Articles of Interest 3-8-2008

242 Days until Election Day

MORNING UPDATE:

We called on Governor Granholm and her campaign designates to release all federal income tax returns filed by her inaugural committee and to immediately pay nearly $20,000 in back taxes the IRS says the committee owes the federal government. Details below under “The Rest of the Story.”

Vice President Dick Cheney was in mid-Michigan yesterday on behalf of Congressman Tim Walberg. It was a great event on behalf of one of Michigan’s hardest working Congressman…thank you Mr. Vice President.

A recently released Detroit News/WXYZ-Action News poll shows Congressman Tim Walberg ahead, 51-40 over Democratic challenger Mark Schauer. According to the Detroit News, the survey of 400 likely voters was conducted Feb. 27 through March 2.

Yesterday I addressed the Republican National Lawyers Association Michigan Chapter at the Ave Maria Law School. We discussed presidential politics with the legal counsel for McCain presidential campaign, and started our Election Day Operations recruitment effort for the upcoming election.

If you didn’t read former Michigan Superintendent Tom Watkins’s op-ed on reforming government in the Detroit News, you should. I sent a link of the story to our our Republican members of the State Legislature. You can read it on my blog:

http://migop.blogs.com/blog/2008/03/reform-state-do.html

MIRS reported: The State of Michigan is facing revenue shortfalls totaling $383.6 million according to Senate Fiscal Agency Directory Gary Olson, who testified Thursday before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Be careful, sounds likes the Democrats are just looking for another excuse to raise your taxes.

THE REST OF THE STORY:

Here is the text of our press release:

LANSING – Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saulius “Saul” Anuzis today called on Governor Granholm and her campaign designates to release all federal income tax returns filed by her inaugural committee and to immediately pay nearly $20,000 in back taxes the IRS says the committee owes the federal government.

Yesterday, Michigan taxpayers learned that the IRS has placed a lien on the Granholm-Cherry Inaugural Committee because it didn’t pay $19,535 in federal taxes in 2003. In response, Granholm campaign spokesman Chris Dewitt said: “Our accountants filed tax returns with the IRS. We will take all appropriate measures to resolve this issue.”

“Governor Granholm can clear the air today by releasing the tax returns for her inaugural committee,” Anuzis said. “Governor Granholm has an obligation to the millions of Michigan taxpayers who manage to pay their taxes on time to clear up her delinquent tax issue immediately.”

Anuzis added that until the Governor releases the tax returns for the inaugural committee, the public cannot be certain the governor or her campaign organization is being forthright about whether it did pay the taxes it owes, contrary to the recent action by the IRS.

Questions that should be addressed to and answered by Governor Granholm and her campaign designates:

1) If this Michigan nonprofit corporation was dissolved in 2005, who is paying these accountants that spokesman Chris DeWitt says are handling this issue?

2) Similarly, who or what group will pay the taxes and penalties? And, with what money and from what source?

3) Since Granholm’s campaign spokesman reports that all tax returns were filled, when will they be released to the public?

4) What is the tax status of this inaugural committee?  If, it failed to apply for tax-exempt status, and it had funds in the bank as of Dec. 31, 2003 then this is “profit” upon which taxes are payable.

Saul Anuzis

STATE STORIES

http://battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/NEWS01/803080308

Cheney stumps for Walberg

Nick Schirripa

The Enquirer

During his third visit to

Calhoun

County

and his first time in

Marshall

, Vice President Dick Cheney spent a couple of hours Friday at an invitation-only fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton. It cost $500 per person — $1,000 if you wanted a photo with the veep — to get in the front door of Fred and Arlene Homann's Marshall home on 17 1/2-Mile Road, and Republicans were hoping Cheney's support might boost Walberg's chances against his likely opponent, state Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Bedford Township.

Cheney first visited

Battle Creek

in August 2004 when he campaigned for President George W. Bush's re-election. His second visit was in March 2005 for a Social Security town hall forum at

Kellogg

Community College

with former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Battle Creek. Local Republicans said Cheney's public support of Walberg puts local issues in a national spotlight and brings more attention to an important race for the Republican party. The Homanns' house was packed, upstairs and downstairs, said

county

Commissioner

Jase Bolger, R-Marshall, after attending the fundraiser. "I think any day you can talk to the second most powerful person in the world about your community is a good day," he said. "Vice President Cheney energized people and let them know how important the race is. It's getting a lot of attention." Bolger said Cheney talked about the importance of the 7th Congressional District race, how well the military surge is working in Iraq and the mission cannot be abandoned, as well as making tax cuts permanent before they expire in 2010. Brent Williams, a

Marshall

city council member and Walberg supporter, said Cheney stressed the importance of electing good conservatives to all levels of government.

http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/ELECTIONS01/803080332/1411/election

Biggest hurdle to do-over primary vote is money

Brewer says cost to

Michigan

could be up to $12 million

Kathy Barks Hoffman

Associated Press

Published March 8, 2008

The biggest stumbling block to doing over the Democratic primaries in

Michigan

and

Florida

may be the cost.  Michigan Democratic Chairman Mark Brewer estimates it would cost the state party $8 million to $12 million to set up party-run election sites and allow voting by mail or over the Internet.  Florida Democrats could be facing even higher costs. 

Michigan

and

Florida

both held January primaries but were stripped of their delegates for breaking Democratic National Committee rules by moving their contests to earlier dates. The national committee has suggested that the two states hold another round of presidential contests that would meet party rules and allow their delegates to be seated.

But with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a tight race for the nomination, setting up new elections isn't so simple.

Clinton

won both states' primaries, but all the Democratic candidates agreed not to campaign in either state, and Obama wasn't even on the ballot in

Michigan

.  Negotiations over what kind of do-over contests would be held and how they would be set up have been contentious. Neither side wants to give the other a possible advantage.  The state parties could pay for the contests by raising money from major Democratic donors. But the type of donors who have the deep pockets needed have already taken sides in the Democratic contest and would probably look for signals from the respective campaigns as to whether to help the states out.  Sen. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, who pushed for moving up Michigan's primary but has not endorsed a candidate, issued a statement Friday in which he said that he "doesn't see at this time a practical and fair way to hold a do-over election in Michigan given the immense financial and logistical hurdles."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080307/NEWS15/803070334/1215/NEWS15

$10-million hurdle to new vote: State Dems not sure how to pay

BY TODD SPANGLER, KATHLEEN GRAY and DAWSON BELL

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

March 7, 2008

WASHINGTON

-- Despite growing enthusiasm and encouragement in some quarters for new Democratic nominating contests in

Michigan

and

Florida

, officials raised concerns Thursday about the cost, who would pay and whether there's time to put them together.

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said a party-run presidential primary in the state would cost about $10 million -- money the party would have to find with the state not in position to pay.  "I think it just adds to the challenge" of having a do-over election, Brewer said. He has said such a contest is a long shot but acknowledges negotiations are ongoing.  Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, for one, appeared increasingly supportive of the idea Thursday. When asked on MSNBC whether

Michigan

and

Florida

would get a chance to vote again, Dean said: "I hope they will."  But Dean, too, said the DNC wouldn't be willing to solve what was becoming one of the biggest hurdles to the proposal that would seat Michigan's and Florida's currently disallowed delegates for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to the national convention -- the cost.  At the high end, it could total $30 million for two new primaries. That, combined with the intricate negotiations among Clinton's and Obama's campaign teams, the DNC and the states, could doom the idea -- which has many critics anyway.

In

Michigan

, it has split voters. Michigan Young Democrats, for instance, called Thursday for the state party to organize a caucus.  But voters like Dr. Barry Szczesny of Huntington Woods want no part of a second chance. A registered Republican, he filed for a Democratic ballot so he could vote for Obama in the Jan. 15 primary.  He felt cheated when he discovered he couldn't. Obama took his name off the ballot because the early primary violated party rules.  Still, Szczesny said Thursday, "there are no do-overs in life, bud. You make a rule and you follow it."  On Wednesday night, Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives from both states got together in private to discuss the proposal. Cost was a major issue. 

Michigan

and

Florida

were stripped of their combined 366 delegates to the convention as punishment for scheduling early primaries.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/NEWS06/803080308/1008

Michigan

do-over election hits a new wall

Obama rejects Granholm idea, state party says

BY KATHLEEN GRAY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

March 8, 2008

The obstacles to a do-over election to pick

Michigan

's delegates to the Democratic National Convention seemed to grow Friday, after Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign officials told the state's top party official that they wouldn't accept Gov. Jennifer Granholm's idea of a party-sponsored primary.  Granholm had suggested a "firehouse primary," which would allow Democrats to cast their ballots again sometime before June. It would cost about $10 million.  It would be the same procedure Democrats have used in past

Michigan

presidential caucuses. Polls would be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and any eligible voter who hadn't voted in the state's Jan. 15 Republican primary could participate. The voter must be a citizen who turns 18 by the November election and declares himself or herself a Democrat for the day.  Obama's campaign doesn't like the idea, said Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer.  "That's what I've been told by his campaign, but it's not my place to inquire about motivations," said Brewer, who said he thinks a do-over primary has serious financial and logistical problems.

"And we can't do anything without the agreement of both the campaigns," he added.  Sen. Hillary Clinton has done better in primaries, Obama in caucuses.  In a conference call with reporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe didn't address a do-over primary election, and the campaign did not respond to Free Press requests for comment.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/POLITICS01/803080369

DECISION 2008

Levin says do-over unlikely for Dems

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Senator says there's no 'practical and fair way' for revote, raises concerns about cost.

Mark Hornbeck and Deb Price / The Detroit News  U.S. Sen. Carl Levin doesn't see a fair or practical way to conduct a second-chance presidential contest in

Michigan

that will satisfy national party leaders and give the state's delegates a place at the Democratic National Convention in

Denver

this August. In his first statement since the controversial issue moved front and center this week,

Michigan

's influential senior senator undercut calls for a repeat primary or caucus. The national party won't recognize delegates from

Michigan

or

Florida

, because both states held January primaries earlier than allowed.

According to a statement issued by his office Friday, "Senator Levin doesn't see at this time a practical and fair way to hold a 'do-over' election in

Michigan

, given the immense financial and logistical hurdles, and in any event believes that a change in course would require acceptance by both candidates." Levin has been a leading advocate for national primary reform. He is on a four-member blue-ribbon team -- also including U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Democratic National Committeewoman Debbie Dingell -- that is working on a resolution with the Democratic National Committee and the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The foursome talked for about 30 minutes Friday. It will continue working with the DNC and the campaigns, and will hold another teleconference early next week.

Levin feels that any plan agreed to by the two campaigns should be given serious consideration by the party -- provided no taxpayer dollars are used.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/METRO/803080362/1409/METRO

Mayor's speech may draw snub

Some council members to stay offstage for the State of the City address to show discontent.

Christine MacDonald, Robert Snell and George Hunter / The

Detroit

News

Saturday, March 8, 2008

DETROIT -- City Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. said late Friday that he and some other council members likely will shun Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick on Tuesday by not sitting on the stage behind him when he gives the State of the City address as a protest in wake of the release of the mayor's secret deal to settle the $8.4 million whistle-blower settlements.  Cockrel said he might decide to sit in the audience at Orchestra Hall or skip the annual speech altogether. Cockrel said others on council have approached him about doing the same, but he wouldn't name them and said he couldn't say if it was a majority of the nine-member council.  "I just can't go on the stage behind this mayor and offer polite applause like some sort of political prop," Cockrel said. "I may just watch it in my office. I don't believe this mayor has made a sincere attempt to build a relationship with the City Council."  During Kilpatrick's State of the City addresses, council members traditionally sit on the stage behind him. The mayor's appointees, including the police chief and fire commissioner, sit in the first few rows of reserved seats.  But Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel said it would send the wrong message if she sat behind the mayor during his address. "I don't want to create an impression that I'm sanctioning the current crisis the city is facing," she said. "I will be there; I will be respectful -- but I'll be sitting in the audience." Councilman Kwame Kenyatta also will boycott the address, spokeswoman Tene Kaduma said Friday. "Basically, he thinks it's simply a pat-on-the-back, feel-good, self-congratulating event," Kaduma said. "He doesn't believe it's a true State of the City address, because the city is in a state of confusion. The problems that the city currently faces won't be detailed at all."

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/NEWS05/803080337/1003/NEWS01

Kilpatrick's speech to divide council

One member plans boycott; 2 others won't sit on stage

BY ZACHARY GORCHOW and SUZETTE HACKNEY

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

March 8, 2008

At least two members of the Detroit City Council will decline their traditional spots on stage as Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick delivers his State of

City

address Tuesday, and another will not attend the speech at all.  Council President Ken Cockrel Jr. and council members Sheila Cockrel and Kwame Kenyatta said Friday they cannot exhibit support for the mayor when he is mired in the text message scandal, faces possible criminal charges and actively deceived them into approving a whistle-blower lawsuit settlement that cost taxpayers more than $9 million.  "At this point in time, I just don't have any interest in sitting up on stage and politely applauding to what the mayor has to say," said Ken Cockrel, who may watch the speech in his office or sit in the audience. "There's a feeling on the part of some council members that this mayor no longer really has any credibility with them."  Sheila Cockrel said she'll sit in the audience.  "I'm not going to appear to be turning away from the fact that there is a crisis in leadership of the city of

Detroit

," she said.  Kenyatta, characterizing the city as being in a "state of confusion," said he would be out of town Tuesday but wouldn't attend the speech even if he were in

Detroit

.

"What I expect is the mayor to pat himself on the back," he said. Kilpatrick's seventh State of the City address, at Detroit Orchestra Hall, comes as the mayor faces a criminal investigation into possible perjury and obstruction of justice charges. In January, the Free Press published text messages that showed he and his former chief of staff lied under oath last summer when they denied having a sexual affair. The messages also showed they attempted to mislead jurors about the firing of a deputy police chief.  Ken Cockrel and Councilwoman Martha Reeves exchanged testy letters Friday about the seating situation. Reeves, who plans to sit on stage, accused Cockrel of a "scheme to divide and conquer." Cockrel wrote back that he was simply trying to inform her that several council members would not sit on stage when he broke the news in a phone message.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/METRO/803080371

Council seeks to join suit for texts

Panel files motion to intervene in newspapers' case seeking access to mayor's SkyTel messages.

Doug Guthrie and Christine MacDonald / The

Detroit

News

Saturday, March 8, 2008

DETROIT

-- In an unusual move, the City Council on Friday moved to join a lawsuit filed against the city by two newspapers seeking the release of controversial text messages between Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff as well as other documents related to the $8.4 million settlement of police whistle-blower cases.

Attorney William H. Goodman, special counsel to the nine-member panel, filed an emergency motion to intervene in the action brought by the Detroit Free Press and later joined by The Detroit News. The case, originally filed in early January, has resulted in the release of several documents that show the financial settlement of the cases was linked to Kilpatrick's efforts to keep the text messages out of public view.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert J. Colombo will consider the council's motion Friday.  We feel we did not get the information we should have gotten," Goodman said. "We want to be part of this because we want to know about all of the items discovered so far and we want to know what else might be available -- what else we might not yet know about."  The council was never told of the text messages or the secret settlement that kept them from public view. The motion to intervene notes that the city's lawyers only presented a settlement agreement that outlined the monetary terms of the deal: "The settlement was approved by the council without the benefit of advice from corporation counsel regarding any confidentiality agreement between the parties," the filing said.

Several council members have complained they might not have approved the settlement if they would have known all of its terms. They also complained that the city's legal department appeared to be representing the personal interest of the mayor rather than the city and the council.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080308/NEWS01/803080338/1003/NEWS01

Councilwomen: Did mayor dodge us to pay lawyer in stripper case?

Attorney says no: Council was told

BY ZACHARY GORCHOW

FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

March 8, 2008

Two Detroit City Council members questioned Friday whether Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration intended to circumvent the council when it paid an attorney representing the city in a lawsuit a retainer $50 less than what would have required council approval.  On Feb. 6, the city's Law Department approved a $24,950 retainer for Morganroth & Morganroth PLLC of Southfield for its representation of the city in a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the son of Tamara Greene, the stripper known as Strawberry who was shot to death in 2003.  Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel, chairwoman of the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee, said the amount is the first money paid for the city's defense in the case and is small for a retainer.  Both Cockrel and council President Pro Tem Monica Conyers said at a committee meeting that the move appeared designed to avoid the system, which requires council approval for contracts $25,000 and up.  "I think this is probably somebody's effort to get a deposit to a lawyer on an expedited basis in a case that's got a lot of scrutiny," Cockrel said.  A message left with Kilpatrick spokesman James Canning was not immediately returned.  Mayer Morganroth, the city's attorney in the case, said the council was well aware of the retainer's size because he and Law Department director John Johnson Jr. briefed council members about it in a closed session. "It's nothing that was hidden,'" he said. "It was discussed fully before it was ever disbursed."

NATIONAL STORIES

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703062.html

Race for Hastert's Seat Is Unexpectedly Close

Election Today in GOP-Held District

By Ben Pershing

washingtonpost.com Staff Writer

Saturday, March 8, 2008; Page A02

In a race that has become surprisingly close, voters will decide today whether a Republican dairy magnate or a Democratic scientist will fill out the remainder of former Republican House speaker J. Dennis Hastert's term in

Illinois

' 14th District.

Democrat Bill Foster and Republican Jim Oberweis are virtually deadlocked in what should be a solidly Republican district in the northern

Illinois

exurbs, according to polls and political observers. In the past few days, two independent political handicappers, Charlie Cook and Stuart Rothenberg, each have reassessed the contest as a toss-up instead of one that leans in favor of Oberweis. At least one poll has shown Foster with a slim lead in the final days of the campaign. Democrats are salivating over the possibility of picking up not just a Republican-held district but the one that had been the official seat of House GOP power for the eight years before Democrats' takeover in 2006. "Obviously, it would have huge symbolic significance," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "A Democratic win in this district would send a political shock wave through the systems." Because of that, the race has drawn heavy spending from

Washington

. Through Tuesday, the National Republican Congressional Committee had spent more than $1.2 million on the race, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The Democratic committee had spent just over $1 million, with the largest chunk going for $346,000 worth of advertising on Monday. Foster, a physicist and businessman, and Oberweis, who heads a large dairy company, have eagerly sought the help of their parties' presidential candidates. On Tuesday, Foster released a new ad featuring

Illinois

favorite son Barack Obama.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703061.html

'THE NEXT PHASE'

Paul Ends His Campaign

Ron Paul blazed trails with his prodigious Web fundraising.

(Evan Vucci - AP)

Saturday, March 8, 2008; Page A08

Rep. Ron Paul has ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, breaking the news in a seven-minute video posted on his campaign Web site Thursday. The Texan, who ran on a libertarian platform and saw an outpouring of financial support via the Internet, tried to soothe anxious supporters by letting them know that his "campaign for freedom will continue in this new phase." While his campaign will not formally organize events, he encouraged supporters to continue to work on behalf of a broader movement. "I don't mind playing a key role in this revolution, but it has to be more than a Ron Paul revolution," he said. "Our job now is to plan for the next phase."

Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton confirmed that the video means the candidate recognizes he will not be the nominee. "Winding down" is how

Benton

described the next phase of the campaign. "Dr. Paul acknowledges that he will not be the nominee but will continue to travel to address supporters and encourage grass-roots activism to influence the process and return the Republican Party to its traditions of limited government and personal freedom,"

Benton

said. So, what's this next phase going to look like? A book tour, of course. Paul tells supporters in his video that the message of liberty that suffused his bid for president will soon be available for study at home. "A more detailed outline of this message has now been put into book form, titled 'The Revolution: A Manifesto,' and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com," he said.

Paul also noted that he will continue to raise money -- something he did better than just about any other Republican during the past year -- for his political action committee and his educational nonprofit, the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (FREE).

His final words to supporters: "Let us all stick together in this great cause of liberty and show the love that we all share for our country and the Constitution. Thank you for joining in."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/8906.html

A tough spring ahead for McCain?

By: Jeanne Cummings

Mar 7, 2008 06:27 PM EST

In any other cycle, John McCain’s ability to secure the Republican nomination while the Democrats fight on would present a big opportunity to his campaign. But the 2008 presidential campaign already is defying almost all historical precedents, and that may be the case for McCain's spring advantage, as well. The signs of a new dynamic already are emerging. Unlike previous early nominees, McCain isn’t likely to ever have a financial advantage over his adversary. More nettlesome, though, is the simple fact that McCain doesn’t even have an adversary yet. Two weeks ago, the

Arizona

senator aimed his fire at Hillary Rodham Clinton. Last week, it was Barack Obama who was the butt of his snipes. Given the way the Democratic primary is going, McCain could grow dizzy trying to figure out who should be his target from one week to the next. This is not the way the traditional spring season plays out. One need look back only four years to see the textbook version.  When Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry captured his party’s nomination in February, he was relatively unknown nationally and flat broke.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080308/NATION/486460353/1028/election

McCain courts skeptics in conservative alliance

By Ralph Z. Hallow

NEW ORLEANS — Sen. John McCain yesterday got mixed reviews from some of the conservative movement's top donors and leaders after he addressed — and then took questions from — members of the secretive Council for National Policy.

"We didn't lose the 2006 [congressional] elections because of Iraq, but because of runaway spending," the putative Republican presidential nominee told the annual winter meeting of the CNP, some of whose members are skeptical at best of his claims to represent their views and goals in his bid for the presidency.  He drew cheers and applause when he said he would veto a spending bill that had earmarks and vowed to use the bully pulpit of the presidency to "make famous" the names of lawmakers who author such pork-barrel spending measures.  Speaking without notes and without hesitation, he strode energetically back and forth across the stage at the Ritz Carlton in the city's French Quarter, making his points and calling on people who had raised their hands, according to audience members reached afterward.  Generally, Mr. McCain, a strong supporter of the

Iraq

war, has no problems with the "war hawks" in the conservative movement and is considered at least acceptable by fiscal and anti-tax conservatives. He addressed these issues in his speech but didn't get around to social and religious subjects until they were raised by audience members in the question and answer session.  "He did a great job of addressing fiscal conservative issues and defense conservative issues," said Rep. Doug Lamborn, Colorado Republican. "What he needs to do is start talking about social issues."

http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12862

Special Report

Fighting Words

By Shawn Macomber

Published 3/7/2008 12:08:44 AM

NEW YORK

-- After two days of toiling through an ocean of charts, graphs and complicated mathematical equations, attendees of the Heartland Institute's 2008 International Conference on Climate Change in

Manhattan

were provided a starker, significantly less esoteric warning from the president of the

Czech Republic

over breakfast Tuesday morning. "It is not about climatology," the recently re-elected, Mises and Hayek-quoting Vaclav Klaus intoned darkly. "It is about freedom."  As the sole head of state willing to stand before the self-congratulatory United Nations Climate Change Conference last September and loudly register his dissent from the international groupthink on anthropogenic (i.e. manmade) global warming, Klaus was already a highly-regarded hero in these skeptic quarters. His speech this week, however, went far beyond his UN confrontation in terms of both its relentless defiance -- try to imagine a more scathing indictment of messianic environmentalists than Klaus's description of them as "imprisoned in the Malthusian tenets and in their own megalomaniac ambitions" -- and the Czech president's willingness to draw explicit comparisons between modern environmentalism and communism:   If I am not wrong I am the only speaker from a former communist country and I have to use this as a comparative -- paradoxically -- advantage. Each one of us has his or her experiences, prejudices and preferences. The ones that I have are, quite inevitably, connected with the fact that I have spent most of my life under the communist regime. A week ago I gave a speech at an official gathering at the

Prague

Castle

commemorating the 60th anniversary of the 1948 communist putsch in the former

Czechoslovakia

. One of the arguments of my speech there...went as follows: "Future dangers will not come from the same source. The ideology will be different. Its essence will, nevertheless, be identical. The attractive, pathetic, at first noble idea that transcends the individual in the name of the common good, and the enormous self-confidence on the side of its proponents about their right to sacrifice man and his freedom in order to make this idea a reality." What I had in mind was, of course, environmentalism and its current strongest version, climate alarmism.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V95MBG0&show_article=1&catnum=3

Clinton, Obama Face Off in

Wyoming

 

Mar 8 04:21 AM US/Eastern

By MEAD GRUVER

Associated Press Writer

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Sen. Barack Obama sought to regain lost momentum in Wyoming's caucuses days after rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's nearly clean sweep of major primaries in their tight Democratic presidential race. Twelve national convention delegates are at stake Saturday in caucuses around the state, a small but critical prize in the close race for the party's nod. The epic battle between Clinton and Obama has given the state's Democrats—outnumbered more than 2-to-1 by Republicans—a relevancy they haven't experienced in a presidential race in nearly 50 years.

Clinton

won victories Tuesday in primaries in

Texas

,

Ohio

and

Rhode Island

, reviving her candidacy. But Obama has prevailed in 12 of the 15 caucuses, which rely on greater campaign organization and voter commitment than primaries. A winner has not been declared in

Texas

' caucuses; the state held both last Tuesday. "

Wyoming

is usually not thought of as a momentum state, but it happens to fall on a calendar at a good time for both of them," said Kenneth Bickers, political science chair at the

University

of

Colorado

who is an expert in Western politics. "Both of them need to be able to claim a victory. Both of them need whatever delegates they can get to help move their delegate count in a positive direction." About 59,000 registered Democrats are eligible to participate in

Wyoming

's 23 county caucuses. A victory in

Wyoming

would boost the winner going into this Tuesday's primary in

Mississippi

, where Obama is again favored because of the state's significant black population. Only in the last few weeks have the campaigns stepped up their presence in

Wyoming

, opening offices and calling voters and sending mailers. The first visit came Thursday, when former President Clinton made three appearances in

Wyoming

. The candidates followed on Friday.

Clinton

held town-hall meetings in

Casper

and

Cheyenne

. Obama held a town hall in

Casper

and a rally in

Laramie

at the

University

of

Wyoming

, counting on support from college students. Obama has been running television and radio ads in the state, while

Clinton

has been running radio ads.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/08/us/politics/08adviser.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

Obama Camp Sees Fine Line in Hitting Back

CASPER

,

Wyo.

— Since opening his presidential bid 14 months ago, Senator Barack Obama of

Illinois

has answered many questions about his candidacy.  Can he turn inspiration into votes? Yes. Can he raise money? Yes. Can his organization compete with the political muscle of one of the best-known families in Democratic politics? Yes.

But after his defeats this week at the hands of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, there is frustration and anger among his supporters, advisers and contributors about the Clinton campaign’s attacks on him — and still-unresolved tension about how far he can go in striking back without sacrificing his claim to be practicing a new brand of politics.

The conflict was given new life on Friday when Samantha Power, a close friend and a senior foreign policy adviser to Mr. Obama, resigned after referring to Mrs. Clinton, of

New York

, as “a monster.”   While Ms. Power, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, apologized for remarks she called “inexcusable,” the incident underscored the hard feelings that have developed over a long primary race that is probably months from ending.  Mr. Obama, who did not publicly acknowledge Ms. Power’s comment when he arrived here Friday on the eve of the Democratic caucuses in Wyoming, privately admonished members of his staff to avoid being drawn into an unnecessary negative back-and-forth with rivals. Asked about the incident by a reporter at a campaign stop here, he said he had not “been drawn into a knife fight.”  Yet after losing in Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas — following days of being pummeled — advisers to Mr. Obama conceded they had to take a sharper tack as the Democratic nominating fight slogs forward in a delegate-by-delegate battle.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V8SRR80&show_article=1&catnum=3

Obama Defends His Mettle, Judgment 

Mar 7 06:18 PM US/Eastern

By CHARLES BABINGTON

Associated Press Writer

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - Looking ahead to Saturday's caucus, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama had to cope with some pesky issues of the recent week, defending himself against an ad that ran in Texas and the fallout from a former adviser's remarks.

His presidential rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, won the

Ohio

and

Texas

primaries Tuesday after questioning Obama's fitness to handle crises. On

Wyoming

's friendlier landscape, where he is expected to win Saturday, Obama seemed determined to ease voters' minds—and to take a few jabs at

Clinton

. Speaking in a crowded gym in

Casper

on Friday, Obama alluded to

Clinton

's

Texas

ad, which suggested that only she has the experience and mettle to handle a national crisis at 3 a.m. "That is designed to feed into your fears," Obama said. Alternating between humor and disdain to make his points, he said: "What do people think I'm going to do? I'm going to answer the phone."

As the crowd laughed and applauded, he continued: "I will find out what's going on, and I won't be browbeaten into launching a war that wasn't necessary." Friday's town-hall event was Obama's first major public appearance since the Tuesday setbacks, and he appeared feisty, even though his own campaign put him on the defensive to some degree.

Without prompting from the audience, he alluded to a former adviser's reported remarks suggesting that Obama, as president, might remove

U.S.

troops from

Iraq

more gradually than he has promised.

Clinton

"used this to try to imply that I wasn't serious about bringing this war to an end," Obama said. "If it had been up to me, we would have never been in this war. It was because of George Bush, with an assist from Hillary Clinton and John McCain, that we got into this war." As the crowd cheered, Obama vowed to end the war in 2009. He said

Clinton

"doesn't have standing to question my position on this issue" because she voted to authorize the war in 2002, as did McCain, the Republican presidential candidate.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080308/COMMENTARY/738839668/1028/election

Let Obama be Obama

By Victor Davis Hanson

March 8, 2008

Liberal Democrats from the North haven't had much success in recent presidential elections — not Hubert Humphrey, not George McGovern, not Walter Mondale, not Mike Dukakis and not John Kerry. Democratic Southerners — Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton — have done quite a bit better.  Sen. Barack Obama, of

Illinois

, knows this history. So why does he think he can be the first Northern liberal Democratic president since John F. Kennedy edged out Richard Nixon almost a half-century ago?

(1) There is no incumbent president or vice president running for the first time in more than 50 years. Add a controversial war, an unpopular incumbent and a shaky economy, and you have a wide-open race full of voters rethinking things as never before.

(2) As the first African-American candidate to seriously contend for either party's nomination, Mr. Obama offers Americans a sort of collective redemption at home and admiration abroad.  When Obama's wife, Michelle, said she had never been proud of America until her husband ran for office, she made explicit what seems to be the campaign's implicit contract: Vote for Mr. Obama and, at last, America, you can prove you are not a racist country and finally heal centuries-old wounds.  Many Americans are also tired of the flag-burning, embassy-storming and other virulent — and often violent — anti-Americanism broadcast into our homes from overseas. They apparently hope a young President Obama would recast the

United States

as a hip, likable multicultural society, marking an end to the stereotype of the

U.S.

as a stodgy white-guy superpower.

(3) Most important, Mr. Obama still continues to talk in platitudes of hope and change. His delivery is excellent and so far how he speaks rather than what he says is what has mesmerized crowds. Indeed, if Mr. Obama were honestly to articulate in any detail what he has stood for, his long laundry list of new taxes and social programs might not be so warmly received.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703318.html

Downside of Obama Strategy

Losses in Big States Spur General-Election Fears

By Jonathan Weisman and Shailagh Murray

Washington

Post Staff Writers

Saturday, March 8, 2008; Page A01

Democrats in

Wyoming

will hold caucuses today and -- following what is now a familiar pattern -- are expected to give Sen. Barack Obama the majority of their 12 pledged delegates.  The Illinois Democrat's strength in a Republican state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964 is the latest example of an ingenious strategy that neatly addresses the advantage Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) enjoys in Democratic strongholds where she and her husband have long-standing ties.

But Obama's losses Tuesday in Texas and Ohio -- coupled with his Feb. 5 defeats in California, New York and New Jersey -- have not only shown the strategy's downside. They have also given supporters of

Clinton

an opening for an argument that winning over affluent, educated white voters in small Democratic enclaves, such as

Boise

,

Idaho

, and

Salt Lake City

, and running up the score with African Americans in the Republican South exaggerate his strengths in states that will not vote Democratic in the fall.

If Obama becomes the Democratic nominee but cannot win support from working-class whites and Hispanics, they argue, then Democrats will not retake the White House in November. "If you can't win in the Southwest, if you don't win

Ohio

, if you don't win

Pennsylvania

, you've got problems in November," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), a

Clinton

supporter.  Even some Obama advisers see a real problem. "Ultimately, all that matters is how the nominee stacks up against John McCain," said one adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity, referring to the senator from

Arizona

and presumptive GOP nominee. "Right now, Barack is not connecting with the children of the Reagan Democrats. That's a real concern."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/huntley/830209,CST-EDT-hunt07.article

Sorry, Sen. Obama, eight isn't enough

March 7, 2008

STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley.cst@gmail.com

'Guys, I mean come on. I just answered like eight questions."

With those few words, Barack Obama ended a

Texas

news conference where he had come under tough questioning about influence peddler Tony Rezko from Sun-Times columnists Carol Marin and Lynn Sweet and CBS2 reporter Mike Flannery. In fact, Obama dodged the questions. Try to imagine President Bush, fleeing questions coming at him fast and furious over a controversy, closing a news conference by saying, "Come on, I just answered like eight questions." Democrats in Congress and liberal interest groups would be shouting coverup. The editorial pages of the national newspapers would be thundering outrage. The late night comedians and left-wing blogs would be heaping ridicule on him. Or contrast Obama's avoidance strategy to John McCain's response to what was universally considered a shoddy New York Times story. It alleged two disillusioned McCain aides eight years ago thought he might have had a romantic relationship with a lobbyist. McCain met with reporters and took every question they had about the article.  Obama is lucky the Rezko affair is a

Chicago

issue with which national reporters are unfamiliar. And, given what's known today, it's hard to see how the Rezko case could wound Obama's political ambitions. But for that reason, it's hard to understand his reluctance to answer questions from the

Chicago

investigative reporters who know the Rezko issues best.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080308/NATION/627094928/1028/election

Obama aide resigns in 'monster' brouhaha

By Christina Bellantoni and Valerie Richardson

March 8, 2008

A top adviser to Sen. Barack Obama resigned yesterday for calling Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton a "monster" in a news interview, as the Democratic presidential rivals dropped into

Wyoming

for their first and final campaigning before today's caucuses.

Samantha Power, a key foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign, stepped down with "deep regret," calling her remarks "inexcusable" and out of sync with her "oft-stated admiration" for Mrs. Clinton and with Mr. Obama's attempts to keep the campaign positive.  In a story published in a recent issue of the Scotsman in

Edinburgh

, Ms. Power said: "She is a monster, too — that is off the record — she is stooping to anything.

"You just look at her and think, 'Ergh,' ... But if you are poor and she is telling you some story about how Obama is going to take your job away, maybe it will be more effective. The amount of deceit she has put forward is really unattractive," said the Harvard professor, who was in

Scotland

promoting a book.  The remarks drew swift rebuke from the Obama campaign and

Clinton

supporters, who said they were out of line.

"We don't need attacks on a person's character. We need a civil contest," said Rep. Nita Lowey, New York Democrat.  Meanwhile, yesterday,

Wyoming

was basking in the unaccustomed spotlight, voting at a crucial time in the Democratic nominating process — today. Only

Wyoming

and

Mississippi

— both Republican-leaning states — vote between now and the April 22

Pennsylvania

primary, and Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama went there yesterday to continue their exchange over the Scotsman flap.  Mr. Obama rallied overflow crowds in speeches at the

Casper

Recreation

Center

and the

University

of

Wyoming

in

Laramie

. Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton crossed paths with her rival for the nomination in appearances at

Laramie

County

Community College

and

Casper

College

.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8V8TBRO0&show_article=1&catnum=3

Clinton

Lowers Expectations in

Wyo.

 

Mar 7 06:52 PM US/Eastern

By SARA KUGLER

Associated Press Writer

CHEYENNE

,

Wyo.

(AP) - A day before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were to compete for a small scattering of delegates in

Wyoming

,

Clinton

cast herself as the underdog and said the odds are not in her favor.

Clinton

's campaign has sought to set low expectations for the Saturday caucuses in

Wyoming

as well as next week's primary in

Mississippi

, states where her campaign believes Obama has a better shot at winning. "I said, 'Well you know what, I'm going to go to Wyoming anyway—I know it's an uphill climb, I'm aware of that," Clinton told an audience of more than 1,500 at a community college in Cheyenne. "But, you see, I am a fighter, and I believe it's worth fighting for your votes." She set a similar tone while campaigning in

Mississippi

Thursday night and Friday morning. She said a win for her in that state would be a heavy lift because of Obama's appeal there. Twelve delegates will be awarded in

Wyoming

's caucuses, followed by 33 on Tuesday in

Mississippi

. The relatively small number of delegates in these states, not seen as important weeks ago, have gained value now that the race is down to a numbers game, following

Clinton

's triple-win this week in

Texas

,

Ohio

and

Rhode Island

, where she narrowed the gap with Obama.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=prnw.20080308.NYSA003&show_article=1&catnum=3

NEWSWEEK POLL: The Stalemate Continues, Hillary Clinton has Battled Back to a Virtual Dead Heat With Barack Obama 

Mar 7 07:22 PM US/Eastern

NEW YORK

, March 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Sen. Hillary Clinton's primary victories in

Texas

,

Ohio

and

Rhode Island

have revived her near-dead campaign and brought her into a statistical dead heat with Sen. Barack Obama among registered Democrats and Democratic leaners, according to a new national Newsweek Poll. The survey found that

Clinton

has erased the once-commanding lead that Obama held in most national polls following his 11 straight victories in February's primaries and caucuses. Obama is the favored nominee among 45 percent of Democrats, compared with 44 percent for

Clinton

, according to the poll, which was based on telephone interviews with 1,215 registered voters March 5-6. The poll also found that Democratic voters are ready to rally around the candidate they trust most to improve the economy, amid fears of a recession. But neither candidate has been able to lock up that issue, or many others, and the vast majority (69 percent) of Democratic voters now support the idea of a "dream ticket" -- leaving aside the crucial question of who runs on top. What's striking is that the fundamentals remain largely the same. Obama gets overwhelming support from blacks (80 percent to 10 percent), those under 40 (60 percent to 35 percent) and voters who have graduated from college (50 percent to 41 percent); Hillary wins the majority of whites (53 percent to 35 percent), voters over 60 (51 percent to 33 percent) and those who have a high- school education or less (48 percent to 38 percent). Along gender lines, Obama wins male voters by a 10-point margin (50 percent to 40 percent), while

Clinton

retains her lead with female voters (46 percent to 40 percent).

http://www.newsweek.com/id/119851

What If There is No Back Room?

The search for a way out of the Democrats' dilemma.

By Eleanor Clift

Mar 7, 2008

No matter who wins the remaining primaries, there's no way for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton to capture enough delegates to reach the magic number of 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination. The decision will then fall to the superdelegates, elected officials and party people often demonized in the media as hacks or backroom operators. A majority of them will swing behind one or the other candidate—likely Hillary Clinton—boosting her over the top even if she lags behind Barack Obama in the pledged delegate count. And they will do this dastardly deed behind closed doors, in the electronic equivalent of the smoke-filled room, plotting over cell phones and making their decision based on implied favors and self-interest. This is the nightmare scenario. The good news for Democrats is that the excitement of two historic candidates generated hundreds of thousands of new voters; the bad news is half of them won't show up in November. But wait, things could get worse, or maybe better, depending on your perspective. What happens if the superdelegates are just like the rest of the voters—i.e., they can't definitively decide between these two candidates? "What happens if they split the superdelegates?" asks an adviser to the

Clinton

campaign. The roughly 350 superdelegates who have not yet endorsed are all free agents. There's nothing that says they have to act in concert, and they'll work to avoid anything that fuels conspiracy theories. "My real worry is there is no back room," says this adviser.

Clinton

says she'll go all the way to the convention in August. If there's a stalemate, the superdelegates could decide to pass on the first ballot to test the candidates' strength at that juncture. We could then be way back to the future, the first time in the modern reform age that a candidate is not chosen on the first ballot.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/B/BUSH_TORTURE?SITE=MIBAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Bush to Veto Waterboarding Bill

By JENNIFER LOVEN

Associated Press Writer

Mar 8, 6:24 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush is poised to veto legislation that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding - a technique that simulates drowning - and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects. The president planned to talk about the veto in his Saturday radio address. Bush has said the bill would harm the government's ability to prevent future attacks. Supporters of the legislation argue that it preserves the

United States

' right to collect critical intelligence while boosting the country's moral standing abroad.  "The bill would take away one of the most valuable tools on the war on terror, the CIA program to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives," deputy White House press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday.  The bill would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.

The legislation would bar the CIA from using waterboarding, sensory deprivation or other coercive methods to break a prisoner who refuses to answer questions. Those practices were banned by the military in 2006, but the president wants the harsh interrogation methods to be a part of the CIA's toolbox.  Backers of the legislation, which cleared the House in December and won Senate approval last month, say the interrogation methods used by the military are sufficient.  "President Bush's veto will be one of the most shameful acts of his presidency," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement Friday. "Unless Congress overrides the veto, it will go down in history as a flagrant insult to the rule of law and a serious stain on the good name of

America

in the eyes of the world."

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1078626

Hill’s not hesitant in hinting at Clinton/Obama ticket in ’08

By Associated Press

Saturday, March 8, 2008

HATTIESBURG

,

Miss.

- Sen. Hillary Clinton yesterday again raised the possibility that she might run with rival Sen. Barack Obama on the same presidential ticket.  Speaking to voters in

Mississippi

, where Sen. Barack Obama is expected to do well in next week’s primary,

Clinton

said, “I’ve had people say, ‘Well I wish I could vote for both of you.’ Well, that might be possible some day. But first I need your vote on Tuesday.”

It is the second time this week that she has hinted at a joint ticket with Obama; he has not ruled it out but says it is premature to be having those discussions.  The town hall meeting at a train depot in

Hattiesburg

was

Clinton

’s second appearance in

Mississippi

, where 33 delegates will be allocated in its Democratic primary Tuesday.

Clinton

has already sought to lower expectations for the contest in this state where Obama is expected to do well, largely because of his increasing appeal among black voters. 

Mississippi

’s population is 37 percent black.  “I know that I may have an uphill battle here in the state, I appreciate that,”

Clinton

said.  But even if she does not win the state,

Clinton

is trying to collect as many delegates as she can now that the race has turned into a numbers game; she slightly narrowed the gap with Obama this week when she won primaries in

Ohio

,

Texas

and

Rhode Island

.  Perhaps mindful that her audiences in

Mississippi

might view Obama favorably,

Clinton

has leaned more toward criticizing the Bush administration and has mostly refrained from direct attacks on her opponent.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MCCAIN_AIR_FORCE_TANKERS?SITE=MIBAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Boeing Supporters Target McCain

By MATTHEW DALY

Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Angry Boeing supporters are vowing revenge against Republican presidential candidate John McCain over Chicago-based Boeing's loss of a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract to the parent company of European plane maker Airbus.  There are other targets for their ire - the Air Force, the defense secretary and even the entire Bush administration.  But Boeing supporters in Congress are directing their wrath at McCain, the

Arizona

senator and nominee in waiting, for scuttling an earlier deal that would have let Boeing build the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers. Boeing now will miss out on a deal that it says would have supported 44,000 new and existing jobs at the company and suppliers in 40 states.  "I hope the voters of this state remember what John McCain has done to them and their jobs," said Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., whose state would have been home to the tanker program and gained about 9,000 jobs.  "Having made sure that

Iraq

gets new schools, roads, bridges and dams that we deny

America

, now we are making sure that

France

gets the jobs that Americans used to have," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. "We are sending the jobs overseas, all because John McCain demanded it."  The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its

U.S.

partner, Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, won a competition with Boeing Feb. 29 to build the refueling planes in one of the biggest Pentagon contracts in decades. The unexpected decision has sparked outrage from union halls to the halls of Congress over the impact on

U.S.

jobs, prestige and national security. EADS and Northrop say about 60 percent of their tanker will be built in the

U.S.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0743811820080308?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Senate tax panel claims power over

U.S.

farm law

Fri Mar 7, 2008 10:03pm EST

By Charles Abbott

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Finance Committee clearly has control over $10 billion of outlays in the farm bill but it should not be a barrier to strong U.S. farm policy, committee staff workers said on Friday.  Congress is months behind schedule for enacting an omnibus farm law covering crop subsidy, public nutrition, export, land stewardship and biofuel programs. A dispute over committee jurisdiction was the latest hurdle for action.  Leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture committees said on Thursday they would not surrender authority over farm policy in the new farm law.

"We're all for shared responsibility to complete this farm bill, and with the clock ticking, it is critical that the Senate Finance Committee come together with the Senate Agriculture Committee to work out the funding for the bill rather than use memos to the media to debate jurisdiction," said Kate Cyrul, spokeswoman for the Senate Agriculture Committee.  Staff workers for Senate Finance Committee leaders wrote in a memo to reporters, "For the sake of

America

's farm families, we in the Senate should acknowledge our shared responsibility to complete this bill and all pull together to get it done." The memo said negotiations were under way on the spending offsets to pay for the farm bill.

The memo said the Finance Committee "wrote and holds jurisdiction over a number of elements in the Senate-passed farm bill," including disaster aid and some stewardship work. Jurisdiction held by the Finance Committee "should raise no opposition to completion of strong farm legislation," it said.  At issue are a $5.1 billion disaster relief fund for agriculture, $3.8 billion in tax credits offered in lieu of cash rental for enrollment of land in the Conservation, Wetlands and grassland reserves, and $1.8 billion in tax credits for landowners who take steps to aid the survival of endangered species.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080307222557.m4389f2y&show_article=1&catnum=3

Bush, Putin discuss NATO summit: Kremlin 

Mar 7 05:26 PM US/Eastern

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his

US

counterpart George W. Bush discussed an upcoming NATO-Russia summit in a telephone conversation Friday, according to the White House and the Kremlin. It was the first publicly disclosed conversation the two leaders had since Putin protegee Dmitry Medvedev became

Russia

's president-elect in a landslide election on March 2 -- and both sides were stingy with details. "The heads of state examined questions on the international agenda, particularly in light of preparations for the Russia-NATO Council meeting," a Kremlin statement said. The White House did not mention the exchange until questioned, and national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe would only say that "they had a good conversation ahead of the NATO summit." Putin is planning to attend the meeting in

Bucharest

on April 2-4, which will take place on the sidelines of a full NATO members summit. Bush will attend the alliance gathering. Tensions are high between

Moscow

and its Western partners over NATO's expansion drive, US plans to install anti-missile defences in central Europe and

Russia

's suspension of a key Cold War-era arms pact.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0762582620080308?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Puerto Rico

seeks greater voice in Democratic race

Fri Mar 7, 2008 7:59pm ES

By John Marino

SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Lured by the possibility of casting decisive votes in the White House race between Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Democrats in Puerto Rico have decided to hold a full primary rather than a more casual, and less well-attended, caucus.  The decision on Thursday night by Democrats on the U.S. island in the Caribbean, which does not actually get to vote in the presidential election itself in November, could prove to be a boost for Clinton, for Hispanic votes in primaries held so far have gone heavily for her.  The change was prompted by the continued tightness of the battle between Obama and Clinton to represent the Democratic Party in the presidential ballot, party officials said.  Local Democrats usually hold caucuses because the race is normally long-decided before the island votes, which will be on June 1.

"Everybody was under the impression the vote would be over by February, but time has proved us wrong," said attorney Roberto Prats,

Puerto Rico

's Democratic Party chairman.

A Democratic caucus would have entailed informal gatherings at eight different places, with votes being taken by supporters moving to different parts of the room.

But in the primary, Puerto Ricans will be able to cast ballots at about 3,000 polling stations across the island in the privacy of a polling booth.  Puerto Rican elections have among the highest voter participation rates in the world.  With enthusiasm for this race expected to be especially high, party leaders felt a caucus would get chaotic, especially since local Democrats are split between those who support turning Puerto Rico into a U.S. state and those who want to maintain its commonwealth status.  "We felt the eyes of the world would be on us, and we wanted to vote the way we are used to voting," Prats said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0736296220080308?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=22&sp=true

U.S.

, Iraqi officials in

Baghdad

say no date for talks

Sat Mar 8, 2008 4:57am ES

BAGHDAD

(Reuters) -

U.S.

and Iraqi officials in

Baghdad

said there was no firm date for senior officials from both sides to start talks on future relations, after a spokesman in

Washington

said they would start on Saturday.  Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the talks would begin in earnest on Saturday and that ambassador Ryan Crocker would lead the

U.S.

delegation.  "There is no starting gun today for these talks. We'll just kind of evolve along,"

U.S.

embassy spokesman Phil Reeker said.  Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh also said there were no talks scheduled for Saturday.  He said when the talks began they would focus on security and the future role of the

U.S.

military, diplomatic and political relations between

Baghdad

and

Washington

, and economic and cultural ties.  Preparations for the talks have been under way for some time but no firm start date has been set. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari has said he hopes the pact will be concluded by July.  Crocker told Reuters in January the pact would frame the bilateral relationship for "years and even decades ahead".