Articles of Interst 8-25-07
440 Days until election day.
Because of my full schedule this morning resulting from today's State Committee meeting on the Michigan Republican Presidential Primary rules, there will not be a commentary today. A commentary, including a full summary of the events of today’s meeting will be sent out in tomorrow’s edition of the Articles of Interest.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/OPINION01/708240316/1014/OPINION
Early primary would be good for Michigan
The process of selecting the Democratic and Republican nominees for president is a strange beast. A series of primaries and caucuses, held every four years, are designed to help the two main political parties pick their nominees.
Traditionally, two small states — New Hampshire and Iowa — have had a big say in deciding who the nominees will be. Because they hold the first elections, they get to set the tone for the rest of the country. Often times, by the time other states get to vote, the field of nominees has been significantly whittled down, making primary elections meaningless in much of the country.
That's a shame, and that's why so many states are trying to move up the political ladder by scheduling their primaries and caucuses earlier and earlier.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6980184&nav=menu44_2
Democratic Party poised to strip Florida of nomination votes
Granholm already has said she wants an early primary, as has state GOP Chairman Saul Anuzis. State Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer was enroute to the DNC committee meeting and could not be reached for comment.
The Michigan Senate on Wednesday passed a bill setting a Jan. 15 primary, but supporters of presidential candidate John Edwards are pressing hard for a Democratic caucus. It's unclear when the House will take up the bill.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/METRO/708250401/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Fieger indicted: Illegal donations to Edwards alleged
Lawyer denies charges that include conspiracy, obstruction of justice
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- Geoffrey Fieger, the Southfield lawyer known for winning multimillion-dollar civil judgments and antagonizing judges, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, making illegal campaign contributions and causing false statements.
A 30-page, 10-count indictment was unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit. A grand jury, which works in secret, returned it under seal on Tuesday, officials said.
The indictment charges Fieger and a law partner, Vernon (Ven) Johnson, of conspiring to make about $127,000 in illegal contributions to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' 2004 campaign. Johnson, 45, of Birmingham is also charged with making illegal contributions and causing false statements.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/METRO/708250346/1022
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Fieger's troubles may hurt Edwards
Though officials say candidate had no role in the case, charges could damage message.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Geoffrey Fieger's indictment on campaign finance charges could be troublesome for John Edwards, whose 2004 presidential campaign received the contributions at the heart of Friday's indictment.
Though federal officials emphasized that the Edwards camp had no knowledge of any wrongdoing and cooperated with the investigation, the charges could damage one of the central tenets of Edwards' 2008 campaign.
"Edwards has been taking this high-and-mighty stance against lobbyists, portraying himself as an outsider," said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. "When something like this happens, it doesn't erase this message, but it does undercut it a little bit. He doesn't look like this babe in the woods anymore."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/METRO/708250345/1022
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Flashy lawyer in spotlight again
From Kevorkian to 'Jenny Jones' cases and his own political battles, Fieger stirs controversy.
Ronald J. Hansen / The Detroit News
For nearly 20 years, Geoffrey Fieger has seemed the tip of the spear in Michigan legal circles.
Hailed by some as a powerful counterbalance to big business, pilloried by others as a bombastic bully who shakes down the successful, Fieger has rarely inspired indifference.
His indictment Friday on federal charges of campaign finance fraud serves only as the latest headline in a career seemingly made for the tabloids.
"With Geoffrey Fieger, either you love him or you hate him," said Sam Riddle, a political consultant who has worked for and denounced the Southfield lawyer. "He's thoroughly polarizing. He has historically been his own worst enemy."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/OPINION03/708250364/1348
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Laura Berman: Testimony presents obstacles for mayor
A woman in a mink coat.
A woman in a short dress.
A back room at a barbershop.
An interval of 20 or 25 minutes.
These are the lurid ingredients of a Detroit mayoral scandal, the backroom whispers that have now graduated to senior status: sworn testimony in open court.
"Ex-cop: Mayor met woman," as one Detroit News headline so efficiently described testimony, is an evergreen source of titillation. You might even argue that "mayor met woman" -- as a form of rumor -- is a hallowed tradition in the city's mayoralty.
But the "sordid and nasty" stories now emanating from the courthouse, and more specifically, from the testimony of Harold Nelthorpe, a former police officer suing the mayor, and Walt Harris, another former officer, are no longer the stuff of whispers.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/118796319819850.xml&coll=6
Let voters decide tax questions
Friday, August 24, 2007
The current state law that allows schools and local governments to seek tax increases twice a calendar year is reasonable. Plans for legislation that would limit that opportunity to just one shot would create an ill-advised, unnecessary restriction. Lawmakers should not consider changing a system that's working well. Let the voters decide.
Educators and municipalities, especially in tough economic times, deserve a chance to make adjustments to a failed spending request. Officials can reduce the amount or timeline, put forth a clearer, more informative message, or a combination of things, to try to address the needs of students and/or residents. The onus is on them to convince voters of the need. Two requests in one year is not excessive.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/NEWS01/708240339/1004/news03
Published August 24, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Two-tiered pay plan figures in GM talks
Local union chief: UAW has sought workers' opinions
Barbara Wieland
Lansing State Journal
With three weeks to go before their contract with General Motors Corp. expires, United Auto Workers union members in Lansing say they have heard only rumors about the talks.
But a two-tiered pay system seems to be one topic being explored.
The current GM-UAW contract expires Sept. 14. Negotiators are meeting in Detroit to hammer out the details of wages, benefits and other details of the contract.
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=8320
Published: Friday, August 24, 2007
DNR, Forest Service, We Energies working out land sale details; other tracts are sold
By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer
COVINGTON — Negotiations continue between We Energies, a state and a federal agency over the sale of land the Milwaukee-based utility owns in Baraga and southern Houghton counties.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is working on the purchase of 680 acres of land along the Sturgeon River. The parcel is on the north side of the stretch of river that includes Tibbets Falls.
“We are interested in it and we are in conversations about it,” DNR Manager of Real Estate Services Ed Meadows said. “It’s connected to state land in the vicinity inside of our state forest boundary and it has important public recreation opportunity with it.”
The North Country National Scenic Trail runs through the parcel. The land borders the Copper Country State Forest to the west and north.
http://www.mlive.com/news/muchronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1187968794293090.xml&coll=8
Area jobless numbers rise
Friday, August 24, 2007
By Dave Alexander
dalexander@muskegonchronicle.com with wire service reports
An increasingly deteriorating job market in West Michigan produced worsening unemployment rates along the lakeshore in July.
Muskegon County's unemployment rate rose to 8 percent in July compared to 7.6 percent in June and 8 percent a year ago. In Ottawa County, the jobless rate hit 6.1 percent in July, up from 5.9 percent in June and 6 percent a year ago.
Newaygo and Oceana counties also experienced higher unemployment rates in July. The only area county to buck the worsening job trend was Mason.
Seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates increased in 14 of Michigan's 17 regional labor markets in July, state officials said Thursday.
The monthly survey of employers indicated that seasonally unadjusted payroll jobs in Michigan were affected in July by temporary plant shutdowns and supplier layoffs tied to auto-industry retooling for the new model year.
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-24/1187968310271681.xml&coll=2
Holding onto local homes County is responding to spike in foreclosures
Friday, August 24, 2007
BY STEFANIE MURRAY
News Business Reporter
The stories are bleak.
There's the Superior Township couple who fell behind on their mortgage payment when one of them became ill and couldn't work as much. Their adjustable rate mortgage uncapped and shot the monthly payment up by $450.
Then there's the Ypsilanti Township man who'd lost his job and was trying to save money from a new job to pay his delinquent mortgage. A sheriff's auction notice on his front door one day proved he was nearly too late.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/118796326719850.xml&coll=6
Local officials ask about source of school funds
Friday, August 24, 2007
By Dave Murray
The Grand Rapids Press
Most West Michigan school districts would see a $200 per-child increase in their school funding under a budget plan that cleared the state House Thursday.
But area educators don't plan to go on a spending binge, saying they don't expect the plan from the Democratic-led House to clear the Republican-dominated Senate.
Several GOP leaders said the House plan is flawed because it doesn't spell out where the extra cash would come from.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/OPINION01/708250309/1008
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Detroit school board lays down the law
The Detroit News
Detroit school board member Joyce Hayes-Giles sent a message to the city's students and adults when she pressed charges against so-called activist Agnes Hitchcock, who threw a grape at Hayes-Giles at a meeting where the board approved the closing of dozens of schools. Hitchcock now has been convicted of disorderly conduct, fined $250 and given six months of unsupervised probation. Democracy requires a certain decorum and tolerance, something Hitchcock violated with her insolence. Breaking the rules won't and shouldn't be tolerated. There's a proper way for getting views heard. Let's hope that upholding standards may restore decency and civility to the circus that meetings have degenerated into.
http://www.mlive.com/news/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1187969312271680.xml&coll=2
70% of schools top ACT average
Friday, August 24, 2007
BY LISA CAROLIN
News Staff Reporters
More than 70 percent of area high schools posted an average ACT score higher than the statewide average, according to results released Aug. 15. Last spring, for the first time, high school juniors took the ACT in school. The ACT is one part of the new Michigan Merit Exam, which is replacing the high school portion of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program.
The state Department of Education released the results of the first MME and the last high school MEAP last week. The results included average composite scores on the ACT as well as passing rates in the areas of math, reading, science, social studies, writing and English language arts.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-37/118796319019850.xml&coll=6
Accountability doesn't scare GVSU president
Friday, August 24, 2007
By Nardy Baeza Bickel
The Grand Rapids Press
ALLENDALE TOWNSHIP -- Legislators fed up with tuition hikes and demanding more accountability from Michigan's universities soon will get more data from Grand Valley State University.
But lawmakers need to remember they, too, have a role in funding higher education.
"We need to keep our tuition as low as possible to make it accessible, but in large part that's predicated by the state's investment in education," GVSU President Thomas Haas said in prepared remarks to faculty to open the school year today.
"(We) insist that state appropriations and tuition are linked: when we receive less of one, we need more of the other."
Saying accountability doesn't scare him, Haas announced that, in October, he will present a report showing GVSU's efficiencies, financial data and data related to enrollment growth, graduation and retention rates.
http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1187967131200790.xml&coll=9
Dem eyes 98th seat
Friday, August 24, 2007
BARRIE BARBER
THE SAGINAW NEWS
For Garnet Lewis, state lawmakers have swung the budget ax at education too many times.
Now, the Central Michigan University administrator says she intends to do something about it from inside the halls of the Capitol.
The 45-year-old Lewis, a Tittabawassee Township Democrat, says she will run for the 98th District House seat in November 2008 general election.
"As I watched what's happening with our state budget, I grew very concerned that we're balancing the budget on the backs of our students, their parents and teachers," said Lewis, a CMU College of Education associate director of professional education.
She likely faces an uphill battle in a traditionally Republican area spanning the city of Midland, the east side of Midland County and the west and north sides of much of Saginaw County.
http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/NEWS01/708240332/1002/NEWS01
Schauer confirms run for Congress
Stephanie Antonian Rutherford
LANSING — State Senate Minority Leader Mark Schauer's announcement Wednesday that he will challenge freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg in the 2008 election didn't seem to shock anyone — but it did get people talking.
Schauer, D-Bedford Township, filed paperwork to run in the 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of seven counties in south central Michigan. It has been targeted by Democrats because Walberg, of Tipton, failed to capture 50 percent of the vote in last year's election.
Schauer, 45, who had pledged to Senate Democrats to serve out his full four-year term as minority leader through 2010, said he will remain as the Democratic leader while running for Congress. He said he changed his mind about running after being approached by constituents and party leaders.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-22/118796440381640.xml&coll=3
Schauer to run for Congress
Friday, August 24, 2007
By Kristin Longley
klongley@citpat.com -- 768-4917
State Sen. Mark Schauer, D-Battle Creek, has taken the first step toward challenging U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg in the 2008 election.
Schauer on Thursday filed paperwork to run in the 7th Congressional District and formed the "Schauer for Congress" committee. He will now seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Walberg, R-Tipton, and begin fundraising.
Schauer had declined previous overtures to enter the race.
"There's been constant encouragement from my constituents and from people in the 7th ever since Tim Walberg was elected in 2006," Schauer said. "It just has continued to build and got to a point where I couldn't ignore it."
http://lenconnect.com/articles/2007/08/23/news/news02.txt
Walberg recall headed to court
A hearing on constitutional issues is scheduled for Sept. 4.
Daily Telegram Staff Writer
ADRIAN — A hearing on a court challenge to the recall effort against 7th District Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, is shaping up to be a one-sided constitutional argument.
Recall leader James R. Carr of Jackson said he will not be available for a Sept. 4 hearing scheduled in Lenawee County Circuit Court. And he is not planning to argue the case before a judge anyway.
“I’m not a lawyer and I’m not hiring a lawyer,” said Carr, a 77-year-old retired history teacher. He said he is simply taking action on his opposition to United States involvement in the war in Iraq that Walberg has voted to continue.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jacitpat/index.ssf?/base/news-22/118796444981640.xml&coll=3
Walberg: Farm bill will jack up taxes
Friday, August 24, 2007
By Jake May
jmay@citpat.com -- 768-4945
The farm bill approved by the U.S. House would cost Michigan jobs because of a tax increase in it, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg and a U.S. Department of Agriculture official told residents at a town hall meeting in Hanover Township on Thursday.
Walberg, R-Tipton, called a part of the bill a 600 percent tax increase on U.S. subsidiary manufacturers that was added to the bill at the last minute.
Those manufacturers help supply jobs to 201,000 Michiganians, Walberg said, and include businesses such as Nestle and Case Farm.
Michigan congressman says Iraq goal no longer should be democracy
8/24/2007, 2:53 p.m. EDT
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — President Bush needs to move away from trying to establish democracy in Iraq and concentrate instead on security and stability, U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Friday.
But a White House spokesman said Iraq already has a democratic government in place.
"They have an elected government in a sovereign country. And that's what the Iraqi people want. They showed it when they went to the polls," Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas, where the president is vacationing.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070824/OPINION01/708240309/1085/opinion
Published August 24, 2007
[ From Lansing State Journal ]
Tree loans: Bill to provide ash borer loans is vexing sign of the times
A Lansing State Journal editorial
The emerald ash borer has wreaked havoc with ash trees in Greater Lansing and across Michigan. And U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, and Carl Levin, D-Detroit, do represent Michigan.
Still, is it really necessary to have Congress consider the Emerald Ash Borer Municipality Act?
This bill, for which Stabenow and Levin are co-sponsors, would have the U.S. Department of Agriculture set up a loan program for local governments dealing with the ash borer's effects.
NATIONAL STORIES
August 25, 2007
At 70, McCain Takes On Talk of His Age
Senator John McCain was fielding questions at a town-hall-style meeting earlier this month in Ankeny, Iowa, when a woman raised her hand and asked him, “from one white head to another white head,” why he wanted to be president in such troubled times.
“You’re getting pretty old!” she said, after praising his long service to the country. “And it’s such a hard job!”
Mr. McCain deadpanned, to laughter, “I’m sorry I called on you.”
Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, who will turn 71 on Wednesday, is hoping to become the oldest person ever elected to a first term as president. So on the stump, he makes his experience a central theme of his campaign, while keeping up a grueling campaign schedule and showing his not-inconsiderable store of energy, despite injuries he sustained as a prisoner of war that limit his mobility and a bout with melanoma that left his face scarred.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/POLITICS01/708250382/1022/POLITICS
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Romney, Huckabee vie for Midwest Republican votes
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
INDIANAPOLIS -- One front-running presidential candidate and another hoping to join the top tier made their pitches on Friday to Republicans from a dozen Midwestern states as their party seeks to rebound from defeat in 2006.
Michigan native Mitt Romney, who unveiled his health-care program during a Florida speech earlier in the day, stepped up his attacks on the Democratic presidential field during his keynote address to the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference. Also Friday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee called for the GOP to avoid becoming "the party of Wall Street."
Each made the case that he can best compete for the region's 124 electoral votes in next year's general election, and touched on hot-button issues for the states' GOP voters: immigration, the war on terror and the loss of manufacturing jobs.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070825/OPINION01/708250304/1008
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Long-shot pol Huckabee gets respectful look
Nancy Kruh
Pundits are taking a second look at the long-shot presidential candidacy of Mike Huckabee after the former Arkansas governor's second-place finish in the Iowa straw poll.
James Pinkerton decides that Huckabee "is not as rich or handsome as fellow Republican Mitt Romney , nor is he as heroic and tortured as John McCain ," nor "as intense and operatic as Rudy Giuliani ." He is, however, "a nice guy," the Newsday columnist declares, "even after 15 years in politics."
Now that Huckabee "has that precious political commodity, buzz," Pinkerton offers a favorable look at the candidate's "common-sense approach" to homeland security. The columnist is also impressed that Huckabee praises the effectiveness of a Federal Emergency Management Agency director during the Clinton years.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/24/usnews/whispers/main3201129.shtml
Not Too Long Now, Says The Fred
By Paul Bedard
Aug 24, 2007
US News) A round of applause, please, for former Virginia Sen. George Allen, who finally got likely GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson to hint when he plans his big announcement. Filling in for Richmond's WRVA morning host Jimmy Barrett, Allen just came out with it, asking the Law & Order star what's up.
Said the Fred, who's been testing the political waters: "Well, the water is pretty warm. I like the temperature a lot." He also told Allen, "It won't be very many more days" before he declares.
During the five-minute chat, Thompson addressed the complaints that he is taking too long to make up his mind.
"This is not an attempt to be cute or game the system," he promised. Thompson said instead that he's just working on more of an old school schedule, when candidates didn't announce until the fall before the election year.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08242007/news/nationalnews/hill__terror_would_be_gop_boos.htm
HILL: TERROR WOULD BE GOP BOOST
By GEOFF EARLE
August 24, 2007 -- WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday raised the prospect of a terror attack before next year's election, warning that it could boost the GOP's efforts to hold on to the White House.
Discussing the possibility of a new nightmare assault while campaigning in New Hampshire, Clinton also insisted she is the Democratic candidate best equipped to deal with it.
"It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself, 'What if? What if?' But if certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world," Clinton told supporters in Concord.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20070824/pl_bloomberg/ank76qu5lafs_1
Brzezinski Embraces Obama Over Clinton for President
Janine Zacharia Fri Aug 24, 3:24 PM ET
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Zbigniew Brzezinski, one of the most influential foreign-policy experts in the Democratic Party, threw his support behind Barack Obama's presidential candidacy, saying the Illinois senator has a better global grasp than his chief rival, Hillary Clinton.
Obama ``recognizes that the challenge is a new face, a new sense of direction, a new definition of America's role in the world,'' Brzezinski said in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt.''
``Obama is clearly more effective and has the upper hand,'' Brzezinski, who was President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser, said. ``He has a sense of what is historically relevant, and what is needed from the United States in relationship to the world.''
http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-29135220070824
TV, radio look for record ad money in U.S. election
Fri Aug 24, 2007 5:34PM IST
By Jeremy Pelofsky and Megan Davies
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The presidential election is 14 months away and with as many as 17 candidates now running, U.S. television and radio broadcasters are elated at the prospect of billions more in advertising dollars.
Many states have set their 2008 nominating contests for earlier than ever, forcing candidates to spend millions on ads sooner as they fight to get noticed.
Wall Street analysts predict television stations alone could bring in a record $2 billion to $3 billion from the 2008 election cycle, up from $1.6 billion in 2006 and $900 million in 2004.
Companies expected to benefit include CBS Corp., Hearst-Argyle Television Inc. and Meredith Corp., with the latter two particularly seen benefiting in the early voting states.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SCOTUS_GUANTANAMO?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Aug 24, 7:24 PM EDT
Full court access urged for detainees
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Twenty retired federal judges, two rear admirals and a Marine general joined 383 current or former members of the European and British parliaments on Friday in urging the Supreme Court to grant detainees at Guantanamo Bay full access to the U.S. court system.
Lower court rulings supporting the Bush administration's opposition to full court access "were seized upon by repressive governments as a license to incarcerate their own citizens and others with impunity," 25 retired American diplomats wrote in one court filing.
In June, the Supreme Court agreed to take the detainees' case, reversing a decision in April not to hear arguments over whether the prisoners can use federal courts to challenge their confinement. Court filings by the Bush administration in the case are due on Oct. 9.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TERROR_APPEALS_COURT?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Aug 24, 5:36 PM EDT
White House defends US terror tribunals
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration told a newly formed appeals court Friday that discrepancies between the nation's new terrorism law and the way it is being carried out should not stall one of the Pentagon's first terror trials.
In a borrowed courtroom just steps from the White House, government attorneys urged the newly formed U.S. Court of Military Commission Review to look beyond the letter of the law when deciding whether the military botched its terrorism tribunals at Guantanamo Bay.
The case hinges on a single word: "unlawful."
Before terror suspects can be prosecuted before military commissions, the law requires they be deemed "unlawful enemy combatants." But Guantanamo Bay tribunals have simply been calling them "enemy combatants."
Aug 24, 4:21 PM EDT
The judges on the terror appeals court
Biographical information on the three judges who convened the first hearing Friday of the newly formed U.S. Court of Military Commission Review:
NAME: Capt. John W. Rolph
A NATIVE OF: El Paso, Texas
BRANCH OF SERVICE: Navy
EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, history, University of Texas at El Paso; law degree, Baylor University; Master of Laws degree, criminal law, Army Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Va.
POSITIONS: Currently assigned as the chief judge of the Navy-Marine Corps Court of Criminal Appeals; served as the chief judge of the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary.
Aug 24, 5:20 PM EDT
Summary: U.S. defends tribunals
ARGUMENTS: The Bush administration told the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review that discrepancies between the nation's new terrorism law and the way it is being carried out should not stall one of the Pentagon's first terror trials.
WORD CHOICE: Before terror suspects can be prosecuted before military commissions, the law requires they be deemed "unlawful enemy combatants." Guantanamo Bay tribunals have been calling them "enemy combatants."
ISSUE: The court must decide whether the military commissions have jurisdiction over suspects who have not been declared an "unlawful enemy combatant."
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SELLING_THE_WAR?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Aug 24, 4:52 PM EDT
Pentagon setting up war information room
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Shaping the Bush administration's message on the Iraq war has taken on new fervor, just as anticipation is building for the September progress report from top military advisers.
For the Pentagon, getting out Iraq information will now include a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week Iraq Communications Desk that will pump out data from Baghdad - serving as what could be considered a campaign war room.
According to a memo circulated Thursday and obtained by The Associated Press, Dorrance Smith, assistant defense secretary for public affairs, is looking for personnel for what he called the high-priority effort to distribute Defense Department information on Iraq.
August 25, 2007
With Troop Rise, Iraqi Detainees Soar in Number
By THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 — The number of detainees held by the American-led military forces in Iraq has swelled by 50 percent under the troop increase ordered by President Bush, with the inmate population growing to 24,500 today from 16,000 in February, according to American military officers in Iraq.
The detainee increase comes, they said, because American forces are operating in areas where they had not been present for some time, and because more units are able to maintain a round-the-clock presence in some areas. They also said more Iraqis were cooperating with military forces.
Nearly 85 percent of the detainees in custody are Sunni Arabs, the minority faction in Iraq that ruled the country under the government of Saddam Hussein; the other detainees are Shiites, the officers say.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Aug 24, 6:33 PM EDT
Warner's Iraq proposal roils White House
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John Warner's suggestion that some troops leave Iraq by the end of the year has roiled the White House, with administration officials saying they've asked the influential Republican to clarify that he has not broken politically with President Bush.
But Warner said Friday that he stands by his remarks and that he did not object to how his views have been characterized.
"I'm not going to issue any clarification," Warner, R-Va., said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think any clarification is needed."
The political wrangling comes as the White House and Congress are headed toward a showdown on the Iraq war. Next month, Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are expected to update Congress on the results of Bush's decision earlier this year to send 30,000 additional troops to Iraq.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pace24aug24,0,43964.story?coll=la-home-center
Top general likely to urge troop cut
Advice by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs poses a potential clash with supporters of the buildup.
By Julian E. Barnes and Peter Spiegel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
12:23 PM PDT, August 24, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is expected to advise President Bush to reduce the U.S. force in Iraq next year by almost half, potentially creating a rift with top White House officials and other military commanders over the course of the war.
Administration and military officials say Marine Gen. Peter Pace is likely to convey concerns by the Joint Chiefs that keeping well in excess of 100,000 troops in Iraq through 2008 will severely strain the military. This assessment could collide with one being prepared by the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, calling for the U.S. to maintain higher troop levels for 2008 and beyond.
Asked about the report that Pace favored the troop cut, White House Deputy Press Secretary Gordon Johndroe said today in Crawford, Texas, where Bush is spending several days at his home, that "the president has received no recommendations regarding our future force posture in Iraq."
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Aug 24, 5:37 PM EDT
Draft report logs bleak outlook for Iran<