Articles of Interest 4-24-08
195 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land joined Attorney General Mike Cox in putting both of their department’s budgets on the web. The two Republican departments are leading the way towards “transparency” on behalf of the taxpayers. See the SOS press release below. Some 20 editorials around the state have come out in support of government transparency!
The Oakland County Republican’s L. Brooks Patterson “roast” was held last night. Wow, what a night. This event was a fundraiser to assist the GOP County Commissioners expand their majority on the county board. Congratulations to Oakland County GOP Chairman Dennis Cowan and his team!
Pizza and Politics was on the Road in Crawford County last night, helping to recruit precinct delegates. We had around 35 people in attendance from across northern Michigan. Party leadership from Lake, Roscommon, Crawford, Wexford, and Charlevoix counties were in attendance. We owe a special thanks to Hank Fuhs and Marlene Chockley for helping make this event a success.
A couple of folks sent me a link to this new website, Mitt for VP. Just sharing it with all you Mitt fans… http://www.mittforvp.com/
SAVE THE DATE: Our Max Fischer Presidential Gala Dinner is tentatively set for May 29th in the metro Detroit area. This is one of our major fundraising events designed to fund our fall Victory efforts.
THE REST OF THE STORY
MIDLAND — In response to an inquiry from the Midland-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Michigan Department of State announced today it would begin quarterly posting on the Internet of detailed reports of the department’s expenditures. The Mackinac Center’s request to the department was part of the Center’s new “Show Michigan the Money” Project (see showmichiganthemoney.org), an initiative to encourage state and local governments to make their checkbook spending directly available to the public.
“The office of Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land has opened its books to Michigan taxpayers to an unprecedented degree for a state agency in Michigan,” said Kenneth M. Braun, the Mackinac Center policy analyst in charge of the Show Michigan the Money Project. “She’s placed online the department’s payments to the penny for everything from building leases to safety equipment.”
“I commend the Mackinac Center for its commitment to government accountability and taxpayer rights,” Land said. “The Department of State is proud of its stewardship of tax dollars and is pleased to take a leadership role in this cutting-edge initiative.”
The Center’s Show Michigan the Money Project was initiated on March 13, 2008, with the announcement of the “School Checkbook Transparency Project,” which aims to open up the check registers of Michigan’s public school districts and place them in accessible and comprehensible form on the Internet. The Center has also made available the collective bargaining contracts for every Michigan school district and other key transparency projects as part of its MichiganTransparency.org Web site.
The Center chose to approach the Secretary of State’s office before contacting other state departments because, as Braun noted: “This department has a diverse mission, handling everything from boat trailer license plates to campaign finance violations. If they can open up their expenditures, other state departments should be able to do the same.” Braun also acknowledged efforts by other Michigan agencies to improve transparency, including the online checkbooks posted by the Montrose Community Schools and the St. Clair County Regional Educational Service Agency, as well as the first steps taken toward spending transparency by the Michigan Office of the Attorney General.
The Center will seek to persuade other state departments to follow the Secretary of State’s example, starting with the Michigan State Police, Department of Human Services and Department of Corrections, each of which appeared to violate the state constitution in 2006 by overspending their budgets.
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/OPINION01/804240312/1007/OPINION
Unwise pay legislation sends wrong message
House bills involve government in private sector wage issues
The Detroit News
Thursday, April 24, 2008
With many Michigan firms being socked with higher taxes and the auto industry still struggling, the Michigan House's majority party has opted to pass legislation that would have state government needlessly insert itself into companies' private pay decisions. This week the House adopted legislation that would amend the state's landmark Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to require employers to provide equal pay for jobs of "comparable value." Earlier this year the House passed a bill that would create a commission to develop definitions of comparable wages. Members of the commission would be appointed from the United Auto Workers, AFL-CIO, Michigan Women's Commission, National Association of Women Michigan chapter, Michigan Women's Studies Commission, state Civil Rights Department, state Economic Development Corporation, Michigan Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Association.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/POLITICS/804240350/1022/POLITICS
Michigan Senate OKs business tax breaks
Dems say bill would cost state $254M it needs, but backers say proposal critical for some companies.
David Eggert / Associated Press
Thursday, April 24, 2008
LANSING -- The state Senate this week approved tax breaks to help small- and medium-sized companies that critics say are being hammered by Michigan's new business tax, but Democrats warned state government can't afford a $254 million loss in revenue. The legislation passed 23-15 Tuesday, with Republicans voting yes and all but two Democrats opposing it. Democrats were rebuffed when they tried to tie the tax breaks to their bill extending unemployment benefits for 13 weeks. Under the GOP measure, an estimated 10,000-15,000 additional businesses could start paying a 1.8 percent tax as an alternative to the Michigan Business Tax. Businesses whose owners or officers make more than $180,000 in wages and other benefits now can't qualify for the alternative tax. Legislation sponsored by Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, would raise the threshold to $250,000.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/NEWS06/80423042
Bill would disclose who funds politicians' legal bills
By DAWSON BELL
April 23, 2008
LANSING – Michigan lawmakers appear poised to enact disclosure requirements for legal defense funds set up to help elected officials in trouble with the law. Action on the disclosure legislation – a vote is expected next week in a state Senate committee – was prompted by publicity surrounding the creation of a defense fund for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. But until final details are worked out, it won’t be clear whether or not the legislation would require disclosure of donors and expenditures by the Kilpatrick fund, or a similar fund established for his former chief of staff Christine Beatty. Chief sponsor state Rep. Steve Bieda, D-Warren, said he supports requiring disclosure for all such funds. But the legislation, which he first introduced five years ago, was not aimed at Kilpatrick, Bieda said.
Michigan House doesn't vote on ban of abortion procedure
4/23/2008, 6:02 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Democratic-controlled Michigan House is putting off a potential vote on banning a procedure opponents call partial-birth abortion. The legislation mirrors a federal prohibition against the procedure that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Abortion opponents such as Right to Life of Michigan had been pushing for a vote Wednesday. They say the bill is needed so Michigan authorities can prosecute doctors who perform the procedure and send a message that Michigan opposes the method. Abortion rights supporters say the legislation is a waste of time since the procedure already is outlawed by federal law. They had urged Democratic House Speaker Andy Dillon to not allow a vote and not "pander" to groups seeking to limit women's reproductive rights.
Mich. Supreme Court limits time to sue insurers
4/23/2008, 5:38 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a legal precedent that generally gave motorists more time to sue their insurance company for unpaid claims under some circumstances. The 4-3 ruling follows similar insurance-related decisions by the court in recent years. The issue involves delaying the time period for filing lawsuits when plaintiffs meet certain conditions. The majority said an auto insurance policy by Farm Bureau Insurance Company was unambiguous and clearly gave a motorist in Genessee County one year to sue after her auto accident. Mary McDonald, whose claim for underinsured motorist benefits was denied, sued beyond the time limit but after letters were exchanged between her lawyer and Farm Bureau discussing a settlement.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/OPINION01/804240313/1007/OPINION
Spellings' reforms needed for Michigan and Detroit
The Detroit News
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Trying to tackle the nation's worst schools, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings Tuesday used Detroit as an example of education failure -- and the hope of reform -- as she announced needed new federal policies. Her choice of location for the major announcement -- in front of the Detroit Economic Club -- was appropriate. The Motor City has dozens of underperforming schools and the worst graduation rate nationwide, according to multiple studies. Spellings' proposed regulatory actions are sweeping: She promises to bolster parents' right to school choice; mandate national uniform graduation rate reporting; and encourage real reforms of chronically underperforming schools. Normally we would not embrace federal guidance on schools. Typically states are best positioned to make decisions about education.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS01/804240336
TONS OF SUPPLIES RESCUED, BUT MUCH MORE AWAITS
Botched plan to empty schools staggers district, Mistakes to cost more time, money, says new facilities chief
BY CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY
April 24, 2008
Detroit Public Schools has spent more than $3 million since December clearing out and securing vacant schools, removing more than 200,000 textbooks and 100,000 pieces of furniture, according to district officials. But there is much more to do. Nearly half of the 67 buildings closed since 2005 have not been cleared out, the officials acknowledged as the Free Press toured the district's central warehouse and a closed school. Many of the buildings closed in 2005 and 2006 were thought to have been emptied out. Inside the warehouse last week, materials recovered filled an area the size of a football field. District officials acknowledged, for the first time, that internal mistakes and money shortages plagued the school-closing process, resulting in vandalism in the buildings, the theft of salvageable metals, and in unguarded personnel and student records left behind.
Michigan pulls out of federal student loan program
4/23/2008, 4:37 p.m. EDT
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — State government has temporarily pulled out of a federal student loan program because of the credit crunch, ending some benefits for the tens of thousands of students who use the program. Michigan officially suspended its participation in the Federal Family Education Loan Program on Monday, according to a notice posted on the state Treasury Department's Web site. It already had suspended offering new loans through the Michigan Alternative Student Loan Program, or MI-LOAN. Seventy-five Michigan colleges and universities offer federal student loans through the state student loan authority, including all but four of the state's community colleges, public universities such as Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and Wayne State, several law schools, a variety of trade schools, and private colleges such as Adrian, Albion, Concordia, Finlandia, Marygrove, Northwood, Olivet and Spring Arbor.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008804230316
19 going on trustee?
Detroit Free Press
April 23, 2008
Jasmine Ford of Detroit not only attends Michigan State University, she wants to run the place. Ford, 19, is running for the MSU Board of Trustees as a Republican. "There's a lack of student voice on the board," she said this week, as she prepared to file her candidacy. She'll have to make her case at the GOP state convention, where university board candidates are nominated. Republican Scott Romney and Democrat Dorothy Gonzales are the MSU trustees up for re-election this year. Another GOP candidate for MSU trustee is Lisa Bouchard, sister-in-law of Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
DNC member from Michigan files challenge on delegates
4/23/2008, 6:01 p.m. EDT
By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A top supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton has filed a challenge with the Democratic National Committee seeking to get Michigan's delegates seated at the national convention. Under DNC member Joel Ferguson's proposal, Michigan would send the 28 unpledged superdelegates and 128 pledged delegates to Denver that it was allocated before the DNC stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates for holding early primaries. Ferguson said it would be fair punishment to give each pledged delegate only half a vote for breaking DNC rules. But he said superdelegates — of which he is one — should get a a full vote.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/OPINION01/804240315/1007/OPINION
Michigan is becoming Clinton's secret weapon
Susan J. Demas
Thursday, April 24, 2008
If you punched your ballot for "uncommitted" in Michigan's Jan. 15 Democratic presidential primary to back Barack Obama, your vote might have essentially gone to Hillary Clinton anyway. While all eyes were locked on Pennsylvania for the last six weeks, Clinton was quietly amassing delegates in the Wolverine State. And she was rewarded this past weekend with a significant victory at the district conventions. This development naturally has been overshadowed by her big win Tuesday night in Pennsylvania. But the race for the Democratic nomination wasn't decided then and won't be by the remaining contests -- not North Carolina, Indiana or even Guam -- because the real fight is over delegates. And Michigan remains a key battleground. On Aug. 25, Clinton will march into the national convention in Denver stronger than most people realize, thanks to her aggressive ground game in Michigan.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/METRO/804240386
Mayor Kilpatrick's legal fund backers have ties that bind
Key fundraisers have city contracts, but deny conflict of interest.
Christine MacDonald and David Josar / The Detroit News
Thursday, April 24, 2008
DETROIT -- Key players on Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's legal defense fundraising team have at least $5 million in current or pending city contracts, and others stand to make much more from the mayor's proposed $300 million economic stimulus project if he remains in office. Of the 13 known committee members on Kilpatrick's Detroit Justice Fund, at least five have Detroit contracts or other financial ties to city business or the mayor. Fund members, four of whom live in Detroit, are raising money to pay lawyers who will seek to exonerate Kilpatrick of felony charges stemming from the text-message scandal and whistle-blowers' lawsuits. Attorney David Baker Lewis is one of the fundraisers with the strongest City Hall financial interests. Kilpatrick wants Lewis' law firm as a counsel on his stimulus bond sale. Another is banker Donald Davis, who has two proposed contracts, including one for $4.6 million to lease computer software to the city.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/OPINION01/804240354/1069
No easy way to oust
Detroit Free Press
April 24, 2008
It would be shocking if William Goodman, the lawyer hired by the Detroit City Council to guide its investigation of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's text message scandal, doesn't draw some pretty strong conclusions in the report he is scheduled to deliver today. Goodman can be expected to detail Kilpatrick's misconduct, with special attention to the mayor's brazen deception of council members to win support for settling last year's police whistle-blower lawsuit without telling them part of the deal was burying the text messages that have led to perjury charges against the mayor. Goodman also is likely to blast the city's law department, whose leaders allowed their obligation to protect the city's interests to be perverted by Kilpatrick's personal protection agenda.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS01/804240442/1003/NEWS01
Council lawyer's report on scandal is delayed
BY ZACHARY GORCHOW
April 24, 2008
The report from the Detroit City Council's independent attorney detailing his conclusions about the text message scandal has been delayed. Bill Goodman, hired to assist the council's investigation, said Wednesday he would submit his findings Tuesday or Wednesday next week, not today as had initially been expected. The council held three days of hearings this month into why Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and city-paid attorneys did not inform it about a secret deal to hide Kilpatrick's embarrassing text messages as part of an $8.4-million settlement of police whistle-blower lawsuits. Several attorneys testified at the hearings, including Mike Stefani, who represented the three officers who sued; Samuel McCargo, paid by the city to represent the mayor in the case; Wilson Copeland II, paid by the city to represent the city, and top city attorneys John Johnson Jr. and Valerie Colbert-Osamuede.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS06/804240360/1008
Fieger, Johnson trial is to start today
Lawyers accused of making illegal campaign contributions
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER
April 24, 2008
After months of legal wrangling, the criminal trial for flamboyant lawyer Geoffrey Fieger and law partner Vernon (Ven) Johnson is to get under way today with opening statements in U.S. District Court in Detroit. Federal prosecutors say Johnson, 46, and Fieger, 57, illegally recruited 64 employees, vendors, friends and relatives to contribute $127,000 to John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign and reimbursed them from law firm coffers. The charges -- conspiracy, making illegal campaign contributions and causing the Edwards campaign to file false reports with the Federal Election Commission -- carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Fieger also is charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to conceal an incriminating memo from a federal grand jury, trying to shift blame for the scheme to his deceased law partner and trying to influence the testimony of two grand jury witnesses.
http://www.mcul.org/News_Article_888.html?id=2387
110+ Take in Busy Agenda at 2008 MCUL GAC
(Monitor: April 21, 2008)
Given those facts, and that 2008 is projected to be a lean year for U.S. vehicle sales, Michigan will continue to struggle, Kolinski Morris said. “There’s no way to ignore the fact that manufacturing will continue to exert a strong influence over our near-term performance,” she said. Following the luncheon, Michigan Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis and Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer squared off in a spirited and pointed — but civil and entertaining — discussion of the state and national political scenes, moderated by Detroit’s WWJ-AM 950 Senior Capitol Correspondent Tim Skubick. The two party chairs offered starkly different viewpoints on everything from the presidential, congressional and legislative races to the need for term limits and proposals to bring back a part-time Michigan Legislature.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/NEWS04/804240359
Macomb County plan for executive hyped, scorned
BY STEVE NEAVLING
April 24, 2008
The future of Macomb County government will rest in the hands of voters in less than two weeks.On May 6, they are being asked to pave the way for a county executive. It's a position supporters say would benefit the entire region -- making Macomb an equal partner with executives in Wayne and Oakland to attract new jobs, create mass transit and fight blight. But voter turnout is of enormous concern to those on both sides of the issue. Proponents and critics fear residents don't fully understand the pros and cons of the possible change. And both are working to the last minute to spread the word. Tonight the Macomb County Ministerial Alliance is holding a forum to convince people that an executive would be a bad idea. They say it would reduce the number of commissioners, creating larger districts and diluting minority voices. On Monday, those for and against executive rule will have their say.
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/homepage/x501033256
Pelicans spotted on Lake Macatawa
By STEVE RALPH
Posted Apr 23, 2008 @ 07:00 AM
Holland, MI — About a dozen-and-a-half American white pelicans have been spotted in Lake Macatawa — a rare sight for bird watchers. Retired orchestra teacher Shirley Cooper of Park Township said she saw a number of the massive birds swimming in Macatawa Bay Sunday, April 20, and counted 19 off of Chippewa Point Monday, April 21, with some still there Tuesday, April 22. “When I looked out Sunday morning before church, I saw one with a fish in its mouth. We’re all waiting for the boats to come, but when there aren’t any boats, we watch the birds,” she said. Park Township author Pat Nowak counted 18 pelicans at Chippewa Point Monday, April 21, he said. “You won’t believe how big these things are. You can drive almost right up to them. They’re a little shy, but they didn’t fly off,” he said, adding that they were still there Tuesday morning, April 22.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/METRO01/804240365/1409/METRO
Brownstown trustees probe official's mailings
Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News
Thursday, April 24, 2008
BROWNSTOWN TOWNSHIP -- The latest in a long history of controversies for the township erupted this week when trustees voted to investigate Supervisor Arthur Wright over accusations he used township letterhead to promote his August election campaign. The Board of Trustees voted 4-3 to review the legality of mailings sent out to township commissioners about a month ago. Foes claim the mailings violate the state's Campaign Finance Act -- a one-year misdemeanor -- in addition to an ethics code established by the township in 2005. Violating the local ordinance is a civil infraction punishable by a $500 fine. Resident Kevin Stoltz said the incident is Brownstown's latest "black eye." "It's embarrassing to use township letterhead to spew political propaganda...I don't think people should be able to make a mistake this severe," said Stoltz, 39, an eight-year resident. "He owes the township an apology."
http://www.dailytribune.com/stories/042208/loc_localn01.shtml
STOPPED in Clawson
City seeks safer teenage drivers
By Elizabeth A. Katz
PUBLISHED: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
CLAWSON -- Police officers in this city don't mind being tattle-tales if it means that teens are safer on the road. The department is taking part in the STOPPED (Sheriffs Telling Our Parents and Promoting Educated Drivers) program, a parental notification system developed by the Michigan Sheriff's Association. It also is sponsored by AAA and the Michigan Secretary of State. The goal is to reduce the number of young drivers who are injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes each year. Clawson Police Chief Harry Anderson said this is another tool to help parents keep their teens safe on the road. "Sometimes when a parent is notified, that's worse than any court date might be," he said. "I think it's a valuable program in the way that it gives an officer another tool to deal with a problem."
Intoxicated potential juror gets 1-day jail sentence
4/23/2008, 12:54 p.m. EDT
The Associated Press
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. (AP) — A potential Macomb County juror went from the courthouse to the jailhouse after police say he got drunk during a lunch break. Sheriff Mark Hackel says deputies arrested Edward Linna after another Circuit Court jury candidate complained the 62-year-old made an inappropriate sexual comment to her after a lunch break on Tuesday. Hackel tells The Macomb Daily Linna's blood-alcohol level was .24, three times the legal limit. Sheriff's spokesman John Cwikla says Chief Circuit Judge Anthony Viviano sentenced Linna to 24 hours in jail for contempt of court. A message seeking comment was left at a Macomb Township listing for an Edward Linna.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/us/politics/24mccain.html?ref=politics
McCain Says Government Isn’t Poverty’s Sole Solution
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
April 24, 2008
INEZ, Ky. — Senator John McCain walked in the literal footsteps of President Lyndon B. Johnson on Wednesday as he stood near the now-abandoned Appalachian front porch where Johnson declared a war on poverty. Forty-four years later, Mr. McCain said, “We have a lot to do.” Mr. McCain, who was on the third day of a weeklong tour of America’s “forgotten places,” held out the promise of better Internet service and job training in community colleges to this economically depressed coal-mining town of less than 650 people. While he offered few other poverty-fighting specifics in a speech that was largely focused on trying to connect to voters in one of the poorest parts of the United States, he sought to project himself to independents and moderate Democrats across the country as a different kind of Republican. His camera crew recorded much of the day for future campaign commercials.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-04-22-mccain-dem_N.htm
McCain camp hopes for long Dem race
By David Jackson, USA TODAY
April 23, 2008
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — John McCain and his aides wouldn't say Tuesday whether they wanted Hillary Rodham Clinton to win the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, though some clearly relished the prospect of an ongoing stand-off between her and Barack Obama. "We're for anything that keeps it going," said McCain senior adviser Mark McKinnon. Senior McCain adviser Mark Salter smiled while saying, "we don't want to intrude on their process. We want them to carefully deliberate their choices." McCain rejected the notion that a Clinton victory Tuesday would benefit his candidacy, saying he is "absolutely neutral" about who his Democratic opponent should be this fall. "That's up to the Democratic Party voters and I have nothing to do with that," McCain said after a town hall meeting at Youngstown State University.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/NATION/818599103/1028/ELECTION
McCain visit underscores Ohio's importance
By Joseph Curl
April 23, 2008
With all eyes on Pennsylvania's Democratic presidential primary, Republican Sen. John McCain yesterday slipped into Ohio, getting an early start on targeting swing independents and moderate Democrats in the battleground state. Ohio has been decisive in each of the last two presidential elections, and no Republican has ever won the White House without winning there. While Mr. McCain's campaign hopes to expand the number of states in play this November, Ohio will most likely be one of just a handful of tossup states — again. "It will be extremely important again this year. It was the pivotal state in the president being re-elected in 2004," said Jo Ann Davidson, co-chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and a former speaker of the Ohio House."Ohio will be in play again this year, and I think Senator McCain will appeal to the independent voter there," she said.
http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/mccain-and-his-shadow/
McCain and His Shadow
By Ron Klain
April 23, 2008, 11:02 pm
While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have spent the week moving their battle from Pennsylvania to Indiana and North Carolina, John McCain has been fighting a different foe: the dark overhang that the Bush presidency casts on his campaign. The question of how a presidential nominee deals with a sitting president of his own party is one of the trickiest dilemmas in a campaign — a challenge that is underappreciated by most observers. It is no accident that in the elections since World War II when a candidate has tried to succeed the sitting president of his own party (1952, 1960, 1968, 1988 and 2000), that candidate has failed to capture the White House four out of five times. Elements of Richard Nixon’s inability to escape Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership within his party, Hubert Humphrey’s link to Lyndon Johnson’s unpopular war and Al Gore’s struggle with how to use Bill Clinton on the stump all are present in the complex dance that John McCain is
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/us/politics/24indiana.html
For Indiana Voters, Talk of Change May Fall Flat
By MONICA DAVEY
April 24, 2008
KOKOMO, Ind. — With all the talk among the Democratic presidential hopefuls about change, they may wish to consider this as they wander Indiana: People here practically revolted a few years ago when their governor, Mitch Daniels, pushed to change to daylight saving time like most of the country. Change, it seems, may not carry quite the same political magic in this state as it has elsewhere. “We hold onto a lot of traditional values,” said Brian L. Thomas, 39, as he bought a cup of coffee along the courthouse square here on Wednesday. “Saying you’re ready to change is probably not the best or only thing you would want to say around these parts. Frankly, we want it to be like it used to be.” Many of the two dozen voters interviewed in this central Indiana manufacturing city of 46,000 expressed queasiness over the notions of change that both Democratic candidates have proudly pledged elsewhere.
Assessing Strength of Contenders in Swing States
By PATRICK HEALY
April 24, 2008
Reflecting on her victory in the Pennsylvania primary, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday neatly summed up the chief political rationale of her enduring candidacy. “I won the states that we have to win — Ohio, now Pennsylvania,” Mrs. Clinton said on CNN about her successes over Senator Barack Obama, in one of her six appearances on morning news shows. “It’s very hard to imagine a Democrat getting to the White House without winning those states.” Mrs. Clinton says her popularity among blue-collar workers, women and Hispanics makes her the candidate to beat Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the swing states that decide presidential races. Along with Ohio and Pennsylvania, she also cites her success in Michigan and Florida — even though the Democratic Party disqualified those contests, and Mr. Obama was not on the Michigan ballot — to claim an edge in crucial battlegrounds.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/us/politics/24obama.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
For Democrats, Questions Over Race and Electability
By ADAM NAGOURNEY
April 24, 2008
It is the question that has hung over Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and it loomed large on Tuesday night after his loss to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania: Why has he been unable to win over enough working-class and white voters to wrap up the Democratic nomination? Lurking behind that question is another: Is the Democratic Party hesitating about race as it moves to the brink of nominating an African-American to be president? Mr. Obama remains ahead of Mrs. Clinton in delegates, in the popular vote and in national polls, and Mrs. Clinton certainly has her own problems trying to herd Democrats into her corner. But just when it seemed that the Democratic Party was close to anointing Mr. Obama as its nominee, he lost yet again in a big general election state, dragged down by his weakness among blue-collar voters, older voters and white voters.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/23/AR2008042302980.html
The Democrats' Worst Nightmare
By David S. Broder
Thursday, April 24, 2008; A21
For battle-weary Democrats, the big news out of Pennsylvania is pretty simple: Their nightmare continues. In the seven weeks between the Texas and Ohio primaries in early March and Tuesday's balloting in Pennsylvania, the tone of both Barack Obama's and Hillary Clinton's campaigns became markedly more negative, and both candidates displayed new vulnerabilities that John McCain can easily exploit. The task of deciding which of those two exciting, precedent-breaking but seriously flawed contenders would give the Democrats the best chance of reclaiming the White House looks ever harder. Despite a relatively narrow loss Tuesday in the delegate fight in the largest prize since Ohio and Texas, Obama is likely to be leading in both popular votes and convention delegates when the last primary results are counted June 3.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/23/AR2008042302979.html
Back to The '60s
By Harold Meyerson
Thursday, April 24, 2008; Page A21
Throughout American history, the Democratic Party has had one unhappy distinction: It has been home to more of the major fault lines dividing the United States than any other institution. The Jacksonian Democrats of the early 19th century split into sectional branches over their inability to resolve their differences on slavery. (Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860 because he faced three regional Democratic opponents in that year's election.) In the 1920s, the Protestant-Catholic divide turned the party into two rival camps: Catholic-dominated urban political machines and the white Protestant South. And by the late 1960s, the New Deal coalition had been torn asunder by the party's embrace of civil rights and the fight over the war in Vietnam.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/34589.html
Clinton's win in Pa. leaves Obama battered, party reeling
By David Lightman
Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008
WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton's Pennsylvania victory means that the Democratic Party's eventual nominee will be badly bruised and could have a tough time rallying the party in the fall. Clinton on Tuesday once again failed to do well among young and African-American voters, who are growing increasingly alienated from the New York senator. She won with some harsh tactics — too harsh for a lot of Barack Obama supporters. Obama, on the other hand, stumbled badly. He outspent Clinton by an estimated 3 to 1. He had six weeks since the last primary to ingratiate himself with people he's had a hard time wooing: blue-collar whites, small-town residents and older women. Instead, he once again lost the white vote handily and couldn't put his opponent away.
Clinton Wins Pennsylvania: What’s Next?
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Hillary Clinton, as expected, won the Democratic Presidential Primary in Pennsylvania. Broadly speaking, the results confirm the demographic and racial divides that have been seen throughout the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination. While enough to keep her campaign alive, the victory is not significant enough to fundamentally alter the race. Barack Obama is still the frontrunner and data from Rasmussen Markets suggests that he has a 80.5% chance of winning the nomination. Before voting began in Pennsylvania, Scott Rasmussen noted that Hillary Clinton’s only path to the nomination was to stay close and hope Barack Obama makes a mistake . Following her victory, Clinton unveiled a new approach designed to help force an Obama miscue. As the campaign moves to Indiana and North Carolina, Clinton will try to pressure Obama into another debate..
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/opinion/24collins.html?ref=opinion
Hillary’s Smackdown
By GAIL COLLINS
April 24, 2008
The clamor for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the presidential race has reached new levels of intensity since the Pennsylvania primary. Of all the things Hillary has done, Obama supporters find her tendency to win large elections in swing states as by far the most irritating. If she beats him in Indiana, they’ll be surrounding her house with torches. “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is back!” cried Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter to the cheering crowd at the victory bash on Tuesday. While half the nation’s Democrats groaned in their living rooms, the other half happily watched as their girl refused to go down for the count. “Yes we can!” shouted the crowd. Memo to crowd: Even though Obama has taken to promising “straight talk” lately, stealing another campaign’s slogan is still tacky. Memo to Clinton campaign: While everybody understands that money is tight, charging supporters and faithful volunteers $5 for a plastic cup of soda at a victory party seemed like an overreaction. There must be a middle ground, perhaps involving the occasional bowl of complementary potato chips.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/POLITICS01/804240384/1022/POLITICS
With Michigan, Florida, Clinton claims popular vote lead
But Obama discounts votes in two disputed primaries, touts his higher delegate count.
Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Thursday, April 24, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS -- The first day of the campaign for the crucial Indiana Democratic primary on Wednesday turned largely into a fight over Michigan's disputed primary and who can claim the votes of more Democrats. Searching for votes here the day after her decisive Pennsylvania win, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton claimed before a cheering downtown audience that she now holds a lead in the popular vote over Sen. Barack Obama. The Obama campaign criticized Clinton's numbers, which include the controversial contests in Michigan and Florida. "I'm very proud that as of today I have received more votes ... than anybody else," Clinton said. "It's a very close race, but if you count as I do the 2.3 million people who voted in Florida and Michigan," Clinton said, she leads.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04232008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/too_little__too_late_107751.htm
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
HILLARY'S PENNSYLVANIA WIN
By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN
April 23, 2008
Hillary Clinton refuses to die. Having been given up for dead after losing Iowa, she rebounded in New Hampshire. Then a string of 11 straight consecutive losses - followed by a win in Ohio and a tie (in delegates) in Texas. Now, she's won Pennsylvania. Problem is, it doesn't mean anything. Because of the Democratic Party's arcane proportional-representation rules, her win stands to give her a net gain of 10 to 15 delegates when all is counted. That means that Barack Obama will fall from a lead of 161 in elected delegates to about 145 or so. Big deal. The primaries coming up in the next two weeks - Indiana and North Carolina - are likely to give Obama back a goodly portion of those delegates. By the time all the primaries have been held, after June 3, there is no doubt that Obama will lead by more than 100 elected delegates, and likely 150. From there, it will be an easy route to the nomination.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/019kdegf.asp
Hillary Builds Her Case
Trying to prove Obama can't win.
by Fred Barnes
04/23/2008 12:00:00 AM
FORGET DELEGATES AND the popular vote for the Democratic presidential nomination. The most important thing Hillary Clinton gained by winning the Pennsylvania primary yesterday was a better argument--indeed, a much better argument. Chances are, Clinton will trail Obama in the delegate count when the primaries end on June 3, as she does now. And while she may cut into his lead in the popular vote in the Democratic contests, she's not likely to exceed his vote total. So the only way she can capture the nomination is by convincing roughly 300 uncommitted super-delegates that Obama cannot defeat Republican John McCain in November but she can. This isn't an easy case to make, especially with the super-delegates who will provide the margin of victory for whoever captures the 2,025 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination. And at the moment, they appear strongly inclined to back Obama if he leads in delegates when the primary season is finished.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080505/hayden
Why Hillary Makes My Wife Scream
Tom Hayden
April 22, 2008
My wife Barbara has begun yelling at the television set every time she hears Hillary Clinton. This is abnormal behavior, since Barbara is a meditative practitioner of everything peaceful and organic, and is inspired by Barack Obama's transformational appeal. For Barbara, Hillary has become the screech on the blackboard. From First Lady to Lady Macbeth. It's getting to me as well. Last year, I was somewhat reconciled to the prospect of supporting and pressuring Hillary as the nominee amidst the rising tide of my friends who already hated her, irrationally I thought. I was one of those people Barack accuses of being willing to settle. I even had framed a flattering autographed message from Hillary. But as the campaign has gone on and on, her signed portrait still leans against the wall in my study. I don't know where she belongs anymore.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120899654405739949.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries
Is Obama Ready for Prime Time?
By KARL ROVE
April 24, 2008
After being pummeled 55% to 45% in the Pennsylvania primary, Barack Obama was at a loss for explanations. The best he could do was to compliment his supporters in an email saying, "you helped close the gap to a slimmer margin than most thought possible." Then he asked for money. With $42 million in the bank, money is the least of Sen. Obama's problems. He needs a credible message that convinces Democrats he should be president. In recent days, he's spent too much time proclaiming his inevitable nomination. But they already know he's won more states, votes and delegates. His words wear especially thin when he was dealt a defeat like Tuesday's. Mr. Obama was routed despite outspending Hillary Clinton on television by almost 3-1. While polls in the final days showed a possible 4% or 5% Clinton win, she apparently took late-deciders by a big margin to clinch the landslide.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120864685698828937.html?mod=opinion_journal_political_diary
Obama's America
He promises higher taxes, more regulation, less trade and less opportunity.
By PETE DU PONT
April 23, 2008 10:18 p.m.
Nine months from now, the 44th president will be inaugurated. Looking at the debates, votes cast and money raised in this year's presidential primary races, the next president may not only be a Democrat, but Barack Obama, the most liberal of the 100 members of the U.S. Senate. Add the announced retirement of six Republican senators and 29 Republican House members (compared with just seven House Democrats) and the Democrats are likely to control both the House and the Senate with much bigger majorities than they do today. So both the next president and the new congressional majorities will be much more liberal than the officeholders they have replaced, and that will result in a broad-reaching, socialist-leaning, greatly expanded American government.
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=ec466d61-a900-414c-8daf-16ff27ccf85c
The Next McGovern?
Obama may still get the nomination, but his loss tonight deals a harsh blow to his electibility arguments.
John B. Judis, The New Republic
Published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Hillary Clinton won a decisive ten-round decision over Barack Obama in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, but she didn't score a knockout. The struggle continues. Clinton still has virtually no chance of overtaking Obama's delegate lead or his edge in the popular vote. And the superdelegates will be loath to ignore this advantage. Meanwhile, Obama's weaknesses as a general election candidate grow more apparent with each successive primary. Clinton's best chance of winning the nomination was to win Pennsylvania so decisively that she would have set off a media firestorm about Obama's electability--one that would lead superdelegates to wonder whether she would not be a much, much stronger candidate in November.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/no_knockout_obama_will_win_on.html
No Knockout; Obama Will Win on Points
By Dick Morris
April 24, 2008
Sports metaphors are trite and too male-oriented, but sometimes they are so apt they are unavoidable. The Clinton-Obama contest is like a 15-round heavyweight title bout in boxing. Hillary went for an early knockout. All previous Democratic races since 1960 have been decided that way, with one candidate winning decisive primaries, forcing his opponents to withdraw. But Obama beat her to the punch in Iowa, survived a loss in New Hampshire, and countered her sweep of New York, New Jersey and California on Super Tuesday by winning a large number of smaller states, largely by out-organizing Hillary in caucus states. While most traditional candidates are forced out if they lose key states because their money dries up, Obama's ingenious use of Internet funding provided him with an ample financial base even as he fell behind Hillary in the delegate count.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120891044439036617.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_to
Obama's Media Army
By DOROTHY RABINOWITZ
April 23, 2008; Page A17
Nothing in the hysteria over last week's Democratic debate – including the unprecedented opprobrium press critics heaped on the ABC moderators – should have come as any surprise. That doesn't make it any less fascinating a guide to current strange notions of what is and is not a substantive issue in a presidential contest, or any less striking an indicator of the delicate treatment Mr. Obama's media following have come to consider his just due. Moderators Charles Gibson's and George Stephanopoulos's offense was to ask questions Mr. Obama didn't want to address. Worse, they'd continued to press them even when the displeased candidate assured them these were old and tired questions.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-23-apr23,1,4967065.column
Underground links likely to resurface for Obama
John Kass
April 23, 2008
Broadway Baby was not mentioned during the Democratic infighting in Pennsylvania. But Broadway Baby—once a chic children's boutique in Manhattan's Upper West Side—is the future, if Barack Obama is the presidential candidate in the fall. This story involves two Chicagoans, former Weather Underground terrorist leaders Bernardine Dohrn and her husband, William Ayers, both Obama supporters who blessed his initial foray into politics. Last week, the unrepentant Ayers became a flash point in Obama's debate with Hillary Clinton. "And what they [Weather Underground] did was set bombs and in some instances people died," said Clinton, sweetly playing the white terrorist card. "I know Sen. Obama is a good man and I respect him greatly, but I think this is an issue that certainly the Republicans will be raising."'
http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/b33bd4ef-b3fc-4960-a5ab-f580d85abab7
Ayers and Dohrn, Unplugged --2007 Audio
Posted by: Hugh Hewitt at 5:13 PM
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thanks to the efforts of Sandy Rios' producer Guy Benson, I'll be playing some Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn audio from 2007. Don't miss it. UPDATE: Four days ago, the Washington Post wrote this about Ayers/Dohrn: Nearly 30 years after surrendering to police, Ayers and Dohrn, both in their 60s, are tenured university professors whose work on school reform and juvenile justice have won them bipartisan respect.... In Chicago, however, Ayers is considered so mainstream that Daley issued a statement on Thursday praising him as a "distinguished professor of education" and a "valued member of the Chicago community." Did the Washington Post do anything to investigate what Dohrn and Ayers were saying even last year? Here's one clip of Ayers last year describing America in 2007:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/the_deepening_democratic_dilem.html
Deepening Democratic Dilemma
By Robert Novak
April 24, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- When exit polls for the Pennsylvania primary came out late Tuesday afternoon showing a puny lead of 3.6 points for Hillary Clinton against Barack Obama, Democratic leaders who desperately wanted her to end her candidacy were not cheered. They were sure that this overstated Sen. Obama's strength, as exit polls nearly always have in urban, diverse states. How was it possible, then, that Sen. Clinton, given up for dead by her party's establishment, won Pennsylvania in a 10-point landslide? The answer is the dreaded Bradley Effect. Prominent Democrats only whisper when they compare Obama, the first African-American with a serious chance to be president, with what happened to Los Angeles' black Mayor Tom Bradley a quarter of a century ago.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/messy_democratic_race_means_it.html
It's Time for Dems to Recruit Al Gore
By Steven Stark
April 24, 2008
In the wake of Barack Obama's defeat in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the Democrats have a huge problem. On the one hand, they have a front-runner who hasn't won a single one of the major primary states other than his own, who's a neophyte on the national scene, and who has enormous difficulties attracting the white, non-college educated voters he needs to win. On the other, there's Hillary Clinton - a candidate who has greatly diminished her stature on the campaign trail, who faces huge liabilities of her own (in part because of her gender and in part because of Clinton fatigue), and whose chances of winning in November would require her to thread an Electoral College needle. Furthermore, the long, bitter campaign has produced an untenable result: a large portion of each camp's supporters now say they are unlikely to support the intra-party rival should their candidate not win the nomination.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26171
The Pennsylvania Primary
by Jennifer Rubin
Posted: 04/23/2008 Print This
As she visited the Pennsylvania polls the morning of the election Hillary Clinton taunted her opponent, asking “Why can’t he close the deal?” She got going early in the spin wars, commenting: “A win is a win, especially under the circumstances when my opponent has outspent me probably 3 to 1, maybe 4 to 1, an enormous effort on his part on TV and radio on the phone, every way that is imaginable try to win Pennsylvania.” But she needn’t have fretted about the margin of victory. With over 75% of the vote tabulated, she had built an impressive ten point lead and cleared the hurdle most of the self-appointed pundits in the MSM had set for her, no doubt hoping their favorite son candidate Barack Obama could have at least managed to keep his loss to low single digits. Yes, Obama had narrowed the gap just a bit from several weeks ago when her lead neared 20 points in several polls, but there could be no concealing that Hillary’s point was sounding more plausible: Obama is a candidate who seems unable to win over the broad base of Democratic voters.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,549103,00.html
Will the Democrats Commit Political Suicide?
By Gabor Steingart in Washington, DC
April 23, 2008
Democratic voters just can't make up their minds between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In Pennsylvania, they denied him victory but spared her defeat. It will be the job of the superdelegates to commit political murder -- but will it mean suicide for the party? After the confetti has been shaken out of the hair and the party balloons have deflated, what is left from Tuesday's election night (more...) is a disturbing message: There is nothing to celebrate. The winner is the loser. But the loser is not the winner. Clinton's victory was not big enough to snatch the nomination from Obama. But neither was his star power enough to woo the voters in the center. It seems the race is jinxed: He was handed a defeat when he needed a victory, and she secured a victory when only an improbable triumph would have helped her.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/23/downticket_gop_candidates_find.html
Down-Ticket GOP Candidates Find a Foil in Obama
By Paul Kane
April 24, 2008
Republican party committees and candidates have launched a series of ads this week linking Democratic candidates for lower offices to controversies surrounding Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, signaling that a racially tinged campaign may lie ahead, should the senator from Illinois secure the Democratic nomination. The North Carolina Republican Party today unveiled an advertisement showing Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, giving a controversial sermon in which he shouts "god damn America." Though the commercial attacks Obama by name, its real targets are the two leading Democratic contenders for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, who will be on the ballot for the May 6 primary that will also decide N.C.'s Democratic presidential pick.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/an_alarm_bell_goes_off_for_gop.html
An Alarm Bell Goes Off For GOP in Mississippi
By Reid Wilson
April 23, 2008
In yet another alarming sign for the GOP's prospect's this fall, last night Democrats came within an inch of stealing one of the most Republican districts in the Deep South. In the special election to replace now-Senator Roger Wicker in Mississippi's 1st Congressional District, Democrat Travis Childers fell just 400 votes short of the 50% plus one mark, which would have avoided a run-off and won the seat outright. Still, Democrats are ecstatic that their candidate won 2,000 more votes overall than the Republican candidate, Southaven Mayor Greg Davis. With 100% of precincts reporting, Childers won 49.4% to Davis' 46.3%. Furthermore, when Childers' vote total is combined with the votes from the other Democrat on the ballot yesterday, Steve Holland, Democratic candidates garnered 50.6%.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9799.html
Blue dog Dem faces liberal challenger
By JOSH KRAUSHAAR
4/23/08 4:31 AM EST
Rep. Leonard L. Boswell (D-Iowa) has a voting record that makes many liberal activists frown. A Blue Dog Democrat, he initially supported the Iraq war, voted for the Patriot Act, supports gun rights, has been an advocate of free trade and has one of the more conservative voting records of any Democratic congressman. And now he will be facing a credible, self-described progressive Democratic opponent in former state Rep. Ed Fallon, who actually carried the district in his gubernatorial bid in 2006. State political observers say the race has upset potential — but only if Fallon picks up a fundraising pace that left him with less than $20,000 in the bank at the end of March. “Ed Fallon has always taken a chance in terms of challenging the status quo or the norm in politics,” said former Iowa Democratic Party Communications Director Carrie Giddins. “But that’s always a hard place to come from. He would need all of those institutional investments, such as money and staff and buzz about his campaign, to make inroads.”
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D907OGP02&show_article=1
Congressional Hispanics knock Democratic leaders
Apr 23 03:02 PM US/Eastern
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Congressional Hispanic Caucus denounced House Democratic leaders Wednesday as "spineless" and no better than Republicans for failing to take on comprehensive immigration reform. Leaders of the all-Democratic caucus, which numbers two dozen, criticized their party leadership at a news conference for scheduling hearings on enforcement legislation and specific visa issues instead. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona called the Democratic caucus "spineless," while Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois said Democrats were proving themselves "no better than the Republican majority we replaced." The lawmakers refused to name names but said the piecemeal approach wouldn't be happening without the consent of top House Democratic leaders.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D90739VO2&show_article=1
Senators debate future of Web
Apr 22 02:54 PM US/Eastern
By JOHN DUNBAR
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said Tuesday his agency has all the authority it needs to prevent Internet service providers from discriminating against Web surfers and that new legislation is unnecessary. "I do not believe any additional regulations are needed at this time," Martin said at a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee. "But I also believe that the commission has a responsibility to enforce the principles that it has already adopted." The FCC has conducted two hearings on "network management" following admissions by Comcast Corp. that it sometimes delayed file-sharing traffic for subscribers as a way to keep Web traffic flowing. The hearing was called at a time when the issue of "network neutrality"—the principle that people should be able to go where they choose on the Internet without interference from network owners—has heated up.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/POLITICS/804240319/1022/POLITICS
House votes to block $13B in Medicaid cuts
Bill imposes a one-year moratorium on alterations Bush says rectify waste and abuse in the system.
Jim Abrams / Associated Press
Thursday, April 24, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The House voted Wednesday to block the Bush administration from cutting federal spending on Medicaid health care for the poor by $13 billion over the next five years. President Bush has threatened a veto, but supporters have more than enough votes in the House to override him, and maybe in the Senate, too. Two thirds of the Republicans joined every voting Democrat in the 349-62 vote to impose a one-year moratorium, through next March, on seven rules changes the administration argues are needed to rectify waste and abuse in the state-federal partnership to provide health care to the poor. Supporters of the bill said the rules would merely shift financial burdens to the states at a time of economic distress while reducing access to health care for the country's neediest people.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120890722244036277.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
Springtime for Judges
Wall Street Journal
April 23, 2008
After the Senate's long winter, there are signs of an April thaw on judges. Under pressure from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic leader Harry Reid has agreed to a plan to confirm three of President Bush's appellate court nominees by Memorial Day. The issue now is whether Mr. McConnell will let Democrats get away with confirming their favored nominees instead of those whose nominations have been pending for years. Republican Arlen Specter has the right idea in requesting a discharge petition to confirm Peter Keisler on the D.C. Circuit, plus Robert Conrad and Steve Matthews on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Keisler, appointed to fill the seat vacated by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, is one of the most qualified nominees to the bench.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/sen_moynihan_the_neoconservati.html
Education Lessons We Left Behind
By George Will
April 24, 2008
If an unfriendly power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. -- "A Nation At Risk" (1983)
WASHINGTON -- Let us limp down memory lane to mark this week's melancholy 25th anniversary of a national commission's report that galvanized Americans to vow to do better. Today the nation still ignores what had been learned years before 1983. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan once puckishly said that data indicated that the leading determinant of the quality of public schools, measured by standardized tests, was the schools' proximity to Canada. He meant that the geographic correlation was stronger than the correlation between high test scores and high per pupil expenditures. Moynihan also knew that schools cannot compensate for the disintegration of families, and hence communities -- the primary transmitters of social capital.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080424/OPINION03/804240316/1007/OPINION
Skewed incentives drive high college tuition
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thomas Sowell
Why does college cost so much? There are two basic reasons. The first is that people will pay what the colleges charge. The second is that there is little incentive for colleges to reduce the tuition they charge. Those who want the government to provide subsidies to help meet the high cost of college seem not to consider whether government subsidies might have contributed to the high cost of college in the first place. The president of a small college once told me that, if he charged tuition that was affordable, even an institution the size of his would lose millions of dollars of government money every year. In a normal market situation, each competing enterprise has an incentive to lower prices if that would attract business away from competitors and increase its profits.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/the_skys_not_falling.html
The Sky's Not Falling
By John Stossel
April 23, 2008
"Mortgage Crisis," shouts the New York Times. The Times has used the term "subprime crisis" at least 11 times. Not in opinion columns -- in news stories. The columns are worse. Paul Krugman writes: "A lot of the financial system looks like it's going to shrivel up and have to be rebuilt." The "financial crisis," says Fortune's senior editor, "is threatening to bring down the entire system, with dire consequences." When the current troubles aren't a "crisis," they're a "disaster". That's what John McCain called them, while Hillary Clinton prefers "crisis," saying, "This market is clearly broken, and, if we don't fix it, it could threaten our entire housing market." Wait a second. Where is this "credit crisis"? Did the supermarket reject your Visa card? I still see Ditech commercials offering fixed-rate mortgages at around 5.5 percent.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120899494332039867.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
Battlefield Promotions
Wall Street Journal
April 24, 2008; Page A12
President Bush took far too long to find his best war-fighting generals in Iraq, but now that he has them we're glad to see he is giving them battlefield promotions. That's the meaning of yesterday's Pentagon announcement that General David Petraeus and Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno will receive new commands later this year. General Petraeus, current Iraq commander and a main architect of the counterinsurgency "surge," will be nominated to run the U.S. Central Command, the regional theater that includes Iraq and Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Odierno, who assisted General Petraeus in executing the surge strategy for 15 months through this February, will take his former boss's place as commander for Iraq operations in Baghdad.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080423162425.dlwedm8u&show_article=1
Carter accuses Rice of being untruthful over Hamas meeting
Apr 23 12:25 PM US/Eastern
Former US President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of being untruthful over remarks made about his controversial meeting with the Islamist Hamas group. Rice had chided Carter for meeting with Hamas, saying US State Department officials had told him such talks would not help the Middle East peace process. But a statement from the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which speaks on the ex-president's behalf, said no one from the US government told him not to meet with exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal or other leaders of the group. "President Carter has the greatest respect for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and believes her to be a truthful person," the statement said. "However, perhaps inadvertently, she is continuing to make a statement that is not true," it said.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080423112836.vw3o9562&show_article=1
Carter-Hamas meeting achieved nothing: Palestinians
Apr 23 07:29 AM US/Eastern
Last week's meeting between former US president Jimmy Carter and the exiled leader of Hamas militants did not produce any results, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said here Wednesday. "President Carter came to the region thinking he could achieve something. Unfortunately president Carter left without anything concrete," he told a conference in the Spanish capital. "The only thing he achieved was permission on the part of Khaled Meshaal of Hamas to deliver a letter from a detained Israeli soldier to his family. Nothing else," he said. "Hamas offered nothing to president Carter. They reiterated the same positions. There was no change on the part of Hamas," Malki added. Carter's meetings with top Hamas leader Meshaal and his deputy in Syria angered Israel and the United States, which consider the movement a terror group despite its victory in 2006 elections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/23/AR2008042302906_pf.html
N. Koreans Taped At Syrian Reactor
Video Played a Role in Israeli Raid
By Robin Wright
Thursday, April 24, 2008; A01
A video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactor similar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear arsenal, according to senior U.S. officials who said it would be shared with lawmakers today. The officials said the video of the remote site, code-named Al Kibar by the Syrians, shows North Koreans inside. It played a pivotal role in Israel's decision to bomb the facility late at night last Sept. 6, a move that was publicly denounced by Damascus but not by Washington. Sources familiar with the video say it also shows that the Syrian reactor core's design is the same as that of the North Korean reactor at Yongbyon, including a virtually identical configuration and number of holes for fuel rods.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/rising_euromuslim_tensions.html
Rising Euro-Muslim Tensions
By Tony Blankley
April 23, 2008
Perhaps the greatest secular gift to the world by Judeo-Christian civilization is its seminal concept of the individual, which it raises above the tribe or the collective. In Genesis, we are told that man is made in the image of God. Deuteronomy tells us that "each human by his own sin is to be judged" and "do not punish children for the sins of their fathers." And of course, the biblical life and teachings of Jesus reflect the deep importance of the individual. Thus was planted in the soil of the West our uniquely heightened respect for the individual. It is impossible to imagine Western civilization -- and particularly America -- without the existence in our culture of the instinctive respect for the individual to offset the more general human instinct to be subordinated in the tribe or the group. Conversely, there is no more dangerous incubus inserted into a Western nation than hostility or indifference to the inherent value and rights of the individual.
