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Act - Presidential
Records Act - 
War
Crimes Act20080707 John McCain -
Money -
Law -
Politics -
"How McCain Is Skirting His Own Spending Caps." ... "When you combine [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's individual war chest with his party's bankroll, it turns out the Republican nominee has about $90 million currently burning a hole in his pocket, while Obama and the DNC weigh in at a relatively paltry $47 million, or half as much. And even though McCain has agreed to an $84.1 spending limit by accepting public funds--a decision he likes to portray as a principled stand against the corrupting influence of money on politics--at least double that sum will be dropped on his behalf before Election Day thanks to loopholes in the law that allow outside groups to effectively skirt such limits with largely unregulated "soft money" contributions." ... "Currently, Team McCain is soliciting checks of up to $70,100 from each donor--$28,500 for the RNC, $40,000 for a quartet of state parties and $2,300 for the candidate himself. But if the Governors' Association actually works on a local level to boost McCain's bid, even that ceiling on individual contributions--which is already high enough to ensure that the senator's publicly-financed campaign will raise about half of its money from private sources--would be shattered." ... "The irony here, of course, is that it was McCain who co-sponsored the 2002 law meant to curtail the influence of wealth on presidential politics by limiting direct donations to the campaigns. Now he's the one's doing everything imaginable to circumvent the very caps he fought to create." -By Andrew Romano -Newsweek20080707 Barack Obama -
History -
Iraq -
Military -
US -
"Why some conservatives are backing Obama." ... "The "Obamacans" that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama used to joke about - Republican apostates who whispered their support for his candidacy - have morphed into a new phenomenon, or syndrome, as detractors like to call it: the Obamacons." ... "These are conservatives who have publicly endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee, dissidents from the brain trust of think tanks, ex-officials and policy magazines that have fueled the Republican Party since the 1960s." ... ""The untold story of the [Republican President] Bush administration is the deliberate annihilation of the Reaganite, small-government wing of the Republican Party," said Michael Greve, director of the Federalism Project at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. "A lot of people are very bitter about it."" ... "Many conservatives are aghast at the rise in spending and debt under the Bush administration, its expansion of executive power, and what they see as a trampling of civil liberties and a taste for empire." ... "Douglas Kmiec is former chief of the Office of Legal Counsel in the [former Republican Presidents] Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, and now a constitutional law professor at Pepperdine University and a devout Catholic. Kmiec endorsed Obama earlier this year, despite his conviction that Obama "believes in a pretty progressive agenda."" ... "Kmiec said his support deepened after meeting with Obama and other faith leaders last month, during which the busy candidate spent 2 1/2 in a freewheeling discussion with people who differed with him." ... ""I think he's the right person at the right time to re-establish principles of constitutional governance that have been ill treated by the current administration, and to free us from the tar paper that we know is Iraq," Kmiec said, adding that many Republicans privately agree. "I think he's a man in the market for every good idea he can find, and he doesn't care what label it comes with."" ... "David Friedman, the son of late conservative icon and Nobel economist Milton Friedman, has also endorsed Obama." ... "[Conservative Bruce Bartlett:] "People don't understand that there has always been a small but very significant element of conservatives who have been against the war from day one and who, like me, also hate George Bush and think he's the most incompetent president in American history," said Bruce Bartlett, a supply-side economist who coined the term Obamacons. "The few people who are slavishly pro-Republican, live or die, slavishly pro-Bush like the Weekly Standard crowd, have gotten lot more publicity than they deserve."" -By Carolyn Lochhead -SFGate.com20080706 Karl Rove -
Oil -
Health Care -
Afghanistan -
Terrorism -
Massachusetts
"Kerry: McCain's Judgment Is Dangerous." ... "[Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Sen. John Kerry believes that the presumptive Republican nominee for president is adhering to the [Republican President] Bush Administration orthodoxy in ways that call into question his carefully-nurtured image as a political maverick." ... ""John McCain has changed in profound and fundamental ways that I find personally really surprising, and frankly upsetting," the Democratic Senator from Massachusetts said on CBS' Face The Nation." ... ""This is a different John McCain. This is not the Senator John McCain; this is want-to-be president John McCain." ... ""And the result is that John McCain has flip-flopped on more issues than I was even ever accused possibly of thinking about! I mean, this is extraordinary what he's done: He's changed on taxes; he's now in favor of the Bush tax cut. If you like the Bush economy, if you like the Bush tax cut and what it's done to our economy, making wealthier people wealthier and the average middle class struggle harder, then John McCain is going to give you a third term of George Bush and Karl Rove." ... ""If you like what has happened to oil prices, John McCain is going to continue that policy. If you like what you see about health care, John McCain has no health care plan." ... ""I would have at least expected the John McCain that I knew back then to realize what almost every person in the Pentagon has admitted. There are very few who walk around and say, 'Going into Iraq was the right thing to do, and we should have done it, or do it again if I have the chance.' John McCain does." ... ""I'm challenging Senator McCain's judgment," Kerry said, "that says, 'There's no violent history between Sunni and Shia.' That's wrong. His judgment that says, 'This is going to increase the stability of the Middle East.' It hasn't, it's made it less stable. The judgment that says, quote, 'This will be the best thing for America and the world in a long time. It's the worst thing that we've done in a long time. And he's turned his [focus] away from Afghanistan and al Qaeda and made America less safe. That's dangerous for our country."" -FaceTheNation -CBSNewsWATCH Kerry list McCain's Flip-Flops
20080706 Don Young -
Ted Stevens -
Tom DeLay -
Federal -
Investigation -
Alaska -
Texas -
Virginia -
Florida -
Transportation -
Construction
"When Alaska's Young needed help, lobbyists ponied up." ... "Facing bad publicity and a dwindling campaign account, [United States Alaska Republican Representative] U.S. Rep. Don Young last year turned to the "AK Wolfpack," a group of more than 20 lobbyists, including former Young staffers and retired former congressmen, with close ties to the Alaska Republican." ... "Young's chief of staff, Mike Anderson, sent the Wolfpack an e-mail to tell them that national Democrats planned aggressive fundraising and claims of misconduct by Young to topple the 35-year incumbent congressman and his fellow Alaska Republican [Senator], U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens." ... "If they succeed, Anderson warned, "you and your clients will be impacted."" ... "They include Rick Alcalde, the lobbyist at the heart of a Young earmark that is under federal investigation. They also include lobbyists Colin Chapman, Anderson's immediate predecessor as Young's chief of staff, and Randy DeLay, the brother of former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. Randy DeLay lobbied on a Virginia highway project before Young's transportation committee." ... "Anderson e-mailed his note a day after The New York Times ran a front-page story about Young's earmarking $10 million to study a Florida interchange that would benefit a developer who had raised money for an earlier Young campaign. The paper described the earmark as an "obvious" trade of campaign contributions for legislative favors." -By Sean Cockerham and Erika Bolstad -McClatchyDC.com20080706 Food -
Safety
"Salmonella outbreak: FDA looks at tomatoes, serrano, jalapeno peppers, cilantro." ... "The government on Saturday increased to 943 the number of people reported being sickened in a record salmonella outbreak, in which tomatoes are the leading suspect." ... "The Food and Drug Administration also said it had begun looking at serrano and jalapeno peppers and cilantro —ingredients used to make salsa—as possible causes of the outbreak. Tomatoes continue to be investigated as well, spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said." ... "The 943 reported cases are nationwide, requiring at least 130 hospitalizations since mid-April after the first salmonella illnesses appeared, the FDA said Saturday." -ChicagoTribune20080703 Carl H Lindner Jr -
Accounting -
Ohio -
Arizona -
Illinois -
"McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes: Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama." ... "Allies of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama." ... "In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth." ... "The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those limits, and has long gathered up large donations from individuals and companies. Now it is telling donors it can use their contributions to benefit Sen. McCain in some key battleground states." ... "Altogether, individuals can give $108,000 to federal campaigns within each two-year election cycle." ... "Donors with deep pockets also can avoid limits completely by contributing to groups called 527 organizations, after a provision in the tax code." ... "The [Republican] governors group counts a number of large corporations among its donors, including WellPoint Inc. [Incorporated] at $200,000, and Pfizer Inc. [Incorporated], Bank of America Corp. [Corporation] and Travelers Cos. [Companies] at $150,000 or more." ... "Texas developer Bob Perry, the largest financial backer of the Swift Boat group [that attacked the military service of 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry], also is the largest individual donor to the governors group, at $250,000. Carl Lindner, a retired insurance executive in Ohio and another top Swift Boat financier, has contributed $100,000 to the governors' fund. The campaign-finance lawyer for the Swift Boat group in 2004 now serves the same role for the governors association." ... "In another Republican strategy, the McCain campaign itself last month began soliciting its biggest donations yet -- up to $70,100 per check." -By Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam -WSJ.com20080703 Countries
"US military extends Afghanistan tour of 2,200 Marines after saying it would not." ... "The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is doing combat operations in the volatile southern region, will stay an extra 30 days and come home in early November rather than October, Marine [Colonel] Col. David Lapan confirmed Thursday." ... "Commanders faced with increasing violence have said they need at least 7,500 more troops in Afghanistan." ... "There are 32,000 [United States] U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan, 14,000 serving with the NATO-led coalition and 18,000 conducting training and counterinsurgency." ... "The NATO force includes more than 52,000 troops from as many as 40 countries." -AP via -IHT.com20080702 Colombia -
"McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia." ... "The co-host of a recent top-dollar fundraiser for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain oversaw the payment of roughly $1.7 million to a Colombian paramilitary group that is today designated a terrorist organization by the United States." ... "Carl H. Lindner Jr., the billionaire Cincinnati [Ohio] businessman, was CEO [Chief Executive Officer] of Chiquita Brands International from 1984 to 2001, and remained on the company's board of directors until May 2002. Beginning under his tenure, Chiquita executives paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym AUC), which is described by George Washington University's National Security Archive as an "illegal right-wing anti-guerrilla group tied to many of the country's most notorious civilian massacres."" ... "Following a Justice Department indictment [pdf] last year, Chiquita admitted to illegally funding the paramilitaries and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. Chiquita's payments to the AUC began in 1997 and lasted seven years; roughly half of the funds came after the group was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in 2001." ... "According to the Justice Department, the payments "were reviewed and approved by senior executives" of Chiquita, who knew by no later than September 2000 "that the AUC was a violent, paramilitary organization."" ... "Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. The event raised about $2 million; Lindner also serves on McCain's Ohio Victory Team." ... "While Lindner was CEO of Chiquita, the company began sending money to the AUC through its shipping subsidiary Banadex. A report by the Organization of American States states that Banadex also engaged in arms trafficking, helping to deliver 3,000 Nicaraguan AK-47 rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition to the AUC in 2001. According to federal prosecutors, when company officials realized the arrangement was illegal, they switched to making the payments in cash." -By Nico Pitney -HuffingtonPost.com20070401 People -
Colorado -
Homebuilder -
Social Security
"Bob Perry Needs a Hug." ... "Like many election campaigns last fall the [2006 Election] race in Colorado's Seventh Congressional District between Democrat Ed Perlmutter and Republican Rick O'Donnell was a bruising affair. Personal attacks and negative advertising were the order of the day. According to Perlmutter, O'Donnell was a right-winger with dangerous ideas who wanted to privatize Social Security, while pro-O'Donnell ads attacked Perlmutter for being soft on immigration. One such thirty-second spot was especially pointed, claiming that, as state senator, "Ed Perlmutter sponsored legislation giving taxpayer money to illegal immigrants."" ... "On its face, this ad seemed typical, one of thousands run last fall in an unusually hostile political season. Closer inspection, however, revealed that the ad was, on just about every level one can imagine, not what it seemed. For one thing, it wasn't true. The legislation that Perlmutter sponsored did concern taxpayer-funded benefits, but they were for legal immigrants, not illegal ones. The casual viewer might also have assumed that the advertisement had been produced by or in cooperation with O'Donnell's campaign. But his staff had nothing to do with its content, nor was it produced or financed within a thousand miles of Colorado. The ad's genesis, in fact, was a sort of miracle of remote control. Reporters who dug into the story found that funding for the ad had come from a 527 group called Americans for Honesty on Issues (AFHOI). The past several election cycles have seen a large number of these so-called 527's, which are named after the section of the federal tax code that exempts certain political groups from paying taxes." ... "Normal campaign finance limits in raising and spending money do not apply to 527's, a loophole through which millions of dollars have flowed. Due in part to this lack of oversight, 527's have developed a reputation for being shadowy, and AFHOI was no exception. In 2006 the group produced adversarial television ads in nine congressional races across seven states, but when the press started probing, it seemed to vanish into thin air. Its address was a post office box in a UPS store in Alexandria, Virginia; its "contact" was a conservative political consultant in Houston [Texas] named Sue Walden who didn't return calls.Reporters studying the story were unable to determine exactly who had come up with the idea for the ads, who had produced them, or how the Perlmutter-O'Donnell race had been targeted in the first place." ... "The one thing they did find out was the identity of the man who had pumped $3 million into AFHOI and was its sole benefactor: a wealthy Houston homebuilder named Bob Perry. Perry is the nation's largest individual political donor. In 2004 and 2006 he gave a total of $29 million to state and federal races. Last year, more than $9 million of that was channeled through three 527's that aggressively targeted races for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. In spite of such a massive political presence, Perry is as mysterious as some of the groups he funds. He never talks to the press, rarely appears in public, and remains an inscrutable figure even to people to whom he has given hundreds of thousands of dollars. He might have maintained this relatively low profile indefinitely, except that in [the Election of] 2004 he was the largest funder of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth [that attacked the military service of 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry], the controversial 527 that many people credit with derailing John Kerry's presidential campaign. Almost overnight, Perry became a poster boy for the notion that a cabal of wealthy donors, shady consultants, and unaccountable 527's was taking over American politics." ... "Perry first appeared as a real force in Texas politics in 2002, when he dropped $3.8 million into [2002 Election] campaigns, most of it aimed at taking over the state legislature and ultimately recarving Texas into Republican-friendly congressional districts—a gambit coordinated by then-House majority leader [and Texas Republican Representative] Tom DeLay and also heavily funded by San Antonio [Texas] doctor James Leininger and other wealthy Republican donors. He later became the largest single contributor to [Republican] Governor Rick Perry's reelection campaign." ... "[Bob] Perry ultimately contributed $4.5 million to the effort [of the Swift Boat attacks on military veteran John Kerry]." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By S. C. Gwynne -TexasMonthly.com20070401
"The Money Guy: Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on writing about political donor Bob Perry." ... "texasmonthly.com: What led you to write about Bob Perry?" ... "S. C. Gwynne: As the largest individual political contributor in America, he is a highly visible and extremely powerful person. He is also extremely private, and relatively little is known about him. This seemed like exactly the sort of story I like to do. There was lots of room for original reporting on a subject that ought to be of interest to anyone who likes politics." -Interview by Emmet Sullivan -TexasMonthly.com20080702 Cuba -
Chinese -
Korean -
Science -
Psychological -
Intelligence -
