386 Days until election day.
MORNING UPDATE:
Hillary's Wiretap Scandal Smacks of Hypocrisy, Granholm Should Hold Off Endorsement which is Expected this Week.
According to a USA Today Gallup poll, the poll, a majority of Americans (52 percent) believe “most [SCHIP] benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level – about $41,000 for a family of four. Only 40% said benefits should go to families earning up to $62,000…”
This debate is NOT about “children”, it’s about socialized health care.
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/10/schipits-not-ab.html
“Don’t Blame Me I Voted for DeVos” bumper stickers are in great demand…we are no longer sending them out, but there are a limited amount available at the office.
Congressman Thaddeus McCotter’s open letter to Governor Granholm on the SCHIP issue:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/10/mccotter-to-gra.html
Recall efforts continue to grow…more and more tax & spend Democrats under fire.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
- Strange that now, as a U.S. Senator, Clinton would deny the FBI and other counter-terrorist agencies the legal means to listen in on conversations among the enemies of the United States. This latest Clinton duplicity was outlined recently in The Hill, a daily newspaper covering Congress and the federal government.
This is the highest form of hypocrisy and is a clear example of how the Clintons will stop at nothing to recapture the White House. For Senator Clinton to deprive federal agencies of tools that can be used against terrorists after she has used similar tactics herself – illegally -- is an absolute outrage. Senator Clinton owes the American people an apology for this unacceptable behavior, and her supporters, including Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, a former attorney general, should not endorse someone who so cavalierly flaunts the law for political gain.
As a U.S Senator, Clinton consistently opposed federal reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance that would allow agents of the federal government to listen in on conversations between suspected and known terrorists. The bill has been described as a keystone to aiding the United States in the war on terror. Governor Jennifer Granholm is expected to formally endorse Clinton later this week.
- According to a USA Today Gallup poll, the poll, a majority of Americans (52 percent) believe “most [SCHIP] benefits should go to children in families earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level – about $41,000 for a family of four. Only 40% said benefits should go to families earning up to $62,000…”
Democrats have made a tactical error by conflating public support for a very popular and successful bipartisan program with support for their overreaching and poorly crafted bill.
As is their custom, they have overplayed their hand in an effort to milk this issue for political advantage. The more people learn the particulars of the bill, the more they oppose it. The more they see Democrats coordinating with special interest sponsors of attack ads, the more they are turned off.
It’s important that we not allow Democrats to muddy the facts in an effort to define this debate their way (i.e. tobacco interests v. kids, or Iraq War v. the children).
Republicans support SCHIP – after all, we created the program. It is critically important that we extend this program to insure poor children;
It is important that this legislation puts poor kids first – we ought to cover the hundreds of thousands poor, still-uninsured children before we expand the program to include even more adults, families making upwards of $70,000 per year and illegal aliens;
It is time for Democrats to stop exploiting this issue for political advantage and begin working with Republicans to insure poor kids first;
The political games being played with this issue by Democrats and their special interest allies are precisely the reason why this New Majority has the worst public approval rating in the history of congressional approval polling.
- Recall efforts start….see “Tax Hiker Portraits” by RightMichigan:
Robert Dean: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/2/105439/416
Steve Bieda: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/3/10332/0059
Mike Simpson: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/4/92924/1118
Marc Corriveau: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/8/93248/2721
Terry Brown: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/10/101539/45
Mary Valentine: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/9/6253/0133
Kate Ebli: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/11/55455/873
Marty Griffin: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/15/94238/961
Kathy Angerer: http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/10/16/14040/296
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.livingstondaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/OPINION03/710160314/1014/OPINION
Taxation isn't a budget solution
Higher taxation equals fewer jobs. It is as simple as that. If employers are paying higher taxes, they have less money to spend on wages. As people are laid off, there will be fewer people to do what's left of the work.
The "revenue" will diminish yet again as more people move out of Michigan for greener pastures, which really do exist on the other side of the fence. With the exception of the mortgage issue, the rest of the country is doing very well, thank you.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/NEWS06/71016053/1008
Now 6 legislators targeted for recall over tax vote
October 16, 2007
Recall petitions were filed in Muskegon and Detroit today against three more state lawmakers, bringing to six the number of legislators facing potential job loss for voting to raise taxes.
The latest targets are state Reps. Ed Gaffney, R-Grosse Pointe Farms, and Mary Valentine, D-Muskegon and state Sen. Gerald Van Woerkom, Muskegon, said Leon Drolet, director of the anti-tax group Michigan Taxpayers Alliance.
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/101607/opi_20071016124.shtml
Remember this tax hike come next election year
Web-posted Oct 16, 2007
There's no doubt that our legislators in Lansing, while battling over how to remedy the budget crisis, did not exactly set a good example for educators teaching Civics 101.
If anything, the lawmakers reminded us of Keystone Cops, running around from caucus to caucus meeting with little, if any, plan of attack.
And to make matters worse, some legislators still aren't sure which services will face an additional state tax or which will not.
Men's barber shops seem to be exempted, while beauticians who work primarily on women are included.
http://michiganmessenger.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=3DBEE4E0A707D847030DD267C5E30A4E?diaryId=264
Garcia defends his tax vote
by: Kevin Shopshire
Monday (10/15) at 17:04 PM
HOWELL -- State Sen. Valde Garcia, R-Howell, faced voters for the first time at a townhall meeting last week after being only one of two Republicans to vote for implementing a sales tax on certain services.
"I believe in accountability," Garcia said. "That's why I'm here. If at the end of the night you still don't agree with me that's fine; that's how representative government works."
The legislature voted in the early morning hours on Oct. 1 to implement the sales tax and to raise the state income tax from 3.9 percent to 4.45 percent that helped close the $1.8 billion deficit in the state budget, and it put an end to a brief three hour government shutdown. However, many voters across Michigan are extremely upset about the tax increase, and some 50 people came out to voice their disapproval with Garcia at his townhall meeting.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1192543876160110.xml&coll=2
Structural deficit still needs a long-term fix
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Now that everyone has had time to digest the package of tax increases, reforms and further cuts to the state budget enacted in the wee hours by the Michigan Legislature, just about everybody has something to be upset about.
Now hear this: Despite months of partisan bickering, arm-wrestling and, ultimately, compromise followed by dissatisfaction, none of this will solve the state's structural deficit in the long term. Tom Clay, of the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, disclosed this fact at a recent CRC meeting with Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
The CRC, with the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, has crunched the numbers and determined that, if the economy grows, the state can expect an increase of revenues of less than 3 percent a year.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1192543956160110.xml&coll=2
And now, for the realistic reforms
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
"Can't anybody here play this game?''
With apologies to Casey Stengel and the 1962 New York Mets, we borrow that quote in reference to the folks who are running state government.
It was mildly encouraging to see lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm avoid a long government shutdown two weeks ago. Best of all, the last-minute deal included a healthy stab at reform - releasing health-insurance claims data that could help school districts cut costs.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/OPINION01/710170360/1008
Education investments pay off in jobs, growth
U-M, MSU, WSU highlight new products, developments
Michigan's future economy is taking shape, reflected in the knowledge jobs that the Big 3 state universities have highlighted this week as they try to show how much they have done for the state's economic development. Those efforts are impressive. They include such developments as early diagnosis of kidney disease and cervical cancer, user-friendly "green" products and more secure Internet transactions.
We hope Gov. Jennifer Granholm's policy team and state legislators were among the 400 guests at the conference that continued on Tuesday. It is essential that the state's leaders, as they work on this year's budget, commit themselves to serious spending reforms to free up money to support higher education.
http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/OPINION01/710160311/1014/OPINION
School readiness must be a priority for Michigan
Dollars are short and needs are growing as state government seeks to spend taxpayer funds as efficiently as possible.
But one area that must continue to be a priority is early childhood education. Ensuring that young children are properly prepared to enter school greatly increases their chances for academic success. If a child thrives in school, they are much more likely to become highly educated, successful adults who help to sustain and strengthen our communities.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/119254238379600.xml&coll=8
Off the record?
Monday, October 15, 2007
The state Legislature's long-standing policy of allowing unrecorded votes, while admittedly useful, can't be justified on principle, and in the modern information age will be undermined by technology anyway.
Lawmakers might want to revisit the entire system, lest they be accused of keeping information private that the public has a right to know.
While Democrats were a bit cheesy in photographing the state Senate electronic voting board when lawmakers were finalizing a budget deal Oct. 1, it's at least as unseemly that one TV station was forced to erase its tape of the voting board during a non-roll call vote. This would seem to violate the state Open Meetings Act, if not the Michigan Constitution.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/POLITICS/710170387/1024/POLITICS
GOP out-raises Dems in Michigan
Republican presidential candidates collect more campaign funds than their rivals during 3rd quarter.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Republican presidential candidates continued to out-raise their Democratic counterparts in Michigan during the third quarter of the year, making Michigan one of the few bright spots in a campaign season dominated by Democratic fundraising totals.
Still, Democrats' promises not to campaign in the state seem to have done little damage to their fundraising: Totals for top candidates of both parties declined by about the same proportion, according to reports this week with the Federal Election Commission.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/METRO01/710170381/1410/METRO01
Fieger attorney calls charges political retribution
Dismissal sought; U.S. attorney says he had no choice but to prosecute.
Norman Sinclair / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- At a Tuesday hearing before U.S. District Judge Paul Borman, lawyers for Southfield attorney Geoffrey Fieger said Fieger's prosecution by the government over campaign contributions is political retribution against a staunch Democrat.
"There has never been a case like this under circumstances like these," said Fieger lawyer Thomas Cranmer. "What happened here is a criminal conspiracy born out of the Justice Department in Washington.”
Cranmer and Fieger's high-powered legal team, including famed lawyer Gerry Spence of Wyoming, were in federal court asking Borman to dismiss the case or let them conduct discovery proceedings against the government.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NEWS06/710170310/1008
politically speaking
October 17, 2007
A wow moment in Royal Oak
"Hi, I'm Mitt Romney and I'm running for president."
-- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, talking with a woman hauling a shopping cart full of belongings last Wednesday in downtown Royal Oak.
"Of the United States? Really."
-- The woman, who declined to give her name after Romney moved on to the next unsuspecting Royal Oak resident.
He has a cell phone, too
"I love the fax. That's high tech to me."
-- U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, marveling at his grandchildren's explanation of Twittering, or sending mass text messages to friends.
http://www.record-eagle.com/local/local_story_289094505.html
Millage, 2 seats on line in TCAPS vote
Election plays key role in direction of TC schools
By Lindsay VanHulle
lvanhulle@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY -- The upcoming general election surely will be a defining moment for Traverse City Area Public Schools.
Voters will find a millage renewal proposal and two available school board seats on the ballot Nov. 6.
In the wake of a contentious decision to close three elementary schools and subsequent outcry from community members who contend the board didn't listen to them, the question remains: Will this millage pass?
District leaders hope the answer is yes.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/10/17/mich_primary_could_cost_democrats/
Mich. primary could cost Democrats
Fight with DNC over date could aid Republicans
WARREN, Mich. - The tug-of-war between the Democratic National Committee and the Michigan state party over the timing of its primary, which has left a ballot with only four of the party's presidential candidates, could jeopardize the Democrats' tenuous hold on the key state next November, according to party members here.
Michigan is one of two large swing states to have scheduled a primary ahead of the DNC-approved calendar, leading the party to threaten not to seat delegates selected here and in Florida.
In addition, all of the Democratic candidates, under pressure from party leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire, agreed not to campaign in either state. , On Oct. 9, several candidates went farther, asking to have their names withdrawn from the Michigan ballot.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/COL04/710170318
Running against Michigan
October 17, 2007
At the beginning of the year, when it became clear that New Hampshire and Iowa would retain their outsize influence for yet another presidential election cycle, Michigan party leaders fretted that candidates would once again ignore Michigan until the general election.
As it turns out, that apprehension was overly optimistic.
Some candidates, to be sure, are either writing Michigan off or taking it for granted. But others are actively running against us, demonizing the Great Lakes State the way they used to demonize California or Mississippi.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/AUTO01/710170406/1148
White House backs automakers
Congress urged to retain two-fleet fuel mileage rules or face a veto from the president.
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Detroit automakers got a rare boost from the White House on Tuesday in their bid to keep different sets of fuel mileage rules for passenger cars and light trucks.
The director of the White House National Economic Council threatened a presidential veto for any new fuel economy rules that eliminate the current "two-fleet rule.”
In a letter to Congressional leaders, Al Hubbard, director of the council, urged that Congress "reform and strengthen the fuel economy standard for cars and maintain separate attribute-based standards for cars and light trucks.”
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/BUSINESS01/710170336
Veto threat buoys automakers
Bush likely to reject tougher fuel economy measure
October 17, 2007
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration bucked up the U.S. auto industry Tuesday in the fight over tougher fuel economy standards, telling Congress the president likely would veto an energy bill if it contains the Senate's fuel economy provisions.
The move creates another hurdle for backers of the Senate's plan to set a standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 for new cars and trucks, who were unable to force a vote on the proposal in the House after intense lobbying by Detroit automakers and Toyota Motor Corp.
http://blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2007/10/moveonorg_plans_local_vigil_ov.html
MoveOn.org plans local vigil over Bush veto
Posted by Art Aisner | The Ann Arbor News October 16, 2007 11:21AM
Categories: Breaking News
Members of MoveOn.org are organizing a vigil in support of proposed federal legislation to extend healthcare coverage to children of low-income families at 6:45 p.m. today outside the Ypsilanti office of U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn.
Participants will urge Dingell to vote Thursday to override President George W. Bush's veto of the national State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which benefits more than 80,000 Michigan children.
Dingell and other House Democrats passed the bill in September, as did the U.S. Senate.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-10-15-poll-schip_N.htm
Poll: Mixed feelings on kids' health insurance
By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans trust Democrats to handle the issue of children's health insurance more than President Bush, but they agree with the president that government aid should be targeted to low-income families, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows.
Two days before the Democratic-controlled House attempts to override Bush's veto of a five-year, $35 billion expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, the poll shows that opinions on the issue are mixed.
Fifty-two percent of respondents say they have more confidence in Democrats to deal with the issue, compared with 32% for Bush.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/10/opposing-view-c.html#more
Opposing view: Cover poor children first
N.Y. wants to use your tax dollars to subsidize higher-income families.
By Al Hubbard
When it comes to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the president's priority is to ensure the program covers poor children first. Only in Washington is such a simple concept controversial.
SCHIP should be about helping children afford health insurance, not adults. States now have flexibility to help poor adults through Medicaid. In contrast, the bill the president vetoed would allow some states to continue to enroll adults in SCHIP through 2012.
The Unforgotten Man
Wednesday, October 17, 2007; Page A17
Explaining a simple proposal to help people squirrel away gold for their golden years, Hillary Clinton said that a person "should not require a PhD to save for retirement." But can even PhDs understand liberalism's arithmetic and logic?
Consider the controversy over the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which is up for renewal. Most Republicans favor extending it. Almost all Democrats, and some Republicans, favor expanding it in a way that transforms it.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6382.html
N.H. inches toward December primary
Updated: October 17, 2007 06:15 AM EST
Notice to all national political reporters, campaign operatives and presidential candidates: You may not be home for the holidays.
Until recently, I did not think that any state actually would hold its 2008 primary as early as this December.
But after two days of talking to officials in the early primary states, especially to New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner, I have been forced to change my mind.
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashrh.htm
RUDY UNLOADS ON HILLARY: 'WHAT IS HER EXPERIENCE?'
Tue Oct 16 2007 16:57:53 ET
Excerpt from Mayor Giuliani's interview that airs tonight on FOXNEWS's Hannity & Colmes at 9PM ET:
R. GIULIANI: "Honestly, in most respects, I don't know Hillary's experience. She's never run a city, she's never run a state. She's never run a business. She has never met a payroll. She has never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people.
"So I'm trying to figure out where the experience is here. It would seem to me that in a time of difficult problems and war we don't want on the job training for an executive. The reality is that these areas in which - maybe there are some areas in which she has experience but the areas of having the responsibility of the safety and security of millions of people on your shoulders is not something Hillary has ever had any experience with."
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SANOV80&show_article=1
Giuliani Tells Obama 'You're No Reagan'
Oct 16 11:05 PM US/Eastern
By LIBBY QUAID
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday ridiculed Democratic rival Barack Obama for saying he would meet, without precondition, with leaders of renegade nations.
The Obama campaign answered back, arguing that Giuliani may not want to engage in diplomacy with outlaw leaders but he's been willing to take their money.
Addressing the Republican Jewish Coalition, Giuliani described Obama's offer, during a presidential debate in July, to meet as president with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/NEWS01/71016060
Bob Jones III endorses Romney for president
"This is all about beating Hillary," university chancellor says
Published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 4:15 pm
Updated: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 - 9:14 pm
By Ron Barnett
STAFF WRITER
rbarnett@greenvillenews.com
Dr. Bob Jones III, chancellor of the fundamentalist Christian university that bears his name, is looking past his religious differences with Gov. Mitt Romney and endorsing the Mormon for the Republican nomination for president, he told The Greenville News today.
"This is all about beating Hillary," Jones said. "And I just believe that this man has the credentials both personally and ideologically in terms of his view about what American government should be to best represent the rank and file of conservative Americans.
"If it turns out to be Guiliani and Hillary, we�ve got two pro- choice candidates, and that would be a disaster."
http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_6135&pageNum=1
The Unmaking of a President
The nomination was his—or so it seemed—until a deadly storm of feuding counselors, overreaching promises, and uncontrolled rage brought everything crashing down. Robert Draper spent a year trailing John MCCain’s closest adviser to uncover the causes behind one of the most sudden political collapses of our time
If you were a Republican living in Washington one month after the mighty midterm defeat of ’06, there was one place in town where you could go for reassurance that this, too, would pass. That place was the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where on Monday, December 4, Senator and Mrs. John McCain threw a lavish bash to celebrate both Christmas and, implicitly, McCain’s status as undisputed front-runner for the ’08 GOP nomination.
It was an event well suited to the man who had been the party’s top fund-raising attraction through the 2006 election cycle and who, in some recent polls, was poised to defeat Hillary Clinton by a double-digit margin. Coat-check girls welcomed the 800 guests at the entrance to the dramatically dimmed beaux arts venue; inside, waiters ladled out dainties and proffered trays of carefully chosen wines. The dapper, white-haired senator from Arizona himself held court at the west end of the hall, surrounded by such a mob of well-wishers that he spent nearly an hour pinned down in the same spot.
http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2007/10/16/can-you-hear-me-now-hillary/?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Can You Hear Me Now, Hillary?
By David Knowles
Oct 16th 2007 9:02AM
Filed Under:Hillary Clinton, Democrats, Featured Stories, 2008 President
Prepare yourself for the next big Clinton scandal. As The Hill reports today, a new GOP strategy has metastasized which relies heavily on claims made in the book "Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by New York Times reporters Don Van Natta Jr. and Jeff Gerth.
The explosive accusation is that, back in 1992, staffers for the Clintons intercepted the frequency of a cell phone conversation in which political rivals were discussing the possibility of bringing forth another woman who had had "sexual relations" with Bill. Hillary is said to have listened to the conversation, which, by that time, was against the law.
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDE4ZDkyY2VjMWI3ODk4M2IwMjY3Njk1ZWQ0ZGZjYTQ
The Clinton Crime Family
Bergler steals HRC 2008 credibility.
By Kathryn Jean Lopez
When Bill and Hillary Clinton did their online Sopranos spoof the night after the HBO show’s finale, they may have been trying to tell us something more than we realized at the time. The Clintons, sans the New Jersey accent, subtly yet unmistakably, were announcing: “We and our posse are back. Burglars and all.”
In fairness to the Clintons, Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger is just one burglar. But when we’re talking national-security information, surely one is all you need to question a candidate’s credibility.
Berger, you may recall, was Bill Clinton’s national-security adviser. He is also the star of The Case of the Stuffed Socks. Now Hillary Clinton wants to sock it to you: He is a Clinton campaign foreign-policy adviser. The Democratic presidential candidate is treating Berger like a respectable foreign-policy expert — exactly, in other words, what he ceased to be when he acted like a common criminal with exceptional classified clearance at the National Archives in 2003.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6345.html
Clinton charms ‘The View' (but not the RNC)
Updated: October 15, 2007 02:12 PM EST
Sen. Hillary Clinton once joked on the David Letterman show that if elected president, she would bring security and stability to ABC's talk show “The View.”
With her appearance on the show Monday, she accomplished the goal early.
“I can check that one off,” she said on the raucous show with a largely female audience.
Clinton managed to disarm the sometimes hostile hosts of the popular show and was given an unusual amount of time to answer generally deferential – if substantive – questions on subjects including her agenda and how to handle terrorists.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119249786852260187.html?mod=opinion_main_com
The Rise of the Religious Left
By STEVEN MALANGA
October 16, 2007; Page A21
Everyone knows the potent force of the Christian right in American politics. But since the mid-1990s, an increasingly influential religious movement has arisen on the left, mostly escaping the national press's notice.
This new religious left does not expend its political energies on the cultural concerns that primarily motivate conservative evangelicals. Instead, working mostly at the state and local level, and often in lockstep with unions, its ministers, priests, rabbis, and laity exert a major, sometimes decisive, influence in campaigns to enforce a "living wage," to help unions organize, and to block the expansion of nonunionized businesses like Wal-Mart.
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/17/big_brother_at_school/
Big Brother at school
"FREEDOM of education, being an essential of civil and religious liberty . . . must not be interfered with under any pretext whatever," the party's national platform declared. "We are opposed to state interference with parental rights and rights of conscience in the education of children as an infringement of the fundamental . . . doctrine that the largest individual liberty consistent with the rights of others insures the highest type of American citizenship and the best government."
That ringing endorsement of parental supremacy in education was adopted by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1892, which just goes to show what was possible before the Democratic Party was taken hostage by the teachers unions. (Wondrous to relate, the platform also warned that "the tendency to centralize all power at the federal capital has become a menace," blasted barriers to free trade as "robbery of the great majority of the American people for the benefit of the few," and pledged "relentless opposition to the Republican policy of profligate expenditure.")
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071017/EDITORIAL01/110170006/1013/EDITORIAL
Gore wins: Facts lose
Tony Blankley
October 17, 2007
The world has become such a difficult and dangerous place that I am deeply appreciative of recent amusing events — which seem as if they were written by the Marx Brothers or Monty Python. I have in mind, it should go without saying, Al Gore winning both an Academy Award and a Nobel Peace Prize. The very sentence sounds like a punch line. But I can't quite figure out who is supposed to be the butt of the joke. I rather suspect that he has one more award to come — the trifecta of absurdism. Perhaps he will be pronounced the world's greatest jockey, or the world's most graceful dancer. It only makes sense, given Mr. Gore's acknowledged role in bringing the Internet to humanity. Whatever the award, the world will receive it with the same demeanor as it displayed in appreciating the emperor's new clothes several centuries ago.
Texas senator won't run for re-election
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 16, 5:34 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison said Tuesday she will not seek re-election after her current Senate term and is weighing other options, which could include a bid for Texas governor.
"I was honest in the (2006) campaign that it was my intention to not go beyond this last term, third term," said Hutchison of Texas. "I know every other option is certainly available, but I don't intend to run for a fourth term."
She said running for Texas governor in 2010 is one option but she has not made a decision.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1192544551192790.xml&coll=9
U.S. needs a modern Marshall plan
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
America cannot turn its back on the Middle East any more than it could abandon Europe.
Anyone watching the PBS series ''The War'' had to come away with a profound appreciation of the extraordinary sacrifices that millions of young Americans made to defend the American way of life in World War II.
Tens of thousands of deaths were suffered by U.S. soldiers at the Hurtgen Forest and Battle of the Bulge in 1944, and by Marines and infantry at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945. These casualties are mind boggling when compared with other wars in American history, with the exception of the Civil War.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7046765.stm
Iraq fears action 'may escalate'
Unilateral action by Turkey in Iraq could have "very grave consequences" and set a worrying precedent, Iraq's deputy prime minister has warned.
Barham Saleh told the BBC such action could destabilise the region and prompt other neighbouring states to step in.
Turkey has said its patience has run out over the handling of Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
It is seeking parliamentary permission for a cross-border operation to pursue Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/EDITORIAL/110160010
Iran's choice: planes or bombs?
By Michael B. Kraft and Brett Wallace
October 16, 2007
With Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling the Iranian regime liars about their nuclear program, it is time to consider sharply cutting off Iran's air links to the outside world. This step would dramatize the seriousness of the efforts to steer Tehran away from developing nuclear weapons. The United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia will begin meeting again Wednesday to discuss tightening U.N. sanctions on Tehran. The Security Council is scheduled to take up the issue in November, having been stymied previously by Russian and Chinese opposition.
The delay followed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's defiant stance during his visit to the United States last month, when he said "the case is closed" on efforts to persuade Iran to set aside its enrichment program. Russia continues to give the Iranians more than the benefit of the doubt. President Vladimir Putin told journalists on Wednesday that Moscow has "no evidence Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon." This prompted Secretary Rice's comments the next day that "There's an Iranian history of obfuscation and indeed lying" to nuclear inspectors.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071016/D8SA9P5O0.html
Putin Visits Iran, Sends Warnings to US
Oct 16, 7:10 AM (ET)
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Russian leader Vladimir Putin met his Iranian counterpart Tuesday and implicitly warned the U.S. not to use a former Soviet republic to stage an attack on Iran. He also said nations shouldn't pursue oil pipeline projects in the area if they weren't backed by regional powers.
At a summit of the five nations that border the inland Caspian Sea, Putin said none of the nations' territory should be used by any outside countries for use of military force against any nation in the region. It was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. was planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran.
See No Proliferation
Reality can't interfere with "diplomacy."
Wednesday, October 17, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT
The silence from the Bush Administration over Israel's recent bombing of a site in Syria gets louder by the day. U.S. officials continue to look the other way, even as reports multiply that Israel and U.S. intelligence analysts believe the site was a partly constructed nuclear reactor modeled after a North Korean design.
The weekend was full of reports about these intelligence judgments, first in the U.S. media then picked up by the Israeli press. Israel's former chief of military intelligence, Major General Aharon Zeevi Farkash, called them "logical." That's the term of art people use to confirm things in Israel when they want to get around the military censors.
Lebanon's government by murder
An assassination campaign is targeting the pro-Western parliamentary majority.
By David Schenker
October 17, 2007
Forty Lebanese members of parliament belonging to the pro-Western, anti-Syria March 14th majority bloc currently reside in Tower 3 at Beirut's Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel. With plush couches, stereos and flat-screen TVs, the two-bedroom units at the Phoenicia are swank. But the lawmakers aren't guests; they're prisoners.
To get into the Phoenicia, you have to traverse no fewer than three security checkpoints, pass through a metal detector and show ID. Armed escorts from Lebanon's Internal Security Forces accompany guests to their rooms. Inside, curtains are permanently drawn to discourage snipers from targeting the MPs. One confined parliament member described the setup as "Abu Ghraib."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/NATION/110170090/1001
Patience sought on China deal
By Bill Gertz
October 17, 2007
The White House yesterday said critics of a proposed merger between a U.S. maker of computer-security equipment and a Chinese company should give an interagency national-security review a chance to do its job.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said the Treasury Department-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will review any risks from the merger of 3Com with China's Huawei Technology, which defense officials and private security analysts say is closely linked to Beijing's military.
"It will be thorough and diligent," Mr. Fratto told reporters.
Communist Cat Lovers and Urban Redevelopment
By Terence Jeffrey
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
There is something singularly ironic about the Chinese government's exquisite concern for a singular subspecies of cat.
About a year ago, Xinhua, official news agency of the People's Republic, reported that the South China tiger might already be extinct in the wild. Since 1964, none had been seen roaming free. Only 68 survived in captivity, all descended from just two males and four females. "If we can't find any wild South China tigers, they will certainly disappear because of the inbreeding," said Huang Zhihong, a Chinese zoologist.
