Articles of Interest 12-18-07
324 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
If you haven’t seen the Granholm Tax Check, you can check it out on my blog at:
http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/stop-the-granho.html
Or we have it on the main MIGOP website where you can download an embedded image and put it on your blog or website as well…spread the news sort of speak!!!
I would ask that every local party, county party and district party download the embedded Tax Check and post it on their site. Taxpayers and voters deserve to know the facts.
State Senator Mark Schauer exposed…criminal activities and more…now he would like to be a Congressman…another Democrat like this is the last thing we need:
http://www.rightmichigan.com/story/2007/12/17/95752/104
I will be fading out the Daily Articles of Interest this coming week and taking a break over the Christmas Holidays and will be back after the New Year. There will be periodic updates on the blog at:
Merry Christmas…. http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2007/12/merry-christmas.html
Debate talks continue…cross your fingers!?!
Give a Gift this Holiday Season that Will Last a Lifetime!
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To order your personalized Legacy Brick please visit www.migop.org/legacy, or contact Erin Meteer, Major Donor Program Manager at emeteer@migop.org.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/OPINION01/712180316/1007/OPINION
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Opinion
Don't fatten Blue Cross profits
Consumers will pay too much if proposals become law
Attorney General Mike Cox
Michigan residents could see dramatic changes to their health insurance rates and coverage if the Legislature approves a package of bills being pushed by Blue Cross. If signed into law, a package of four House bills will cause subscribers, especially the old, sick and most vulnerable, to pay much more for coverage or lose their insurance, while fattening Blue Cross' already profitable bottom line.
The Blues were created in 1939 and given a social mission to be the "insurer of last resort." As a result, Blue Cross was made tax-exempt. By its own admission, this tax-exempt status benefits the Blues by at least $75 million each year.
And Blue Cross has done well. Its share of the commercial health insurance market in Michigan is 70 percent. Its surplus has more than doubled in the last five years to more than $2.8 billion, the highest in history.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/OPINION01/712180313/1007/OPINION
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Faith and Policy
Remember reason of season and say 'Merry Christmas'
Bishop Keith A. Butler
"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins . . . and they shall call his name Emmauel, which being interpreted is, God with us."
-- Matthew 1: 21-23
These special words in the Holy Bible are held dear and remembered by many Christians, especially during the Christmas season. For us, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior.
It is encouraging to know that a 2006 Rasmussen Poll showed that 65 percent of American adults say that "the holiday season should focus more on the birth of Jesus." However, some Americans would have us believe that celebrating Christmas, particularly in public forums, would be offensive to most people. In some representations, the old rusty hammer of "separation of church and state" is pulled out to beat governments into submission, forcing them to remove anything Christian, like a nativity scene, from public viewing.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/NEWS06/712180372/1008
CMU leaders raised questions about Peters
Internal e-mails show attention to political considerations in the hiring
December 18, 2007
BY DAWSON BELL
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
E-mails between officials at Central Michigan University over the hiring earlier this year of former state Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters for a teaching position show a vigorous exchange over whether his Democratic Party credentials and potential run for Congress -- since confirmed -- made him more or less attractive as a university employee.
The CMU chairman of the political science department, the interim provost and others involved indicated that it was time to fill the Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government with a Democrat since the position had been filled since its creation in the 1990s by Republicans, according to the e-mails, released under a Freedom of Information Act request by blogger and activist Chet Zarko. "We were looking for political diversity this time around and another prominent Republican ... will create problems," wrote political science chairman Delbert Ringquist on March 1 after objections were raised to hiring Peters, then still working in his lottery job.
http://www.mlive.com/columns/aanews/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1197906403137310.xml&coll=2
Public's unhappiness with Lansing no shock
Monday, December 17, 2007
If various interest groups have their way, Michigan voters next year may be faced with having to decide:
Whether to legalize marijuana use for medical reasons;
Whether to repeal the state ban on embryonic stem-cell research;
Whether to approve a constitutional mandate to ensure every Michigan resident has affordable, comprehensive health-care coverage;
Whether to give voters the power to repeal tax increases passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor;
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/OPINION01/712180317/1007/OPINION
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Editorial rebuttal
Students face barriers to staying in college
The Nov. 25 editorial "Demand better results from state universities" blaming colleges for "poor performance" failed to address most of the reasons students drop out. As a community college English instructor who has worked at four area institutions, I recognize a much broader problem than my supposed "poor performance." Irresponsible claims such as these make it difficult to continue to put in all the extra hours good teachers donate.
We've all heard that students come to college unprepared to read, write and think, which is sad but true. But students often bear poor attitudes toward intellectual pursuits. A vast number fairly describe themselves as both "busy" and "lazy." They don't mind checking the Internet for fantasy football scores but can't find the energy to meaningfully revise their essays.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/OPINION01/712180314/1007/OPINION
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Interview
Detroit school chief finds financial woes every day
The Detroit News editorial board Monday interviewed Detroit Public Schools
Superintendent Connie Calloway. The following are excerpts:
Q . You have said you had to deal with unexpected surprises every day with district finances
A . My words were every day is a day of discovery. Basically, systems were not in place. First, the schools are a symptom of the city, not the root cause. So this whole business about the district is losing students; no, the city and state are losing residents.
Q . Detroit also has families who have moved their children to charter schools and schools of choice.
A . And that is their choice. We have over 100,000 children whose parents have shown confidence in us, and our responsibility is to provide the best education we can. I am not upset with the mayor or the governor or any parent who sees a better educational opportunity. Perhaps it is, perhaps it isn't. I am not in competition. My job as superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools is to work tirelessly, bringing all the staff skills to bear to make it a very sound system that operates on accountability and added value and provides a higher caliber of education.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/NEWS06/71217041/1008
Mich. lawmakers float more proposals to help homeowners
December 17, 2007
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LANSING — Another round of proposals aimed at boosting Michigan’s slumping housing market is headed to the state Legislature.
A plan offered by House Republicans would limit property tax increases and give homeowners more power to challenge tax assessments. And if a home’s actual market value decreases, then property tax assessments would not increase.
The bills also would limit the increase in property taxes that occurs when a home is sold. The package would eliminate a real estate transfer tax.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/NEWS06/71217021/1008
Mackinac Bridge board to consider toll increases on Friday
December 17, 2007
By MATT HELMS
FREE PRESS DRIVING COLUMNIST
The board that oversees the Mackinac Bridge will meet Friday in Detroit to consider raising tolls for the landmark span.
The meeting is set for 10 a.m. at Cadillac Place, 3044 W. Grand Blvd., in room L500 on the first floor.
The Michigan Department of Transportation said the seven-member Mackinac Bridge Authority Board will review and discuss proposals to raise tolls to cover projected shortfalls in money available for $300 million in major repairs and bridge maintenance planned for the next 20 years.
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2007/12/city_state_flint_schools_seek.html
City, state, Flint schools seek agreement on disputed tax revenue
Posted by Melissa Burden | The Flint Journal December 17, 2007 19:31PM
FLINT -- The state, city of Flint and Flint School District have agreed to try to agree.
But the cash-strapped school district isn't out of the woods yet for $7 million in tax revenue that the state says was overpaid to it through the city from 1994-2000.
On Monday the parties, who have been at odds and in court for years on the issue, agreed to a 60-day window to try to negotiate an agreement, during which time the state will not withhold any revenue sharing payments from the city, nor the city any property tax payments to the school district.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/OPINION01/712180319/1007/OPINION
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Editorial
Congress should hold the CIA accountable
Spy agency tries to dodge oversight on destroyed tapes
The Detroit News
The U.S. House should probe the destroyed CIA video tapes to uncover the full story and to keep the record straight: Congress oversees the CIA, not the other way around.
U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Holland, is helping lead the charge on the tapes, which showed al-Qaida suspects questioned and subjected to the practice of waterboarding. Hoekstra took on the Justice Department's attempt to stall a probe by the House Intelligence Committee.
Hoekstra, the ranking GOP member of the committee, is in no mood to let spies off the hook.
http://blog.mlive.com/kzgazette/2007/12/fired_us_atty_says_she_kept_lo.html
Fired US atty says she kept low profile while hunting for new job
Posted by Kalamazoo Gazette December 17, 2007 12:51PM
KALAMAZOO -- Margaret Chiara says she kept a low profile after being fired as the chief federal prosecutor for western Michigan partly to help improve her chances of getting another job.
Chiara tells the Kalamazoo Gazette that since September she has been serving as general counsel for a bipartisan federal commission in Washington that is studying prison rape.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20071217/NATION/550671498/1002
GOP convention may be contested
By Ralph Z. Hallow
December 17, 2007
The wide-open Republican presidential field has party officials and strategists excited about the prospect of the rarest of political spectacles: a contested presidential nominating convention.
"As late as it is in this election cycle, no candidate in our party has moved enough to be assured of the nomination, and the models I look at suggest a serious possibility we could have a brokered convention," said Republican National Committee Treasurer Timothy J. Morgan.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/POLITICS/712180374/1022
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Lieberman support boosts McCain
Conn. senator could help GOP hopeful win over independent voters in N.H.
Jennifer Loven / Associated Press
HILLSBOROUGH, N.H. -- Republican John McCain is having quite a moment. He's rising in the polls. He's got major newspaper endorsements in Iowa and New Hampshire. And now he's getting help with this state's legions of independent voters from Joe Lieberman, the contrarian who was Democrat Al Gore's running mate in 2000.
"The Mac is Back," said a hand-painted sign on the wall of the packed American Legion post, where Connecticut's Lieberman announced his endorsement on Monday.
The decision by the Senate's best-known independent to snub the Democratic Party could help McCain win a bigger share of the tide of independent voters who have been expected to flow to the Democratic field in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary Jan. 8. Independents outnumber Republicans and Democrats here, and the state is key to McCain's hopes for the nomination.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071217/pl_afp/usvote2008_071217214740
Stealth fighter McCain plots 2008 comeback
by Stephen Collinson
Mon Dec 17, 4:47 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Battle-scarred John McCain is stealthily reviving a once-moribund White House campaign, and staking out a stand in New Hampshire, the scene of his greatest political triumph.
"We're on a roll," McCain, a Vietnam war veteran, said Monday as he plotted an unlikely course through the chaotic Republican field, less than three weeks before the first 2008 nominating contests.
Once the Republican heir apparent, McCain's campaign plunged close to extinction this year, as a cash crunch and his unpopular support for the Iraq war and moderate line on illegal immigration took a toll.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-17-ronpaul-fundraising_N.htm
'Money bomb': Ron Paul raises $6 million in 24-hour period
By Kenneth P. Vogel, Politico.com
Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, raised an astounding $6 million and change Sunday, his campaign said, almost certainly guaranteeing he'll outraise his rivals for the Republican nomination in the fourth quarter and likely will be able to fund a presence in many of the states that vote Feb. 5.
Paul's campaign spokesman late Sunday announced the campaign had eclipsed the $5.7 million that John Kerry raised the day after he locked up the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination – arguably the largest single-day fundraising haul in U.S. political history.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/12/ron-paul-for-th.html
Ron Paul For The Republican Nomination
17 Dec 2007 12:16 pm
By now, readers will know who I favor in the Democratic race. Here's my most considered case. But what of the GOP? For me, it comes down to two men, Ron Paul and John McCain. That may sound strange, because in many ways they are polar opposites: the champion of the surge and the non-interventionist against the Iraq war; the occasional meddling boss of Washington and the live-and-let-live libertarian from Texas. But picking a candidate is always a mix of policy and character, of pragmatism and principle. And what these two mavericks share, to my mind, is a modicum of integrity. At one end of the character scale, you have the sickening sight of Mitt Romney, a hollow shell of cynicism and salesmanship, recrafted to appeal to a base he studied the way Bain consultants assess a company. Paul and McCain are at the other end. They have both said things to GOP audiences that they knew would offend. They have stuck with their positions despite unpopularity. They're not saints, but they believe what they say. Both have also taken a stand against the cancerous and deeply un-American torture and detention regime constructed by Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld. In my book, that counts.
Women more willing to forgive Monica scandal than Judi Giuliani's trysts
BY HELEN KENNEDY
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Monday, December 17th 2007, 1:09 AM
A straying husband is bad. But a home wrecker is worse - at least when it comes to who should end up in the White House.
That seems to be the judgment of women polled by the Daily News. More were likely to punish Judith Giuliani for trysting with the then-married mayor when she was Judith Nathan than Bill Clinton for cheating on his wife in the Oval Office.
The News' national poll of female voters found women - by a 40% to 35% margin - said Judith Giuliani's affair with Rudy made her less suitable to be First Lady.
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_121707/content/01125114.guest.html
Does Our Looks-Obsessed Culture Want to Stare at an Aging Woman?
December 17, 2007
RUSH: Now, this theory of mine based on this Drudge picture of Mrs. Clinton, with the headline: "The Toll of a Campaign." Now, it could well be that that's a sympathy photo, too, to make people feel sorry for how tough the campaign trail is. Now, I want to preface this by saying I know it's going to get out there. Media Matters is going to get hold of this and they're going to take it all out of context. We can expect that. It's a badge of honor when this happens, but for the rest of you, I want you to understand that I am talking about the evolution of American culture here, and not so much Mrs. Clinton. It could be anybody, and it is really not very complicated. Americans are addicted to physical perfection, thanks to Hollywood and thanks to television. We know it because we see it. We see everybody and their uncle in gyms. We see people starving themselves. We see people taking every miracle fad drug there is to lose weight. We see guys trying to get six-pack abs. We have women starving themselves trying to get into size zero and size one clothes; makeovers, facials, plastic surgery, everybody in the world does Botox, and this affects men, too. As you know, the haughty John Kerry Botoxed his wrinkles out during the campaign.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2007-12-16-clinton-likability_N.htm
New Clinton campaign out to show her likability
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, trying to warm up an image some voters perceive as cold, starts a drive Monday to showcase her personal side with testimonials from friends, associates and constituents she has helped.
The online and in-person campaign, complete with a website called TheHillaryIKnow.com, comes a day after Clinton won a key endorsement from The Des Moines Register and her chief rival in the Democratic nomination race, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, was endorsed by The Boston Globe.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071216/ap_po/clinton_iowa
Clinton invites voters to 'inspect' her
By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer
Sun Dec 16, 6:11 PM ET
DUNLAP, Iowa - Standing atop a stage in a livestock auction barn, Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton likened the experience to her quest to woo undecided voters in the closing days before Iowa's pivotal caucuses.
"I've been to cattle barns before and sales before, in Arkansas, but I've never felt like I was the one that was being bid on," Clinton told a crowd in western Iowa. "I know you're going to inspect me. You can look inside my mouth if you want. I hope by the end of my time with you I can make the case for my candidacy and to ask you to consider caucusing for me."
The former first lady made her comments during the launch of a five-day campaign blitz across Iowa less than three weeks before the state's January 3 caucuses. Buoyed by the endorsement of the state's largest newspaper, Clinton said she "could not be more pumped up" and that her campaign had regained its momentum after several shaky weeks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/opinion/18brooks.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
The Obama-Clinton Issue
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 18, 2007
Hillary Clinton has been a much better senator than Barack Obama. She has been a serious, substantive lawmaker who has worked effectively across party lines. Obama has some accomplishments under his belt, but many of his colleagues believe that he has not bothered to master the intricacies of legislation or the maze of Senate rules. He talks about independence, but he has never quite bucked liberal orthodoxy or party discipline.
If Clinton were running against Obama for Senate, it would be easy to choose between them.
But they are running for president, and the presidency requires a different set of qualities. Presidents are buffeted by sycophancy, criticism and betrayal. They must improvise amid a thousand fluid crises. They’re isolated and also exposed, puffed up on the outside and hollowed out within. With the presidency, character and self-knowledge matter more than even experience. There are reasons to think that, among Democrats, Obama is better prepared for this madness.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071217/ap_po/on_deadline_experience
ON DEADLINE: Clinton '92 Vs. Obama '08
By RON FOURNIER, Associated Press Writer
Mon Dec 17, 4:36 PM ET
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Bill Clinton says Sen. Barack Obama is a callow, highly ambitious political prodigy who is asking voters to "roll the dice" and elect him president.
He should know — that's a fair description of Clinton when he sought the presidency in 1992.
The fact that the former president is stealing a page from the same Republican playbook
used against him 15 years ago underscores the threat Obama poses to the candidacy of Clinton's wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
December 17, 2007
Bill Clinton: George H.W. Bush will help President Hillary
ORANGEBURG, South Carolina (CNN) – Former President Bill Clinton said Monday that the first thing his wife Hillary will do when she reaches the White House is dispatch him and his predecessor, President George H.W. Bush, on an around-the-world mission to repair the damage done to America's reputation by the current president — Bush's son, George W. Bush.
"Well, the first thing she intends to do, because you can do this without passing a bill, the first thing she intends to do is to send me and former President Bush and a number of other people around the world to tell them that America is open for business and cooperation again," Clinton said in response to a question from a supporter about what his wife's "number one priority" would be as president.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110011008
Why TR Claimed the Seas
The importance of a strong Navy.
BY BRET STEPHENS
Tuesday, December 18, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
On Dec. 16, 1907, the 16 battleships of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet sailed from Hampton Roads, Va., on a 43,000-mile journey around the world. The occasion was immediately understood as Teddy Roosevelt's way of declaring that the United States, already an economic superpower, was also a military one. Unnoticed by most Americans, this past Sunday marked its centennial.
There is an enduring, bipartisan strain in American politics (think Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich) that wishes to forgo the military role. As wonderfully recounted by Jim Rasenberger in "America 1908," the voyage of the Great White Fleet, as it was popularly known, was energetically opposed by members of Congress, who sought to cut off its funding when it was halfway around the world. Sound familiar? Mark Twain considered the venture as further evidence that TR was "clearly insane . . . and insanest upon war and its supreme glories."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071218/POLITICS/712180381/1022
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Bill would put off border rule
Congress wants to push passport requirement back one year to June 2009.
Devlin Barrett / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Congress is seeking to delay a new security rule requiring passports at all U.S. border crossings next year in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last summer's vacation-killing backlog of passport applications.
The Bush administration said Monday it opposed the measure and plans to go forward with implementing the passport rule in the summer.
Lawmakers said that under a major end-of-the-year spending bill passed Monday night by the House and up for debate today in the Senate, the border passport rule would be moved back to no earlier than June 1, 2009.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUDGET_BATTLE?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 18, 5:21 AM EST
Senate to take up $516B spending bill
By ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate is poised to take up a $516 billion measure to fund 14 Cabinet agencies and troops in Afghanistan, with President Bush likely to sign the measure if his GOP allies can add up to $40 billion for the war in Iraq.
Senate leaders would like to wrap up debate Tuesday, though GOP conservatives may balk, unhappy with spending above Bush's budget and a secretive process that produced a 1,482-page bill with almost 9,000 pet projects sought by lawmakers.
Dec 18, 3:11 AM EST
Omnibus appropriations bill highlights
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The $516 billion omnibus spending bill before Congress blends the budgets of 14 Cabinet departments with multiple policy changes. Highlights of the legislation include:
-$3.7 billion above President Bush's request for veterans programs.
-$6.2 billion shifted to domestic programs from defense, military base construction and State Department and foreign aid accounts.
-$395 million in cuts to clean water and waste water projects.
-$2 billion above 2007 for the Education Department.
-Just a 1 percent increase, to $29.2 billion, for research underwritten by the National Institutes of Health.
Dec 17, 11:08 PM EST
House Roll Call: Omnibus budget bill
The 253-154 roll call Monday by which the House approved an omnibus budget measure funding 14 Cabinet agencies.
A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill.
Voting yes were 212 Democrats and 41 Republicans.
Voting no were 8 Democrats and 146 Republicans.
X denotes those not voting.
Present denotes those who voted they were "present" at the time of the vote but did not vote yes or no on the issue.
There are 2 vacancies in the 435-member House.
http://www.kcbs.com/SF-Considers-a-Tax-on-Caffeine/1348719
Posted: Monday, 17 December 2007 6:28AM
SF Considers a Tax on Sugary Drinks
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- For years, the idea of taxing soda to beat back obesity has been tossed around in medical circles. But now, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is proposing a tax on beverages high in fructose corn syrup.
Newsom says obesity accounts for tens of millions of dollars in city health care costs. He cites a recent San Francisco Health Department survey that found nearly a quarter of the city's 5th, 7th and 9th graders were overweight and that high sugar drinks make up a tenth of a kid's daily calorie count.
Newsom reportedly wants all big box retailers and chain drug stores to pay into his new "Shape up San Francisco" program, which started this past summer with a walking regimen.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 18, 2:36 AM EST
Bush says US economy is safe and sound
By BEN FELLER
Associated Press Writer
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) -- President Bush on Monday tried to reassure an edgy public that the economy is "pretty good" despite the dreary mix of a failing housing market, a national credit crunch and surging energy costs.
"There's definitely some storm clouds and concerns, but the underpinning is good," Bush said at a Rotary Club meeting, an informal setting chosen to show the president engaged with local communities. "We'll work our way through this period."
The nation is in a sour mood this holiday season, with consumer confidence hovering near a two-year low. As a wide-open field of candidates vies to replace Bush in the White House, the economy has zoomed to the forefront of public priorities, often ahead of Iraq.
THE HOMELESS 'VETS' WHO AREN'T
GRIEVANCE GROUP'S BOGUS STATISTICS
By MICHAEL FUMENTO
December 18, 2007 -- THE homeless-advocacy industry always puts the most sympathetic face on its "clientele." It works desperately to divert attention from alcoholics, drug users, schizophrenics, and fat panhandlers holding signs reading: "Hungry."
And it doesn't talk about unpleasant truths like those reported by ABC's John Stossel (viewable on YouTube) - who, after exhaustive efforts, managed to find only one person with a sign reading "Will work for food" who would actually do so.
Instead, advocates focus (with the media's help) on unrepresentative but heart-tugging cases - like veterans.
Dec 17, 10:39 PM EST
Surveillance bill delayed until 2008
By PAMELA HESS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate late Monday delayed its consideration of a vote on a new government eavesdropping bill until January.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid delayed the bill because there were more than a dozen amendments planned, and not enough time left on the legislative calendar to manage them.
"Everyone feels it would be to the best interests of the Senate that we take a look at this when we come back after the first of the year," said Reid, D-Nev.
"With more than a dozen amendments to this complex and controversial bill, this legislation deserves time for thorough discussion on the floor," he said.
The new surveillance bill is meant to replace a temporary eavesdropping law Congress hastily passed in August. That law, which expanded the government's authority to listen in on American communications without court permission, expires Feb. 1.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SAUDI_ARABIA_POLL?SITE=MIDTN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 17, 10:04 PM EST
Poll: Saudis oppose Qaida, split on US
By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- People in Saudi Arabia deeply dislike countryman Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, yet have only lukewarm views about the United States, one of the kingdom's allies, a poll showed Monday.
Bin Laden is seen favorably by just 15 percent of Saudis, and the al-Qaida terror organization he founded gets approval from only 10 percent, the survey found. The Saudi government has been battling al-Qaida for years and recently launched an anti-terrorism crackdown aimed at preventing violence during the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, which just began.
President Bush is viewed positively by 12 percent of Saudis, less than half the number with a good impression of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Dec 17, 11:10 PM EST
House Roll Call: Afghanistan funding
The 206-201 roll call Monday by which the House passed an amendment to the budget bill adding $31 billion for troops in Afghanistan.
A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the amendment.
Voting yes were 201 Democrats and 5 Republicans.
Voting no were 18 Democrats and 183 Republicans.
X denotes those not voting.
Present denotes those who voted they were "present" at the time of the vote but did not vote yes or no on the issue.
There are 2 vacancies in the 435-member House.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/17/africa/17iran.5.php
Iran indicates it is building another nuclear plant
By Nazila Fathi Published:
December 17, 2007
TEHRAN: Iran confirmed on Monday that it had received the first fuel shipment for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr, but also indicated for the first time that it was building a second nuclear power plant.
The revelation came in comments by Iran's Atomic Organization, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, made to state-run television and reported by the semi-official Fars news agency. He was dismissing speculation that the arrival of the fuel would allow Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, in Natanz.
"We are building a 360-megawatt indigenous power plant in Darkhovein," he said, referring to a southern city north of Bushehr.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TJ95RO0&show_article=1
Putin Says He Would Accept Job As PM
Dec 17 10:14 AM US/Eastern
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin told a party congress Monday that he would accept the prime minister's post if his longtime protege is elected president, guaranteeing Putin an ongoing heavyweight political role in Russia.
Ending speculation that he had another surprise up his sleeve in this tumultuous election season, Putin also said he would not—as had been widely expected—seek to strengthen the post of prime minister at the expense of Russia's powerful presidency.
Putin last week said First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was his choice for the presidency, ensuring support by Putin's United Russia party. A day later, Medvedev said if he were elected president, he would offer Putin the prime minister's job.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071217/D8TJ63NO0.html
Russia Makes 1st Nuke Shipment to Iran
Dec 17, 6:45 AM (ET)
By JIM HEINTZ
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia has made its first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr plant, which is at the center of the international tensions over Tehran's nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Monday.
Iran contends the nuclear power plant operation in Bushehr is strictly for civilian purposes, but the project concerns the United States and others who fear Tehran could use it to advance efforts to build nuclear weapons.
Construction at Bushehr had been frequently delayed. Officials said the delays were due to payment disputes, but many observers suggested Russia also was unhappy with Iran's resistance to international pressure to make its nuclear program more open and to assure the international community that it was not developing nuclear arms.
Castro hints he will not hold on to power
By Anthony Boadle