor John Hagee took to the pulpit to warn of the coming Antichrist. In his sermon, "The Final Dictator," Hagee described the Antichrist as a seductive figure with "fierce features." He will be "a blasphemer and a homosexual," the pastor announced. Then, Hagee boomed, "There's a phrase in Scripture used solely to identify the Jewish people. It suggests that this man [the Antichrist] is at least going to be partially Jewish, as was Adolph Hitler, as was Karl Marx."" ... "This "fierce" gay Jew, according to Hagee, would "slaughter one-third of the Earth's population" and "make Adolph Hitler look like a choirboy."" ... "Exposed here for the first time, Hagee's comments identifying the Antichrist as a partly Jewish homosexual arrive in the wake of a furor the pastor provoked by describing the Holocaust as an act of God. Hagee's chilling sermon about the Holocaust prompted [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain to reject the preacher's support, an unexpected turnabout after McCain spent over a year soliciting his endorsement." ... "Days after McCain's rejection, I reported that a key McCain ally, [Connecticut Independent Senator] Sen. Joseph Lieberman, planned to deliver the keynote speech at Hagee's upcoming Christians United For Israel (CUFI) summit. As the story exploded into the mainstream press, pressure mounted on Lieberman to withdraw." ... "[New York Democratic Representative Eliot] Engel is slated to speak on CUFI's "Middle East Briefing" panel this July. He will be joined on the panel by Republican [Indiana Representative] Rep. Mike Pence, Weekly Standard editor and New York Times columnist [and Fox contributor] Bill Kristol, and Christian right activist Gary Bauer." -By Max Blumenthal -HuffingtonPost.com

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LISTEN to McCAIN endorser John HAGEE claim the Antichrist will be a Jewish homosexual.
WATCH McCAIN endorser John HAGEE relate a story of how Florida Jews "mysteriously" voted for Republican George W Bush and subsequently explain, "And I believe it is because that this nation is doing what God intended us to do from the day that Christopher Columbus discovered this nation.".

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20080521
• John McCain - John Hagee - Terrorism - Racism - Politician - Military - Religion - History - Germany - Israel - Palestine - Book - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - "McCain Backer Hagee Said Hitler Was Fulfilling God's Will (AUDIO)." ... "[Republican televangelist] John Hagee, the controversial evangelical leader and endorser of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, argued in a late 1990s sermon that the Nazis [Germany] had operated on God's behalf to chase the Jews from Europe and shepherd them to Palestine. According to the Reverend, Adolph Hitler was a "hunter," sent by God, who was tasked with expediting God's will of having the Jews re-establish a state of Israel." ... "Going in and out of biblical verse, Hagee preached: "'And they the hunters should hunt them,' that will be the Jews. 'From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.' If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can't see that."" ... "He goes on: "Theodore Herzl is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew who at the turn of the 19th century said, this land is our land, God wants us to live there. So he went to the Jews of Europe and said 'I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel.' So few went that Hertzel went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the holocaust." ... ""Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says -- Jeremiah writing -- 'They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks,' meaning there's no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don't let your heart be offended. I didn't write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel." (Listen to the audio below.)" ... "The sermon, which was first posted by Bruce Wilson on his site, Talk To Action, adds another element to Hagee's controversial stance on the state and history of Israel." ... "Since McCain secured the endorsement, both his campaign and Hagee have been pressed to explain a series of derogatory remarks the Reverend made about the Catholic Church, including his reference to the institution as "the Great Whore."" ... "As Wilson notes, in his 2006 book "Jerusalem Countdown", Hagee proposed the theory that "anti-Semitism, and thus the Holocaust, was the fault of Jews themselves -- the result of an age old divine curse incurred by the ancient Hebrews through worshiping idols and passed, down the ages, to all Jews now alive." He also wrote that "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

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  (Audio) "McCain Endorser Hagee: God Sent Hitler, Jews Have Dead Souls"
McCain Hagee:
McCain's endorser Hagee, "They [Jews] are physically alive but they're not spiritually alive."

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20080422
• Tony Zirkle - Racist - Indiana - Illinois - US - German - Military - History - 2008 Election - "Worst Campaign Idea Ever? Hoosier [Indiana Republican Tony Zirkle, 2008 Election] congressional candidate speaks at birthday party for Hitler, in Chicago [Illinois]." ... "U.S. [United States] Congressional candidate Tony Zirkle is facing criticism from one of his primary opponents, and a host of people on the Internet, for speaking at an event over the weekend that celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday." ... "Zirkle confirmed to The News-Dispatch on Monday he spoke Sunday in Chicago at a meeting of the Nationalist Socialist Workers Party, whose symbol is a swastika." ... "When asked if he was a Nazi or sympathized with Nazis or white supremacists, Zirkle replied he didn't know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it." ... "The Crown Point [Indiana] Republican spoke in front of about 56 "white activists" at an event honoring the birth of Hitler. The German leader was responsible for the genocide of millions of Jews and others during World War II." -By Jason Miller -TheNewsDispatch

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20080421
• Corporate - Hackers - Manufacture - Electronics - Technology - California - Texas - US - Global - TV - Telecom - Media - Copyright - Enforcement - German - Canada - UK - Israeli - Intelligence - Spying - "Rupert Murdoch Firm Goes on Trial for Alleged Tech Sabotage." ... "Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war?" ... "This is the question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly, received little notice from U.S. [United States] media." ... "The case involves a colorful cast of characters that includes former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin [Germany's capital] hacker who had been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death." ... "On the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation. The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further, it’s alleged NDS then hired hackers to manufacture and distribute counterfeit NagraStar cards to pirates to steal Dish Network's programming for free." ... "NagraStar and one of its parent companies, EchoStar, are seeking about $101 million for damages for piracy, copyright infringement, misconduct and unfair competition. The list of witnesses in the case includes EchoStar's founder and CEO Charlie Ergen; several hackers and pirates; and Reuven Hazak, an Israeli who heads security for NDS and is a former deputy head of Shabak, or Shin Bet, Israel's domestic security agency (the equivalent of Britain's MI5)." ... "According to court documents, the scheme began to unravel in 2000 when law-enforcement agents in Texas seized suspicious packages containing CD and DVD players stuffed with more than $40,000 in cash. Parcels similar to this were being sent almost daily from Canada, via Texas, to a hacker in California named Christopher Tarnovsky, who was working for NDS as an engineer. The money was allegedly part of the conspiracy between Tarnovsky and NDS Group to sabotage NagraStar's cards." -By Kim Zetter -Wired

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20080228
• Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Homosexual - Woman - Racist - Book - History - Media - Politics -  - 2008 Election - Illinois - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - US - Israel - Germany - "Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" ... "Summary: On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about praise he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements Obama has denounced. The same day, Pastor John Hagee -- who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women -- endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise." ... "A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:"
"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church [in Texas], last week had announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, "The Cluster."" ... "The item was introduced with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave.""
"A July 27, 2006, Wall Street Journal article about Hagee noted the incident:"

"To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American.""

"A December 23, 2007, Reuters news article on former Arkansas [Republican Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) visit to Hagee's church reported that "some Catholics were angry about the visit." The article noted:"

"In his recent book "Jerusalem Countdown," Hagee wrote: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.""

... "Investigative journalist Sara] Posner also noted that in another Hagee text, "Bible Positions on Political Issues," (John Hagee Ministries, 1992) Hagee wrote, "[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family."" -MediaMatters.org

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20080131
• US - Germany - Afghanistan - Military - "Paper: U.S. urged Germany to expand Afghanistan force." ... "U.S. [United States] Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has written to his German counterpart urging Berlin to send an additional 3,200 troops to Afghanistan, warning that the [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] NATO-led force there could lose credibility without reinforcement, a Defense Ministry spokesman confirmed Thursday." ... "According to the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, the one-and-a-half-page-long, undated letter to Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung arrived last week. In it, Gates specifically asks Germany to drop caveats limiting its troops to the north of Afghanistan and to send helicopter units, infantry and paratroopers that could join the fight against Taliban militants in the south, the paper reported without citing the letter." -AP via -USATODAY 

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20080121
• Worldwide - US - Britain - France - Germany - Canada - Brazil - Argentina - "Stock Markets Plunge Worldwide." ... "Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. [United States] government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession." ... "U.S. markets were closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but the downbeat mood from last week's market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and the Americas. Britain's benchmark FTSE-100 slumped 5.5 percent to 5,578.20, France's CAC-40 Index tumbled 6.8 percent to 4,744.15, and Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 plunged 7.2 percent to 6,790.19." ... "In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index on the Toronto Stock Exchange fell 4.8 percent. Brazilian stocks plunged 6.6 percent on the main index of Sao Paulo's Bovespa exchange, and Argentina's benchmark Merval index fell 6.3 percent to close under 1,900 for the first time since August 2006." -By Toby Anderson with contributions by Cassie Biggs, Ramola Talwar Badam, Elaine Kurtenbach, and Carl Freire -AP via -Yahoo 

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20070912
• US - Intelligence - Politics - Terrorism - Germany - Overseas - Telephone - E-Mail - Secret - Electronic - Surveillance - Law - Connecticut - "Spy Master Admits Error: Intel czar Mike McConnell told Congress a new law helped bring down a terror plot. The facts say otherwise." ... "In a new embarrassment for the [Republican President] Bush administration's top spymaster, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is withdrawing an assertion he made to Congress this week that a recently passed electronic-surveillance law helped U.S. authorities foil a major terror plot in Germany." ... "The temporary measure, signed into law by President Bush on Aug. 5, gave the U.S. intelligence community broad new powers to eavesdrop on telephone and e-mail communications overseas without seeking warrants from the surveillance court. The law expires in six months and is expected to be the subject of intense debate in the months ahead. On Monday, McConnell—questioned by [Connecticut Independent Democratic Senator] Sen. Joe Lieberman—claimed the law, intended to remedy what the White House said was an intelligence gap, had helped to “facilitate” the arrest of three suspects believed to be planning massive car bombings against American targets in Germany. Other U.S. intelligence-community officials questioned the accuracy of McConnell's testimony and urged his office to correct it. Four intelligence-community officials, who asked for anonymity discussing sensitive material, said the new law, dubbed the "Protect America Act,” played little if any role in the unraveling of the German plot." ... "Late Wednesday afternoon, McConnell issued a statement acknowledging that "information contributing to the recent arrests [in Germany] was not collected under authorities provided by the 'Protect America Act'."" ... "The developments were cited by Democratic critics on Capitol Hill as the latest example of the Bush administration's exaggerated claims—and contradictory statements—about ultrasecret surveillance activities." (1, 2, 3) -By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball -MSNBC /Newsweek 

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20070828
• Germany - China - Human Rights - Journalists - Religious - Sports - Global - "Germany's Merkel prods China on rights." ... "German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday pressed China to improve human rights and take on greater international responsibilities as its global influence grows." ... "China has been criticised by many in the West for its treatment of journalists, minority and religious groups, a subject that has gained weight in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games next year." -Reuters via -Guardian.co.uk

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20070827
• Germany - China - Military - Computer - Hacking - Science - Economy - Politics - "Computer-hacking charges mar German leader's visit to China." ... "Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday that he viewed with "grave concern" a news report that hackers linked to the Chinese army had broken into the computer system in Merkel's office." ... "Over the weekend, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported that Chinese hackers — reportedly connected with the People's Liberation Army — had penetrated computer networks in Merkel's office and several ministries." ... ""When the Chinese government ascertained there were reports saying hackers were breaking into German government networks, we took it as a matter of grave concern," Wen said after a meeting with Merkel. "Hackers breaking into and sabotaging computers are a problem faced by the entire world."" ... "Der Spiegel said in its Monday edition that Germany's domestic intelligence agency had discovered the hacking attempts against Merkel's office and the foreign, economy and research ministries in May." -By Tim Johnson -McClatchyDC.com

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20070813
• US - Global - Germany - Dutch - Genetics - Environmental - Science - Children - Safety - Politics - Free-Market - History - "America Loses Its Stature as Tallest Country." ... "Pundits often opine that America's stature is declining on the global stage. It turns out that Americans --literally -- are not standing as tall, compared with the rest of the world, as they used to." ... "U.S. adults lost their position as the tallest people on Earth to the Dutch [Netherlands], who average about two inches taller than the typical American. In fact, American men now rank ninth and women 15th in average height, having fallen short of many other European nations." ... ""Americans, who have been the tallest in the world for a very long time, are no longer the tallest," said John Komlos of the University of Munich [Germany], who has published a series of papers documenting the trend. "Americans have not kept up with western European populations."" ... "The idea that many Europeans are looking down on Americans has led to a flurry of interest in trying to explain the trend, with debate focusing on whether to blame the lack of universal health care and other holes in the nation's social safety net, particularly for children." ... ""We conjecture that perhaps the western and northern European welfare states, with their universal socioeconomic safety nets, are able to provide a higher biological standard of living to their children and youth than the more free-market-oriented U.S. economy," Komlos wrote in one of his latest papers, published in June in the journal Social Science Quarterly." ... "While some researchers agree, others are more cautious, arguing that height is determined by a complicated amalgam of genetic, environmental, social and biological influences." -By Rob Stein -WashingtonPost

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20070810
• Worldwide - United States - EU- France - Netherlands - Japan - Germany - Home - "Mortgage Losses Echo in Europe and on Wall Street." ... "Turmoil in the home loan market ricocheted from the United States to Europe and back again yesterday as stocks on Wall Street suffered their biggest one-day decline since February, reflecting growing concerns about tightening credit worldwide." ... "Big losses on packages of American home loan securities sold to investors turned up unexpectedly in French and Dutch [Netherlands] banks yesterday, adding to worries at hedge funds and financial institutions around the globe. With trillions of dollars of securities outstanding, those announcements raised expectations that more problems may soon emerge in other unlikely places as well." ... "The spreading fears forced the European Central Bank and, later, the Federal Reserve to inject billions of dollars into the financial system to help prevent borrowing and lending in credit markets from freezing up." ... "Japan’s central bank followed suit, injecting more than $8 billion into money markets as stocks there plummeted Friday morning." ... "Citing “tensions in the euro money market,” the European Central Bank in Frankfurt [Germany] lent more than $130 billion overnight at a rate of 4 percent to tamp down a surge in the rates banks charge each other for very short-term loans. The Federal Reserve injected $24 billion into the United States banking system to keep its benchmark overnight lending rate at 5.25 percent, after it opened this morning at 5.5 percent." (1, 2) -By Vikas Bajaj and Mark Landler with contributions by Julia Werdigier, James Kanter, and Julie Creswell -NYTimes 

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20070803
• US - Saudi Arabia - Military - Terrorism - Oil - Politics - Japan - Italy - Germany - Georgia - History - "Gingrich says war on terror 'phony': Former speaker says energy independence is key." ... "Former House Speaker [Republican] Newt Gingrich said Thursday the [Republican President] Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001." ... "A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support." ... ""None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives." ... "He was unstinting in his criticism of his fellow Republicans, in the White House and on Capitol Hill." ... ""We were in charge for six years," he said, referring to the period between 2001 and early 2007, when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. "I don't think you can look and say that was a great success."" ... "He reserved his most pointed criticism for the administration's handling of the global campaign against terrorist groups." ... ""We've been engaged in a phony war," said Gingrich. "The only people who have been taking this seriously are the combat military."" ... ""We used to be a serious country. When we got attacked at Pearl Harbor, we took on Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany," he said, referring to World War II." ... ""We beat all three in less than four years. We're about to enter the seventh year of this phony war against ... [terrorist groups], and we're losing."" ... ""First of all, we have to have a national energy strategy, which basically says to the Saudis, 'We're not going to rely on you,' " he said." ... "The United States imports about 14 million barrels of oil a day, making up two-thirds of its total consumption." -By Bob Deans -AJC 

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