Articles of Interest 2-24-08

255 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

I’m heading down to Southfield today to our Lithuanian parish, Divine Providence, where the Lithuanian-American Community will be commemorating Lithuania’s Independence Day.  Congressmen Joe Knollenberg and Thaddeus McCotter will be there as well.

Ooops!!!  Friday I addressed over 50 ladies who gathered at the Birmingham Women’s Republican Club...not the Bloomfield Hills club.  Sorry ladies…I got all flustered.J 

Michigan Republicans have updated our web page with our own 2.0 version …easier to navigate, more information…and still under construction…so please be patient. 
Check it out:

www.migop.org

Enjoy the internet while you can…the fight over “net neutrality” is coming our way.

Here is a very powerful story in the Washington Post about Iraq…king of the rest of the story you won’t hear from Democrats and the liberal media.

A simple economics lesson …how taxation works.

The RNC (Republican National Committee) turns 152, yesterday:

BECOME A PRECINCT DELEGATE!!  Fill out and return the Affidavit of Identity to your county clerk or send it to the state party…we’ll handle the filings. Link to form

Many folks have asked…what does a precinct delegate do?  Here is some basic information about how we try and organize our precinct delegates to be part of our “political machine” to help elect Republicans.

We have had so many areas where more than one person wanted to serve…I am going to encourage our county parties to “open” up the participation and attempt to “maximize” the number of potential precinct delegates…not minimize them.  If you are willing to run, work and be part of the team…we want you on board!  Our party needs to grow!!!

THE REST OF THE STORY:

- Guest lineup for the Sunday TV news shows:
___
ABC's "This Week" — Sens. Joe Biden, D-Del., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
___
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Charlie Black, strategist for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign; Govs. Jennifer Granholm, D-Mich., and Janet Napolitano, D-Ariz.
___
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Ralph Nader, consumer advocate and former presidential candidate.
___
CNN's "Late Edition" — National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell; Robert Bennett, attorney for McCain; Govs. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., Kathleen Sebelius, D-Kan., and Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.
___
"Fox News Sunday" — McCain campaign manager Rick Davis; Govs. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Jon Corzine, D-N.J., and Pawlenty.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson -- sounds off about Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano's Cobo Hall plan ("who is going to pay for it?") as well as the presidential race ("I will support my party's nominee" referring to Sen. John McCain after his preferred candidate -- Mitt Romney -- dropped out) on "Michigan Matters"  which  airs today at 11:30 a.m. on CW Channel 50.  Patterson is joined by business leader Denise Ilitch and Derrick Miller,  along with Carol Cain, Free Press columnist and host of "Michigan Matters."

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/METRO/802230414/1409/METRO

Cox joins fight for Kilpatrick's secret records

Siding with newspapers and the City Council, AG files brief with state High Court, urging disclosure.

February 23, 2008

Oralandar Brand-Williams / The

Detroit

News

LANSING -- Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has filed a brief with the Michigan Supreme Court asking Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the city of Detroit to release a document kept secret as part of the city's settlement of the whistle-blower trial involving three Detroit police officers, his office said Friday.

Rusty

Hills

, spokesman for Cox, said the attorney general filed the brief to force the city to disclose the document related to the settlement and the deposition of the officers' attorney, Mike Stefani. "We filed the amicus in support of disclosure because this document does not fit the exemption under the Freedom of Information Act," Hills said. "Records that are not specifically exempted under FOIA should be disclosed," the brief said.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/METRO/802230391/1409/METRO

State senator calls mayor scandal 'national embarrassment'

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Charlie Cain /

Detroit

News

Lansing

Bureau

LANSING

-- State Sen. Tupac Hunter, a Detroit Democrat and onetime supporter of embattled Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, said the text-messaging scandal "has become a national embarrassment" but stopped short of saying whether the mayor should run for re-election next year or serve out the remainder of current term. "Clearly the scandal is embarrassing, and I think the citizens have been harmed because of actions by people who have been endowed with the public trust," said Hunter, a freshman senator who earlier served four years in the House. In an interview, Hunter elaborated on remarks made Friday morning on the PBS-TV show "Off the Record”

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080224/NEWS05/802240628

Scandal puts mayor's strengths, lapses in judgment on display

BY SUZETTE HACKNEY and BILL McGRAW

February 24, 2008

On a sunny day in November, an ebullient Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced Quicken Loans would move its headquarters and 4,000 employees from

Livonia

to

Detroit

. He called it "a transformational movement in our city." It was one of his best days as mayor. On a cold night in January, Kilpatrick, looking somber and tense, sat before a TV camera and apologized for the ongoing scandal that involves text messages, sex, $9 million in taxpayer funds and a criminal investigation into perjury or possible obstruction of justice. Because of the investigation, he did not say what he was sorry for.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/ELECTIONS01/802230338

Rogers

'disgusted' by N.Y. Times report on McCain

He says accusations made without proof or even evidence

February 23, 2008

By Cyndi Lieske

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, said he is disgusted with a New York Times report suggesting Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had a romantic relationship with a female lobbyist eight years ago. "I think it takes the New York Times down to one of those rags you see when you are standing in line at the supermarket," he said during a visit this week to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. "I don't think much more of it than that. "They have got all these important issues and they're doing that. It was eight years ago, with no proof. They rode on an airplane. Come on. That tells me that pop culture is running the front page of the New York Times - and I think that's disgusting, if you want to know the truth. That's awful. If you are going to impugn somebody's character, you better have some evidence and some proof of it. I think that's a serious thing."

http://www.ourmidland.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=19325234&brd=2289&pag=461&dept_id=472542

Glenn to back Huckabee at GOP convention

By Stuart Frohm

02/23/2008

Midlander Gary Glenn plans to attend the Republican National Convention as one of two at-large

Michigan

alternates supporting former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for president. The convention Sept. 1-4 will be at the

Xcel

Energy

Center

in downtown

Saint Paul

,

Minn.

  It will be Glenn's second GOP national convention. He was an alternate supporting George H.W. Bush at the 1988 convention at

New Orleans

' Super Dome. Glenn's wife, Annette, was an alternate supporting Ronald Reagan at the 1984 GOP national convention in

Dallas

.

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=hsnews-000002675678

Indicted Former Rep. Siljander Played God’s James Bond

February 23, 2008

By Jeff Stein, CQ National Security Editor

In the fall of 1983, according to former Michigan Rep. Mark D. Siljander, the FBI and CIA warned him that he had been marked for assassination by PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

Of course, you’re thinking: How ironic. Siljander, a Republican who served in the House for six years in the 1980s, was indicted last month as a terrorist supporter himself, charged with rinsing cash for a charity on the government’s list of organizations connected to Hamas or al Qaeda. Twenty years ago, the outspoken anti-gay, anti-abortion fundamentalist Christian was denouncing the Koran as “the book of the devil” at a National Prayer Breakfast. But he fell into league with the devil himself, according to the government’s Jan. 17 indictment, charged with laundering money for the Islamic American Relief Agency.

http://www.record-eagle.com/statenews/local_story_053094546.html

Lobbyists increase giving in

Michigan

February 22, 2008

Associated Press

LANSING (AP) -- Lobbyists spent $32.1 million last year wining and dining public officials and spending money on other lobbying efforts in

Michigan

, up 6 percent from the year before, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.  Government Consulting Services, a multiclient firm based in

Lansing

, was the top spender again in 2007. The firm spent $1.4 million wooing lawmakers for clients, up 11 percent from 2006. Six of the top 10 spenders were multiclient firms, the nonpartisan group said Wednesday.

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/NEWS01/670817676/-1/NEWS

Bill simplifies tax deferral process

By  ROB DALE

February 23. 2008

LANSING

- Seniors and other  homeowners may have an easier time paying their property taxes next year. A bill making its way through the state Legislature would help some

Michigan

homeowners postpone paying local property taxes until May 1. Under current law, those wanting deferrals must submit completed income tax forms and applications by Feb. 15. But most businesses and government agencies don't provide tax documents until late January, leaving potential applicants just two weeks to prepare their tax returns and deferral applications.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/NEWS07/80223039

Ballast water legislation pulled from docket

By TODD SPANGLER

February 23, 2008

WASHINGTON

– Legislation which would require shippers to more carefully regulate the ballast water they take on and release while heading to American ports has been pulled for consideration next week by the House leadership, according to U.S. Rep. Candice Miller’s office. he legislation was expected to come to the House floor next week. There was no reason given for its postponement. It is an important piece of legislation for the

Great Lakes

, which has seen the damage which can be done by invasive species believed to have been imported through ballast water released by tankers in American waters. Tankers take on the water when the ship is empty of cargo in order to stabilize it, releasing it later before it takes on whatever is being shipped.

http://www.mlive.com/flintjournal/index.ssf/2008/02/from_surplus_to_deficit_what_h.html

From surplus to deficit: What happened in

Flint

?

by Bryn Mickle

Saturday February 23, 2008

FLINT

- Fighting to hold onto his job last fall, Mayor Don Williamson boasted about his city's healthy bottom line. "I don't lie to nobody," Williamson said in September. "The city is the most solvent in the state of

Michigan

." Nearly four months later, the picture doesn't look so rosy. The city's $70-million general fund faced a $4-million deficit, more than 50 city workers have lost their jobs and the mayor wants voters to pony up $12 million to pay for police services. How did things get so bad so fast? City Budget Director Michael A. Townsend said there was no way the administration could have known last summer that the city would end up in such bad financial shape.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-49/1203758405279230.xml&coll=5

Williamson tax hike detailed

Saturday, February 23, 2008

By Joe Lawlor

FLINT

- So, how big is it?  The police millage Mayor Don Williamson wants to put before voters in August is more than twice that of communities surveyed by The Flint Journal.  The scope of the three-year, 6.9-mill police millage is breathtaking, said Genesee County Clerk Michael Carr.  The owner of a $100,000 home would pay an extra $345 per year in property taxes. "I don't know how they're going to sell it," said Carr, noting that low-income families would be hard-pressed to afford it. "I certainly wouldn't bet that it's going to pass."  In a surprise move, Williamson revealed his proposal for the millage during his State of the City speech Thursday, but gave few details. City officials discussed the idea in more detail Friday.

http://macombdaily.com/stories/022308/loc_local03.shtml

Second challenge filed over county executive

Saturday, February 23, 2008

By

Chad

Selweski

A second appeal has been filed challenging the election districts that would prevail if

Macomb

County

voters approve a government overhaul featuring an elected county executive. Bob Brandenburg, a former Macomb Republican Party chairman, filed a challenge with the Michigan Court of Appeals that claims the 26 districts don't comply with state standards.

http://www.themorningsun.com/stories/022308/loc_rao.shtml

Rao speaks at Senate hearing in

Alma

February 23, 2008

By LINDA GITTLEMAN

Central

Michigan

University

President Michael Rao was at

Alma

College

Friday testifying before the state Senate subcommittee on higher education. He told the committee that CMU was the fourth largest university in the state, but students there receive on average about $2,000 less than other students at bigger schools. He also spoke about the school's programs on entrepreneurship and business and how CMU is encouraging students to start their own businesses in the state. About 80 percent of CMU's graduates stay in

Michigan

, he said, pointing out that the state's investment would continue to benefit the state

NATIONAL STORIES

http://www.hinzsightreport.com/2008/02/breaking-news-senator-was-sleeping-with.html

The Senator Was Sleeping With The Lobbyist

Saturday, February 23, 2008

The Hinzsight Report

The Hinzsight Report has uncovered an anonymous source which has provided irrefutable evidence that a

US

Senator with presidential aspirations has been sleeping with a lobbyist who had business before that senator’s committee. Both the senator and the lobbyist are married. This is a clear ethics violation at the least, and raises serious questions as to whether federal laws have been broken. As an influential member of the Senate Military Construction Appropriations Subcommittee, Senator Diane Feinstein routinely reviewed and accepted contracts from Perini Corp. and URS Corporation, both owned by Richard C. Blum, a man with whom she was sleeping on a regular basis. While carrying on this personal relationship with Blum, Feinstein was responsible for approving billions of dollars of military construction contracts for the two companies.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080222215916.9k5eqygu&show_article=1

McCain hopes for Castro's speedy demise 

Feb 22, 2008

AFP

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain Friday said he hoped Fidel Castro's resignation would be followed by his speedy demise, and rapped Democrat Barack Obama for offering talks with

Cuba

's next leader. "Fidel Castro announced that he would not remain as president -- whatever that means," McCain said in

Indianapolis

. "And I hope that he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon. "But the point is, the point is that apparently he's trying to groom his brother Raul. My friends, Raul is worse in many respects than Fidel was." In a formal written statement, McCain also took a shot at Obama, the Democratic front-runner who renewed his offer to speak to leaders of US foes without preconditions in a campaign debate with rival Hillary Clinton in

Texas

.

http://www.miamiherald.com/campaign08/story/429861.html

McCain blasts Obama's offer to meet Cuban leader

Cuba

emerged as a flash point in the presidential nominee race, with John McCain assailing Barack Obama for not ruling out talks with Fidel Castro's successor.

Sat, Feb. 23, 2008

By LESLEY CLARK

Barack Obama's offer to meet face to face with Fidel Castro's successor is ''dangerously naive,'' Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Friday, testing out a potential fall campaign strategy to cast the Democratic presidential candidate as too inexperienced for the world stage. Obama, who made the comment at a Thursday night debate with rival Hillary Clinton, rapidly returned fire, saying McCain "would give us four more years of the same Bush-McCain policies that have failed U.S. interests and the Cuban people for the last 50 years.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/us/politics/24mccain.html?ei=5065&en=cae177477f93be26&ex=1204434000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

McCain’s Age May Figure in Choice of a Running Mate

Feburary 24, 2008

By MICHAEL COOPER

When it comes to senators hoping to make history with their presidential bids, Hillary Rodham Clinton (who would be the first woman to be president) and Barack Obama (who would be the first black president) are not the only ones. John McCain, 71, is hoping to become the oldest candidate ever elected to a first term in the White House.

The quest to win the presidency at an age when he would be too old to be a commercial airline pilot or even a judge in some states has already led Mr. McCain to adopt a more grueling campaign schedule, and a more vigorous style, than several of his younger rivals. Now that Mr. McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee, political analysts say, his age will most likely factor into his selection of a running mate.

http://www.kansascity.com/445/story/502487.html

Mississippi

governor emerges as possible McCain running mate

February 23, 2008

By MICHAEL NEWSOM

An

Atlanta

group wants Gov. Haley Barbour in the White House. On Sunday, the group known as Draft Haley Barbour for Vice President will run ads touting Barbour as the best choice to be Arizona Sen. John McCain's running mate in November's presidential election. The spots will run in

Phoenix

and

Jackson

, where the two politicians live. But Barbour, although he hasn't absolutely ruled it out, doesn't sound too interested. Barbour has repeatedly denied being interested in the vice president job, saying in interviews that he is still on "hurricane duty." Barbour spokesman Pete Smith said Friday the governor wasn't pursuing a spot on the McCain ticket. "The governor is focused on being governor and he is too busy for idle speculation," Smith said.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jBJivKnpthOXkianlSM5_k5dywOQD8V03GQ00

Saipan

GOP Delegates Pick McCain

February 23, 2008

Associated Press

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands (AP) — The first nine delegates to a national Republican convention from the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas say they'll all be supporting Sen. John McCain, although they won't be able to vote for him in November. Some of the delegates elected at a party convention Saturday said they're convinced the former

Vietnam

prisoner of war can deliver better times for the far-flung

U.S.

territories in the Pacific. The islands are one of three Pacific territories each sending nine delegates to the GOP convention.

American Samoa

, across the international dateline from Saipan, was picking most of its delegates later Saturday and

Guam

is set to make its selection March 8.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8637.html

Is Huck still running for '08 bid, or '12?

By: Jonathan Martin

Feb 23, 2008

Mike Huckabee is technically still running for president, but increasingly his bid is aimed at strengthening his public profile for the next stage in his career. Within the campaign, there’s a degree of optimism about his chances of preventing John McCain from garnering the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination. But Huckabee’s supporters are also now embracing what they see as his enhanced future prospects.

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12786

See Ron Run

By W. James Antle III

Published 2/22/2008

By all accounts, Ron Paul was a reluctant presidential candidate. He was happy in the House, casting his lonely "no" votes against legislation with price tags large and small and contrasting his colleagues' handiwork with the plain text of the Constitution. But the Revolution overtook him: Paul attracted larger crowds than he had dreamed possible and, after raising $19.5 million in the last three months of 2007, won the fourth-quarter Republican money primary. The purpose of Paul's longshot presidential bid was simple: Win as many delegates to the Republican National Convention as possible and spawn legions of new "Ron Paul Republicans." So Paul's supporters were startled -- and in some cases miffed -- when Paul announced he was scaling back his presidential campaign to focus on his March 4 congressional primary.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2262518020080222?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Rice says has no plan to run for vice president

Feb 22, 2008

by Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Having long played down the idea that she might someday run for president, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday said she had no plans to serve as a vice president either. There has been speculation that Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain of

Arizona

might tap Rice as his running mate. "I have always said that the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected office," Rice said at a news conference. "I didn't even run for high school president. It's sort of not in my genes."

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12789

The False and the Absurd

By Quin Hillyer

Published 2/22/2008

As if the liberal establishment media isn't already embarrassed enough by the bizarrely thin New York Times hatchet job against John McCain, now 60 Minutes comes along to run with an even less documented, and frankly far less believable hatchet job against Karl Rove -- without even asking Rove to respond! The whole story is not just sleazy journalism, it's whatever ranks below "sleazy" on the absolute scale of perfidy. On Thursday, the 60 Minutes web site began hawking a feature to run on its show. This Sunday, an already discredited

Alabama

attorney named Dana Jill Simpson will claim that Rove asked her to photograph Democratic former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman in a "compromising, sexual position with one of his aides."

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56494

Top psychiatrist concludes liberals clinically nuts

Eminent psychiatrist makes case ideology is mental disorder

February 15, 2008

WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON

– Just when liberals thought it was safe to start identifying themselves as such, an acclaimed, veteran psychiatrist is making the case that the ideology motivating them is actually a mental disorder. "Based on strikingly irrational beliefs and emotions, modern liberals relentlessly undermine the most important principles on which our freedoms were founded," says Dr. Lyle Rossiter, author of the new book, "The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness." "Like spoiled, angry children, they rebel against the normal responsibilities of adulthood and demand that a parental government meet their needs from cradle to grave."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/obama_attack_fodder

Obama may face grilling on patriotism

By NEDRA PICKLER

Sat Feb 23, 2008

WASHINGTON

- Sen. Barack Obama's refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.  Now Obama's wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she's really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life. Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080224/NATION/512212251/1001

Obama: Nader bid would not hurt campaign

By Christina Bellantoni

February 24, 2008

COLUMBUS

,

Ohio

— Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. Barack Obama yesterday took a swipe at Ralph Nader, who is expected to announce in the morning he is seeking an independent presidential bid. The Washington Times asked Mr. Obama in a press conference if he thinks Mr. Nader played the role of a spoiler in 2000 and to weigh in on a possible third Nader White House run.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080223/D8V007M80.html

Superdelegates Are Flocking to Obama

Feb 23, 2008

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic superdelegates are starting to follow the voters - straight to Barack Obama. In just the past two weeks, more than two dozen of them have climbed aboard his presidential campaign, according to a survey by The Associated Press. At the same time, Hillary Rodham Clinton's are beginning to jump ship, abandoning her for Obama or deciding they now are undecided. The result: He's narrowing her once-commanding lead among these "superdelegates," the Democratic office holders and party officials who automatically attend the national convention and can vote for whomever they choose. As Obama has reeled off 11 straight primary victories, some of the superdelegates are having second - or third - thoughts about their public commitments.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODg3MzQyNjg0MWEzN2MyNDJhMDI0ZTIwZmM0NDM1Y2I

Pride Goeth Before a Fall

Michelle Obama's comments may prove significant.

By Michael Barone

February 23, 2008

It’s starting to feel like the general election. Rising to claim victory in the Wisconsin Republican primary before the networks could declare Barack Obama the winner on the Democratic side, John McCain started right in on his general-election opponent. He promised to “make sure Americans are not deceived by an eloquent but empty call for change that promises no more than a holiday from history and a return to false promises and failed policies of a tired philosophy that trusts in government more than the people.” 

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02232008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_peculiar_patriotism_98939.htm

PECULIAR PATRIOTISM

February 23, 2008

By LINDA CHAVEZ

MICHELLE Obama struck a raw nerve earlier this week when she suggested she had never been proud of her country until now. "For the first time in my adult lifetime," the 44-year-old wife of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama told a

Milwaukee

crowd, "I'm really proud of my country." Conservative pundits and bloggers were quick to criticize her. Even Sen. John McCain's wife, Cindy, let it be known that she's never had any problem being proud of her country.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8642.html

Michelle Obama thesis was on racial divide

By: Jeffrey Ressner

February 23, 2008

Michelle Obama's senior year thesis at

Princeton

University

, obtained from the campaign by Politico, shows a document written by a young woman grappling with a society in which a black

Princeton

alumnus might only be allowed to remain "on the periphery." Read the full thesis here:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080223/POLITICS01/802230441/1022/POLITICS

Angry

Clinton

rips Obama over campaign mailings

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Beth Fouhy / Associated Press

CINCINNATI

-- Hillary Rodham Clinton angrily accused her Democratic rival Saturday of deliberately misrepresenting her positions on NAFTA and health care in mass mailings to voters, adding, "Shame on you, Barack Obama."  Clutching two of Obama campaign mailings in her hand for emphasis, the former first lady said, "enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook." Obama rejected

Clinton

's complaints a short while later as a political ploy. "These are accurate," he said of the mailings. He said

Clinton

supported NAFTA when it passed during her husband's administration and has herself said she may try to attach the wages of Americans who do not purchase health care under her proposal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120379560300088481.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Clinton

Adopts Harsher Tactics In Fight for

Ohio

,

Texas

By AMY CHOZICK

February 23, 2008

DAYTON, Ohio -- Sen. Hillary Clinton ratcheted up her attacks on Sen. Barack Obama today, comparing his campaign tactics to those of George W. Bush and urging Ohioans to see past his momentum. "Enough with the speeches and the big rallies and then using tactics that are right out of Karl Rove's playbook," Mrs. Clinton told reporters at a press conference today. She clutched two negative fliers sent to

Ohio

voters by the Obama campaign that she says make false claims about her position on health care and trade agreements. "Shame on you Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign that is consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you," Mrs. Clinton said.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080223223512.k2z54xvc&show_article=1

Clinton

scolds Obama, aims to rescue White House bid 

Feb 23 2008

AFP

White House hopeful Hillary Clinton launched a scathing attack on Democratic rival Barack Obama Saturday in a bid to restore her front-runner status ahead of key nominating contests next month. After a day of denying that a series of 11 straight losses to Obama left her campaign teetering on the edge of defeat,

Clinton

changed to a sharper tone and went on the offensive. "Shame on you, Barack Obama,"

Clinton

said during a campaign rally in

Ohio

, which along with the southern state of

Texas

holds key Democratic nominating contests on March 4. "It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public. That's what I expect from you. Meet me in

Ohio

. Let's have a debate about your tactics and your behavior in this campaign."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/02/crumbling_ohio_firewall.html

Crumbling

Ohio

Firewall

Feburary 23, 2008

By Robert Novak

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After Sen. Barack Obama's decisive victory over Sen. Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was reported expressing doubt to political colleagues about whether he could hold his state for Clinton during the two weeks remaining before Ohio's Democratic presidential primary March 4. Polls taken before

Wisconsin

voted gave

Clinton

a double-digit lead in

Ohio

, a state necessary to sustain her presidential hopes. A

Clinton

win there also may be needed for Strickland's chances to be the vice presidential running mate for either Clinton or Obama.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/us/politics/24mood.html?ei=5065&en=06a043feebf21a71&ex=1204434000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

Soldiering On, but Somber as the Horizon Darkens

February 24th, 2008

By PATRICK HEALY

To her longtime friends, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sounds unusually philosophical on the phone these days. She rarely uses phrases like “when I’m president” anymore. Somber at times, determined at others, she talks to aides and confidants about the importance of focusing on a good day’s work. No drapes are being measured in her mind’s eye, they say. And Mrs. Clinton has begun thanking some of her major supporters for helping her run for the Democratic presidential nomination. “When this is all over, I’m really looking forward to seeing you,” she told one of those supporters by phone the other day.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8580.html

Net neutrality fight will demand big bucks

By: Chris Frates

Feb 18, 2008

Advocates of the latest legislation aimed at preventing Internet service providers from limiting consumers’ access to Web content are buoyed by such influential allies as Google and Amazon. But they also worry that the giant technology companies aren’t prepared to spend the kind of money on lobbying that it will take to pass the so-called “Net neutrality” legislation. The reason for their fear: The big telephone and cable companies that oppose the measure are willing to spend heavily on the issue. They can make a few calls and have an army of lobbyists ready to battle Net neutrality.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080224/FOREIGN/208917081/1001

Musharraf likely to quit, top aides say

By Massoud Ansari

February 24, 2008

ISLAMABAD

(London Sunday Telegraph) — Pervez Musharraf is considering stepping down as president of

Pakistan

rather than waiting to be forced out by his victorious opponents, his aides say. One close confidant said the president believes he has run out of options after three of the main parties who triumphed in last week's elections announced they would form a coalition government, and he also pledged to reinstate the country's chief justice and 60 other judges fired by Mr. Musharraf in November.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080223/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_raul_s_men

'Raulistas' loyal to Raul Castro

By ANITA SNOW

Sat Feb 23, 2008

HAVANA

- They are called "Raulistas" — top military men who manage much of

Cuba

's economy and populate the upper reaches of power. On Sunday, these men will likely ensure that Raul Castro not only succeeds his brother Fidel as president, but remains in firm control.  Having served in Raul Castro's Defense Ministry for decades, Cuba's active and retired military leaders today oversee key economic endeavors, from farming to the tourism, that bring in hard currency. Five active generals sit on the Communist Party's powerful 21-member Politburo, including two who run the important interior and sugar ministries.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V07M400&show_article=1

Ahmadinejad: US Should Apologize to

Iran

 

Feb 23, 2008

Associated Press

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the U.S. and its allies Saturday to "apologize" to Iran for accusing it of seeking nuclear weapons—a day after the U.N. nuclear watchdog released its latest report on Iran's atomic program.

Ahmadinejad said the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency vindicated

Iran

and warned that

Tehran

would take unspecified "reciprocal measures" against any country that imposed additional sanctions against

Iran

. The IAEA report said several past questions about

Iran

's nuclear program had been resolved, but highlighted

Tehran

's continued refusal to halt uranium enrichment. Ahmadinejad said in a televised address to the nation that the best way for the

U.S.

and its allies to "compensate for their mistakes" is to "apologize and pay compensation."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/world/europe/24serbia.html?ref=world

Serbia

Seeks Rioters Who Set Fire to the

U.S.

Embassy

By DAN BILEFSKY

Published: February 24, 2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Serbia’s top state prosecutor said Saturday that the authorities were hunting for the rioters who attacked the United States Embassy and other diplomatic missions last week. “We are collecting evidence and are identifying the culprits,” the official, Slobodan Radovanovic, said in a statement. The police said they had arrested nearly 200 rioters involved in Thursday’s protests, in which demonstrators, outraged at American support for an independent Kosovo, stormed the United States Embassy in

Belgrade

and set several rooms on fire. It was the worst violence to engulf the capital since pro-democracy demonstrators overthrew Slobodan Milosevic eight years ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/world/europe/24putin.html?ref=world

Putin’s Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates His Opponents

By CLIFFORD J. LEVY

Published: February 24, 2008

NIZHNY NOVGOROD,

Russia

— Shortly before parliamentary