Articles of Interest 4-25-08
194 Days until Election Day
MORNING UPDATE:
Last night I attended the Eastside Republican Dinner. It was a great success with some interesting conversation and friendship. Thanks to all who helped with this.
The McCain campaign announced their Regional Campaign Manager that will cover Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin...former Giuliani staffer Jennifer Hallowell.
Pizza and Politics was on the Road in Saginaw County last night helping to recruit precinct delegates. We had over 50 people in attendance from across central eastern Michigan. State Representative Ken Horn and State Senator Roger Kahn stopped by to help rally the troops. We had leadership from Saginaw, Bay, Genesee, Lapeer, Tuscola, and Montcalm counties present. We owe a special thanks to Hank Fuhs and Marlene Chockley for helping make this event a success. Hank line…the best one yet!
Senate Republicans made another attempt to require a 2/3 vote to increase the sales tax. A super majority to increase taxes is a debate worth having.
Hypocrisy: Barack Obama Oppose Gas Tax Holiday Relief For American Families When He Supported It In The Illinois State Senate?
PETITION CIRCULATORS…time is running out. If you have petitions for judicial or federal candidates…please mail them in so they can track their progress.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
More Hypocrisy from Barack Obama…
FLASHBACK: Illinois Newspaper Headlines Show High Gas Prices Squeezing Residents In 2000:
Chicago Daily Herald Headline: "Owner Tries To Find Humor In Soaring Gas Prices." (Allison Kaplan, "Owner Tries To Find Humor In Soaring Gas Prices," Chicago Daily Herald, 2/25/00)
Chicago Daily Herald Headline: "Everyone Feels Pain Of Pumped-Up Prices." (Robert McCoppin, "Everyone Feels Pain Of Pumped-Up Prices," Chicago Daily Herald, 5/27/00)
"Gas Prices Averaged $1.52 A Gallon In March 2000." (Nick Timiraos, "Obama, Clinton Split Over McCain Plan For Gas-Tax Holiday," The Wall Street Journal, 4/24/08)
In 2000, Obama Voted To Temporarily Eliminate State Sales Tax On Gas, Which Helped Consumers:
Obama Voted To Suspend The State Sales Tax On Gasoline. (S.B. 1310: Senate Third Floor Reading, Passed, 50-0-6, 3/8/00, Obama Voted Yea)
The State Of Illinois Suspended Its Five Percent Sales Tax On Gasoline. "After a whirlwind legislative session, Gov. Ryan signed legislation Thursday that suspends the state's 5 percent sales tax on gasoline. If that is passed on to consumers, fuel prices would drop by about a dime per gallon." (Dave McKinney and Fran Spielman, "Ryan Signs Suspension Of Gas Tax," Chicago Sun-Times, 6/30/00)
* "[G]ov. George H. Ryan Signed Legislation Suspending Illinois' Five Percent Sales Tax On Gasoline For Six Months And Issued An Executive Order Creating State Monitoring Teams ..." (Chinta Strausberg, "Daley To Monitor Tax Relief At Pumps," Chicago Defender, 7/1/00)
Obama Said He Supported The Gas Tax Suspension Due To The "Huge Hike" In Gas Prices. Obama: "I originally voted for the suspension because I thought that it was extraordinary circumstances, given the huge hike in prices, but I don't think that we have the evidence yet to make this a permanent three-hundred- or four-hundred-dollar hole in the General Revenue Fund." (Sen. Barack Obama, State Of Illinois 91st General Assembly Regular Session Senate Transcript, 11/15/00, www.ilga.gov, pp. 51-52)
AAA Chicago Motor Club's Steve Nolan: "The Temporary Repeal Of The State Gas Tax Has Helped [With Gas Price Drop]..." (Robert Manor, "Illinois Finds Dramatic Relief At Gas Pump," Chicago Tribune, 8/17/00)
Obama Jokingly Wanted A Sign On Gas Pumps Acknowledging He Lowered His Constituents' Gas Prices:
Sen. Frank Watson (R-Greenville, IL): "This amendment [Amendment No. 3 to H.B. 3873] was discussed in the Executive Committee. We did not adopt it at the time, but it was kind of an agreement that this would be sent out to the Floor without any discussion - or, without going to committee. And it would require the State of Illinois and the Department of Agriculture to place on a - gasoline pumps the language that the State portion of the State tax on motor fuel and gasohol was eliminated by Public Act whatever, and that it was effective January 1st, 2001." (Sen. Frank Watson, State Of Illinois 91st General Assembly Regular Session Senate Transcript, 4/15/00, www.ilga.gov, p. 80)
* Obama: "I wasn't clear on - on the response to the question, but are - if the gas tax isn't going anywhere, what happens to this [amendment]?" (Sen. Barack Obama, State Of Illinois 91st General Assembly Regular Session Senate Transcript, 4/15/00, www.ilga.gov, p. 81)
* Sen. Watson: "This is part of the gas tax language. This - this is part of the reduction of the sales tax on gasoline. So if the gas - if that passes, this is an amendment to it, and it would require that petroleum marketers have to put a sign on their pumps that this did, in fact happen." (Sen. Frank Watson, State Of Illinois 91st General Assembly Regular Session Senate Transcript, 4/15/00, www.ilga.gov, p. 81)
* Obama: "I was wondering, can I - in my district, can I have 'Senator Obama reduced your gasoline prices'? Is that possible?" (Sen. Barack Obama, State Of Illinois 91st General Assembly Regular Session Senate Transcript, 4/15/00, www.ilga.gov, p. 81)
TODAY: Americans Are Feeling The Squeeze "As Gas Prices Hit All-Time High":
USA Today Headline: "Drivers Cut Back As Gas Prices Hit All-Time High." (James R. Healey, "Drivers Cut Back As Gas Prices Hit All-Time High," USA Today, 4/22/08)
The Associated Press Headline: "With Gas Hitting Record Highs, Drivers Feeling Squeezed." (Adam Schreck, "With Gas Hitting Record Highs, Drivers Feeling Squeezed," The Associated Press, 4/22/08)
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Has Proposed Immediate Gas Tax Relief For American Families, Saving Over $6 Billion:
Under Sen. John McCain's Plan, Families Would Save 18.4 Cents On Every Gallon Of Gas. "Hard-working American families are suffering from higher gasoline prices. John McCain calls on Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day." (John McCain For President Website, www.johnmccain.com, Accessed 4/22/08)
"A USA TODAY Analysis Showed That McCain's Gas-Tax Proposal Could Save Motorists $6.8 Billion In Taxes During The Summer." (Kathy Kiely, "Gas-Tax Holiday Among McCain's Plans For Economy," USA Today, 4/16/08)
But Obama Has Rejected Gas Tax Relief, Calling It A "Bad Idea":
Obama Now Opposes A Gas Tax Holiday. "In a new policy split in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama opposed a federal gas-tax holiday supported by John McCain, the likely Republican nominee." (Nick Timiraos, "Obama, Clinton Split Over McCain Plan For Gas-Tax Holiday," The Wall Street Journal, 4/24/08)
Obama Called Gas Tax Relief A "Bad Idea." "Earlier Monday at a community college in the Philadelphia suburbs, Obama rejected a tax holiday as bad economic policy. 'I've said I think John McCain's proposal for a three-month tax holiday is a bad idea,' Obama said, warning consumers that any price cut would be short lived before costs spike back." (Nick Timiraos, "Clinton Joins McCain On Gas-Tax Holiday," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" Blog, blogs.wsj.com, 4/21/08
* Despite His Opposition, Obama Outlined Reasons Why American Families Need Gas Tax Relief. Obama: "Now I don't want to jack up the costs. I'm not going to impose an additional tax on gas because consumers just can't bear it right now. I meet too many families who unfortunately, because of some long-term decisions that we've made, they are driving 30-40 miles, they don't have a mass transit option that can get them to work. And so this is just money out of their pockets." (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At Town Hall Event, Blue Bell, PA, 4/21/08)
As Of April 24, 2008, The Average Price Of Regular Gasoline In Indiana Was Over $3.60 Per Gallon. (AAA Website, www.fuelgaugereport.com, Accessed 4/24/08)
As Of April 24, 2008, The Average Price Of Regular Gasoline In North Carolina Was Over $3.54 Per Gallon. (AAA Website, www.fuelgaugereport.com, Accessed 4/24/08)
Saul Anuzis
STATE STORIES
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/POLITICS/804250365
House speaker's foes criticize Dems for hiring felon
Organizers of bid to recall Dillon claim parolee who tells voters about legislator's record is out to intimidate.
Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News
Friday, April 25, 2008
REDFORD TOWNSHIP -- The feisty campaign to oust House Speaker Andy Dillon took another twist Thursday when organizers blasted the Democratic Party for hiring a convicted felon to dissuade voters from signing recall petitions. Party spokeswoman Liz Kerr acknowledged that Marcel L. Mitchell -- who has been convicted eight times of armed robbery, gun charges and other offenses since 1990 -- was hired to inform residents about the Redford Township lawmaker's voting record. She said there's nothing illegal about hiring Mitchell, who got out of prison last year and is on parole. But foes targeting Dillon for shepherding tax increases through Lansing last year to balance the budget say Mitchell's job is to scare voters. The accusation is the latest in a volley of claims between supporters and foes about deception and intimidation.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS06/804250408
Fight to recall Dillon has grown nasty
Accusations of harassment fly
BY CHRIS CHRISTOFF and DAWSON BELL
April 25, 2008
On paper, the campaign to recall House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, is hard-nosed democracy in action. On the streets of Redford Township and Dearborn Heights, it has been a seething, name-calling scrum of public rallies, court fights, verbal confrontations and charges of deception, law-breaking and police harassment. Once aimed at a dozen lawmakers who voted for tax increases last fall, the recall effort has narrowed to make an example of Dillon alone. The stakes are large: The possible demise of a House leader who was considered a potential candidate for governor, or vindication of Democratic control and the $1.4-billion tax increase to balance the state budget. It's turned Dillon's marginally Republican, middle-class district into a battleground of petty skirmishes and even undercover spies. "The residents are tired of it. I hear it every day," said Redford Township Supervisor Miles Handy, an unabashed Dillon supporter.
http://blog.mlive.com/grpress/2008/04/state_representatives_will_lis.html
State representatives will listen to business owners' beef on new tax
Posted by The Grand Rapids Press
April 24, 2008 11:58AM
GRAND RAPIDS -- Business owners frustrated by the hit they're taking from the new state business tax will tell state representatives their woes at a public hearing at 1 p.m. Friday, slated for Loosemore Auditorium at Grand Valley State University's downtown campus, 401 W. Fulton St. The legislative hearing will include state Reps. Dave Hildenbrand, R-Lowell; Dave Agema, R-Grandville; Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive; and Tom Pearce, R-Rockford. The four House Republicans are expected to detail problems with the tax, and pose solutions to perceived inequities. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Senate pushed through a relief measure totaling $162 million in fiscal 2008 and $254 million in 2009.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/POLITICS/804250374/1022/POLITICS
State House approves part of stimulus package
Gary Heinlein / Detroit News Lansing Bureau
Friday, April 25, 2008
LANSING -- House lawmakers have approved bonds for university, community college, harbor, park and airport projects -- including a University of Michigan biology building and a biomedical research building at Wayne State -- as part of Gov. Jennifer Granholm's economic stimulus package. House Democrats plan news conferences Friday to tout the package, which they say will create 29,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in economic activity. The legislation was approved 59-49 in a party-line vote Wednesday and sent to the Republican-controlled Senate, which has its own, differing version. House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, said the projects, when finally approved by the entire Legislature, would "help get our working families back on their feet" and provide benefits for years to come.
Michigan Senate passes tax breaks for Hemlock Semiconductor
4/24/2008, 5:50 p.m. EDT
By DAVID EGGERT
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The state Senate on Thursday passed tax breaks potentially worth up to $35 million a year to entice Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. to build a new facility in Michigan. The company near Saginaw is the world's largest maker of polycrystalline silicon, a material used in solar panels and semiconductor chips. Hemlock Semiconductor already is adding 500 jobs through a $1 billion-plus expansion in Hemlock but is considering other expansions, too. The legislation approved 35-2 would let the company claim a credit for some of its electricity costs against the Michigan Business Tax for 12 years starting in 2012, if it builds another new or expanded facility in the state. Like a recently enacted law aimed at attracting the film industry to Michigan, the credit would be refundable. That means the state treasury could cut a check to Hemlock Semiconductor if its tax bill is less than the credit it receives.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/OPINION01/804250315/1007/OPINION
Don't force overreliance on renewable energy
Consumers will decide viability of solar and wind power
The Detroit News
Friday, April 25, 2008
Wind farms will have a niche role in generating electricity for Michigan. But their role should not be mandated by legislation. The economics of wind power will determine if it is viable and cost effective. Mandating or subsidizing a marginal player in the power industry will, in the long run, be costly. Wind power's chief drawback is obvious: The wind doesn't blow constantly. A too-heavy reliance on wind generators risks brownouts and blackouts. No industry or household will put up with part-time electrical power. Solar power is also iffy for Michigan. Of the daylight over a given year, Detroit only gets about 53 percent of the available sunlight. Yuma, Ariz., sunny about 90 percent of the time, would reap much more solar power in a given day. Storing large amounts of wind or solar energy in batteries, even if technically possible, would be prohibitively expensive.
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080424/earns_ford.html?.v=8
Ford swings to $100M profit in 1st qtr, beats Wall Street
Ford rides strong earnings in Europe and South America to $100M profit in 1st quarter
Thursday April 24, 7:54 am ET
By Tom Krisher, AP Auto Writer
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. surprised Wall Street on Thursday with a $100 million profit in the first quarter as strong results from Europe and South America helped offset the impact of a slumping U.S. economy that cut car and truck sales in its main market. Its shares rose almost 5 percent in premarket trading. The No. 2 U.S.-based automaker also said its latest round of early retirement and buyout offers netted 4,200 hourly workers, fewer than Ford had targeted. It was Ford's first profitable quarter since the second quarter of 2007 when it made $750 million. Ford reported a full-year loss of $2.7 billion last year, and it cautioned that the rest of this year will be tough.
Analysts: Southern states favorite in bid for VW plant
4/24/2008, 4:33 p.m. EDT
By KEN THOMAS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Tennessee and Alabama should be favored over Michigan to land a new Volkswagen assembly plant, analysts said Thursday, based on the auto industry's ongoing migration into the Sun Belt and concerns about labor's heavy influence in Michigan. Volkswagen confirmed that it was considering the three states for a potential plant, offering a crown jewel of economic development that could help the states expand their auto industry presence. Lured by incentive packages, an eager work force and a lack of unions, several Southern states have attracted automotive plants during the past two decades.
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/NEWS06/804250341
Attorney says Fieger's a victim
Campaign contribution charges called abuse of justice
BY DAVID ASHENFELTER and BEN SCHMITT
April 25, 2008
An attorney for Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger put the federal government on trial Thursday in a case that accuses Fieger and law partner Vernon (Ven) Johnson of illegally funneling $127,000 into John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign. "The prosecution sees them only with one eye, and it's the evil eye," famed Wyoming defense lawyer Gerry Spence told jurors in his opening statement before a packed courtroom at U.S. District Court in Detroit. Spence said powerful people at the Justice Department in Washington decided to go after Fieger, whom Spence described as a good man who fights for the little guy. Spence said the government sent 80 agents to conduct a nighttime raid on Fieger's firm and to question terrified employees in their homes in late 2005 to make a case against Fieger. "You would have thought he was Osama bin Laden," Spence said, calling the case an abuse of justice.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/METRO/804250370/1409/METRO
Clerk testifies Fieger repaid his donation
Defense in campaign finance fraud trial says lawyer was unaware that his actions were illegal.
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
Friday, April 25, 2008
DETROIT -- A law clerk who cut a $2,000 check to the John Edwards presidential campaign had less than $11 in his bank account when he wrote the check, Geoffrey Fieger's trial on criminal campaign finance charges was told Thursday. James Harrington, who was a law clerk at the time of his March 2003 donation but is now a lawyer in the Fieger firm, testified he told Fieger law partner Ven Johnson he didn't have $2,000 to donate to the Edwards campaign, but Johnson told him "it would be taken care of." A few days after he wrote the check, Harrington rushed to the bank with a $2,000 reimbursement check from the Fieger law firm, hoping the Edwards check had not yet cleared his bank, Harrington told the court. Fieger, 56, and his law partner, Ven Johnson, 46, were indicted last year on conspiracy and illegal campaign finance charges, accused of making $127,000 in illegal donations to the Edwards campaign by reimbursing employees, employee relatives and law firm vendors.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/METRO/804250373
Wright's Detroit invite stirs debate
Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News
Friday, April 25, 2008
DETROIT -- Few know what the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright will say, but race, politics and controversy will be at the forefront Sunday when the former pastor of presidential candidate Barack Obama delivers the keynote address at the Detroit Branch NAACP's signature event. Organizers of the Fight for Freedom Fund Dinner haven't asked Wright for a copy of his speech, but they anticipate protests, a crush of cameras from the national media and a near-record crowd that could exceed 10,000 people at Cobo Center. "This is going to be one of the most exciting dinners we've ever had," said the Rev. Wendell Anthony, Detroit Branch NAACP president. "A chord has been struck. The timing is right. It's going to be on in Motown on Sunday. "
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/OPINION01/804250314/1007/OPINION
Consider a plea deal to speed mayor's exit
The Detroit News
Friday, April 25, 2008
When the felony charges against Kwame Kilpatrick were announced a month ago, we urged the mayor to resign to spare Detroit the damage and distraction that would come from having a sitting mayor engaged in a lengthy criminal court battle. Our concern was that nothing much would get done in a city desperate for progress while Kilpatrick was trying to stay out of jail, except, of course, for the additional tainting of Detroit's fragile image. Those fears have been realized. The mayor's troubles are all anyone anywhere is talking about in regard to Detroit. Business leaders report that even on Wall Street, they are being asked about the mayoral scandal and its potential impact on their bottom lines. New downtown development projects, already hampered by the credit crunch and a rapidly declining national economy, have come to a standstill.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/OPINION03/804250377
Bing: Mayor is hurting city
Respected industrialist calls on business community to voice outrage publicly
Friday, April 25, 2008
Daniel Howes
Dave Bing, the one-time Pistons great turned Detroit industrialist, can't keep silent any longer. Not about the scandal engulfing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the clamor that he should resign. Or the business community's debatable reluctance to publicly call the crisis what it is. Or the willingness of Detroiters to excuse failed leadership at City Hall and tolerate shoddy public schools. Kilpatrick, charged with eight felonies, "has got to do what is best for the city at this point," Bing told me during an hourlong interview Thursday. "He says he's not leaving and he can't be forced out soon. Anybody who thinks this is not hurting the city, the region, the state of Michigan has their heads in the sand. I like the mayor. He's bright. He's engaging. But he's made a horrendous mistake."
Detroit-area sheriffs see drug war from front lines
4/24/2008, 6:20 p.m. EDT
By JIM IRWIN
DETROIT (AP) — Three county sheriffs from southeast Michigan spent four days in Colombia on the front lines of the war against drugs. Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard and Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel said the trip strengthened their commitment to coordinate their anti-drug efforts. "We have to do more regionally," Evans said. Bouchard said half of the heroin that reaches metropolitan Detroit originates in Colombia, and much of the users' money that flows back to that South American country finances terrorism and organized crime on a global scale. The lawmen said education is an important component of combating drug use, whether the target audience is school kids or jail inmates. "This stuff that starts in a jungle ends up in a hand-to-hand transaction outside a school in our community," Bouchard said. "A lot of the (drug lords') cash flow is coming from our purchases."
http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/OPINION01/804250340/1068/OPINION
All above-board on light-rail plans!
Detroit Free Press
April 25, 2008
Private developers who want to build a light-rail line on Woodward in Detroit might hold the key to this region's first real step toward a mass transit system. To make the most of this opportunity, however, investors must come forward -- now. Anonymously and behind the scenes, they have worked for more than a year on a plan separate from one the city unveiled this week. The sooner their efforts become public, the better. The city and the entire region need transparency to figure out how this proposal -- using private money to build light rail from Hart Plaza to Grand Boulevard -- can mesh with a larger plan being worked out by the Regional Transit Coordinating Council and its CEO, John Hertel. Unless these developers show their hand, they will be perceived, unfairly, as trying to compete with or even undermine Detroit's plan.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/SCHOOLS/804250367/1409/METRO
Developing future leaders
County officials invite students to learn about political process
The Detroit News
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Oakland County Board of Commissioners welcomed high school students from Birmingham, Rochester, Oak Park, Southfield-Lathrup, White Lake, Milford, West Bloomfield and Pontiac on Thursday for Youth Day. Students watched the board in session and participated in youth committee sessions and a youth board meeting from 9 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. Also on hand were the county treasurer, the manager of the county's Community and Home Improvement Division and the county equalization manager. It was all part of an effort to promote the importance of county government and develop future leaders by giving them hands-on experience in the political process.
http://www.hollandsentinel.com/opinions/x1632304029
EDITORIAL - End Ottawa County's outdated Sunday alcohol ban
The Holland Sentinel
Posted Apr 24, 2008 @ 06:00 AM
OTTAWA COUNTY — It may be a tall order, but a local coalition is beginning efforts to try to reverse Ottawa County’s outdated and illogical ban on beer and wine sales on Sundays. We wish them well and hope they succeed in bringing Ottawa County’s rules in line with neighboring areas. We have supported efforts in the past to scrap old “blue laws” that impose local limits on alcohol sales that go beyond state law. The city of Zeeland has hardly sunk into degradation since voters repealed its ban on alcohol sales in 2006, and neither will Hudsonville, which recently joined Zeeland in ending its no-alcohol policy.
NATIONAL STORIES
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/24/while-the-democrats-brawl/index.html?hp
As Democrats Fight, McCain Seeks the Middle
By Matt Bai
April 24, 2008, 12:54 pm
Having regained some force in Pennsylvania, the tornado of insult and innuendo that is the Democratic Party’s nomination fight will now touch down in four more states. But while Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama regroup this week, John McCain is off doing something that, while lacking the same kind of drama, has a significance of its own. Mr. McCain and his advisers decided this week to embark on a tour of some of the places that symbolize the fragility of America’s promise, even if they aren’t the kind of places that Republicans often go: Selma, Ala.; Youngstown, Ohio; New Orleans; Inez, Ky., the Appalachian town where Lyndon Johnson once touted his War on Poverty.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20080426_1107.php
McCain’s Turning Point
John McCain’s three years as the Navy’s lobbyist in the Senate opened up a new world—and new connections—for a war hero.
Linda Douglass
Sat. Apr. 26, 2008
In 1977, Navy Cmdr. John McCain was at a crossroads. He was 40, yet the trajectory of his life was unclear. He had spent five and a half years, the prime of his life, struggling to survive the brutality of a North Vietnamese prison camp. Once home, he underwent long months of painful rehabilitation, hoping to overcome crippling injuries and to return to the skies as a Navy pilot. When it became clear that his flying days were over, he took command of a squadron in Jacksonville, Fla., and won praise for bringing several broken-down jets back into service. McCain was a war hero, the son and grandson of four-star admirals. But when the Florida command ended, his career in the Navy stalled. What came next was an assignment that a warrior such as McCain could have found tedious and, at times, demeaning:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D908DMJ00&show_article=1
McCain to New Orleans: Never again
Apr 24 03:08 PM US/Eastern
By NANCY BENAC
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain took stock of still- hurricane-damaged areas of New Orleans on Thursday and declared that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have immediately landed his plane at the nearest Air Force base, drawing a sharp contrast to President Bush's handling of the tragedy. McCain called the response to Katrina "a perfect storm" of mismanagement by federal, state and local governments. The Arizona senator walked a few blocks of the hard-hit Lower 9th Ward, passing tidy rebuilt stucco houses standing next to abandoned structures, their facades still spray-painted with the markings of rescue workers who went door to door nearly three years ago searching for bodies. FEMA trailers still dot the neighborhood. McCain said his teenage daughter Bridget had been there with a volunteer youth group a few weeks ago to help in the recovery.
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080425/POLITICS01/804250304/1022/POLITICS
Huckabee writing book on his failed presidential bid
Andrew DeMillo / Associated Press
Friday, April 25, 2008
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Two weeks after the next president is elected, Mike Huckabee will publish a book sharing details on his failed bid for the White House and offering his vision for remodeling the conservative movement. Sentinel, a conservative imprint of Penguin Group (USA), said Wednesday it will publish the former Arkansas governor and one-time Republican presidential hopeful's next book, to be released Nov. 18. The book, not yet titled, will offer an insider's view of Huckabee's campaign and also offer his vision for the future, publishers said Wednesday. "There's going to be a lot of untold stories and untold anecdotes," said Will Weisser, Sentinel's associate publisher. "But the other part is the governor's vision for the future of American politics and society and what should we be working towards? How does the (Republican) party become more unified?"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120895947916238217.html?mod=special_page_campaign2008_leftbox
Indiana Poses Challenge for Each of the Democrats
White Votes Elude Obama; Clinton Needs Delegates
By AMY CHOZICK and NICK TIMIRAOS
April 24, 2008; Page A5
INDIANAPOLIS -- After six weeks of trading jabs in Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential candidates turned to Indiana and the lower-income white voters seen as a test of who is most electable in November. Sen. Barack Obama is under pressure to knock Sen. Hillary Clinton out of the race and prove he can connect with working-class whites, while Sen. Clinton must narrow the delegate gap in order to bring in donations and keep her candidacy going. Sen. Clinton defeated Sen. Obama in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary 55% to 45%. Sen. Obama maintained his lead in the race for delegates, with an advantage of 1,723 to 1,592 for Sen. Clinton, including superdelegates, as of Wednesday, according to the Associated Press; 2,025 are needed to secure the nomination.
Pennsylvania Results Mean Clinton Could Win the Popular Vote and Obama the Pledged Delegate Count
April 23, 2008 03:09 PM ET
Michael Barone
Finally, six weeks after the last primary, Pennsylvania has voted. Polls taken just before the race showed Hillary Clinton ahead of Barack Obama by 49.5 percent to 43.4 percent. The actual vote was 55 percent to 45 percent with Clinton winning (official county results here). Some interesting patterns here. As I noted in a previous blog post, Obama carries blacks, academics, and state capitals—and not much else. He carried seven of Pennsylvania's 67 counties:
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cr_20080426_9889.php
Hillary’s Political Purgatory
Clinton has spent weeks in a horrible situation. Even in victory, she isn’t getting any closer to winning the nomination.
Charlie Cook
Sat. Apr. 26, 2008
The good news for Hillary Rodham Clinton is that she’s winning a lot of battles. The bad news is that the war is pretty much lost. Sure, she won Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary by a strong 9 points in the face of being outspent on television ads by Barack Obama 2-to-1. She also won Ohio, Rhode Island, and at least the primary part of the bizarre “Texas two-step” primary-and-caucus combination on March 4. But today, she is 133 delegates behind Obama, 1,728 to 1,595, according to NBC News. At this point last week, she trailed by 136 delegates. Since then Clinton has scored a net gain of 10 delegates in Pennsylvania, according to NBC, but has lost a few more superdelegates, so she has made little headway.
http://blogs.reuters.com/trail08/2008/04/24/top-house-democrat-denounces-clinton-campaign-tactics/
Top House Democrat denounces Clinton campaign tactics
Posted by: Richard Cowan
April 24th, 2008
WASHINGTON - “Scurrilous” and “disingenuous” were among the words a top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives used on Thursday to describe Hillary Clinton’s campaign tactics in her bid to defeat Barack Obama for their party’s presidential nomination. House Democratic Whip James Clyburn, of South Carolina and the highest ranking black in Congress, also said he has heard speculation that Clinton is staying in the race only to try to derail Obama and pave the way for her to make another White House run in 2012. “I heard something, the first time yesterday (in South Carolina), and I heard it on the (House) floor today, which is telling me there are African Americans who have reached the decision that the Clintons know that she can’t win this. But they’re hell-bound to make it impossible for Obama to win” in November, Clyburn told Reuters in an interview.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120908058761543293.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks
Clinton Foundation Secrets
Wall Street Journal
April 25, 2008; Page A14
Transparency is a popular word in this presidential election, with all three candidates finally having released their tax returns. Yet the public still hasn't seen the records of an institution with some of the biggest potential for special-interest mischief: The William J. Clinton Foundation. Bill Clinton established that body in 1997 while still President. It has since raised half-a-billion dollars, which has been spent on Mr. Clinton's presidential library in Arkansas and global philanthropic initiatives. The mystery remains its donors, and whether these contributors might one day seek to call in their chits with a President Hillary Clinton.
Hill on Brinks radical: I didn't know!
John Riley
April 24, 2008
In an interview yesterday, Hillary -- whose connection to President Clinton's 2001 sentence commutations for two members of the Weather Underground has become an issue since she tried to raise questions about Obama's acquaintance with another ex-Weatherman -- told "Inside Edition" that she "didn't know anything about" the 2001 clemency case. You can watch the video below. If it's true, it means that she got the worst briefings in the world when she was running for Senate in 2000 and the clemency issue was hot in Rockland County, and it means that Chuck Schumer didn't even bother to mention the issue to his fellow NY senator-elect/ First Lady after promising the widows of two dead cops to fight against one of the clemencies.
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080424/D9083LEG0.html
How can Obama, Clinton not be tired?
Apr 24, 3:42 AM (ET)
By LIZ SIDOTI
NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) - How can they not be tired? Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton are undeniably exhausted. They've been campaigning hard for more than a year, and their wall-to-wall schedules won't let up anytime soon. Neither wants to cede ground in their epic struggle for the Democratic nomination. Fatigue, however, breeds unforced errors - and both candidates have made some in the past few weeks. He turned in a weak debate performance in Pennsylvania, took heat for saying residents of small-town America were bitter and inadvertently praised Republican John McCain. She, too, had a sub-par debate and mistakenly claimed to have landed under sniper fire in Bosnia as first lady.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/24/AR2008042402976.html
Fair Is Fair
By Geoff Garin
Friday, April 25, 2008; A23
What's wrong with this picture? Our campaign runs a TV ad Monday saying that the presidency is the toughest job in the world and giving examples of challenges presidents have faced and challenges the next president will face -- including terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mounting economic dislocation, and soaring gas prices. The ad makes no reference -- verbal, visual or otherwise -- to our opponent; it simply asks voters to think about who they believe is best able to stand the heat. And we are accused, by some in the media, of running a fear-mongering, negative ad. The day before this ad went on the air, David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief strategist, appeared with me on "Meet the Press."
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/the_top_ten_list_of_undisputed.html
The Top Ten List of Undisputed Facts Showing Barack Obama's Weakness in the General Election Against John McCain
By Lanny Davis
April 24, 2008
Let's forget about the spin on all sides and not use any adjectives to modify the following 10 Facts that should not be in dispute:
1. Hillary Clinton won by 10%, 220,000 votes, despite after most of the polls in the last several weeks on RealClearPolitics, including its RCP all-poll average, showed her ahead by single digits and dropping. The exit polls showed her winning by +5. (It's easy to forget that she won if you listen to the Obama spinners last night and today. Believe it or not, Pennsylvania's Rep. Murphy, a freshman congressman who supported Barack Obama, actually said last night on Larry King that Senator Obama did so well in losing to Senator Clinton yesterday that he has a "wind at his back." I am not kidding.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/obama_is_wounded_but_clinton_m.html
Obama is Wounded, but Clinton Must Prove He Can't Win
By Mort Kondracke
April 24, 2008
The best political joke of 2008 was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) at the Washington Press Club Foundation's dinner in February -- about how the Democratic race featured Hillary Rodham Clinton, a New York Senator born in Illinois, and Barack Obama, an Illinois Senator "who seems to have been born in a manger." Except, the joke isn't valid any more. The long, contentious Democratic primary battle has reduced Obama from a messiah -- except among his most ardent disciples -- to an ordinary mortal. He started out largely unknown to the public, delivering a message of unity and post-partisanship that the country clearly is hungering for. He also seemed to offer the country a chance to move beyond its historic racial divisions. And he promised to rise above customary slash-and-burn politics.
For Obama, a Struggle to Win Over Key Blocs
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.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/obamas_revealing_distractions.html
Obama's Revealing 'Distractions'
By Charles Krauthammer
April 25, 2008
Real change has never been easy. ... The status quo in Washington will fight. They will fight harder than ever to divide us and distract us with ads and attacks from now until November.
-- Barack Obama, Pennsylvania primary night speech
WASHINGTON -- With that, Obama identified the new public enemy: the "distractions" foisted upon a pliable electorate by the malevolent forces of the status quo, i.e., those who might wish to see someone else become president next January. "It's easy to get caught up in the distractions and the silliness and the tit for tat that consumes our politics" and "trivializes the profound issues" that face our country, he warned sternly. These must be resisted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/24/AR2008042400999_pf.html
A Plague on Both Houses
By Howard Kurtz
Thursday, April 24, 2008; 9:05 AM
Barack Obama stumbled, bumbled, faltered and faded, but he still has a lock on the nomination. That, in a nutshell, is the media consensus after Pennsylvania. Now I've saved you all kinds of time because you don't have to read anything else. Journalists often accuse the Hillary camp of moving the goalposts--let's only focus on big states, blue states, the popular vote, whatever--but the media did a bit of that on Tuesday. After telling us for days on end that Hillary Clinton had to win by six to eight points for her victory to be significant, they largely dismissed her 10-point margin, saying it doesn't change anything. The math is the math, she can't possibly catch up, yadda yadda yadda. Hillary woke up yesterday morning to that NYT un-endorsement, castigating her for taking the low road and beseeching her to get the hell out of the race.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D908C8Q01&show_article=1
Rev. Wright says controversy over sermons `unfair'
Apr 24 01:30 PM US/Eastern
By RACHEL ZOLL
NEW YORK (AP) - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor to Barack Obama, said that publicizing sound bites of sermons in which he condemned U.S. policies was "unfair" and "devious," and done by people who know nothing about his church, according to excerpts of a PBS interview released Thursday.
Wright said that, as an activist, he is accustomed to being "at odds with the establishment," but the response to the sermons has been "very, very unsettling." The interview, scheduled for broadcast Friday night, is the first the pastor has given since video of his preaching gained national attention in March, putting Democratic presidential hopeful Obama on the defensive. Among the most remarked upon sound bites was Wright proclaiming from the pulpit "God damn America" for its racism. He accused the government of flooding black neighborhoods with drugs.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/opinion/25krugman.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Self-Inflicted Confusion
By PAUL KRUGMAN
April 25, 2008
After Barack Obama’s defeat in Pennsylvania, David Axelrod, his campaign manager, brushed it off: “Nothing has changed tonight in the basic physics of this race.” He may well be right — but what a comedown. A few months ago the Obama campaign was talking about transcendence. Now it’s talking about math. “Yes we can” has become “No she can’t.” This wasn’t the way things were supposed to play out. Mr. Obama was supposed to be a transformational figure, with an almost magical ability to transcend partisan differences and unify the nation. Once voters got to know him — and once he had eliminated Hillary Clinton’s initial financial and organizational advantage — he was supposed to sweep easily to the nomination, then march on to a huge victory in November.
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1734643,00.html
The Incredibly Shrinking Democrats
By Joe Klein
Thursday, Apr. 24, 2008
"This election," Bill Clinton said in the hours before the Pennsylvania primary, "is too big to be small." It was a noble sentiment, succinctly stated, and the core of what Democrats believe — that George W. Bush has been a historic screwup as President, that there are huge issues to be confronted this year. But it was laughable as well. The Pennsylvania primary had been a six-week exercise in diminution, with both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama — and Bill Clinton too — losing altitude and esteem on an almost daily basis. Even as he spoke, the former President was in the midst of a tiny, self-inflicted absurdity, having claimed in a radio interview that the Obama campaign had played the "race card" against him. And that was the least of the damage.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080424/EDITORIAL08/180680441/1013
Wooing independents
By Gary Andres
April 24, 2008
You're going to hear a lot about independent voters this election season. They will no doubt tip the balance in the November presidential contest, determining the next occupant of the White House. But who are these Americans? What share of the electorate do they represent? And what drives their vote choice? A closer look at this important electoral bloc reveals some startling facts and underscores why "independent" voters are among the most unpredictable when it comes to political forecasting. I've been writing for the past couple of weeks about the changing nature of the American electorate. Winning in 2008 requires a different strategy for both parties compared to other recent national campaigns. Leading up to the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, political analysts noticed a curious and significant trend. The number of Americans identifying with and voting for both political parties had swelled over the previous decade.
http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon0423ss.html
Obama’s Real Bill Ayers Problem
The ex-Weatherman is now a radical educator with influence.
Sol Stern
23 April 2008
Barack Obama complains that he’s been unfairly attacked for a casual political and social relationship with his neighbor, former Weatherman Bill Ayers. Obama has a point. In the ultraliberal Hyde Park community where the presidential candidate first earned his political spurs, Ayers is widely regarded as a member in good standing of the city’s civic establishment, not an unrepentant domestic terrorist. But Obama and his critics are arguing about the wrong moral question. The more pressing issue is not the damage done by the Weather Underground 40 years ago, but the far greater harm inflicted on the nation’s schoolchildren by the political and educational movement in which Ayers plays a leading role today.
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/forbes/2008/0505/032.html
We Are What We Learn
How professors can turn bleeding hearts into capitalists--and vice versa.
Ray Fisman
05.05.08, 12:00 AM ET
What is fair? Should we raise taxes and redistribute the proceeds to the poor? Depends on whether you value equality (there should not be poverty in prosperity's midst) or efficiency (if we tax too much, perhaps no one will bother to do any work). Different people value different things. According to the World Values Survey, Americans are less than half as likely as Finns to support income redistribution if it comes at the expense of incentives for individual effort. Where does the Finnish mania for equality come from? And why the American obsession with efficiency?