Articles of Interest 2-3-08
277 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Mitt Romney wins Maine caucuses. McCain came in second with Paul right behind him in third place. On to Super Tuesday!
POLITICO’s Sunday talk show tip sheet:
Two days before Super Tuesday, all the big-time presidential candidates take one of their last shots at making news Sunday.
In an 11th-hour bid to consolidate conservative credibility, Republican Mitt Romney appears on ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s “Late Edition.”
Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor from Arkansas, also stops by “Late Edition” as he continues his drive to dampen the former Massachusetts governor’s plea for conservative support.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, battling Romney and Huckabee for the GOP presidential nomination, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, in a tight race with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, are on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
McCain and Clinton also appear on “Fox News Sunday” and Clinton on “This Week,” as the contenders squeeze in appearances ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who’s mulling another presidential bid, will also be on CNN.
NBC’s “Meet the Press,” spurned by McCain’s refusal to debate one on one with Romney, will usher in Super Tuesday with a roundtable of political consultants: Democrats Bob Shrum and James Carville, and Republicans Mike Murphy and Mary Matalin.
On C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” New York Times White House correspondent Sheryl Gay Stolberg and USA Today’s Richard Wolf will preview President Bush’s new budget being sent to Congress Monday.
And for those more into football than politics, try Bloomberg’s “Political Capital with Al Hunt,” where NFL Films’ Steve Sabol will discuss Super Bowls past and present.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
No further commentary today.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION01/802030559
Where is the money coming from?
Onetime financing adjustments can boost needed state programs
Detroit Free Press
February 3, 2008
Scores of new, smaller high schools. Tens of thousands of displaced workers retrained. A massive ad campaign to lure businesses and tourists to Michigan. New buildings rising on college campuses. Where on Earth is the money coming from to pay for Gov. Jennifer Granholm's vision? Last year, Michigan was so broke that, just to slide through, it took a $415-million sale of future tobacco revenue, plus a onetime delay of $165 million in payments to state colleges and universities. No, money is not suddenly pouring from the skies -- although having the new income tax rate makes a big difference. In fact, Granholm told the Free Press last week that in terms of ease of balancing the books, the financial plan she'll lay out Thursday was "the best budget year ever" for her.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION01/802030560/1069
State should be cautious with pension fund money
Detroit Free Press
February 3, 2008
Gov. Jennifer Granholm also has her eye on the state's pension fund as an investment tool in new Michigan businesses. All things being equal, the pension board should have a bias toward investing in Michigan companies and with Michigan financial institutions. But home-state investments need evaluation by a truly independent third party who will not be subject to accusations of political favoritism and who will not be swayed by home-state boosterism that might interfere with clear-eyed decision-making. Rooted in a long history of well-established manufacturers, Michigan has not done well in attracting venture capital -- money from investors willing to make many risky bets, particularly on fledgling firms, in hopes that at least one will be a breakout success even if most ultimately fail.
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19254434&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472539&rfi=6
Our state economy: The cure might be as painful as the illness
Midland Daily News
02/01/2008
The truth hurts. Actually, the more truth contained in a statement, especially in the political world, the more uncomfortable it makes us. That's why it was especially heartening to feel our collective skin crawl before the Michigan primary due to presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain, who laid out Michigan's economic woes in a simple-to-understand format. McCain, in response to a one-state economic recession and more upbeat rivals, told Michigan residents that the heady days of graduating high school and walking into a well-paid factory job for a career were over, permanently. Jobs that have filtered away, a few hundred here and several dozen there, overseas and even across the border to Mexico, "are not coming back," McCain said.
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/GRANDLEDGE05/802030461/1085/opinion
Jones: Is Lansing broken? Plenty want to know
State Rep. Rick Jones
Published February 3, 2008
Every day when I stop at an area coffee shop, I encourage people to tell me what's on their mind. They have no problem obliging. Their thoughts, many times in the form of a question, give me special insight to what's truly important to people outside the Lansing political beltway. One question I always hear: "Is Lansing Broken? "They also ask "Why did the governor come out last year and say we must cut to the bone and raise taxes, and then go ahead with the building of a new Michigan State Police Headquarters?" "Why do we spend tax dollars to send our state documents to Ohio to be shredded and create jobs in Ohio?" "Why does the state send $926 million to the Detroit schools and they only graduate about 23 percent?" "
http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/PORTLAND05/802030605/1085/opinion
Calley: It's past time to solve the state's problems
State Rep. Brian Calley
Published February 3, 2008
Today, the state government is working in a deficit position. No, not that Michigan faces bigger problems than the rest of the country. To be fair, most of the issues are not direct kind of deficit. Our state faces a deficit of credibility and leadership.The goodwill account afforded to the state government by the citizens of Michigan is in bankruptcy status. That goes for both the executive and legislative branches. Approval ratings are rock bottom today - and with good reason.y caused by the state government, rather, they are part of a painful transition to a knowledge based, global economy. But the entity has been impotent to act in a manner prudent to ease this transition.
http://www.mlive.com/news/chronicle/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1201889708302970.xml&coll=8
Governor hits many, but not all, of the right notes
Muskegon Chronicle
Friday, February 01, 2008
Gov. Jennifer Granholm showed once again she is a master communicator, making a supreme effort in her State of the State speech Tuesday to urge unity in picking up the threads of a torn economy and knitting them together again. She hit many of the right notes, but missed a few, as we see it. Her speech definitely was a speech of hope for a new tomorrow for Michigan's families, but most of all it was a speech of hope for political conciliation. "People are angry. Angry at the oil companies. Angry at the con men who stoked the subprime crisis. Angry at a government in Washington that refuses to enforce trade laws and stands idly by as our jobs disappear," she stated, concluding:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-40/1201936522163970.xml&coll=6
Granholm: 'I intend to stay here'
Saturday, February 02, 2008
By Ted RoelofsThe Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm called for "quick resolution" of the crisis surrounding Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, warning it threatens the progress of that city. "Mayor Kilpatrick is very smart," Granholm said of the embattled mayor in an interview Friday with The Press editorial board. "I can't imagine he thinks this would be good for the city to have this drag on in the front pages of the newspaper." Kilpatrick has been under fire since news accounts emerged Jan. 23 of sexually charged text messages he and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty had sent to one another, allegedly contradicting a sworn statement by Kilpatrick that such a relationship did not exist. Beatty resigned Monday. Granholm stopped short of calling for the mayor's resignation.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-40/1201936530163970.xml&coll=6
Judge stops political donations from paychecks
Saturday, February 02, 2008
By Jim HargerThe Grand Rapids Press
LANSING -- A judge temporarily has stopped the state of Michigan from allowing state employees to have political donations deducted from their paychecks. Ingham County Circuit Judge Paula Manderfield issued the temporary restraining order after a lawsuit was filed by Attorney General Mike Cox on Thursday. Cox argues the state's Campaign Finance Act bars any government involvement in political activities, even if they are reimbursed by the unions for the cost of payroll deductions. Rusty Hills, a spokesman for Cox, said the lawsuit could affect all public employee unions in Michigan. Cox also is pursuing a similar case in the Court of Appeals that blocked teachers unions from funding their political action committees through payroll deductions.
http://theoaklandpress.com/stories/020208/opi_20080202273.shtml
Don't ban life terms for youth
Oakland Press: EDITORIALS
PUBLISHED: Saturday, February 2, 2008
There's a four-bill package pending before the state House Judiciary Committee that would forbid lifewithout-parole sentences for juveniles under age 18. The bills should stay there. We agree with Oakland County Prosecutor Dave Gorcyca and others throughout the state who say that banning these life sentences would be unfair to victims. Gorcyca recently noted that all of the 83 county prosecutors in Michigan studied juvenile life-without-parole cases and all felt they would not be comfortable commuting or paroling the juvenile offenders. Nobody wants to see young men or women waste their lives in prison. But the 340 juveniles serving life without parole are there after serious and undoubtedly long review and examination of their cases.
Fight over No Child Left Behind cash continues
2/1/2008, 2:45 p.m. EST
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it will ask a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling in a lawsuit related to No Child Left Behind Act funding. School districts in three states including Michigan and the nation's largest teachers' union have sued the federal government, arguing that schools should not have to comply with requirements of the education law that aren't funded by the federal government. On Jan. 7, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati sided with the plaintiffs by a 2-1 decision.
Out-of-state recruiters eyeing Michigan
2/2/2008, 8:40 a.m. EST
The Associated Press
SAGINAW, Mich. (AP) — Two years ago, Wyoming recruiters came to Michigan in search of welders, engineers, mechanics and health care workers. Now, the police department in Albuquerque, N.M., has its sights set on the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate. The department has posted billboards in the Saginaw, Flint and Bay City areas, advertising two all-day job recruiting sessions Feb. 20-21 at Saginaw Valley State University's Ryder Center. The sessions target criminal justice students.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-48/1201951223118320.xml&coll=5
Home building down 80% in past 4 years
February 02, 2008
By Ron Fonger
GENESEE COUNTY - Home building, which powered the county's economy just a few years ago, went from bad to worse in 2007, falling nearly 50 percent from one year earlier and about 80 percent compared to 2004. Building permit statistics collected by The Flint Journal from the county's 11 cities and 17 townships show very few areas sidestepped the slowdown, and the building bust bled across boundaries into neighboring sections of Lapeer, Livingston, Oakland and Shiawassee counties. Just three years earlier, more single-family homes and condominiums were built in Burton and just three townships -- Fenton, Grand Blanc and Davison -- than there were in all of Genesee County last year.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION03/802030308/1031
Don't let terror slip from radar screen
Nolan Finley
Sunday, February 3, 2008
While American voters and their presidential candidates are singularly focused on the national economy, Pete Hoekstra still has his eyes on global Islamic jihad. And sometimes the congressman from Holland feels like he's the only one watching. "Global jihad is alive and well," says Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. "I am not taking my eye off that ball." Hoekstra says the presidential candidates, as well as President Bush in last week's State of the Union address, do the nation a disservice by not keeping the spotlight tightly on the terrorism threat. "We are as much at danger today as we were on 9-11," he says. "When the politicians ignore or downplay the threat, it just makes us all more complacent about our security."
Michigan economics professor makes run for Czech presidency
2/2/2008, 9:40 p.m. EST
By NATASHA ROBINSON
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — As the U.S. presidential race heats up, a University of Michigan professor is focusing his attention on an election of a different kind. Jan Svejnar, who has spent years guiding students in his role as a public policy and economics professor, says he's ready to make a real-world impact as the next president of the Czech Republic. "Being a president is sort of the utmost public policy one could have," he said. "It kind of naturally dovetails the kind of professional work I do." Svejnar, 55, served as an economic adviser to former Czech President Vaclav Havel and has Havel's backing, but he faces an uphill battle in the Feb. 8 election for the largely ceremonial post. Not only is Svejnar trying to unseat an incumbent, Vaclav Klaus, he also is battling against criticism of his U.S. ties, which aren't viewed as an asset in the race.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/METRO/802020408/1409/METRO
Livonia man appointed by Bush to financial group
Santiago Esparza / The Detroit News
Saturday, February 2, 2008
LIVONIA -- President George Bush has tapped a Livonia man to a newly created group charged with helping people make good financial decisions in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage fiasco. Ignacio Salazar, a 59-year-old Livonia resident, is one of 16 members of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy, a group Bush created Jan. 22 to focus on getting people good financial data. That information could help to head off future problems like the current foreclosure crisis, Bush said last week in announcing the council. "One of the issues that many of our folks are facing now are these sub-prime mortgages," the president said in announcing the council.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION01/802030303/1007/OPINION
Council should OK probe of Kilpatrick's spending
The Detroit News
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Detroit City Council should approve a proposal to thoroughly audit and investigate the operations of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's office. Member Kwame Kenyatta is asking the council to sort through all of the mayor's travel and expense records to determine whether city funds were inappropriately used to fund personal expenses. He also wants to look into all legal agreements and contracts to make sure Kilpatrick hasn't misused taxpayer money, and isn't sticking taxpayers for attorney fees related to the City Hall sex scandal. This is an appropriate role for the council to play, though some members are advocating waiting until after Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy finishes her investigation into the mayor's testimony in whistleblower lawsuits.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1201936536163970.xml&coll=6
A public spectacle
Grand Rapids Press
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has said he's sorry in the aftermath of a text-messaging scandal that has rocked his administration. Now what? Being sorry doesn't restore the ruined careers of three police officers. Being sorry doesn't recoup $9 million in public money spent to settle lawsuits spawned by the mayor's personal conduct. Being sorry doesn't erase apparent lies told under oath in a courtroom. Being sorry doesn't excuse the poor judgment of mixing public business with personal pleasure. Mr. Kilpatrick's apology this week to his family and the city gave the impression that he believes this situation is only about the revelation of his extramarital relationship with his former chief of staff, Chistine Beatty, and the harm it has caused his marriage and family.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/NEWS01/802030611&theme=KILPATRICK012008
Kilpatrick rebound is possible, experts say
Clinton, Marion Barry did it
February 3, 2008
By KATHLEEN GRAY, AMBER HUNT and DAVID ASHENFELTER
It seemed that Kwame Kilpatrick could do anything he wanted in 2000. A Democratic state lawmaker with a proven political pedigree, Kilpatrick was seen as a rising star in a party eager to showcase its African-American leaders. He was given a prime-time speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles and quickly became a front-runner for his dream job: mayor of Detroit. But today, any national ambitions Kilpatrick may have harbored could be in tatters as a result of the sex, lies and text messages scandal that has engulfed the mayor, several experts said. "I'm hesitant to say that this by itself rules out any ambitions," said Duke University political science professor David Rohde. "But it sure makes it more difficult."
http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-48/1201951216118320.xml&coll=5
Friends wonder: Is Williamson pushing too hard?
February 02, 2008
By Joe Lawlor
FLINT - Mayor Don Williamson said he feels "perfect," but some wonder whether he's running himself ragged after being in the hospital twice in the past three weeks for flu-like symptoms. "I'll be back to work on Monday morning," Williamson said Friday from his room at McLaren Regional Medical Center. Williamson said he expects to leave the hospital today, his 74th birthday. Williamson, who went to the hospital Thursday morning, brushed aside suggestions by some of his advisers that he take an extended vacation to Florida. "I go every day, seven days per week," said Williamson. "I'm here to help the citizens of Flint." "We can't get him out of the city," laughed Joe Wilson, a mayoral adviser.
DTE Energy shuts down nuclear power plant after pumps malfunction
2/1/2008, 4:41 p.m. EST
The Associated Press
FRENCHTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — DTE Energy Co. has shut down its Fermi 2 nuclear power plant after two cooling water pumps stopped working. DTE spokesman Scott Simons said Friday the utility is investigating, and won't restart the plant until it figures out the cause of the problems. The Monroe Evening News reports crews manually stopped the nuclear fission process when it became clear the pumps stopped working. The company said all safety systems worked as designed during the shutdown at the Monroe County plant.
http://www.mlive.com/news/saginawnews/index.ssf?/base/news-25/120193321951110.xml&coll=9
Chamber calls for probe
Thursday, February 2, 2008
BARRIE BARBER
The Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate how one of its confidential memos ended up leaked to an environmental group upset with the pace of dioxin cleanup talks. Chamber leaders sent a letter to the EPA's Office of the Inspector General seeking a formal probe into how the Lone Tree Council obtained a copy of the memo through a Freedom of Information Act request. ''We find the actions of the EPA regarding this 'accidental' release of the internal document at the very least, unprofessional,'' the Dec. 17 letter said. ''A government agency should be, first and foremost, unbiased and certainly above reproach.''
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=10488
Wind farm proposed; Traverse City company securing lease agreements for turbine installation
By Dan Schneider, DMG Writer
February 1, 2008
STANTON TOWNSHIP — A downstate development company plans to find out how much electricity is available in the air above Stanton Township.Traverse City, Mich.-based Heritage Sustainable Energy LLC has been securing leases from property owners along the ridge that stretches from Liminga to Oscar Bay for the purpose of developing wind generation there. “Step one is we’re just getting a good feel for the area and establishing a land base on which to consider the future development of a moderately-sized wind farm project,” Heritage Sustainable Energy LLC Project Coordinator Rick Wilson said. He said the project would be “a utility-sized turbine installation with the power to be sold into the electrical market system.”
http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/501072.html?nav=5003
Cocaine shortage not affecting U.P.
By Mary Ann Cancilla
POSTED: February 2, 2008
ESCANABA — The Drug Enforcement Agency is reporting a national cocaine shortage, but local police officials say there’s no such problem in this area. According to data released by the DEA in September, the price of cocaine rose 44 percent, while purity of the substance is down 15 percent — a fact DEA officials equate with a shortage. Escanaba Public Safety Det. Sgt. Joe LeMire said there is definitely a cocaine problem locally. He said levels of the amount of cocaine in Delta County has remained the same, or actually increased, while the price has stayed constant. He said cocaine use has grown locally over the last three years.
http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=10489
Local cows tested for viral disease; Eradication program first in the U.S.
Published: Saturday, February 02, 2008
By Jane Nordberg, DMG Writer
HANCOCK — Local cattle producers will be the first in the nation to participate in a nationwide program aimed at eradicating a disease that has plagued beef and dairy herds for decades. Discovered and named in the 1940s, Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVDV) causes diarrhea, listlessness, loss of appetite and elevated temperature in cows. Although BVDV does not spread from cows to humans, the way it is spread among cows is similar to a human virus. “A good analogy is the common cold,” said Dr. Ben Bartlett, a veterinarian with the Michigan State University Extension in Chatham. “A cow will sneeze or breathe on another cow and there you have a fluids transfer, same as you or I shaking hands with someone who has sneezed on their hands.”
http://www.ourmidland.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19257057&BRD=2289&PAG=461&dept_id=472542&rfi=6
Local guard unit headed back to Iraq
By Angela E. Lackey
02/02/2008
Capt. Steve Prince was not surprised by Friday's news – the 1460th National Guard Transportation Company is being sent back to Iraq. "We've been expecting to go," said Prince, the Midland-based company's commander. "That's what we've been training to do." The 1460th will leave for Fort Dix, N.J., on June 1. About 130 company soldiers will train there for several weeks and then deploy to Iraq. The unit will support the New Jersey National Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. "We're ready, but its always hard to leave home," Prince said. "It will be a challenge."
NATIONAL STORIES
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/POLITICS01/802020420
Republicans head South, Democrats go West in push before Super Tuesday
David Espo / AP Special Correspondent
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Sen. John McCain barnstormed through a skeptical South on Saturday, campaigning for a Super Tuesday knockout in the Republican presidential race. Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton worked the West on the final weekend before primaries and caucuses in more than 20 states. "I assume that I will get the nomination of the party," McCain told reporters, the front-runner so confident that he decided to challenge rival Mitt Romney in his home state of Massachusetts. Romney, on the other hand, celebrated a caucus victory in Maine and told reporters he plans to do well Tuesday, "planning on getting the kind of delegates and support that shows that my effort is succeeding, and taking that across the nation. ... I am encouraged by the support which I'm seeing grow for me."
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/773802,CST-EDT-mccainendorse03.article
For John McCain
Chicago Sun Times
February 3, 2008
Facing an uphill battle in the November elections, Republicans need to nominate a presidential candidate who represents the best traditions of the Grand Old Party: fiscal responsibility, devotion to national security and honest conduct of the nation's business. Republican voters should consider themselves lucky. They have two candidates highly qualified to occupy the Oval Office: John McCain and Mitt Romney, two principled political figures who could chart a new course for our country and lead it forward with honor. In a close call, our endorsement goes to McCain, a war hero, experienced player in the U.S. Senate and Washington politics, a principled conservative and a leader with an extra something -- that crucial capacity to stir our souls.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2004159063_cained03.html
McCain for the GOP
Seattle Times
February 3, 2008
Arizona Sen. John McCain represents the Republican Party's best hope for victory in November, and the best opportunity for the country to have an informed, constructive presidential election. More importantly, the breadth of McCain's life experience and public service give him the capacity and insight to move in new directions. The credibility to make a shift is especially important on foreign policy and the Iraq war.This quality goes deeper than a reputation as a maverick with a cantankerous independent streak that drives some in his party to distraction. McCain has the political résumé and personal courage to change his mind. For all his supportive votes and rhetoric on Iraq, he would have the easiest time of any candidate to engineer a reversal of policy.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-iraqpol2feb02,0,1272905.story
McCain surge puts Iraq war at fore
The likelihood that the war hero will be the GOP nominee creates a battle between Democrats over who can best challenge him.
By Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
10:34 PM PST, February 1, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The growing likelihood that Sen. John McCain will win the Republican presidential nomination has sparked renewed debate between the Democratic front-runners over the Iraq war -- and over who possesses the strongest credentials to challenge a war hero for the duties of commander in chief. The issue provoked one of the sharpest moments in Thursday's Democratic debate in Los Angeles, as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York argued that the party's eventual nominee would need sufficient "gravitas" to persuade American voters that he or she can be a strong leader while arguing for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0203elect-mccain0203.html
McCain avidly prepares for Super Tuesday showdown
Tuesday wins could solidify his lead
Dan Nowicki
Feb. 3, 2008 12:05 AM
CHICAGO - One word sums up how John McCain hopes to be regarded when Super Tuesday comes to a close: inevitable. The senator from Arizona could fall short of capturing enough delegates on Tuesday to lock up the Republican nomination for president. But a powerful showing in the 21 states with GOP contests, including Arizona, California, New York and Illinois, could make him hard to stop. McCain, who is leading other Republicans in national polls and in many large Super Tuesday states, is on a whirlwind, cross-country tour that took him from Chicago through the South on Saturday, with a plan to head northeast today.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080202/POLITICS01/802020414
Romney wins Republican caucus in Maine
Glenn Adam / Associated Press
Saturday, February 2, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine -- Mitt Romney won the presidential preference voting among Maine Republicans on Saturday in the party's municipal caucuses, which were heavily attended across the state. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, had a little over half of the vote with about two-thirds of the towns holding caucuses reporting. John McCain worked to keep his vote above 20 percent, trailed by Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee. The nonbinding votes, the first step toward electing 18 Maine delegates to the Republican National Convention, were taking place in public schools, Grange halls, fire stations and town halls across the state.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/us/politics/02romney.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin
Romney Maps a Strategy for Survival
By MICHAEL LUO
Published: February 2, 2008
DENVER — After devoting two years and more than $35 million of his money trying to win his party’s nomination for the presidency, Mitt Romney and his advisers face the possibility that his effort could end with the nominating contests on Tuesday. Senator John McCain of Arizona has won a series of major primaries and landed big-name endorsements as he seeks to present himself as the Republican Party’s putative nominee. Operating in survival mode, Mr. Romney’s circle of advisers has come up with a detailed road map to try to salvage his campaign.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION03/802030307/1031
Clinton has no legacy
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Charles Krauthammer
Legacy? What legacy? There was general amazement when (the now-muzzled) Bill Clinton did his red-faced, attack-dog, race-baiting performance in South Carolina. Friends, Democrats and longtime media sycophants were variously perplexed, repulsed, enraged, mystified and shocked that this beloved ex-president would so jeopardize his legacy by stooping so low. What they don't understand is that for Clinton, there is no legacy. What he was doing on the low road from Iowa to South Carolina was fighting for a legacy -- a legacy that he knows history has denied him and that he has but one chance to redeem. Clinton is a narcissist but also smart and analytic enough to distinguish adulation from achievement. Among Democrats, he is popular for twice giving them the White House, something no Democrat has done since FDR.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION03/802030302/1031
Clinton has Hispanic edge over Obama
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Clarence Page
Does Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have an edge over Sen. Barack Obama with Hispanic voters? I think she does, although not for the racially tinged reasons that at least one Clinton operative would have you believe. Sergio Bendixen, a veteran ethnic research specialist with the Clinton campaign, kicked up a dust storm of controversy after he was quoted in a recent issue of The New Yorker as saying: "The Hispanic voter -- and I want to say this very carefully -- has not shown a lot of willingness or affinity to support black candidates." Other respectable experts tell me that's not true. For example, Chicago's Harold Washington, New York's David Dinkins, Denver's Wellington Webb and Dallas' Ron Kirk were all black big city mayors who received more than 70 percent of the Hispanic vote, according to Matt Barreto, a University of Washington political scientist who specializes in Latino and immigrant voting behavior.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/02/2008-02-02_oprah_winfreys_back_in_game.html
Oprah Winfrey's back in game
BY MICHAEL SAUL in Albuquerque and MICHAEL McAULIFF
Saturday, February 2nd 2008, 4:00 AM
She's baa-aack. Oprah Winfrey will return to the presidential campaign trail Sunday to support her "favorite guy," Barack Obama, at a get-out-the-vote rally in Los Angeles, the Obama campaign announced Friday. The event, which will be open to the public, will also feature the Illinois senator's wife, Michelle, and a recent high-profile endorser, Caroline Kennedy. The campaign is seeking to close the gap in California, the state with the most number of delegates up for grabs on Tuesday, when 22 states hold nominating contests. "We can't be everywhere on this final weekend, so we're using our A-No. 1 surrogates all around the country," said David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22916276/?from=ET
Presidential candidates lack military experience
Francona: A qualified leader is needed to win the war in Iraq
By Lt. Col. Rick Francona
Fri., Feb. 1, 2008
Although the economy has emerged as the key topic for the upcoming presidential elections, the war in Iraq is still an important factor to consider. There's an increasing lack of military service among our elected leaders, from state governments to the U.S. Congress and the presidency. During the Cold War and the draft, many more leaders had experienced life in the military. Whether one serves in combat or not, service in the armed forces provides invaluable insight into the capabilities and the limitations of the military. In the past, military service was almost mandatory to be considered a viable candidate for political office.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION03/802030305/1031
Media swallow Kennedys' arrogant presumption
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Froma Harrop
Are we done worshipping the Kennedys yet? And what do you mean by "we"? That was quite a spectacle -- the commentariat gushing superlatives over the alleged power of Ted and Caroline to deliver liberals to Barack Obama. Half the electorate wasn't even born when the sainted John F. Kennedy was assassinated -- and few have any idea who Ethel is. Though the Kennedy brand is in steep decline, the wave of conformist opinion still thinks this endorsement is very big. Americans fought a revolution to free themselves from ruling families. Thomas Paine wrote that "we cannot conceive a more ridiculous figure of government than hereditary succession, in all its cases, presents."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/02/thomas_sowell_delivers_inconve.html
Thomas Sowell Delivers Inconvenient Truths
By Heather Wilhelm
February 02, 2008
Want to be a real hit at a cocktail party? Try bringing up politics, preferably with someone who disagrees with you--and if they're an emotional sort, even better. Proceed to delve into controversial issues of the day (the politics of race and gender, for instance) and, as you do, back up each point with lucid economic facts. After thorough research and a calm, learned presentation, odds are that you'll make a real impact. An impact, that is, in the form of gigantic tufts of steam shooting out of your audience's ears. Thomas Sowell's new book, "Economic Facts and Fallacies," is much like that cocktail party guest: cool, logical, informative, insightful, and, for some sides of the political aisle, a major irritant to be blocked out of the mind.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080203/OPINION03/802030311/1031
Recession-free economy is not entitlement
Sunday, February 3, 2008
George Will
Although Americans are alarmed by the credit crisis currently convulsing the economy, they are sensibly placid about one consequence of the crisis. It is the substantial investment by sovereign wealth funds -- government owned and run investment funds -- in financial institutions needing infusions of cash. Remember the patriotic ruckus in 1989 when private Japanese investors bought Rockefeller Center? Remember the frenzied opposition two years ago to the attempt by a company owned by the government of Dubai to become the operator of some U.S. ports? Last month, there was no comparable anxiety when the sovereign wealth funds of Kuwait, Singapore and South Korea bought an estimated $40 billion of equity in Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and the Swiss bank UBS.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/obama_urges_path_of_peace_in_k.html
Obama urges 'path of peace' in Kenya
by Christi Parsons
January 31, 2008
Amid a brutal cycle of killings in Kenya, Barack Obama late last night appealed to Kenyans to renounce violence and “follow a path of peace.” In a radio address to his father’s home country, the Democratic presidential candidate said that the post-election violence there bears “no resemblance to the Kenya I know and carry with me.” “The rule of law and the rights of the Kenyan people, including freedom of the media and the freedom of peaceful assembly, must be restored,” Obama said in his address. “The opposition must turn away from the path of mass protest and violence in seeking participation in government.” Obama said President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga should sit down and talk “unconditionally,” and he urged them to “welcome the assistance if your concerned friends.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-02-02-kenya-elections_N.htm
More clashes in western Kenya despite deal
February 2,2008
ELDORET, Kenya (AP) — Young men from rival ethnic groups hunted each other through the streets of a western Kenyan town Saturday, burning houses and blocking roads a day after the country's political foes agreed to try to end weeks of violence.
Western Kenya has been at the center of fighting that has engulfed the country since an election that foreign and local observers say was rigged — and Saturday's clashes underscore how difficult it may be to end the bloodletting, which has left hundreds dead. Even one of the men who signed Friday's deal was still talking tough Saturday — Raila Odinga, the opposition leader who says the presidency was stolen from him, told reporters that President Mwai Kibaki's "aggressive statements" were undermining efforts to quell the violence.
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN252684.html
African summit blighted by violence in Chad, Kenya
Sat 2 Feb 2008, 14:38 GMT
By Daniel Wallis and Barry Moody
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An African Union summit expressed alarm and pain on Saturday over a rebel attack on the Chadian government and continuing bloodshed in Kenya. A three-day meeting of the pan-African body was dominated first by Kenya's month-long crisis, in which nearly 900 people have been killed, and then by the breaking news from Chad, where rebels fought their way into the capital N'Djamena. The new AU chairman, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, told the summit closing session: "It is even more sad to see new wounds opening up with blood flowing in Kenya and now Chad." Rebels who have advanced swiftly from the Sudanese border, were battling government troops around the presidential palace on Saturday in an attempt to overthrow President Idriss Deby.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22962528
Rebels clash with Chadian forces inside capital
Libya says insurgentss agree to a truce at Gadhafi's request
Associated Press
Sat., Feb. 2, 2008
NAIROBI, Kenya - Hundreds of rebels charged into the capital of Chad aboard pickups Saturday, clashing with government troops around the presidential palace in the most forceful attempt yet to oust President Idriss Deby. The rebels said government soldiers were defecting, amid reports of looting, gunfire and explosions. There was no immediate sign that troops from France — the former colonial power — were intervening. Libya's official news agency JANA, a mouthpiece of the government, reported that the chief of the biggest Chadian rebel force, Mahamat Nouri, agreed to a ceasefire Saturday night.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UHNN081&show_article=1
Mentally Retarded Women Used in Bombings
Feb 1 03:02 PM US/Eastern
By STEVEN R. HURST
BAGHDAD (AP) - Two mentally retarded women strapped with remote-control explosives—and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers—brought carnage Friday to two pet bazaars, killing at 73 people in the deadliest day since Washington flooded the capital with extra troops last spring. The coordinated blasts—coming 20 minutes apart in different parts of the city—appeared to reinforce U.S. claims al-Qaida in Iraq may be increasingly desperate and running short of able-bodied men willing or available for such missions. But they also served as a reminder that Iraqi insurgents are constantly shifting their strategies in attempts to unravel recent security gains around the country. Women have been used in ever greater frequency in suicide attacks.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080202132053.iohfg5ob&show_article=1
Israelis told to prepare 'rocket rooms' for war
AFP
Feb 2 08:21 AM US/Eastern
Retired senior officers told Israelis on Saturday to prepare "rocket rooms" as protection against a rain of missiles expected to be fired at the Jewish state in any future conflict.
Speaking on radio as part of a military propaganda offensive, retired general Udi Shani said: "The next war will see a massive use of ballistic weapons against the whole of Israeli territory." Shani was tasked recently with drawing up a report on the way the military authorities operated during Israel's 2006 summer war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. During that conflict thousands of rockets hit Israel, but were limited to the north of the country from where hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UHNIT83&show_article=1
Poland Says It Has Agreed to US Shield
Feb 1 02:53 PM US/Eastern
By DESMOND BUTLER
WASHINGTON (AP) - Poland said Friday it has reached an agreement in principle with the United States on plans to install a missile defense system on Polish territory.
Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski says that after meetings with U.S. officials, he is satisfied that the United States will deal with security problems that Poland wanted addressed as part of an eventual deal. The announcement should add momentum to a project the Bush administration has said it hopes to start building this year. The project, a major source of tension with Russia, had looked stalled since the Polish government of Donald Tusk sought new demands after taking office in November.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8271.html
Sunday talk show tip sheet
By: Avi Zenilman
Feb 1, 2008 06:42 PM EST
Two days before Super Tuesday, all the big-time presidential candidates take one of their last shots at making news Sunday. In an 11th-hour bid to consolidate conservative credibility, Republican Mitt Romney appears on ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s “Late Edition.” Mike Huckabee, the former Republican governor from Arkansas, also stops by “Late Edition” as he continues his drive to dampen the former Massachusetts governor’s plea for conservative support. Arizona Sen. John McCain, battling Romney and Huckabee for the GOP presidential nomination, and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, in a tight race with New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic nomination, are on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
